Pegasus: 4000 Purple Fall: 4000

  The room was as silent as a grave for a length of time that seemed to stretch on to hours, even though both duelists knew it was nothing but mere seconds passing. The first to break the silence was Purple Fall.

  “I shall take the first turn.”

  As Purple Fall spoke, the air shimmered before both of them, solidifying just enough for them to produce their decks and place them down.

  Pegasus accepted the declaration with a slight incline of his head. Part of his mind was still on what Purple Fall had said moments ago – ‘So sayith the wise Red Summer’. Red Summer. Pegasus did not recognize the moniker, similar to how the moniker ‘Purple Fall’ was also new to him. The way the man spoke, this ‘Red Summer’ was a target of respect. A master-apprentice relationship, or was this something bigger?

  Then there was the possession factor. Through his own guesses and probing, Pegasus at this point had confirmed that the man in front of him was possessed, and for quite some time considering the state of his body. No man, even one aged nearly to the point of death, would look like that. He was more of a moving corpse than a living man. But if it truly was possession in play, then the mastermind controlling the body would hardly care about factors like that. It would only matter if the puppet could move and still conduct the owner’s magic.

  The early stages of a duel between mages were always a key point. Both mages would test each other, poking and prodding away to figure out just how strong the other mage was. Bits of information, such as what Pegasus had gleaned through their short conversation, often meant the difference between life and a fate worse than death. And in this case, Pegasus could dive a little bit deeper.

  As Purple Fall drew a card to start his turn, Pegasus’s Millennium Eye flared with golden light. It was as natural as breathing for him at this point. See the enemy, see their mind. What would Purple Fall’s mind show? The thoughts of a human? A blank canvas, one so perfectly warded that even the Eye could not see past it? Decoy minds? Or would the man in front of him be such an arrogant sort that his true thoughts would remain unprotected?

  The darkness of the room fell away to reveal the mindscape Pegasus was so familiar with. Yet, this was… different. It was old – far older than even Purple Fall’s wrinkled visage would suggest.

  And then the thoughts of the man’s mind were laid bare before him.

  “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEPLEASEPLEASEDOITKILLMESAVEMEHELPMEPLEASEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

  It was enough to make even Pegasus take the slightest step backward, though he showed no other visible reaction to the battering wall of incoherent screaming, maddening ravings, and ragged, repeated pleas for death that raged against his mind like an unceasing hurricane tearing its way across the coast.

  This was…

  Pegasus could readily admit that even he himself had committed several horrific crimes in the past.

  But this…

  This was madness. The body possessed by Purple Fall… it was still alive and fully conscious of everything. This was no mere accident. It was an obvious countermeasure against mind-reading and scrying in general. Any token attempts would be fooled by the presence of the decoy mind, and any more thorough attempts (such as Pegasus’s own) would be battered away by the insanity of the mortal mind still locked away in the rotting cage of Purple Fall’s possessed body.

  As if he knew what Pegasus had just done, Purple Fall’s rotting teeth were once more exposed by a mocking smile, one made all the worse to Pegasus now due to the knowledge he had just received.

  “I’m afraid it won’t be that easy.” Purple Fall whispered malevolently. “I wonder… how good are you really without relying on that foul scrap of gold and blood? Oh yes…” Purple Fall laughed mockingly, “I know what your eye is. I do admit… the reports paint a picture of a different kind of man than the one who stands before me. I wonder, which one is genuine?”

  But Pegasus did not respond to the loaded question, not even with the barest of movements. Similar to him, Purple Fall also seemed to be fishing for information. Anything, even a contraction of his eyebrows, a scowl, or a sneer, could say more than words.

  “No matter.” Purple Fall’s mocking laughter fell off as suddenly as it had begun. “I summon Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200) in defense mode and place one card face-down. That will end my turn.”

  Pegasus cast a glance over at the solemn three-eyed witch as he drew a card. A standard opening that revealed no useful information about the man’s deck. No matter. He already had a strategy in mind.

  “My turn. I activate Black Illusion Ritual!” Pegasus revealed a spell card in his hand as a strange vessel with a Millennium Eye and two silver cups appeared silently from the shadows to rest before him. “By sacrificing the level one Sinister Serpent from my hand, I ritual summon Relinquished (0/0)!”

  As a strange blue monster with a single eyestalk floated from the darkness, the atmosphere in the room noticeably thickened. Indeed. In response to the waves of cold fury that still battered across the once-calm lake of his inner self, Pegasus had decided from the start to pay no heed to his usual Toon strategy. There would be no need for a smokescreen here. No need to play the foppish millionaire, feigning weakness and lack of ability in a sly attempt to lower the guard of his opponent.

  This man, this ‘Purple Fall’, had murdered children. He had slaughtered Pegasus’s men. Held a poor soul trapped in hellish conditions for who knew how long. If Pegasus failed to respond to all of this with anything other than the maximum amount of strength that he could muster, then… could he even still call himself human?

  “The effect of Relinquished activates!” Pegasus ordered. “By targeting your witch, I equip it to my monster, causing its stats to mirror that of the witch's!”

  Relinquished (0/0 -> 1100/1200).

  “Attack.” Pegasus’s cold voice continued. There was no response from Purple Fall, who allowed the attack to strike true without even brushing his hand against the face-down card he controlled. Nor did he flinch as the claws of Relinquished scoured across his face. It was as Pegasus expected – the host would take damage instead of Purple Fall.

  Disgusting.

  Pegasus: 4000 Purple Fall: 2900

  "One card face down. That will be all."

  “I draw. Activating the equip card, Paralyzing Potion! By equipping it to your Relinquished, it can no longer attack! I’ll follow that by summoning Sangan (1000/600) in defense mode, setting two cards face-down, and ending my turn!”

  First Witch of the Black Forest and now Sangan. Was Purple Fall running nothing but a simple stall deck? A burgeoning headache began to fill the back of his skull. Very well. His next action would decide that for good.

  As Pegasus moved to draw a card, Purple Fall flipped over one of his face-down cards, causing a strange crackling blue orb to surround both players.

  “In your draw phase, prepare to face the first of my curses! Curse of Darkness! For as long as this card remains on the field, anyone who activates a spell card will take 1000 points of damage after its resolution!”

  1000 points of damage for each spell card used. That was not such an easy restriction to play around with, even being still at the starting value of 4000 life points. As of this point, he could play a total of three spells. Purple Fall could only use two.

  “In my standby phase, Sinister Serpent returns from my graveyard to my hand! Then, De-Spell activates! It will destroy your Paralyzing Potion!”

  As an ornate lock and key formed onto the field, it was suddenly surrounded by a swarm of ethereal skulls that suppressed it, ultimately snapping the key in half.

  “My second curse!” Purple Fall laughed, “Curse of Royal! It will negate your attempt to destroy a spell or trap card that I control!”

  Pegasus let a subtle smirk cross his face. "Naturally, that also prevents your Curse of Darkness from damaging me, as Curse of Royal negates the activation, which means De-Spell will never resolve. That is, of course, the requirement for the damage to be taken.”

  That counter trap, Curse of Royal, was a trap Pegasus had some familiarity with. He had created that card himself after seeing the aftermath of a thief breaking into a tomb guarded by the Gravekeepers in Egypt. Such was also his familiarity with Curse of Darkness. A powerful card, but a card that also had the absolute requirement of a spell resolving for it to do damage.

  Pegasus internally nodded to himself. Relinquished was in no danger at the moment, as while it had a monster equipped, any battle that would destroy it would destroy the equipped monster instead. Meaning, Purple Fall would need two monsters to take out his Relinquished – one to strike over the stolen stats, and one to finish the job. So, even with the greenish goop of the Paralyzing Potion restricting his monster’s attacks, it was still quite a useful card.

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  “I change Relinquished to defense mode. Turn end.”

  There was more he could have done, of course, but no sense in making any big moves while Purple Fall’s strategy was still unknown.

  “During your end phase.” Purple Fall said. “My next play is simple. Perhaps you thought, nay, you hoped Relinquished could protect you. Think again! I activate my trap card, Ring of Destruction! By targeting your Relinquished, it will be destroyed, and we will both take damage equal to its original attack!”

  “Which is zero.” Pegasus pointed out.

  “That is true.” Purple Fall agreed, moving on to the start of his turn. “But I can accept that. Meanwhile, as my witch has been sent from the field to my graveyard now that your Relinquished has been destroyed, I can activate her effect to add one Mystical Knight of Jackal (2700/1200) from my deck to my hand. Then, during my turn, I sacrifice Sangan to tribute summon Ghost Knight of Jackal (1700/1600)!”

  A caped jackal warrior on a fearsome horse rode onto the field, locking eyes with Pegasus. With each step of the horse and each flick of the jackal’s long-bladed weapon, the maelstrom of shadows around the two duelists intensified. Pegasus stared back at the jackal, unflinching. Harbinger of the underworld that it was, he felt no fear. He knew his crimes well. A jackal needed not to remind him.

  “Ghost Knight of Jackal…” Pegasus softly repeated the name, even as his eyes subtly flashed. So, this was it. A Jackal Knight deck. The true identity of Purple Fall became all the more interesting by the turn.

  His migraine intensified. Underneath his Millennium item, old scars ached. A reminder of when his left eye had been physically torn from its socket to accommodate its new golden tenant.

  “Sangan’s effect!” Purple Fall continued. “I’ll add Aswan Apparition (500/500) from my deck to my hand! Once that's done, Ghost Knight attacks you directly."

  Pegasus: 2300 Purple Fall: 2900

  Pegasus braced himself as the knight bore down on him, barely managing to avoid his shoulder being sliced clean through by the monster’s weapon.

  “Two cards will be placed face down, and then my turn will end."

  Pegasus looked at Purple Fall. The man only had one card left in his hand. His vision tightened. Then, as if nothing had happened, Pegasus simply drew a card to start his turn. On paper, Purple Fall’s strategy was sound. Pegasus had no monsters on his field, while Purple Fall controlled a rather useful Ghost Knight of Jackal. A monster that, if left unchecked, had an effect which could resurrect each monster it destroyed to the field under Purple Fall’s control.

  That was on paper, though, for Pegasus knew something Purple Fall did not.

  “I summon Sinister Serpent (300/250) in defense position.”

  “All well and good, but I have a trap card to activate all the same!” Purple Fall’s voice rose in response to Pegasus’s move. “The continuous trap, Coffin Seller! Each time a monster is sent to your graveyard, you will take 300 points of damage!”

  Pegasus let out a derisive snort. “300? Hardly worth noticing. How about 1300 instead, because you seem to think my deck only has one ace monster! I activate my spell card, Metamorphosis! By sacrificing my level one Sinister Serpent, I can special summon the fusion monster Thousand-Eyes Restrict (0/0) from my extra deck!”

  Pegasus: 1000 Purple Fall: 2900

  At this, even Purple Fall took a step back. From the writhing darkness came a monster covered in baleful gold eyes. It was similar in appearance to Relinquished, possessing the same kind of eyestalk, dagger-like claws, and bulbous wings. But Thousand-Eyes Restrict looked far more alien and terrifying in nature. The hole in its chest no longer had clean lines, but instead was covered in jagged teeth. Its skin had traded the color of deep, calm blue for an ominous purple hue. Even its very presence made it seem like the room itself was held in stasis, unable to move or change in any way so long as the creature held its countless golden eyes open.

  The maelstrom of shadows thickened once more, intensifying such that it became almost like a hurricane filling the room, with Pegasus and Purple Fall in the eye of the storm. Only, it was no longer solely whispering shadows making up the maelstrom. Specks of green and white were interspersed among the darkness, souls taken through victory in duels Pegasus had fought since that fateful day in Egypt.

  At that precise moment, all was laid bare before Pegasus’s Millennium Eye. Ever since the beginning of the duel, when the horrifying revelation was made that the original mind of Purple Fall’s possessed body was still alive and active, Pegasus had not faltered. Every turn, every minute, every second was spent on two fronts. Managing the duel… and pursuing the truth. Pegasus had been silently peeling away at Purple Fall’s mental defenses like he was preparing a ripe fruit for eating ever since then, enduring the insanity of the poor mind trapped within its flesh prison without a wince or word of complaint.

  And now the inner thoughts of Purple Fall were laid bare before him. A malevolent grin spread across Pegasus’s face without any attempts from the man to hide it from his opponent.

  It no longer mattered.

  “You thought my Relinquished was my strongest monster," Pegasus murmured the thoughts aloud as he read them. "The Sons of Kul Elna… you wish to take my Millennium Item! No… you wish to take them all!”

  Purple Fall flinched backward, but that could not stop Pegasus from tearing every single tiny thought from the dead man’s head. Pegasus laughed out loud at the absurdity. “The original ninety-nine slain villagers of Kul Elna, still clinging to a half-life even today! How strange! How…” Pegasus’s lip curled in ice-cold contempt. “How pathetic. You should have stayed dead the first time. You will die a final death here. So will your other so-called ‘seasons’ if they show their faces. I will bottle your leader’s soul in my study as a mere curiosity.”

  There was more, Pegasus could tell. But it was… locked away somehow. Even from his eye. No matter. Would that lock still function when Purple Fall’s soul was ripped from its flesh puppet and channeled by the shadows?

  “Your face-down cards are these! Curse of Fiend! A Hero Emerges! And in your hand, both your Mystical Knight of Jackal and your Aswan Apparition are already known to me!”

  With each declaration of a card name, Purple Fall continued to visibly flinch. Pegasus’s malevolent smile grew even crueler. “A Hero Emerges. That could prove quite an annoyance… if I recall correctly, if I were to attack, it would choose a random card in your hand, special summoning it if it were a monster and sending it to the graveyard if not. And with the only card in your hand being a monster… I think I’ll activate a trap card of my own! Reveal yourself, Mind Crush! By declaring the name of your Mystical Knight of Jackal, you must reveal your hand and discard all copies of that card!”

  Even as Purple Fall discarded the monster in his hand, Pegasus continued to move. “Of course… you could still attempt to use your trap card, but I am afraid all you could summon is a lonely, weak fiend-type monster. Thousand-Eyes Restrict, activate! By targeting your Ghost Knight of Jackal, I equip it to my monster to gain its attack and defense!”

  Thousand-Eyes Restrict (0/0 -> 1700/1600).

  “Attack directly.” Pegasus softly spoke.

  “Trap card activate! A Hero Emerges!” Purple Fall frantically declared. “Choose a card from my hand! If it is a monster, it will be special summoned to my side of the field!”

  Pegasus simply smiled and pointed toward the only card left in Purple Fall’s hand. The field flashed with reddish light as a crimson skeletal ghost floated onto the field just in time to absorb the strike of Thousand-Eyes Restrict.

  "I place one card face down. My turn ends."

  Purple Fall drew a card, but it was no sooner than its arc through the air finished that Pegasus flipped over his face-down card.

  “Mind Crush. I declare ‘Cyber Jar’!”

  Purple Fall could only end his turn after discarding the powerful flip effect monster he’d just drawn.

  Pegasus drew a card and immediately revealed it. “I place a card face down. Thousand-Eyes Restrict, you know what to do! Attack directly!”

  Pegasus: 1000 Purple Fall: 1200

  This time, as the claws of Thousand-Eyes Restrict tore through Purple Fall’s shoulder, there was a shout of pain. Not from the poor possessed man, but from Purple Fall himself. Purple Fall gripped his shoulder tightly, looking fearfully at Pegasus as if he had finally, for the first time since the duel began, actually seen the man before him. However, there was not only realization in his gaze. There was fear. Fear that Pegasus knew Purple Fall’s every move the second he thought of them. Fear that at this point, there was nothing that could be done. That Purple Fall truly would die in this security room.

  Pegasus could read those thoughts as well.

  “You will.” Pegasus softly said. “You will die in this room.”

  His turn ended.

  Purple Fall drew a card and immediately set it in face-down defense position.

  Pegasus pulled the top card of his deck off into the air. Without even looking at it, he locked eyes with Purple Fall and called out the name of a card.

  “You’ve activated my trap card, Raigeki Break. By discarding the card I just drew, I can destroy one card on the field. My choice is your face-down monster.

  A bolt of red lightning came screaming out from the ceiling to smite Purple Fall’s face-down monster into oblivion, revealing the fading form of the black-cloaked, blade-wielding Night Assailant flip effect monster.

  “This next part, I will thoroughly enjoy.” Pegasus promised. He did not need to order an attack. Thousand-Eyes Restrict sensed his needs perfectly, rushing forward to tear Purple Fall’s body in half. There was nothing that could be done about it. At this point, death would be a mercy for the original inhibitor of Purple Fall’s body.

  So mercy is what Pegasus gave him.

  Pegasus: 1700 Purple Fall: 0

  Without wasting a second, Pegasus walked forward to stand over the corpse of Purple Fall. He held up his hand, Millennium Eye flashing with gold light in contempt of the spirit’s final feeble struggles. The light intensified until it burst through the darkness with the might of the sun itself.

  Before the gaze of Maximillion Pegasus was a soul. No, not quite a soul. Not in full. Not anymore, nor had it been whole in quite some time. It was worn thin with time. Scarred and pockmarked by damage accumulated from battles with countless mages over the hundreds upon thousands of years it had been lived – no, not live, simply existed. And beyond that, there still existed the emptiness heralding the parts of it that had once, so many years ago, been sacrificed to the dark god Zorc Necrophades in return for the seven Millennium Items.

  It was a pool of foul, wretched slime burning in agony under the sun that was the Millennium Eye, the sun that tore through its every thought, every secret, hope, dream, fear, and possibility it could ever imagine holding to lay it bare before the gaze of Maximillion Pegasus. A tortured howling filled every corner of the room, increasing in volume until it could even be heard outside in the hallway, if there had been anyone out there to hear it at all.

  “Four seasons, Fall being the most rash. Fitting, considering his arrogance. He moved earlier than their plan demanded. Spring and Winter are equal, with Summer reigning above all. Naturally. A plan devised two hundred years ago through the usage of auguries, of which the master of the Sons is proficient in. I see. So that is why I had no knowledge of them infiltrating my island. They were here before I even bought this place. Zombie, Graveyard, and…”

  Pegasus fell silent for a second to process what he’d seen.

  “Divine, but not a god. One step closer, but not quite there.” He murmured to himself, as the rest of Purple Fall’s ragged soul was torn to shreds by the greedy claws of the shadows to be stuffed into slavering, ghoulish jaws.

  Perhaps this 'Red Summer' would be a threat after all.

  Troubling. At this moment, he had no time to personally deal with that matter. Not when the semi-finals were so close to starting. Not when Seto Kaiba was reported to be approaching the island. Not when Yugi Muto was inches away from obtaining the final total of star chips needed to enter the castle.

  "Time..." Pegasus muttered to himself, "Time truly does make fools of us all."

  It was a choice he had to make. A bitter choice, but one made easy by the knowledge that only one of his paths had the chance to reunite him with Cecelia. Dealing with the Sons in full would have to wait until the finals were over. Until then, he could only evacuate all of the duelists on the island other than the sparse handful possessing enough chips to have a chance at making the semi-finals. Even the player killers would need to go. He'd pull back his forces and batten down the hatches in his castle.

  Then, after the finals, it would be time for pest control.

  "As for the other soul," Pegasus spared one last glance toward where the body of Purple Fall had once lain. "May you find peace in the next life. And if you see my darling Cecelia…” He turned away, walking out of the door to leave the security room behind him, “Tell her I won’t be long.”

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