Neither Phil nor Jean loitered at the crime scene for long after relieving Bandit Keith of his decks, star chips, wallet, and passport. There was no point. With the ten chips oh so generously 'donated' by Bandit Keith, both men now possessed ten chips each, plus another two being left over.

  “You know, this is gonna seriously fuck up Pegasussy’s semi-finals if we show up with ten each,” Phil wondered aloud, while glancing through Bandit Keith’s passport as they walked. The castle walls looming in the distance grew larger and larger as they approached.

  Jean rubbed at his chin in thought. “Oui, you may be right. On the other hand, it does allow for some drama.”

  Phil spun to face Jean, excitement written all over his expression. “I think I’m picking up what you’re putting down, dude. I can see it now! The gates close… only four duelists are left. None but the strongest. They all consider each other with stoic expressions. Only one will make it to the end! Only one can participate in the fateful duel with Maximillion Pegasus! Then, enter stage right! Two beautiful bastards charge into the room, each holding high ten star chips to completely fuck up the rankings! Now there are six duelists fighting for the prize!"

  “But it won’t end there…” Jean hit a dramatic pose while he walked, “As the shock builds, they wait for us in the hall of duelists… only to find us gone!”

  Phil mimicked Jean’s walking pose. “For it is foretold by the oracles of ages past that the great duo of Phil and Jean shall be on the other end of the castle, stealing everything that’s not nailed down!”

  Lumina cleared her throat, causing Phil to hold out an apologetic finger.

  “Ah, right, my sincerest apologies! I mean the great trio of Phil, Jean and Lumina! Thieves extraordinaire!”

  “That’s better.” Lumina smiled brightly, looping an intangible arm over Phil’s shoulders.

  “Now, how should we go about this?” Jean asked as the castle walls drew closer.

  “I think… the semi’s are tomorrow…” Phil stroked his beard in thought, “The sun’s position puts us close to late afternoon, maybe early evening. We get in legit with our chips, then we spend the rest of the evening looking for sacks or boxes we can hide valuables in. Once everyone is sleeping, we begin plan ‘Ultimate Revenge Grand Larceny’.”

  “And if we still have enough time between finishing that and the semi’s starting, we can then be late enough to get disqualified so Yugi has fewer opponents to worry about.” Jean added.

  “Exactly. The semi’s could be fun to join in, but with more duelists involved, that means more chances for Pegasus to see everyone’s strategies. Plus, Yugi needs to do this. We can’t always be around to help the kid out.”

  Jean came to a halt, taking a deep breath to savor the faint ocean air. “It always comes to a point, brother. Where one must let the next generation sink or swim. And for what it’s worth, if it’s between Yugi and Pegasus, my money’s on Yugi.”

  Phil began to laugh. “Right? Sink or swim baby! Papa Phil ain’t no helicopter parent!”

  “Throwing the kid out on his own against someone by your own words can read minds and created the current form of the game. That’s cold, Phil. I should call the Child Protective Services on your ass. Call it a code ‘forcing a child into a life-or-death card game against a mind-reading millionaire.” Lumina remarked. Though while her words would have been filled with concern from any other person, her mouth was upturned in a smirk, and she hardly seemed concerned that Yugi would lose.

  Phil cringed away from her in mock horror. “No! Not the CPS! Quick Jean, we need to distract them with all the shit we’re gonna steal from Mr. Pegasussy! Think of all the Lambos we can buy with our ill-gotten funds! We can throw in a Porsche or two for bribing any investigating agents! Just let me send my boy Yugi in to fuck up that flamboyant wanker in a cage match!”

  Jean instantly took up a watchful position around Phil, his sharp eyes raking across the barren landscape for any rogue enemies trying to sneak up on them. “Monsieur Great Thief Phil, no creature on this green earth that approaches us shall remain un-bribed! This Frenchman shall give his life to ensure that!”

  "Star chips, please." An exhausted voice interrupted their comedy routine. Phil and Jean both turned to look at the speaker in unison. Like the other security guards on the island, the man standing in front of the castle doors wore a black business suit, dark sunglasses, and had a telltale lump around the side of his jacket that spoke of a holstered gun. Somehow during their planning, they had made it all the way from the wasteland to the castle steps.

  “Curious,” Phil turned back to Jean without answering the man, “I did not think we were walking that fast.”

  “You two always walk faster and talk faster when you’re joking around.” Lumina struggled to hold in her laughter. “Hope that fellow didn’t hear about your ‘Ultimate Revenge Grand Larceny’ plan.”

  Phil’s head whipped back to look at the guard. “You didn’t hear us right?”

  “Star chips, please.” The guard continued to stare at them with the eyes of a man who was held together by only two hours of sleep and a dangerous amount of coffee.

  “I’ll take that as a no. Here you are, ten as requested.” Phil replied. Jean wordlessly produced his own ten.

  The guard stared at them, flicking his eyes between the two duelists and the chips in their gauntlets.

  “Master Pegasus, two more duelists have the required chips.” He spoke into his radio.

  After a few seconds, it buzzed back with the millionaire's signature foppish voice. “Oh~? I suppose that makes six, does it not~? Very well, let them in~.”

  The guard said no more, simply stepping aside with his arm outstretched as if to usher them closer to the door. Phil stepped up to it. The castle doors were a grand affair, reaching almost fifteen feet up from the ground in their total height. The doors looked to be covered in gold, and from what Phil knew of Pegasus, the gold was likely real, and probably wasn’t just a thin plate over the real door.

  Covering the handles of the door was a strange lock that was not entirely unfamiliar to Phil. The lock was circular, with ten star-like indentations set into it for chips. Phil and Jean shared a look.

  “Well, here goes.”

  Phil was first, placing his ten star chips in the slots. The lock beeped in confirmation and then made a hissing noise as it opened to allow Phil through. As he stepped through, Phil could hear Jean speak behind him.

  “Monsieur, do I have to wait for the door to close again to put my chips in? Or can I just show them to you?”

  “Just go inside.” The guard’s exhausted voice replied, eliciting a small cheer from Jean.

  The door closed behind them with a great ‘boom’, announcing their entrance to the rest of the castle. And an entrance it was, as several heads soon stuck out of the main hall to gape at the newcomers.

  “Lads!” Phil shouted with his hands held high in welcome upon seeing the faces of Yugi, Joey, and the rest. “And lass!” He quickly added on after seeing Tea.

  “You made it!” Yugi quickly ran over.

  “Ten chips each, plus two spares.” Phil grinned. “Had some good duels.”

  “Yeah, and we got locked underground by that stupid Bandit Keith. Say… where is that guy anyway? I want some sweet revenge.” Joey said.

  “We saw him trap you guys, so we uh… rolled him for his chips! Yeah! And nothing else happened!” Phil quickly explained. Tea looked at him with narrowed eyes, as if she could sense he wasn’t sharing the whole story, but there was no way in hell the rest of it could be dragged out in front of the kids.

  “Oui! And I dueled a stalwart man of the sea!” Jean jumped in enthusiastically to save the day. “Our battle was one of legends!”

  “I thought you two might make it,” Another voice chimed in.

  “Rex!”

  Indeed, it was Rex Raptor himself, leaning against the wall with a shit-eating grin. Phil briskly walked forward to catch him in a firm handshake.

  “Dino-man, looks like you have a chance for a few different rematches,” Phil laughed out loud. That much was obvious. Not only was Joey there, looking as proud as could be, but Mai Valentine was also nearby, looking on with an expression that was already softer than any she’d had when camping with the rest of the gang the night before. Character development, Phil belatedly remembered. In the span between the Panik duel and the start of the semi-finals, Mai Valentine had her fair share of character development. So had Rex, going from just another defeated opponent of Joey’s to an actual chill dude clawing his way back into the running.

  “Right.” Rex agreed with fierce pride in his eyes. “Mai and Joey both are going down in flames!”

  “Not if I have anything to say about it, and I do!” Joey stepped forward, “I’ll send your dinos back to the stone age as many times as I gotta!”

  “Cretaceous period…” Rex groaned out. “How many times do I have to remind you, Wheeler!”

  Dipping away from the friendly argument brewing between Joey and Rex, Phil went back over to Yugi.

  “Seen Kaiba yet?”

  Yugi let out a yelp. “You know he’s here?”

  Phil tapped his nose with a knowing grin. “How many times do I have to say it? I know things! It’s what I do! Now, spill the beans.”

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  At this, Yugi’s face turned conflicted. “I did see him. We dueled. I… lost. I could have won but… Kaiba would have died. After that, he dueled Pegasus and lost. Pegasus… put his soul in a card. Like grandpa.”

  Internally, Phil nodded away. So, that duel still happened, though it likely looked a little bit different than the canon spinning duel disk thing. Plus the bad business with Kaiba vs Pegasus. Externally, Phil cheerily ruffled Yugi’s hair, ignoring the boy’s muted protests.

  “But you didn’t kill him, and it looks to me you still made it out with enough chips to get in the semi’s. And getting carded? That’s still fixable. Good work dude.”

  “But you don’t get it!” Yugi shouted shakily, causing Tea to look at the boy with deep concern in her eyes. She stepped forward with a hand outstretched, but stopped once Phil winked at her in a way that Yugi couldn’t see. “The other me! He was going to do it! He was going to kill Kaiba!”

  “But you didn’t.” Phil intensified the strength of how he ruffled Yugi’s outrageous anime hairstyle. “Look, mate, the other guy comes from a different time. Back then they didn't have the luxury of sparing enemies. Now? We're in a more civilized era. You know that, but he's still learning it. Meanwhile, learning is a two-way street. He’s learning to chill the fuck out, you’re learning to be more confident. The key thing is that Kaiba’s alive and you aren’t a murderer.”

  That line sent Jean into a strange coughing fit, enough so that Phil sent a side-eye toward him to convey the unspoken words of ‘shut up, I know I’m a fucking hypocrite.’ Then, with a pointed look toward Tea, he moved away to let the girl with the extremely obvious crush move in to land the finishing blow.

  “See?” Tea put a hand on his shoulder, “Phil thinks so too… though he put it in a bit more… interesting way. You did the right thing. You know it, we all know it.”

  “Besides, Kaiba’s a cunt anyway.” Phil added on.

  “You’ve met him?” Joey took a break from his pointless argument with Rex over dinosaurs to yelp in surprise.

  “Eh…” Phil shrugged noncommittedly. “I guess you could say that.”

  As Joey was once more pulled into the argument with Rex, Yugi’s voice once more spoke up.

  “You’d give me the answer you always give if I ask how you know so much about the other me, wouldn’t you?”

  Phil put out a double thumbs up. “Yes I would, boss.”

  Joined by Tea, they watched Jean amble over to Joey and Rex to add his own opinion to the argument (which, judging from the magnitude of the shit-eating grin on his face, was likely inaccurate on purpose).

  "So, there are six of us in the running," Yugi said, clearly content to let the previous matter lie.

  Phil discreetly shook his head. “Naw. Jean and I have other business to attend to. You four can have it all to yourselves.”

  “What?” So great was Yugi’s surprise that his shocked voice cut over the argument for a few seconds before Jean’s smug declaration that dinosaurs never existed to begin with overpowered it.

  “All we’d be doing is revealing more of your strategies to the rich bastard. Sure, we truly do want to rescue Solomon, but you have the extra… how do I say it… the extra connection to all this, and the heart of the cards bullshit to see it through. He’s our friend and benefactor. But you? Solomon’s your grandpa. He practically raised you. A reason like that’s gonna give you more strength than I could muster. Besides…” Phil let out a grin, “I think we’ve already had our deciding semi-finals duel. You know, back on the beach. You beat my ass dude. I’d love a rematch, but not here. Not when lives are on the line.”

  “But what will you do?”

  Phil sucked in his breath through his teeth. “Might… be best to not share that. Don’t want you to be charged by the law as an accomplice if shit hits the fan. Don’t worry! It’ll be grand! Make your big bro proud, Yuges!”

  “Wait what?” Tea looked over in disbelief, but Phil simply smiled, ruffled Yugi’s hair again, and strode forward to extract Jean from the argument that was about five seconds away from turning into an all-out brawl over the honor of the dinosaur’s legacy.

  “Phil you can’t just say that and leave!” Tea cried out.

  “Stone age!”

  “Cretaceous!”

  “Stone age!”

  “Cretaceous!”

  “STONE AGE!”

  “CRETACEOUS!”

  “Just did! Laters!” Phil cheerily responded past the escalating shouts, pulling Jean out just as Joey lunged forward to put Rex Raptor into a good-natured headlock. Then, stepping around the scuffling boys and the two security guards rushing forward to break it up, the two men jauntily walked further into the grand hall in a most perilous quest to discover their room assignments.

  Even with the growing commotion behind them (along with the cries of the security guards to ‘break it up kids, break it up!’), the grand hall was, well, grand. Soaring archways rose over their heads to support a ceiling that was at least twenty or thirty feet above Phil’s head. Not a single inch of the ceiling had gone unpainted, with broad strokes of deep blues inlaid with scatterings of sapphires and lapis lazuli gems that shone under the candlelight that lit the room. Indeed, it was as if the sky itself had been captured for Pegasus’s amusement.

  But, as Phil looked closer, the stranger it appeared. Monsters glared out of every corner, their faces warped into foul sneers to send onlookers shivering away in fear. Dragons stretched their wings across the walls, and at the very highest point of the ceiling was the most shocking part of all - the god cards. Painted in all their glory and power amidst the deep blue sky, their claws reaching toward the heavens themselves. Each of them was positioned to watch over a third of the room. Obelisk the Tormentor. Slifer the Sky Dragon. The Winged Dragon of Ra.

  A look alone was enough for Phil to feel like his blood was heating up to nearly unbearable temperatures in his veins. They couldn’t be…

  They were nothing but paintings. But then again, Phil knew full well that even the cards themselves could and would flat-out kill any duelist wielding them that they found unworthy.

  “Magnificent, aren’t they~?” A relaxed voice spoke up from the side of the room. Phil spun around, the god cards momentarily forgotten as he looked at the speaker.

  “Maximillion Pegasus.” Phil greeted him.

  It was not the millionaire in the flesh. No, it was a moving picture of Pegasus, a projected image from a rather large television screen built into the wall. The man looked exactly like he had in the manga. Long, sleek silver hair cascaded down his shoulders to hide his left eye, of which Phil knew to be a Millennium Item. He wore a flamboyant red suit with its collar hanging slightly open at a jaunty, carefree angle, enough so that the neck of a white ruffled shirt could poke out from underneath.

  “The god cards~. My greatest creation.” Pegasus continued without acknowledging Phil’s words. “As a painter, I pride myself on realism~. Are they… realistic to you~?”

  After the final word fell from Pegasus’s mouth, Phil could see that every ounce of the man’s attention was fully focused on him.

  “They’re damn close to the originals.” Phil replied with a fearless grin.

  Pegasus’s gaze remained on Phil for several more seconds before the man spoke again.

  “Well~ I thank you for the praise! You may not want to look at them for long, then. They say, those who know the gods are also known to the gods~.”

  Then Pegasus clapped his hands, and the rest of the duelists shuffled in. To Phil’s amusement, one of the security guards had lost his sunglasses in breaking up the friendly brawl, while Joey and Rex seemed to still be muttering to each other under their breath.

  “Duelists! It is so wonderful~ to see you gathered before me~! Now, if you would, allow me as your host to explain the next stage!”

  As Pegasus continued to speak, Phil watched on with crossed arms and a slight smile on his face.

  “Phil.”

  “Yo.”

  “I know that look. You’re trying not to laugh. Why?”

  “Ya boy figured something out.”

  “And?”

  “I don’t think he was reading my mind. I kept repeating in my head over and over ‘You can’t bring Cecelia back’ and he didn’t even flinch.”

  “Right. D.3.S. doesn’t want another incident happening like at the academy.”

  “Is the big guy recovered enough to tell a Millennium Item to fuck off?”

  Lumina paused, her head slightly cocked as she appeared to listen for something. “For a short time, depending on distance. But you’re right. Somewhat. Pegasus didn’t even try to look at your thoughts.”

  Phil stroked his beard sagely. "Either he didn't care enough, bailed after seeing the big guy, or he needs to do it in person. Damn. I can't remember… did he read Yugi's mind in the TV duel? Or was that some other magic shenanigan?”

  Whatever it was, Pegasus’s speech ended before Phil could figure it out, and the pairings were announced. It was hardly much different than the canon pairings. Yugi was against Mai, Joey was against Rex since Bandit Keith was… indisposed, and then, as the extras, Phil and Jean were paired against each other (which sent the duo into another fit of laughter).

  Other than Phil and Jean, however, the pairings being revealed were enough to signal a change in mood between the duelists. Joey and Rex regarded each other with sharp stares, and tension was brewing between Mai and Yugi, the latter of whom had a much more serious air than usual, along with a darker face. Phil assumed that was a visual cue that Atem had taken the wheel.

  “It was fun.” Rex began.

  Joey nodded with a small smile. “But now…”

  “We’re all enemies.” Mai continued.

  “Until tomorrow ends.” Yugi finished with a note of certainty in his voice. He glanced at Phil and Jean out of curiosity, but soon looked back at his own opponent.

  “Wow…” Tea muttered. “Talk about a tone change.”

  “Yeah, no kidding.” Phil beckoned to Jean. “Come on, let’s go check the digs. There better be a hot tub in my room.”

  “Oui. There shall be many hours to burn before the fun begins.”

  Phil and Jean snickered at that. As soon as the door to the great hall closed behind them, their pace quickened. The hallway was rather unremarkable compared to the rest of the castle. Walls of stone dimly lit by the flickering candle flames stretched far into the distance. Sturdy wooden doors were spaced every ten feet in the walls, each of them with numbers carved into the front. Underneath their feet were rocky flagstones, polished smooth by age and use.

  “No guards in the hallways.”

  Jean jerked his chin toward the ceiling. “No cameras either.”

  Was Pegasus that confident there would be no shenanigans in his castle? Or were there security patrols Phil hadn't seen yet? There was no good way to find out yet, other than by watching and waiting.

  “We wait until nightfall.”

  Jean nodded his head to that. “Midnight?

  “Works for me. Think there could be sacks in the cellar?”

  “Oui, if there is a cellar.”

  Phil fished around in his pockets, eventually producing a small cloth bundle he unwrapped to reveal a needle and thread.

  “I say we ‘acquire’ some cloth sacks if we can find any. While we wait for nightfall, I’ll sew a money symbol on each sack. Then we can be true thieves!”

  Jean inched up onto his tiptoes and hunched his back. An evil, oily smile grew on his face, one that made Phil feel a shiver of disgust run down his spine from just a look. He now looked every inch like a true thief!

  “What power!” Phil gasped, “I can almost feel my wallet sliding out of my pocket on its own to ‘fall’ in your hands ‘accidentally’!”

  “Monsieur Phil, if you please!” Jean beckoned toward the end of the hallway with a very sleezy gesture, “Make my money sack, if you will?”

  “Onwards!” Phil declared. To the sound of the hallway door opening behind them, they charged off into the distance, stopping at every intersection to search for doors that could lead to a cellar or basement.

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

  “Was that Phil and Jean?” Tea poked her head through the open doorway.

  Tristan squinted his eyes. “Two scruffy guys being weird? I think so.”

  “Sheesh.” Tea sighed. Somehow with all the scary stuff happening on the island, those two still found time to joke around. If Tea didn’t know better, she’d swear they just didn’t care at all about Yugi’s grandpa, but she did. She knew they were helping in their own way, and they both staunchly believed that Yugi could win against Pegasus, just like the rest of her friends did.

  “Did they already run off?” Yugi’s voice piped up from the back. Tea stepped aside to let the guy through. “I saw them whispering during the speech, so I got their room numbers and keys for them.”

  Tea hummed noncommittedly. “I… think they’ll be back? Eventually?” She barely believed her own words. With those two, it could be anything. A duel down the corridor. Fist-fighting in a backroom. A freaking zombie invasion! Tea wouldn't bat an eye at hearing them get wrapped up in any of that!

  "Eh, whatever," Joey said as he pushed through the doorway. "They're smart guys. They can figure out the room stuff on their own. Come on, I need some z's. Got a big day tomorrow!"

  Before Tea could interject, Joey’s voice became sharp. “Yuges… you know if we duel tomorrow…”

  Yugi firmly nodded. “I know. I won’t go easy on you either.”

  “Good. Just makin’ sure.”

  Those words were enough to twist up a knot of worry in Tea's stomach. Two friends, ones as close as Yugi and Joey were, with a strong chance of dueling each other tomorrow. No. Not a strong chance. She had to believe. They would duel each other for the right to face Pegasus, to get Yugi’s grandpa back and pay for Serenity’s surgery.

  Tea had to believe. That was it, in a nutshell. If she believed and cheered her friends on with all her heart, then it would all work out.

  Yes. Tea did believe. She believed all the way from the bottom of her heart. She believed it so strongly that it was as if she could see it now, in her mind’s eye. It was as clear as day. Yugi would win. Grandpa Muto would be free. Same with poor Mokuba and even Seto Kaiba (ick). Serenity would get her vision back.

  “Tea, you comin’?” Joey’s voice broke Tea out of her thoughts. She forced a smile and ran forward to rejoin the rest of her friends.

  “Yes, of course!”

  https://discord.gg/jfRn8j5GaE!