Chapter 17 - 17

Chapter 17

Mai watched as Edwin stood between Pegasus and Kabia and couldn't stop the conflicting emotions that rose up within her. A maelstrom of, well, chaos. Caused by Edwin Chaos himself.

There was the joy in seeing that he had made it to the finals. She had been worried that he would end up missing everything protecting the kid, sacrificing his chance at proving himself saving Kaiba's brother. Not that she didn't blame him for wanting to protect the boy but... it seemed utterly wrong that he not get a spot in the finals because he completely deserved it. Especially considering some of the other people that had made it.

But seeing him there also made her feel a shiver of worry. She'd seen how strong Edwin's deck was and how skilled he was in handling tough opponents and knew that as enjoyable as it was to see Edwin destroy a foe with combos and mindgames she had no urge to be on the receiving end of his attacks.

Then there was the frustration she felt knowing he'd not only beaten her to Pegasus' Castle but had managed to secure the first slot in the finals. She had thought that she had the lead in everything, that she had not only gotten the most Star Chips but she'd also gotten her Star Chips faster than anyone else. Yet there was Edwin showing that he'd been several steps ahead of her. It was a bitter blow to her ego... which was tainted by the guilt she felt over not being more happy for her...

'Friend? Companion?' she thought to herself. 'Something more? At least I wish we were more than that...'

But probably the strongest emotion she felt was anger. How dare he toss away his chance to battle Pegasus? Even she at her utter worst would never have considered being so utterly flippant with a chance for glory and fame as Edwin was being. This wasn't like with Mokuba, where he was giving up a chance at the finals in order to protect someone else. Edwin had his spot and he was now bartering with it like it was little more than a casino chip. Glancing over at the rest of the group she could see the same disgust and distaste for his actions on all their faces. They'd all fought so hard to get to this moment and to have Edwin treating such an honor as little more than a token that he might use to try and weasel out something more...

"Why would I even trust you?" Kaiba asked with a huff, folding his arms over his chest. "You've shown you have a silver tongue... and acid in your veins."

"Thank you," Edwin said with a pleasant smile. "As for why?" He began to circle around Kaiba and Mai swallowed, remembering the last time she'd seen Edwin like this: PaniK. When he'd been bold... no. Not bold. Self assured. Somehow he'd known that he was going to win and there was nothing PaniK could do to change things. It was like they were all reading from a script and Edwin already knew the ending so he could enjoy the performance as it led to the ending he wanted. He could be humble and kind but in these moments there was the ghost of a sneer on his lips and his entire posture screamed that he was ready to take all he saw in his fingers and slowly squeeze his hand shut.

'He might be tossing away his chance to duel Pegasus and disgracing himself,' she thought, 'but that man is impressive in how he commands a room.'

"The fact of the matter is you don't really have a choice, do you Kaiba?" Though his voice was light there was an edge to it, so sharp that she could nearly see the wounds he was cutting into Kaiba's ego.

"I have plenty of choices."

"Pegasus isn't going to let you make a challenge. Why should he? You long for things to be under your control, which is why you are going to demand that he use your Duel Disc system instead of his projectors. You hate it when you aren't the one guiding things. You need to choose the spot, the stakes, the scenario. It always has to be you deciding how things go. That's why your loss to Yugi so bothers you... another duelist you might have been able to accept, because they caught you on a poor day. But Yugi Moto defeating you with a borrowed deck and with no experience worth mentioning? Oh, you can't stand that lack of control. That's why you put on that farce of a duel earlier... you needed to win again to set things right." He let out an amused little laugh. "But it didn't work, did it Seto? Because you know you didn't beat Yugi."

"He lost."

"But you didn't win, did you? There is a difference. He could have EASILY beaten you but you had to resort to a cheap tactic and play on his kindness in order to do that. He surrendered... but you didn't win. And more than that..." Edwin leaned in and whispered, "that's how Gozaburo would have won."

Kaiba's eyes snapped open wide at that and he whipped around, Edwin already having leapt away before Kaiba could take a swing at him.

"But Pegasus isn't going to let you take control here," Edwin said, continuing on even as Kaiba glared at him with utter loathing. If it was because he was touching a tender spot... or if it was because everything Edwin was saying was true and Kaiba hated him for revealing his shame to himself Mai couldn't tell. "Because you two are so very alike, as much as you hate to admit it. Pegasus didn't beat Yugi either... Yugi lost to him but Pegasus didn't win. Time ran out. A cheap ploy." He paused and glanced at the creator of Duel Monsters who merely stared back at Edwin before giving a casual shrug. "You two... oh in another life you could have been FAMILY."

"Take that back," Kaiba hissed.

"Cheerfully withdrawn," Edwin said with a mocking leer. "But the point remains that you don't have a choice: you want to face Pegasus then you need to deal with me."

"There is still a spot in the finals. I can easily beat Wheeler and Moto and face Pegasus long after he beats you."

Edwin though laughed at that. "Yugi will defeat you. You only managed that win before because of cheap- we already covered this. Mai, I already covered this, didn't I?"

"You did. And thank you Kaiba for not including me in who you'd easily beat."

"That's because you don't even matter, Mai."

"Dude, talk to the lady with an ounce of respect." Edwin's glasses flashed in the light of the Main Hall. "In fact let's make that a rule for Tea as well... or any other woman who might join us. Show them respect. Okay? Okay. But like I said you never have beaten Yugi and while he might be a touch out of it he's going to snap back and realize that while he did get a bit to... extreme... in his desire to win that isn't a bad thing. Merely something to be tempered properly." Edwin was staring hard at Yugi at that point and the young teen shifted uneasily at that; clearly Edwin was reading into Yugi's own fragile ego and seeking a way to repair it. "But when he does? He'll destroy you."

"Not a chance."

"Perhaps I'm wrong then... but there is one way to guarantee you finish things with Pegasus once and for all and that is dealing with me. So stop dancing around it and let's talk bargains!"

"...we already had an agreement, one you seem to have broken." Seto took a step towards Edwin and narrowed his eyes. "Where is my brother? You swore to protect him-"

"I have. Mokuba's safe."

"You left him alone on this island? You call that safe?"

Edwin smirked though at that. "Who said he was still on the island?"

THAT made everyone, even Pegasus, stop and stare at him.

"...how?" Pegasus asked before scowling. "Renard."

"The Eliminator?" Tristan asked.

"OH!" Tea exclaimed before clapping her hands. "That's great, Edwin! Renard won't let anything happen to Mokuba!"

Kaiba though wasn't convinced. "One of Pegasus Eliminators... you trusted my brother with someone in Pegasus' employ?"

"Why not? You hired Sally... I mean Kemo." Edwin shrugged. "And you trusted the Big 5. And their security forces... huh, when we add it all up you are really a bad judge of character. The point is that your brother is safely away from Duelist Kingdom... and I've bartered for his safety."

"He has," Pegasus confirmed, showing that Edwin was just full of surprises.

"Why?" Kaiba asked.

Pegasus though merely closed his eyes and gave a playful shrug. "No... I don't think I'll tell you. It will drive you even more mad trying to figure out what he did than anything else I could do to you, Kaiba-Boy. Honestly I should have thought of such an act before hand... after all, I really don't need Mokuba for any of this, he just made things easier. But now that you are here... well... we can settle this matter once and for all."

"That we can," Kaiba said, stepping forward and holding up his briefcase. "You and I-"

"A-hem," Edwin said, not actually clearing his throat but instead merely saying the words as over the top as possible. "There is a little matter of MY challenge. Which I am happy to do if you don't want, Kaiba." He turned to Pegasus. "Since you issued the challenge, not me, I get to select how and where."

"It's a card game-" Pegasus began but Edwin waved him off.

"Tehcnically I get full right to choose any weapon of my choice. But I'll be nice here and not demand pistols at dawn. Right, a card game. But I will be creating the rules and I will need... I don't know... 2 decades to finish making my set of rules. And since I am the first one with right of challenge the rest of you can just wait until I get done."

"20 years?!?" Yugi exclaimed. "We can't wait that long!"

"Yeah!" Tristan shouted. "Come on man, Yugi might have gone through puberty by then-AAARGH!" Tristan crumbled after Tea elbowed him.

Edwin though snickered. "Okay, that was a good one, Tristan. Someone let him know I found it funny once he gets done rolling on the ground in pain."

"What do you want then, Chaos?" Kaiba demanded. "Money?"

"Already have 6 million between the two of you." He gestured at Pegasus and Seto.

"Blimey!" Bakura exclaimed.

Joey instantly appeared at Edwin's side. "Hey pal... you wouldn't mind lending you're ol' pal Joey some of that cash, would ya?"

"I tried," Edwin said coldly.

Joey, remembering exactly WHY Edwin now had $3 million from Kaiba, winced and quickly shuffled back to his friends without saying a word. Mai, for her part, was looking Edwin up and down and debating how she might accelerate her flirting with him; oh, it wasn't merely that he was rich now that interested her... but she knew it would interest a whole lot of other people once word got out and she'd seen him first, darn it!

'Like I'd ever let the likes of Vivian Wong get her hands on Edwin,' she thought sourly.

"No, " Edwin said, drawing her focus back onto the matter at hand, "money isn't what I'm after. I once heard that there are several things in this world people search for. Money is one of them. Love is another. Revenge is a tasty morsel. Superiority? Hmmm... working on that. Power... power I have. Influence... now there is a tricky one. And one both of you can help me with."

"I already gave you the money and the challenge," Pegasus reminded him.

Edwin smirked. "You won't mind this boon. Neither will Seto when he thinks about it. In fact you'll both think this the greatest deal you ever made."

"Spit it out already," Kaiba complained.

"Right now the issue between the two of you is control of KaibaCorp. Pegasus, you've bought out all the public shares, isn't that correct?"

"I have," Pegasus stated, looking right at Kaiba. "37%. The very same ploy you used on your stepfather to take the company from him. How does it feel to be beaten at your own game?"

"How does it feel to be stealing the ideas of 10 year olds?" Kaiba snapped back.

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty," Edwin mocked. The two of them slowly slid their gazes towards him and Edwin quickly held up his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry, a bit too far in playing the arrogant jerk role. Should have left that for you two. Anyhooooooo... how much stock does Mokuba own, Kaiba?"

"...1%."

"You only let your brother have 1% of stock?" Joey complained. "Man, I knew you were greedy..."

"Clam it, Wheeler. You don't even know what stock is!"

"I so do too, rich boy!" Joey said before blinking. "Uh... not like soup stock, right?"

Mai rolled her eyes.

"The rest belongs to the Big 5 then, correct?" Edwin asked, getting nods from the two of them. "That's my price for my right to challenge Pegasus, along with getting Seto's spot in the finals: the Big 5's 25% controlling interest in KaibaCorp."

Pegasus chuckled at that. "I can't give away what isn't mine, Edwin."

"But you both had put into motion ways to get rid of the Big 5, haven't you?" He glanced at first one and then the other and for several long moments neither of the other duelists said a word before finally Kaiba clenched his jaw.

"There is a Disloyalty Clause in their contracts that I snuck in during their last contract renewal. After I defeat Pegasus I will activate it, allowing me to claim all their shares and kick them to the street."

"Which won't happen because the Big 5 have placed their shares within shell companies that I control... and have already locked them out of. It is only because I can't actually take control of the stock that has prevented me from just doing away with all of this and just seizing control of KaibaCorp fully. Part of the agreement with them when I formed the shell companies for them was that I couldn't access them... and now they can't either." Pegasus gave a shrug before calling out, "Croquet!"

The man servant emerged from the doorway and bowed to his employer. "Yes, Mr. Pegasus?"

"I've decided to accept Eddy-Boy's deal. Please shift control of the five shell companies Rabbit Season, Duck Season, Puddy-Cat INC, Sufferin' Succotash, and United Corp to Edwin Chaos." He glanced over at the rest of them. "I ran out of pun-related names."

"Ah," everyone but Seto said.

"Well Kaiba? Are you willing to accept Edwin's offer? Not that you have a choice since I still have complete control of the shares and have decided to reward him with them... so it is merely going to cost you your pride..."

"...deal," Kaiba ground out.

"Nice doing business with you," Edwin said with a grin, though it fell a bit when he saw the rest of those gathered glowering at him and his deal-making antics.

"Then it is decided! Edwin will join the three other finalists while Kaiba-Boy and I will face off using Edwin's challenge. Creator vs. Champion... oh, what a delightful match!"

~MC~MC~MC~

It wasn't delightful at all.

I hadn't doomed Seto to have his soul ripped out of his body and placed in a card. No... I'd gotten clever. Led him to that destiny like I was the pied piper and he was a rat with a billion dollar bank account. I could have stopped it... but I hadn't. I'd egged him on, gotten him into position, and came out of it with money and power. And he thought it was all his idea.

Though as I looked at the field I began to think about it and decided that maybe this was for the best. What better way to help boost Joey up then to have him win against my best card?

"I activate the effect of my Lab!" I declared, thrusting out my hand. "By removing 6 spell counters from my field I can summon directly from my deck one Spellcaster!"

"Oh no!" Tea cried out.

"You think..." Tristian said, trailing off.

"I think he will," Bakura agreed.

"About time!" Mai cheered.

"COME FORTH ENDYMION!" I called out, holding out my arms wide as my Master Magician burst onto the field as the shards of the Spell Counters rained down around him. It was glorious and wonderful and if nothing else it would burn into everyone's mind as a memory to hold onto. "Endymion, I think it is time to slay the dragon!"

"My Red-Eyes!" Joey exclaimed. "No... no, I have to protect him somehow-"

"There is no way, Joey! All things die... even dragons. Endymion: Spell Power Blast!" My mage held up his hands, the staff rising in the air before he fired off a blast of energy that rocketed out and caught Red-Eyes right in the gut. The dragon twitched and there was silence... and then he exploded in a shower of hardlight. (Joey-1400)

I only belatedly wondered why Joey looked so utterly upset.

~MC~MC~MC~

'No,' Joey thought, staring in horror at where his Red-Eyes had been. Gone. It was gone. And with it his hopes of winning. 'What good is this hand if I'm missing the key piece!' he exclaimed within the echoing recesses of his mind.

And worst of all was that he was facing down Endymion. While he hadn't seen the spellcaster as much as Yugi's Dark Magician or Kaiba's Blue-Eyes... what he had seen of the Master Magician had made it quickly enter the same legendary status as those two monsters. When Edwin brought out his Spellcaster that usually meant that the duel was about to end. And now Joey was facing it and had already lost his Red-Eyes to the mage! He was done!

"Don't give up, Joey!" Tristan called out. "You can do this! You just need to come up with a new strategy to take out that spellcaster!"

"He's right, Joey!" Tea cried out. "We believe in you!"

Bakura joined in. "Don't let one lost battle get you down, Joey! You can still win this!"

"You have a strong deck, Joey!" Yugi chimed in. "Believe in yourself! You can overcome anything!"

"Some friends you are," Mai said hotly before turning towards Edwin. "Ignore them, Edwin! We both know who deserves to be in this tournament! You're ten times smarter than Joey and now its time you show it!"

Joey grit his teeth at Mai's comments. It was frustrating that she was insulting him but at the same time he understood why; he'd be mad too if everyone decided to just root for Yugi and ignore him if he and his best bud had a duel. 'Maybe that's why Ed is so quiet... he knows that everyone is against him.' He shook his head though. 'But sorry, pal, but I can't go easy on you just because everyone is rooting for me. Because they are rooting for me... especially Serenity. I already messed up once... I'm not going to mess up again. And that means defeating you!' Joey drew and his eyes widened. "Whoa," he murmured before quickly forcing himself to calm down. 'Chasm of Spikes. If Ed's monster attacks while I have this trap on the field he'll be destroyed and Ed will take battle damage equal to half its attack. That would be it! He'd be done! This... this might be what I need!'

"Alright then Ed, time to make things interesting! I summon my Meteor Dragon in attack mode and have it attack your Exemplar!"

Edwin's brow furrowed at that but then he got rather startled when he saw not only his monster shatter but his lifepoints drop by 100. (Edwin-500) "Confused? When another dragon is defeated on the field my Meteor Dragon is able to absorb their energies to power up their attack, breaking through their defenses!" Joey set his trap and smirked. "Sorry Ed." 'Now you just need to be blinded by that attack and fall into my trap."

"Stupid Duelist Kingdom D&D rules," Edwin muttered to himself before drawing. "I suppose you want me to attack and activate that trap card, right?" Joey grimaced as Edwin read him like a book. "Sorry Joey, but not that dim. I activate Endymion's special ability by discarding my Spell Power Grasp so I can destroy one card on the field. And I choose your trap card!" The Chasm shattered before it could even activate. "And then I attack that Meteor Dragon! Spell Power Strike!" Joey shielded himself as, for the second time in a row, his dragon shattered. (Joey-500)

"Man, Joey can't catch a break!" Tristan complained.

Mai laughed at that. "Of course he can't! Haven't you realized by now that Edwin is beyond him?"

'Maybe Mai is right,' Joey thought. 'Maybe Ed is too good at dueling. I couldn't beat Kaiba, I barely managed to beat that sneak Bonz... I keep winning by the skin of my teeth and I can't keep hoping for wins like that day in and day out.' But as soon as he thought that he quickly banished that negativity from his mind. 'What am I saying? Yug has been in far worse spots than me and he always pulled out the win! And I can as well! I just need to believe in the Heart of the Cards!' Joey reached out and drew...

...and let out a laugh.

"ALRIGHT!" he declared. "Ed, this is it! This is the moment when I win the duel! I play Baby Dragon and then activate the Time Wizard!'

~MC~MC~MC~

This was it. THIS was what I was waiting for. Even if I hadn't realized it at the time.

'Time Wizard,' I thought to myself, nearly giddy. 'Perfect.'

Joey would win, of course, because he had Plot Armor and Main Character Status to protect him and aid him. I wasn't the hero of this story... I was just the guy that kept getting his nose dirty in things that I shouldn't be involved with. The world had made it clear to me: I was the villain. And it was time for the villain to fall. The spinner would land on the Time Machine, Endymion would be reduced to a husk, and the Thousand Dragon would destroy him and end the duel with one gust of old dragon nose smoke.

'And no one can claim Joey outplayed me,' I thought to myself as the dial began to spin. 'He got lucky. Damn luck. I had it in the bag save for a cruel twist of fate. Joey will see it as a victory all the same and will crow a bit but not as much as if he really outsmarted me. And no one else will throw it in my face all that much.' The dial spun but began to slow. 'And everything will-'

Skull.

The world came to a screeching halt.

Skull.

Joey nearly collapsed. I wasn't much better.

Skull.

Not the Time Machine.

Skull.

The Time Wizard and the Baby Dragon both exploded violently and Joey was thrown off his feet even as his lifepoints trickled down.

Skull.

(Joey-0000)

"The winner is Edwin Chaos!" Croquet declared.

I stood there, rendered dumb and mute as I took in what had just happened. Pegasus was clapping and Mai was cheering her head off and Yugi's friends were murmuring to themselves trying to piece together that what had happened had actually happened...

Skull.

"I lost," Joey whispered before clenching his eyes shut and pressing his head to the dueling platform. "Serenity."

He sounded so lost and confused and I completely understood where he was coming from because I had no idea what the flying fuck had just happened. 'How... how did I win? I was trying to fucking lose! To a main fucking character! AND I FUCKING WIN?!?'

"Joey," I said as my platform began to lower. I wanted to comfort him, maybe find some way to fix this. Pegasus had given me $3 million... there were no strings attached to that so I could give him that for Serenity. Or offer a rematch... claim that I broke some rule? Maybe go to Pegasus and convince him to lie and say there was a mistake-

"Stay away from him, Edwin!" the Pharaoh declared, having at some point taken control of Yugi's body and decided to storm towards me. He moved to block my path which was rather funny considering that even with his stupid pokey hair I had a good few inches on him in height and he didn't have any muscles on him. Hell, he looked like if I blew hard enough he'd fall over. "I don't know how this fits into your mad goddess' game but I will not let you hurt Joey any more than you have!"

"...what?"

MY confusion was echoed by everyone else.

"Uh, Yug?" Joey said, his own morose feelings gone in the face of his friend acting so strangely. "I'm, uh, perfectly fine. Well, not really but-"

"Hey!" Mai declared, hurrying over and standing beside me. "Don't blame Edwin just because Joey lost!"

"Stay out of this Mai, this doesn't concern-"

"I want her here," I declared, wrapping an arm around Mai. Worries about our relationship and the right and wrong of it could be put on hold as all I cared about in the moment was that she was my friend and the Pharaoh had no right to talk to her like that. "You miss my warning to Kaiba yesterday? You will show her respect. And she's right. I have no idea what you are talking about."

The Pharaoh just continued to glare at me. "About what, Edwin? How you purposely threw this duel against Joey or that you are enslaved to a titan goddess who has decided to interfere in the affairs of mortals?"

"...both?" I said helplessly, mostly thrown by the entire goddess thing.

"Those are rather bold proclamations to make against Edwin, Yugi-Boy," Pegasus said, reminding us all he was still there. "Do you have any proof?"

"Anyone with an ounce of knowledge when it came to dueling can see the proof," the Pharaoh charged. "Edwin time and again refused to make a move that would win him the duel. He could have brought Trance out of his graveyard with Exemplar's effect. You could have used Spell Power Grasp to power up your lab and bring out another monster, such as your Breaker or another monster, far sooner. Endymion is a mighty magician, a rival for my Dark Magician, but you used him poorly in this match. Time and time again you could have activated his effect to destroy Joey's monster and end the duel but instead you drew it out. I don't know why you felt the need to torture him like that but I won't let you hurt him further." He narrowed his eyes and with the coldest of voices he declared like a warlord on his throne of skulls, "As for your goddess... I have seen her. Spoken to her. And I know that she will do nothing to protect humanity. All she cares about is you."

My face screwed up in confusion at that last part but I decided to shove it aside; I could puzzle over the knowledge that apparently the Pharaoh had talked with whatever force had brought me to this world later. For now I needed to deal with his temper tantrum and his slander against my character.

"Well, this is certainly interesting," Pegasus said, bemused.

I was focused on the Pharaoh though. And the more I rolled over what he had said... the angrier I got. Again with the holier than thou attitude. Again thinking he knew best. Again the double standards.

Enough.

I narrowed my eyes and shifted so Mai was put behind me. "How dare you stand there and judge me and how I duel. I didn't break any rules. I didn't do anything dishonorable. I chose my moments and it won me the match. I didn't resurrect Trance because its better to have an Ace in the hole than to wastefully flood the field with monsters that can't do a thing to help me. I didn't use Spell Power Grasp because I needed to hold onto that spell card to use Endymion's effect to remove that trap. And I didn't destroy Joey's dragons with said effect because I had no idea what his trap card was... it could have been something that destroyed my monster as well and I had less lifepoints. Or something that saved his monster and would have left me in a lurch.

"But you didn't consider that for a moment, did you? Instead you decided back with PaniK... maybe back with Pennywise... that I lacked honor and thus you had the right to look down your nose and judge me. Never mind all you do! You play your own mind games, you twist the rules to serve yourself... oh, but when you do it... so honorable. Tell me... had I tried to kill Joey by blasting him off the edge of the castle would I have regained my honor?"

The Pharaoh flinched at that. "I was wrong-"

"Did everyone hear that?" I bellowed. "He admits he is wrong! Check for leprechauns because it is a day for the impossible to be made true!"

"Hey man," Joey said, stepping forward, "no need-"

"There is all the need," I retorted.

"I was wrong," the Pharaoh repeated before defiantly glaring at me. "But I was fighting for a greater cause. All you've cared about, Edwin, is lining your pocket. You sent Kaiba against Pegasus, knowing he would lose-"

"Because Edwin isn't a fool," Pegasus chimed in with a chuckle.

"-and happily accepted payment for it. You used Kaiba's desperation against him."

"I also saved Mokuba when you would have allowed Sally to drag him back to the castle," I reminded him. "You seem to forget about that! You BET a child's freedom on a duel! Or what have if I hadn't stepped in! So don't ever claim you have the moral high ground there... I don't hurt kids. Like you." I trembled, hands balled into fists. "And I got Seto to pay me the first time in order to try and help Serenity. I didn't want the millions... I did what we AGREED! Are you telling me that if you beat me you won't do the same?" I sneered in disgust. "And using someone's desperation against them? That's rich coming from you."

"I don't use people, Edwin."

"You're using Yugi right now," I said, grasping the verbal knife and plunging it right into the Pharaoh's arrogant heart.

He reeled from the blow. "W-what?"

"You think I forgot the battle against the Spirit of the Ring?" I taunted. "I remember all too well." My hand went to my throat and I forced myself not to stare at Bakura; I knew the Spirit of the Ring was in control and eyeing me up almost hungrily. "There are two Yugis. The real one... and you. The Spirit that used a child's desperation for friendship in order to get another chance at life. I was wrong when I called Pennywise a parasite... you're the parasite, Spirit. You had your chance at life and now you are stealing what little time Yugi has on this world... be it 60 years or a 100 you are STILL taking it away from him. And why?" I leaned in. "To play a card game." I huffed. "Parasite. A cowardly one at that. One that only comes out for duels but doesn't actually live. You cower from life!

"You're a hypocrite and I'm tired of you judging me. I am Edwin Chaos and you have no right to judge me! But let's do this in the only way you understand! Screw waiting! Screw recovering! I have a deck, you have a deck... let's give Pegasus a show!"

The Pharaoh stared at me before steeling himself. "Very well, Edwin. It is time I at last showed the world what you really are."

"And me you. So put on your Sunday dress and dancing shoes because ITS TIME TO DUEL!"