Chapter 14: Pegasus: I Predicted Your Prediction

Meanwhile, Yugi—or rather, the Dark Yugi who had stepped forward in place of the normal Yugi—was facing a test from Pegasus.

Looking at his empty field and the few cards left in his hand, Yugi hesitated for a long time, unable to decide which monster he should summon.

During their exchanges over the past few turns, no matter what kind of monster he summoned, Pegasus in the videotape seemed to have anticipated every card he would play while watching. With precognitive accuracy, Pegasus always managed to set up the appropriate traps and make counterplays. There was [Dragon Capture Jar], designed to counter Dragon-type monsters, and [Jirai Gumo]—wait, [Man-Eater Bug]? No, [Jar Robber]—linking together step by step, making Yugi feel as though he had stepped right into a snare.

*That fellow Pegasus, could it be—*

"You can see the thoughts in my heart."

Even the suspicions that fleetingly arose in Yugi's mind amidst his hesitation were accurately read beforehand by the Pegasus in the recording.

With these thoughts, Yugi's gaze inevitably drifted toward Pegasus's left eye, an area he had cared about from the very beginning. There, instead of a human eyeball, rested a golden metallic "prosthetic eye," a design that inevitably reminded Yugi of the Millennium Puzzle hanging around his chest.

Almost at the exact moment Yugi's gaze locked with Pegasus's "prosthetic eye," an extremely subtle, imperceptible force passed through their eye contact from Pegasus's artificial eye straight into Yugi's eyes. Unable to help himself, Yugi lowered his head to look at his hand. When he spotted an Undead-type monster among his cards, his hand unconsciously reached out toward that card, preparing to play it.

Right at that moment, a loud "bang" suddenly echoed from behind Yugi, pulling him out of that trance-like state. While feeling puzzled by his own bizarre condition, Yugi couldn't help but turn his head to look behind him.

With his limbs seemingly controlled like a marionette by several illusory Duel Monsters, Hayato pushed open the living room door like a zombie, stumbling his way into the dueling arena. Noticing Yugi's gaze, Hayato had sweat continually dripping down his forehead as he forced a smile and said, "Yo, Yugi-boy—no, 'Dark Yugi.' You wouldn't reject a spectator joining in, right?"

"Hayato-boy? What an unexpected meeting. I never expected you to be able to move freely within this Shadow Game domain." Pegasus in the videotape was also surprised by Hayato's appearance, spreading his hands out gracefully. "At least me has no objection to your joining. Duel Monsters is the greatest game, well worth being known by more people!"

Yugi, on the other hand, looked with concerned eyes at the various card spirits attached to Hayato's limbs: "Hayato, your condition..."

***

"I'm simply using the power of the card spirits to resist the power of the Millennium Item. If I don't move around too much, the energy consumption isn't that high." Dropping heavily onto the sofa and looking at Yugi, Hayato offered a smile. "The principle is just using the card spirits to 'control' my body."

"Hahaha, that starfish-head over there, the power of us brothers is the absolute strongest!"

"That chestnut bastard only gets to be smug for a little while. Most of the work still depends on us few."

"The title of Aniki's strongest underling definitely belongs to us, ne~!"

Hayato unceremoniously used his left hand—possessed by [Gaia the Fierce Knight]—to strike his right hand, or rather, the [Ojama Yellow] clinging to his right hand: "Underlings, shut your mouths and watch the match quietly!"

"Hai!" * 3

Hayato's appearance was merely an unexpected interlude. But when Yugi shifted his attention back to his hand, he found himself involuntarily falling into a daze: Why on earth had he wanted to summon that Undead-type monster just a moment ago?

*Card spirits controlling Hayato's body allowed him to move. Controlling...* Thinking up to this point, Yugi's eyes widened in realization. He vaguely guessed the true ability of the Pegasus in the videotape. It was definitely not precognition; otherwise, Pegasus would surely have known about Hayato's arrival. His true ability was—

Drawing a card from the top of his deck and glancing sideways at it, Yugi summoned that monster to the field: "The monster I am summoning is—"

"It's an Undead-type monster, isn't it? Ho-ho~ Yugi-boy, I predicted what kind of monster you would summon a long time ago." Pegasus interrupted Yugi, casually flipping open a face-down card in his back row: "What me is activating is the Trap Card, [Sunbathing]. The sacred sun will destroy all Undead-type monsters on the field."

"Sore wa dou kana?"

Not a trace of surprise appeared on Yugi's face: "Pegasus, the essence of your ability is actually seeing the cards in my hand, isn't it? I anticipated long ago that you would prepare cards targeting the monsters in my hand. But unfortunately! This card of mine is not an Undead, but the Spellcaster-type [Dark Magician]!"

***

A stern-faced man wearing a handsome wizard's robe made his entrance. The emerald-green magic staff in his hand was spun around a few times like a long baton, looking quite impressive.

"NO! It actually isn't an Undead-type monster~" Pegasus looked at the [Dark Magician] summoned by Yugi, putting on a sad expression on his face.

Yugi waved his hand: "[Dark Magician], go and defeat my controlled [Fiend Dragon]!"

Pegasus's affected expression suddenly returned to normal, even though the [Fiend Dragon] wasn't the only target available for Yugi to attack: "Why use [Dark Magician] to attack the [Fiend Dragon] instead of the weaker [Jar Robber]? If you had done that, this game would already be over, Yugi-boy?"

"Because the [Fiend Dragon] is my own monster. My own monster should be laid to rest by my own hands. Ending the battle under your control would be far too regrettable." A confident expression appeared on Yugi's face, for in his eyes, Pegasus's previously pretentious magic tricks had been completely seen through. "Besides, hearing you use that catchphrase 'boy' is truly grating."

"Because me is an American, speaking this way is quite normal. Besides, Hayato-boy also frequently addresses you that way. Talk about double standards, Yugi-boy~"

"Enough talk! [Dark Magician], launch your attack!"

First spinning the long magic staff back and forth between his palms like a martial monk hailing from the Shaolin Temple, showing off for a brief moment, the [Dark Magician] finally recalled the order just given by his master. With a gentle wave of his staff, a surge of dark magical energy poured out, casually reducing the [Fiend Dragon]—which Pegasus had stolen from Yugi using the [Dragon Capture Jar]—into dust.

As the [Dark Magician] definitively obliterated the [Fiend Dragon], Pegasus watched his Life Points plummet in one go down to 1200, yet he burst into laughter: "Yugi-boy, this boring tenacity of yours will seal your doom."

"To have pierced through the truth behind a part of my ability... Yugi-boy, you have passed. It is time for me to get serious!"