Seriously, Pegasus, this chapter is set in something like 2005. There are better ways to get in touch with people. I guess the dude just wants to be super mysterious or something...oh wait...
Fun fact, in the manga Pegasus sends those little 8mm camcorder tapes, or whatever they're called, not video cassette tapes, making this one of the few times that I specifically pick an anime detail over a manga one. Another example would be the larger Duel Arenas on Duelist Kingdom.
Chapter Four
Invitations;
Journey to the Duelist Kingdom!
I stepped down from the arena platform, the crowd cheering so loudly that I almost couldn’t believe it, and made my way toward Christopher. But before I could reach him, before I had even a second to really come to terms with the fact that I had done the impossible and defeated a champion, I was pulled to the side by the Game Center manager.
“What was that?” the suited man demanded angrily under his breath.
“What was what?” I asked, having absolutely no idea why he was so upset.
“The last card you played,” the manager replied.
“That was my new trump card,” I answered proudly, “‘Great Maju Garzett’.”
The manager flipped through some papers that he had been carrying since he’d re-emerged from the office area at the end of the duel. He looked busy, so I waited patiently, which is to say I tapped my foot anxiously. My friends, particularly Tucker, were basking in the glory of our unexpected victory, and I was anxious to join them. I was just about to say something to hurry the guy up when he finally spoke up.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “but I can’t credit you for your win today against Christopher.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because you played a card that was not listed as part of your deck when you applied for the spot as Team Beatdown’s opponent for the exhibition match.”
“Yeah,” I said harshly, switching into stubborn indignation mode, “so what?”
“So,” the manager answered, sounding both condescending and annoyed, “the exhibition match rules clearly stated that you had to duel using the same cards that you registered with”
“No,” I stated firmly, “they didn’t.”
“Are you saying that you know more about my job than I do?” the manager demanded.
“No,” I answered, my voice aggressive, and my face stern, “I’m saying that I have a great memory, and I read the rules several times, and I never saw that rule anywhere!”
“Neither did I.”
I turned toward the direction of this newest speaker and saw Christopher standing nearby, hands in his pockets, “That rule is news to me too.”
“Either way, it doesn’t matter,” the manager told me, “I can’t credit you officially as the winner of this duel. The best I can do is list you as the current 'Game Center Guy to Beat', but your status and ranking within the realm of professional Duel Monsters will remain the same. Same goes for every member of your team.”
“That’s a bunch of bull,” Christopher said, walking over to stand by my side. “You’re just trying to cover your ass in case someone finds out that you didn’t include Maximillion Pegasus’ entire list of rules in the papers you gave us. You’ll be hearing from my manager about this.”
Christopher turned to me and said, “John, forget this, I’m gonna make you my rival. And I mean that in an official capacity. Promise me that you’ll get as strong as you can, and next time we meet, we’ll show everyone which one of us is stronger, once and for all.” He held his hand out to me.
“You’re on,” I said, and I took his hand and shook it firmly. Just like that, a life-long rivalry was born, one that I’ve never regretted.
We didn’t see the Game Center manager again. Ever. I’m pretty sure he got fired that same day. I can’t say I feel too bad about that. My team and I spent the next several hours hanging out at the Game Center before we headed home. By the time I arrived, I was completely exhausted. I stumbled to my mess of a room, fell into bed, and fell asleep. All night I dreamed about Duel Monsters, and shadows, and powerful creatures battling across the sky, and an evil face rising up from nowhere. Or maybe from inside me. I tossed and turned all night, and when I woke up the next morning, I felt unsettled.
I showered and dressed. I was still feeling uneasy, so I decided to go and walk around awhile, maybe take the bus to the mall or something. I was on my way out the door when Sarah stopped me.
“Hey John,” I heard her call from the living room, where she was playing a football sim, “we got a package this morning. It's addressed to the two of us.”
“Open it yourself,” I told her, “I’m heading out.”
“No way,” said Sarah, “it says on the package to open it together. It’s from Industrial Illusions.”
Now that got my attention. Industrial Illusions, or I2, as I said before, is the company that makes Duel Monsters. It is, of course, headed by master gamer and genius game creator Maximillion Pegasus, creator of the Duel Monsters game. “Why didn’t you say so,” I said. I hurried into the living room and opened the package that my sister held out to me. I sat down on the couch, and the two of us examined the contents.
Inside the package, wrapped up securely, was a strange allotment of items. There was a video tape and two Spell cards, both completely devoid of any text, one depicting a crescent moon wrapping around a small, twinkling star, and the other depicting a droplet of water. The first of the two, the one with the moon, had an image that was predominantly a sort of black-light violet, except for the star, which was white, reminding me of an old saying, that darkness cannot exist without even a little bit of light. The image on the second was a rich cerulean blue.
“The tape isn’t labeled,” I said, examining it, “but it looks like there’s something recorded on it. The tape isn’t wound all the way to the beginning.”
“Should we play it?” Sarah asked, her game all but forgotten.
“Yeah,” I answered, “duh.”
I stood up and walked over to the TV and the VCR (yes, I have a VCR). I switched the TV from the AV tuner to the regular one, turned on the VCR, and inserted the tape, hitting “play”. The screen flashed blue. I stepped back and sat down on the couch next to Sarah, and just in time, because as soon as I sat down, the image on the screen changed.
On the screen appeared a face that every Duelist knew, the face from the video at the Game Center grand opening the day before. The face of Maximillion Pegasus, his characteristic long white hair hanging down over and covering the left side of his face.
“Greetings John and Sarah of the Duel Force,” Pegasus said, his voice as sing-song as it had been the previous day. “I monitored your duel yesterday and based on what I saw, I would like to extend an invitation to my island, the Duelist Kingdom. You see, this world is in danger, and I believe that you and your team mates may be our only hope for salvation. If you decide to answer my call, be at the Checker Township area airport, gate 16, tomorrow morning, by 8:00 AM. My private jet will be waiting for you there. The other two members of your team have also been invited. This is an invitation for the Duel Force. Come together or not at all. But don’t make this decision lightly. Your lives and the lives of everyone you care about may depend on how you answer my challenge.”
Pegasus’ image disappeared from the screen, and the screen flashed blue for a few seconds before the tape stopped and rewound itself. Sarah looked over at me, “Is this guy serious?”
I shook my head, “I honestly can’t tell.”
It was another hour before we were all together. We met at the mall, at our favorite table in the food court, and discussed the situation.
“The question that we really need to answer,” Jen said, ever thoughtful, “is how serious can this guy be? Can the world really be in danger?”
“There’s no way he was serious,” said Sarah. “Pegasus is a gamer. A gamer! He was challenging us to a game, that’s all!"
She paused, and then continued, "I mean, I remember this, right? This is how he invited people to Duelist Kingdom, by mailing them boxes with video tapes in them. He's trying to recreate the experience for us. I bet we won't be the only ones waiting for that plane tomorrow. Imagine it, playing a game at the legendary site of the Duelist Kingdom Tournament. Just think of it!”
Of course I couldn’t pass up a chance like that. I couldn’t think of a single gamer on Earth that could pass up a chance like that. “I say we do it,” I said. “I mean, it’s the weekend, so we don’t have school or anything to worry about, and the trip’s free. This is our chance to play the greatest game of our lives on the very same ground as Yugi Muto!”
“Yeah,” said Tucker, “we may never get a chance like this again. I vote we go too. I just wish he’d invited us to come next week during Break.”
“I vote we go, too,” said Sarah.
“Yeah,” said Jen, “I’m in too.”
“Then it’s settled,” I said excitedly, standing up and clapping my hands together. “Tomorrow we leave for the greatest game ever!”
That night at home Sarah and I sat and convinced my mom to let us go, and then called to make sure that Jen would be allowed as well (Tucker didn’t even need to ask since his dad doesn’t pay the slightest bit of attention to him). It was one of the few times that I was glad my dad had disappeared when I was three. From what Jen tells me, it’s a lot easier to convince one parent of something than it is to convince two.
Afterwards I sat down, and for the fourth time this week I went back through my strategy, deciding that it was fine (as I usually do). By now it was late, nearly ten. My team and I would need to get up early to catch the bus to the airport the next morning, so I decided to turn in and get some rest. Good thing, too, because tomorrow would be the most important day of my life, in more ways than I could imagine.
The next day at 7:00 AM, my mom saw me and my sister off to the airport. I met my team, and we made our way to gate 16 where we were greeted by an airport staff member who led us outside and pointed us toward a large jet baring the I2 insignia. We walked to the plane and were met by a man in a pilot’s uniform. He checked our four cards, my moon, Sarah’s droplet, Jen’s card depicting a green tree, and Tucker’s card, depicting a red flame, treating them like I.D. cards. Finally, once he was satisfied, he led us on board. Despite Sarah's musing from the day before, we were the only ones on the plane, and as soon as we were seated, the pilot made preparations to take off, but this just made me feel even more excited, more special.
After all, that's what I wanted, for people to see me, to acknowledge my skill as a gamer. It was why I'd been so eager to sign up for the exhibition match against Christopher's team to begin with, why I'd formed a team myself. Riding high on the knowledge that I had finally done just that, I sat back alongside my friends, and our journey toward our destiny began.
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