善良妈妈的朋友

Chapter 15

There were many reactions Pegasus had expected from Eddie-Boy when he revealed that he was the first to arrive at the castle. Arrogant pride. Boredom. Confidence mixed with swagger. Aloofness. Rage (not because he was first but at Pegasus in general for all that had happened with Mokuba).

But what he hadn\'t expected was befuddlement.

It was only there in an instant. A blink of an eye, really. A slight twitch, a slipping of the mask that revealed his true thoughts. But it was there nonetheless and it was... puzzling. The man clearly had talent. He also had an ego; one only had to see how he\'d dealt with the Eliminators to know that. And it wasn\'t like he couldn\'t have known how well he was doing; he had the first day gotten more Star Chips than anyone else with Mai Valentine a close second. Yet he was surprised that he was first...

\'No,\' Pegasus thought to himself, \'he\'s surprised he made it into the finals at all!\' He kept the smile on his face even while internally he studied Edwin carefully. \'What is running through that brain of yours? What makes you tick? What plots are you planning?\' He smirked, both in his mind and in the real world. \'Let\'s find out.\'

The Millennium Eye flashed as he reached up to brush his long bangs, his hand mostly hiding the mystical artifact while allowing it just enough of a direct line of sight at Edwin to gaze into his mind-

-and Pegasus nearly toppled back in shock.

\'What in the world?\' he thought rapidly. His probe had always been able to pierce the strongest of minds but when he tried to look into Edwin Chaos\' all he saw was a great golden door with the Eye of Wdjat upon it. He created a mental construct of himself to examine the door but when he tugged on the handle the doors refused to move and when he made to look into the keyhole within the door he saw only darkness. \'How could he have a mental defense so powerful it is able to withstand the power of my Millennium Eye?\' Pegasus wondered before returning to the real world.

Covering his shock at that development Pegasus smiled and walked over to Edwin, offering his hand. "You have my congratulations on making it this far, Edwin. It truly is impressive."

"Yeah," the younger man said with a slight laugh. "Impresses even me. I thought for sure I was going to miss the cut off."

"Really?" Pegasus asked, intrigued. "And just who did you think would manage to beat you here?"

Edwin shrugged. "A lot of people, to be honest. I was on the opposite end of the island and took the long way around." He made no mention of Mokuba and Pegasus didn\'t press him on that. Plenty of time to figure out what had happened to the younger Kaiba brother. Pegasus was willing to give his foe a touch of respect for being able to hide the boy from him. He knew that Edwin probably expected him to try and lock him in the dungeon or break out the torture devices to find out where the boy was... that was simply unbefitting a good host. No, Pegasus would find out soon enough, but he wouldn\'t do so through violent ways. Edwin would either allow a slip of the tongue to occur or Pegasus would find a way through his mental defenses.

"Yes but not everyone is as cunning as you have been in making bets for Star Chips."

"I don\'t suppose you\'d be willing to show me where everyone is at the moment?"

Pegasus considered that for a second before nodding. "I see no problem with that." In fact it could easily work in his favor; if Edwin reacted when they scanned a certain area then that would tell him that Mokuba was hidden there. He doubted it, for if this man could create a barrier around his mind strong enough to resist the Millennium Eye he should be able to hide any reaction to seeing the boy\'s hiding spot. Still, it would be interesting to get Eddie-Boy\'s thoughts on the others. "This way."

Edwin followed after him, looking around as they entered a hall. "So is this place original or a recreation of another castle? I know it hasn\'t stood here since the time of King Arthur and all that..."

"A bit of both, actually," Pegasus admitted. "It is based on one of my family\'s properties but that castle was much smaller and hardly as advanced as this one." He shrugged with a casual smile. "When one achieves the heights of fame and power like me it only makes sense to expand." Edwin made a noise that showed he didn\'t quite believe that. "Do you disagree?"

"No offense but yeah, I do. I know the real reason you decided to alter this place."

"And why is that?"

"The same reason why whenever I watch a movie my first thought is \'How would I make this better?\'." Pegasus turned to looked at Edwin as they continued towards the Monitor Room, wondering just what he was getting at. "You have the mind of a creator, Pegasus. You are an artist that loves to craft and build. I\'m guessing the moment you decided to recreate this castle here you instantly began to think of all the different ideas you\'d had over the years on improving you family\'s castle as you knew it."

Pegasus merely murmured at that, refusing to admit that Edwin was right... mainly because he honestly hadn\'t ever considered that point; it was a good point, and it actually made him look all the more impressive. \'I\'ll have to make a mental note to mention that the next time I give a tour of my castle... but not when Eddie-Boy is around.\' Wouldn\'t do for the young man to realize he\'d given Pegasus a brilliant idea.

Ushering Edwin inside his observation room Pegasus began to pull up images from Duelist Kingdom. "Most of your fellow participants have already lost and are headed back to the main land with gift bags and parting gifts."

"Very nice of you," Edwin said. "Whose left, if I can ask?"

"Let us see," Pegasus stated, figuring there was no harm in letting Edwin know that information; after all, he wouldn\'t be dueling with any of them, he would be facing Pegasus himself. He would lose, of course, but Pegasus was leaning towards letting him keep his soul; it would do no good to raise any more eyebrows and he was a touch worried that Eddie-Boy had made good on his threat to activate a Dead Man\'s Switch on his phone and would thus bring down the wrath of his uncle if he didn\'t contact him. No, if he was going to take Edwin\'s soul for his interference it would wait until the very end, when he defeated Kaiba and Yugi-Boy and had secured the KaibaCorp Hardlight equipment. And even then he would... debate the matter. Edwin could be bought... he cared for Mokuba so perhaps if he named him Mokbua\'s new guardian? The man didn\'t seem interested in Seto Kaiba so perhaps Pegasus could work out a deal to have Edwin take Kaiba-Boy\'s place? He could serve as a wealthy figurehead, allowing Pegasus to do as he wished.

Pegasus certainly wasn\'t looking for reasons to keep Edwin around. And it had nothing to do with the dreams of a pale woman with light blonde hair and death flashing in her eyes.

"Only two other people have managed to get 10 Star Chips. Mai Valentine, who just finished her match with Rex Raptor who now has only 2 Star Chips-"

"Hold up," Edwin said, cutting Pegasus off (much to his annoyance), "they just got done NOW? How?"

Pegasus had to admit that was a good point. He knew that Mai had started battling Rex just after lunch. That meant they had dueled for nearly 8 hours. In a game that was usually done in 30 minutes to an hour, that was extreme. "Now that you mention it..." Pegasus leaned over and began to review the footage, Edwin keeping his distance while still paying attention. "Ah, it seems Rex decided to try stall tactics and the two became locked in a defensive battle where neither shifted their monsters from defense mode. Mai also used the spell \'Harpie\'s Regeneration\' that sent cards from her graveyard to her deck and Rex countered with \'Mutual Benefit\' that applied the affects to him. The two spent several hours just drawing cards and passing back to the other duelist."

"Well... that must have been... fun," Edwin said dryly and Pegasus found himself agreeing; perhaps he needed to put time limits on every duel to prevent such things from happening. "We had the Duel Monster version of Quiditch."

Pegasus wasn\'t sure what Quiditch was but it sounded boring and probably had rules that made no sense. \'Still, I will find out what it is and destroy it before it can become a competitor against Duel Monsters.\' He pulled up the next camera; it was time to see his thoughts of Kaiba-Boy. "As for Seto Kaiba, you are probably not aware that he is now participating in this tournament."

"Surprised he was smart enough to do that. I assumed he\'d just stand at the gate and demand you duel him, hoping to wear you down like he was King Arthur and you were some Frenchmen with floppy hands."

Smirking Pegasus shook his head. "Oh no, he did try that briefly but even Kaiba-Boy can see some sense. He currently is at 3 Star Chips... it\'s been slow for him, due to a lack of opponents, and I will admit that I may have decided to make it interesting by telling my Eliminators to focus on you and Yugi-Boy."

"Uh huh," Edwin said, nonplused at that. "And Yugi and his friends?"

"Currently racing through the caverns, desperately trying to find some way out. Though I do fear it is hopeless."

"No it isn\'t," Edwin stated.

"Oh? You have so much faith in them?"

The man though shook his head. "More that I believe the world loves the dramatic and daring and Yugi and his friends missing out on getting to the finals because they were trapped in a cave? Not that interesting at all."

"That is a rather interesting way to view the world."

"Admit it," Edwin stated, "that\'s how you want things to play out. It isn\'t fun if Kaiba and Yugi don\'t make it here for you to face them. You\'ve been rooting for the Eliminators to lose because it will be all the more sweeter when your deck is the one to defeat them both. Them losing to the likes of PaniK? That\'s like spending all night wooing a woman then letting your friend go home with her."

Pegasus stared at Edwin for several long moments before the mirth he had been trying to keep contained bubbled up and he began to chuckle. "Yes, I suppose you have seen right through me, haven\'t you? While I wouldn\'t have said no to Yugi-Boy and dear Kaiba being eliminated early on there is such a thrill in knowing you are the one to finish a deed."

"The spice of life," Edwin stated.

"Very much so," Pegasus said, finding himself more and more intrigued by Edwin Chaos. He had thought him at first a nobody, then someone of interest, then a nuisance. But now he was truly proving himself not only to be cunning but someone who understood exactly how the world should work.

The younger man nodded back to the screens, gesturing at one that depicted Bandit Keith setting up camp for the evening. "That guy?"

"Keith Howard, also known as Bandit Keith. An above average duelist but his need for vengeance blinds him. And he is a horrible cheat."

"Then why... oh," Edwin paused, having already puzzled it out. "You want to embarrass him."

"Embarrasses is such a cruel term."

"But?"

"...but what?" Pegasus said, holding out his hands and flashing a \'what are ya gonna go?\' smile.

Edwin chuckled at that. "Fair enough." Clearly satisfied he motioned towards the door and Pegasus led him out. "Thank you, by the way."

"For?"

"Being kind enough not to hold it against me that I ruined your plans with Mokuba." The younger man shrugged. "I get I stumbled into this but there is a difference between going after Kaiba and going after his brother."

"I assure you I would have not mistreated him in the slightest. I would have cared for him, seen that he went to the finest schools and wanted for nothing."

"Except his brother," Edwin argued, though in a polite way. "Family... love, honestly... those are things that can\'t be exchange for something else. True love, I mean. Be it between relatives or between lovers."

"You speak from experience," Pegasus said, intrigued. What secrets was Eddie-Boy hiding?

But the younger man waved away that theory. "No, not really. More that I can\'t see myself accepting such a trade. All I really have left is my brother and my father. Rest of the family... they aren\'t those two. I would never give them up..." Edwin\'s glasses flashed, "and I would burn the world for them." The fierceness that had flared upon his features was gone in a second but left their mark all the same. "I mean no offense because I\'m sure you believe it with all your heart... but nothing you could have done would have made up for taking Mokuba away from his brother. That\'s why I stepped in."

"Well, I will admit I\'m not happy that you did that. Made things all the more difficult for me. But I am hoping perhaps you can be... tempted... into changing your mind?"

Edwin though merely shook his head, amused. "Tempt me? Hmm. No. I don\'t think so. Do what you want with Seto. He\'s a big boy and while I promised Mokuba I\'d help him I honestly don\'t think I can. He wants to battle you, you want to battle him. All I can do is step out of the way. Same with you and Yugi too. But Mokuba? No... he\'s off limits." They stopped as they entered the main hall once more, the site that would host the finals of Duelist Kingdom. Edwin turned, brow furrowed and a darkness filling his features as his mouth twisted into a rage-filled scowl. "When it comes to kids that\'s where I step over the line that divides polite and angry."

"And you think you can challenge me?" Pegasus said, reaching to brush his hair away and revealing the Millennium Eye-

"Trying to get into my mind again, Pegasus?" Edwin stated, tapping his forehead. "It won\'t work."

He stared at the younger man in shock; while he had sensed the mental barriers in Edwin\'s mind he hadn\'t expected him to actually sense the probe he had sent to try and get into his head. With every other person whose mind he had read they hadn\'t suspected a thing unless he informed them of what he was doing. Bandit Keith had been the greatest test of that but there had been countless others who had been scanned by him and not a single one of them had realized what he was doing! The only one who had come close was little Yugi and he\'d chalked that up to-

"Shadi says hello," Edwin said, waggling his eyebrows.

Pegasus forced himself to remain calm. "How do you know that name?"

"The same way you do."

Pegasus stepped towards Edwin, pointing a finger at him in understanding. "He sent you here, didn\'t he? He has decided to go back on his word. He told me that the power of the Millennium Eye was mine to do with as I pleased. That was his word and his bond. But now that I\'ve targeted little Yugi and his Puzzle-"

"No, not quite that," Edwin said, cutting him off. "I was already on this path before I ran into Shadi. He merely... expressed interest."

And then the cocky and arrogant man had the nerve to laugh. Laugh! At HIM!

"What is so funny?" Pegasus said, a frown marring his features. The Millennium Eye flashed and gleamed as its dark power begged for another chance to try and batter open the walls that surrounded Edwin\'s mind. He could feel the throbbing desire of the artifact, like it was sentient, longing to unleash its full and terrible power on the man that mocked the strength of it and its bearer. Pegasus too wanted to unleash his own power on this man who had dared to interfere with his plotting and plans; while he would still be able to do what needed to be done and fully expected to have young Mokuba returned to his hands within the next 48 hours, that didn\'t dismiss the fact that because of Edwin\'s interference Pegasus had risked not being able to see Cecelia again. If Death could not stand in his way... what hope did this mere mortal have?

"All of this," Edwin said, answering Pegasus\' question with a lazy waving of his hand. "You. Kaiba. Even Yugi and his friends. You all think that everything is circling around your little drama. That your schemes and Kaiba\'s goals and Yugi\'s plans, so interconnected and locked together-" he threaded his fingers together before pulling on them, "-that everything must revolve around them. That every action is either connected to Kaibacorp\'s takeover or is meaningless." He leaned forward a touch and whispered, "Did it never occur to you that there were others schemes occurring congruent to your own machinations? Plots and sinister designs being made and shattered while you three danced around each other? That your island might be host to other crimes... and those that wish to solve them? Or continue them?"

That gave Pegasus pause. \'What does he mean? Is he trying to suggest that he has his own reasons for being here... that it was merely a quirk of fate that brought us together? Or is it something else... that my plans and Eddie-Boy\'s are only connected in that they are tied to some far grander plot?\'

But Pegasus hadn\'t gotten to where he was in life by blurting out such thoughts without a care. No, where other, lesser people would have demanded answers from Edwin right away Pegasus decided to go a more... subtle route. To slink and slide rather than pounce and roar. For it was the cunning lion that got the kill.

"I suppose," Pegasus said, smile returning to his lips. "There is Joseph Wheeler, of course. He wishes to help his sister." Edwin\'s mouth twitched at that. "Problem?"

"He wants to help her himself, not merely help her."

"There is a difference?"

"There is when someone offers him $3 million and he turns them down," Edwin said bitterly.

Pegasus filed that little tidbit away for later.

"You know," Edwin finally stated, "I thought you smarter than this. Of all the people on this island... I thought you would have figured it out."

"Figured what out?"

He scoffed. "My uncle owns one of the largest media empires in the world. He gets a personal invite from you, one of the 15 wealthiest-"

"10." Pegasus gave a slight shrug. "I moved up a few spots last year."

"10 wealthiest men in the world, to take part in a tournament like no other. One he can no longer attend due to... injury. So against all reason and logic he decides to send his nephew, who has only just arrived in Japan and who has just graduated from college to take part. And despite the fact that that nephew has never competed in a tournament before he turns out to be so good he manages to make it to your castle before Seto Kaiba or Yugi Moto? Doesn\'t that sound... unlikely?"

Pegasus\' eyes widened at how Edwin was laying everything out. Said so bluntly it did seem odd. Stated by HIM of all people it seemed even worse than that. "What are you suggesting? I\'ve looked into you, I won\'t deny it, and I know-"

"What I wanted you to know," Edwin stated. "Wrap enough truth around the lies and you can cover them up completely."

"...who are you?" Pegasus demanded.

But rather than answer Edwin began to walk away from him, idly staring at the walls. "London has Sherlock Holmes. New York has Nero Wolfe. The Orient Express and the Nile have Hercule Poirot. And the tombs of Egypt and the dark shadows of the impossible have Edwin Chaos."

"...you\'re... a detective?\'

He turned and glowered at Pegasus, head tilted ever so slightly as he looked him over. "And you are interfering in my case. I am dealing with matters of far more importance than corporate crime and yet I have to waste precious hours protecting an innocent child! Needless to say I am NOT in a good mood and you will be making up for it with a good supper. I expect chicken with a nice rice side... perhaps an onion and mushroom sauce blend? Sparkling grape juice too, I want to keep my head clear considering how muddled it is getting trying to untangle your games from the real matter." He began to move past Pegasus, who could only watch as the younger man began to bark demands. "Do you have a tailor here? I hope so, I need new clothing made. This worked well as a disguise," he tugged at his hoodie, "but I would look to be dressed a bit nicer for dinner. Suit jacket, dress shirt... no tie. I don\'t mind them but I always worry they will drop into my food-"

"I think you are rather confused about what is going on," Pegasus said, allowing his personable demeanor to drop in the face of the younger man\'s arrogant and bossy tone, "and who is actually in control. This is my castle. On my island. Hosting my tournament. You are a guest here which means all that happens to you is done by my word-"

"Shadi is dead," Edwin coolly.

THAT made Pegasus freeze, his threat dying on his lips. "What?"

"Shadi is dead. Murdered by another who holds a Millennium Item. Someone who is now on this island."

Pegasus scoffed at that. "Are you trying to get me to believe that little Yugi could murder someone?"

"Yugi? No. But have you done any research on his other half? The spirit that lives in the Millennium Puzzle?"

"What Spirit?"

"I take that as a no," Edwin said, rolling his eyes, every inch of his posture screaming of his annoyance at the situation he now found himself in. Gone was the young man that seemed so startled to be in the castle and in his place was a cunning strategist annoyed that the world seemed to be a step behind him, forcing him to slow down so they could catch up. "Tea Gardener worked at a fast food joint that was targeted by a criminal known as The Spider. After he took her hostage Yugi Moto disappeared. The police found The Spider screaming that he was on fire. He\'s still locked away. A bully that threatened Yugi just before he completed the Millennium Puzzle and then beat up Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor... driven mad as well. There are others, of course, and you are free to research them. I can wait. But believe me when I say that Yugi Moto isn\'t the innocent he seems to be... or at least the Spirit living in his body now, wearing him like a suit, isn\'t."

Pegasus swallowed at that. He remembered his duel with Yugi, how he had suddenly seemed so different. Confident. Determined. Mature beyond his years. The footage he\'d seen of Yugi\'s duels had also shown the same thing. He\'d chalked it up to Little Yugi being far more comfortable playing the game than he was dealing with real life... but now he wasn\'t so sure. He knew his own Millennium Eye had unlocked powers that he would have thought impossible only a few years go; why could the same not be true for Little Yugi?"

"But he," Edwin continued, "is not the killer." He clasped his arms behind his back in a military-stance, slowly pacing around Pegasus, circling like a shark. "I will tell you all I know about this killer... and something else that will interest you greatly, but only after you agree to my terms."

"Your terms?" Pegasus demanded. "I suppose you are going to demand I stop my attempts to take over Kaibacorp?"

"No," Edwin said a small huff. "Do what you like there. I already told you that. There is no reason for me to interfere with your plans any more than I have." He turned away from Pegasus and went back to looking around the room. "Honestly there is no reason we can\'t agree to these terms like gentlemen and then have a lovely dinner. Too many people are far too unwilling to separate business and pleasure, don\'t you agree?"

Pegasus did but he didn\'t respond so. Instead he asked, "You\'re terms?"

"First neither of us will attempt to harm the other. That includes using our respective magics."

"You possess a Millennium Item?" Pegasus asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Hell no," Edwin snapped. "I want nothing to do with those. But there are other powers in the world, Pegasus... I\'d think someone who sought them out in his grief would understand that. Now, do you agree?"

"I agree," Pegasus echoed. It was an easy enough pledge to make... Edwin wouldn\'t attack him and frankly he had no desire anymore to harm Edwin. Not if he wasn\'t interested in frustrating his plans any further. "I sense you have more demands?"

"Terms. Demands is so vulgar," Edwin said with a teasing tone. "Children are off limits. I\'ll allow teenagers to be involved so long as they aren\'t hurt but children are now forever off-limits. I will not budge from this."

"Still protecting Mokuba. Why?"

Edwin flashed him a snarl and his long legs ate up the distance between him and Pegasus, their noses almost touching. "Because I say so."

"So touchy," Pegasus taunted.

"She\'d approve."

"Who?"

"Cecellia," Edwin said, that single word like a knife right in Pegasus\' stomach, twisting and tearing up his entrails. "She\'d be so happy that you kidnapped a child."

"You-"

"As a boon I\'ll make part of my terms that I will never bring her up again," Edwin said coolly. "Agreed?"

The image of his wife, shaking her head in despair at all he had done, flashed through his mind and he forced the memory (\'It was a memory... just that\') from his thoughts. "...agreed."

The younger man nodded and stepped back. "Then my final term: You will release Solomon Moto\'s soul now." Pegasus opened his mouth to protest that Edwin had just promised that he wouldn\'t tamper with Pegasus\'s plots but Edwin continued on. "Yugi won\'t know till you beat him. You only took the old man\'s soul to get the boy to the island. Stop torturing the old man. Release his soul and then reveal to Yugi that you can be kind and will reward him even in defeat. You just needed to beat him."

Pegasus considered Edwin\'s final demand before nodding. "That is reasonable," he admitted. While at the time he hadn\'t felt troubled by his actions now that he had a chance to actually think about what he\'d done the more he was bothered by it. He wasn\'t a violent man. Nor a cruel one. He hated bullies and cheats. And yet he\'d captured an innocent man\'s soul, one who had just recovered from injury thanks to Seto Kaiba, without a second thought. Till now. \'I was desperate to get Yugi Boy in my tournament but he would have come all the same had I invited him. It is clear he loves the game and is willing to play. I gave him a greater motivation, perhaps, but was it truly needed?\' He shook his head, the Millennium Eye flashing as he did so, the vision swimming up once more.

He saw Cecelia finally returned to him... only to twist away, sobbing at what the world had been forced to endure for their second chance. She fled from him, repulsed like the Bride from Frankenstein\'s Monster... and there was the blonde woman sitting on the moon, laughing at him.

\'Edwin is right... I will have to beg on my hands and knees to Cecelia for all I have done. Perhaps if I begin to make things right I can ease the burden.\' There was a flash of magical energy before he looked at Edwin. "It\'s done. Solomon Moto will awaken within a few minutes, none the worse for wear. Do you require proof-"

"You\'ll be shocked to hear this but I trust you, Pegasus. You are a sneak but you are an honest sneak. If someone asked you about your Millennium Eye you would be open about it... not your fault people don\'t think to ask the right questions." Edwin tugged at his hoodie\'s sleeves. "Do you have a place we might sit? Maybe eat as we discuss things? While I\'d prefer to be better dressed for dinner I think it would be wiser to clue you in on everything you\'ve missed. And how your little tournament doesn\'t matter at all."

"Dinner should be ready any time now." Pegasus clapped his hands once and Croquet loyally entered, giving a small bow to the two. "Croquet, Mr. Chaos is to be treated as a respected guest. With possible further rights and privileges to come. Please also alter the Eliminators that, for now, he is off limits." He glanced at Edwin and added, "For now."

"Understandable," Edwin said with a shrug and the two of them quietly moved towards the dining room.

~MC~MC~MC~

\'Oh baby,\' I heard Sheriff Bart say in my head, \'you are so talented! And he is so DUMB!\'

For as much as I was enjoying Pegasus eating up my lie like it was the fine meal we were being served I was also trying to calm my racing heart and keep myself from breaking into flop sweats. When I\'d entered the castle and discovered that I was the very first person to arrive I had been horrified... and not just because it meant that I\'d once more taken a bulldozer to canon; no, it was the fear that I had fully drawn the attention of Season 1\'s Big Bad right on me. While I had hoped that the Millennium Key would protect me from Pegasus\' mind reading there had been no guarantee... after all, he\'d possessed the Eye far longer than I\'d held the Key (obviously since I had just gotten the damn thing) and perhaps that would have given him the power to burst through my defenses and learn everything about me.

But when it had become clear that he wouldn\'t be reading my mind I had realized that I needed a reason WHY he couldn\'t read my mind. Letting him know I held the Key was too big of a risk... I remembered that the anime had vaguely suggested Pegasus wanted Yugi\'s puzzle rather than just to beat him and I didn\'t want him going after the Key. And I certainly didn\'t need Bakura finding out about it... I had annoyed Zorc but having him actively wanting to kill me was something I didn\'t need, especially now that I\'d broken away from the protection Atem offered.

I had briefly considered playing myself off as another criminal, just like Pegasus, working my own scheme, but as the two of us had been standing there and Pegasus had been grilling me my mind had flashed to Hercule Poirot and I knew at once what role I had to fall into. One that would allow me to use future knowledge to my benefit and manipulate Pegasus into a position that would help me the most.

It had been utterly tricky and dangerous but I had managed to do just that and now found myself sitting across from the Big Bad of Season 1, his servants giving me a plate of grilled chicken with rice and a mushroom and onion sauce and a wine glass filled with sparkling white grape juice.

"Ryou Bakura," I said as I cut into the chicken breast. "He is the one that killed Shadi."

"Bakura... Yugi-Boy\'s friend? The mild mannered British boy?"

"Yes and no," I stated. "Like Yugi Bakura holds a Millennium Item: the Millennium Ring. And within the Ring lives a powerful dark spirit, far more violent than the one in Yugi\'s puzzle. I already faced him once when he made a play for Yugi\'s puzzle... I managed to hold him off."

"You did?" Pegasus said, disbelief in his tone. "And just how did you do that?"

"He used your card game as his way to try and torment Yugi, his friends, and myself." I smirked, stabbing a piece of chicken with my fork. "His mistake was being overly confident in the power of the Shadow Games. Oh, for one that is not used to them they can be a frightening experience. But I\'m an old hand at them-" \'Like lying through my teeth and pulling bullshit out of my ass\' "-and I know how to use them to my advantage. He lost; the Spirit of the Puzzle banished him... temporarily."

"Temporarily?" Pegasus asked.

"There are certain events that cause the dead to become forever locked onto an object... and it takes powerful magic to truly banish them. Break that bond. Sever it. Losing one Shadow Game? Not going to stop the Spirit of the Ring. It will return and take over Bakura... assuming it hasn\'t already." I took a moment to eat some rice, savoring the taste; it had been too long since I\'d had a decent meal, even with what Mai and I had cooked up the night before. "But he\'s on the island and he wants the Millennium Items. He failed to get the Puzzle... he\'s going to come after your Eye."

Pegasus chuckled at that, sipping his wine. "Oh, I thank you for the warning but I think I can handle young Bakura quite easily."

"It won\'t be Bakura. It will be a ghost that killed a Tomb Keeper. Someone who studied since he could walk the power of the Millennium Items. You really going to compare yourself to him?" Pegasus glowered at that but I pushed on; as much as the cocky bastard had annoyed me for what he had done to Mokuba I remembered that after Season 1 Pegasus became a strong ally to Yugi and his friends and by the time of GX was 100% on the side of angels. Maybe it took losing the Eye to do that, to get him to realize the folly of his ways, but I couldn\'t help but be a bit bold and try and make a play at getting Pegasus to turn over a new leaf AND keep a hold of the Eye to aid against Zorc.

\'And when this bites you on the ass you\'ll only have yourself to blame,\' I mentally told myself.

"That why you are on the island? To stop the Spirit of the Ring?"

"It is a mission of mine now but it isn\'t the originally reason I came to the island. I merely lucked out in finding a murderer."

Pegasus was intrigued. I couldn\'t blame him... I was spinning quite a story and it was happening so fast that I could barely keep up myself. Normally when I had to lie I liked to have time to craft my story, weaving truth into fiction until it was such a wonderful tale that even I tended to forget that it wasn\'t true. More than once I\'d come up with a lie that weeks later I think about and completely forget it hadn\'t actually happened. This though? This was spinning falsehoods on the fly and I was worried that I was going to get caught.

I knew I couldn\'t claim that Bakura was my target as that would mean hunting him down to avoid suspicion and honestly I wanted to stay away from that creepy bastard as much as I could. I could still feel Zorc\'s fingers squeezing my throat and I had no desire to let him into grabbing range once more. But that left why I was on the island. I\'d said it was because of Shadi and that Bakura had killed him and that left me fucking trapped! I\'d made my case Shadi\'s death and there was-

Future knowledge.

That was my ticket out of the hole I\'d just dug for myself.

"You claimed you were here to investigate Shadi\'s murder," Pegasus said, leaning toward and lazily cutting into his chicken; I could tell from the way he was doing it that it was all an act and he was ready to attack me with his Item the first chance he got. "Yet you now claim it wasn\'t the reason?"

"Shadi\'s death is why I am here. I didn\'t think I\'d find his killer on Duelist Kingdom."

"Then why come here? Clearly you don\'t think that I had a hand in killing him. So what connection might I have to Shadi other than my Millennium Eye."

"Not Shadi," I said with the same casual air that Pegasus was adopting. "The Tomb Keepers. That is the connection."

"I don\'t quite follow, Eddie-Boy. It\'s almost as if you are scrambling for answers." He began to brush his hair away from the Millennium Eye. "It\'s almost as if you are here for other reasons... but they have nothing to do with Bakura or Shadi. You seem so certain that young Bakura is after my Millennium Eye... and you were so very quick to dismiss claiming an Item for yourself. Have you ever heard the phrase, "He doth protest too much"?"

"Yes... I think Ishizu Ishtar said it to me once." I dropped my head and looked over my glasses as I delivered that line.

Pegasus stopped dead, fork hovering over his plate, eyes wide and mouth opened in a silent \'o\'. He gained control of himself after a moment before asking "Did she?" But the quiver in his voice made it clear that I had hit a sensitive spot.

I idly swirled my chicken in the onion mushroom gravy. "Strange things are happening in Egypt, Pegasus, and I was asked to look into them. Don\'t bother checking... I\'m good at my job and if I want to remain hidden I know how to falsify flight plans and buy off witnesses. Just take my word for it that the secret society that lives under the sands of Egypt has been rocked by scandal. The head of the Ishtar family was mysteriously murdered a couple of years ago; they say he just died, as old men do, but I can confirm that his death was murder. Two of the Millennium Items have been claimed by those that were supposed to guard them: Ishizu Ishtar and her younger brother, Marik. Her the Millennium Necklace, which grants her the main ability of gazing into the future. That\'s how she was able to predict your coming when you met with her." I took a bite of chicken, letting the flavors dance on my tongue and Pegasus to squirm just a touch with fear at how much I might actually know. "And her brother, the new head of the Ishtar family, claimed the Millennium Rod from his father, who had already begun using the Rod despite not being its destined holder.

"Now, after his death rumbles began being heard in the underground... whispers of a new player among the scum that trade their wares on the black market. That there was a new group that mixed the mysticism of the ancient times with technology of the modern day. The \'Rare Hunters\'. Dressing in the robes of Tomb Keepers but hitting modern institutes and storage facilities." I looked up at Pegasus and frowned. "Marik Ishtar is the leader of the Rare Hunters."

"Edwin," Pegasus whispered, barely controlling his terror at what he knew I was about to say, "please tell me he didn\'t-"

"The Bank of Cairo was robbed a few weeks back. The security deposit box that Ishizu set up was seized. She saw it coming and hoped to lay a trap but her brother and his second, Odion, were too clever." I leaned forward. "He took two of the Egyptian God Cards."

It was like I had just driven a sledge hammer into Pegasus\' chest. He jerked back, eyes wide, for the first true time since he\'d claimed the Millennium Eye he felt true horror. I didn\'t blame him. The Egyptian God Cards may have become simply Yugi\'s ace cards at the end of the anime but in the beginning? They were truly nightmarish creations of the darkest recesses of man\'s mind. Titans in every sense of the word, seemingly barely controlled by their holders. Able to drive duelists mad simply by seeing them and those that held them that did not deserve their power... Marik, Seto... they found their very destinies altered as all focus, all reason, became pinpricks with ONLY the God Cards visible to them. The world because cloaked in darkness with only those three beasts seen. They were the One Ring of Power, corrupting and twisting those that held them. Ishizu had nearly defeated Kaiba because he had lost all ability to see any other strategy then summoning his God Card.

\'That is the danger of them. Not that they had some magical ability or curse... but they can blind people with their power. Even the Pharaoh, who is supposed to be their chosen holder... they get taken away from him and he struggles. Power doesn\'t just corrupt... it blinds.\'

"You\'re sure of this?" Pegasus whispered, drawing my focus back to the conversation.

"Positive. Marik Ishtar has betrayed the Tomb Keepers. No." I shook my head. "That isn\'t right. That\'s making it sound like he is the only one. That he\'s Anakin Skywalker marching on the Jedi Temple. He isn\'t alone. You gave the God Cards to Ishizu believing that you were placing them in secure hands." I took a bite of my dinner. "I honestly get that. I would have made the same decision. The Tomb Keepers have been doing their duty for years. Centuries really. Thousands of years. You only heard about them because of Shadi. They are a secretive group that has done all they can to avoid detection. The perfect people to turn to hide something... especially the Egyptian God Cards."

I considered, for a moment, bringing up the Sacred Beasts and the Nodric Cards and the Wicked Gods and all the other dark terrors that Duel Monsters had brought forth but I decided to remain silent; after all, I honestly didn\'t remember WHEN the cards had been made. I knew that other series seemed to have cards magically be created by space ghosts or South American-based evil Gods... but the Sacred Beasts were all Pegasus. I truly hoped they had been created BEFORE Duelist Kingdom because if Pegasus was dumb enough to make the same mistake twice...

\'No, wait. This is Yu-Gi-Oh!. I\'m shocked he isn\'t currently telling me how he\'s making a new set of God cards based on the Death and War gods of the world.\'

"But what you didn\'t know," I said with a casual air, reaching over and grabbing my wine glass, "is that the Tomb Keepers have suddenly found themselves in a Civil War. Marik Ishtar has decided that they will no longer serve the whims of pharaohs long dead. That it is time they ruled rather than served. Ishizu is trying to fight back but the problem is that the Tomb Keepers that follow her still believe in keeping things secret, so they are unwilling to take their battle into the open. Something Marik has no problem doing. He is going to hunt down the final Egyptian God Card and then he is going to hunt down the Millennium Items. And when he has them all he\'s going to try and take over the world." I sipped my grape juice. "Because that\'s what you do when you\'re insane."

"You think he\'s insane?" Pegasus asked.

"You don\'t?" I asked.

"Oh, he very much is so if he thinks trading cards can help him achieve that goal," Pegasus said, finding comfort in that truth. "But I sense that you have a different reason for feeling that way."

"I do. It\'s insane to think you can take over the world."

"Why?"

"Because the world can\'t be conquered. It\'s too big and too wild. No being, be they mortal or honestly immortal, has a hope of dominating the Earth. They try and resistance will rise up. We are a species that loves to rebel. We hate others that rise up against us. So Marik thinking that he will be the first to be able to dominate, to be the overlord that controls all... proves how foolish he is."

"So why try and stop him?" Pegasus asked.

"Oh, are we having this debate?" I asked, amused. I didn\'t answer right away, choosing instead of eat a bit of my dinner before I dabbed the corners of my mouth with my napkin. "Because while he will fail in getting there he is going to hurt a lot of innocent people. He\'s going to cause pain and suffering. I don\'t like the idea of people who did nothing wrong, who don\'t even know who Marik Ishtar is, suffering purely because he has delusions of grandeur brought on by a crappy life." I paused, shooting Pegasus a dark look. "I think I proved that with Mokuba."

"Right," Pegasus said without a smile, glowering at that remind of how I had messed up his plans. I made a mental note to stop poking that bear as I had only managed to avoid getting locked in the dungeons because Pegasus was curious about me... but even his curiosity and his ego could only take so many blows. "And how do you plan to stop all this? And what does my island and my tournament have to do with it?"

"Your tournament? Nothing. It just gave me an excuse to come here. I didn\'t expect to make it into the finals and certainly didn\'t expect to be the first one to arrive... I think that much is obvious. My hope was to do well enough that I could arrive after the contestants got here and you\'d take pity and let me watch. Then I\'d quietly broach to you what I needed."

"And that is?"

"Information on the God Cards," I stated, figuring that was an easy enough lie and a believable one as well. Honestly I had no endgame at this point and just wanted to get off the island without any more insanity or evil magic users gunning for my soul. "During my investigation I have learned that Marik is building up his power base in hopes of taking the fight against Ishizu to a new level while also developing himself and his Rare Hunters into the premier black market crime ring. He\'s not ready yet though and that gives me time to prepare. I need to learn about the God Cards... what they can do, their effects and their power. And then I need to determine a weakness."

"They have no weakness," Pegasus said with conviction. "That\'s why I knew they needed to be locked away. I thought about destroying them but every time I considered it-" He reached up and touched the Millennium Eye.

"Where did you learn about them?" I asked.

"When I met Shadi..."

As Pegasus went on to describe how he had gotten his Millennium Eye (clearly deciding that I knew enough that there was no danger in telling me the full story) I couldn\'t help but wonder how the hell I was going to string this out long enough to avoid him grilling me for answers.

Because I had built a card house on shifting sands and one wrong movement, no matter how small, would send it all crashing down.