I love Pegasus. I love to write for Pegasus, because I think if I had virtually unlimited money, I'd be a lot like him. Personal jet with cartoon DVD stocked on it? Why the heck not!
Oh, and seriously, book one Tucker is a dick, isn't he? I always forget about that.
Chapter Five
The Challenge is Set!
On the plane, we found ourselves in probably the most, for lack of a better word, fun place we had ever seen, save an amusement park. There were two compartments, a forward compartment with standard seats, and an aft compartment with two tables, a curved cushion for sitting, and a flat screen TV. The contents of the plane told me a lot about the otherwise elusive Pegasus. They told me that he was someone who was not afraid to be himself. I couldn’t help but respect that, even if I still wasn't sure if I liked the man.
“Check this place out!” said Tucker, as excitable as ever. “There’s a DVD cabinet, and a fridge over here with snacks. This is awesome!”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” said Jen. “We have to buckle up for takeoff and stuff before we do anything else.”
“Right,” said Tucker, trying desperately to hide his embarrassment, “I knew that.”
Jen, Tucker, Sarah and I each sat down in a different window seat and buckled up at the word of the pilot. We stared in awe out of our windows as the plane rose up into the air, and finally rose above the clouds. Once the pilot announced that it was safe, we all unbuckled our seat belts and made our way into the aft compartment.
Tucker and I headed straight for the snacks, pulling out armfuls of food, while Sarah and Jen took seats at one of the tables and played a practice duel. I made my way over to the DVD cabinet. Inside I found several comedy movies, and all three seasons of the old Funny Bunny cartoon. I selected a movie, played it, and joined Tucker on the cushion seat. We sat through the movie plus a couple others before we were interrupted.
“This is your pilot speaking,” the pilot announced over the intercom, in a pronounced southern drawl. “I suggest you kids get some sleep. We will be arriving at Duelist Kingdom around 6:00 tomorrow morning.”
The others did as the pilot had suggested and went back to their seats to sleep. I, however, found myself unable to do the same, troubling thoughts running continuously through my mind.
What if Pegasus was serious about what he said in the video? I thought. The details of my dream two nights ago sprung back into mind, making me uneasy all over again, reinforcing my question in my mind.
What if this isn’t a game? If Pegasus is serious, then it could be up to us to save the world! I don’t want that kind of responsibility.
At the time I was sure that I was thinking too much. I was sure that I was putting off sleep to avoid a recurrence of my nightmares, but I just couldn’t help but wonder. Pegasus hadn’t sounded truly playful or truly sincere in his message, and of course I don’t know him, but he somehow felt serious, and that bothered me. Despite reason, despite common sense, I was actually giving serious considerations to the famous man's insane words, and that scared me.
After about an hour I finally managed to doze off and ended up sleeping through most of the night. I had more dreams, but they were no worse than before. I was awoken the next morning by the pilot’s voice over the speakers announcing our descent over Duelist Kingdom.
“This is it,” said Tucker as I shook myself out of a post-sleep haze, “it’s time to take the ride of our lives!”
The plane banked as it moved in for a landing.
“I think we need to keep an open mind here,” I said tentatively. “We still don’t know for sure that there isn't something more to all of this.”
“Oh lighten up, boss,” said Jen. “We’re the Duel Force! Whatever this is, we can handle it!”
“Yeah,” I surrendered, not wanting to press my friends too hard, but still unconvinced, “maybe you’re right.”
Several minutes later the plane landed and we were unloaded through a side door down a collapsible staircase. I struggled with my bag, which carried my new Duel Disk (which is heavier than it looks). “This path here will lead ya right up to the castle,” said the pilot, pointing to a trail through the forest several yards away.
“Thanks,” I said, as I slung my bag over my shoulder and jogged toward the path, motioning for the others to follow. Once we were within the trees we slowed down and took the path at a more leisurely pace. It was only a few moments before the castle came into view. The castle, the famous sight of the Duelist Kingdom final round.
"I'm still not seeing any other people," said Sarah, looking around apprehensively.
"Maybe they're in there," Jen suggested, pointing to the castle above.
"You think that's where we should go?" I asked her.
She shrugged, "Where else?"
The four of us walked for about a half hour before we arrived at the stairs leading up to the castle. We traversed the long staircase to the large metallic double doors at the entrance. Set up along the door’s locking mechanism were four slots that looked like the key card slots that you might find on a hotel door.
“You thinking what I’m thinking guys?” I asked, and my team mates nodded. We took out the special cards that Pegasus had sent us and I counted, “One, two, three.”
On three we inserted our cards into the four slots, and then pulled them back out. A green light flashed, and the lock clicked. The door slid open, and we walked inside, into a long, well-lit corridor.
"Well," said Jen, "unless these cards aren't unique, there goes the theory that this game isn't meant just for the four of us."
I frowned, but I stepped forward anyway, too curious to do anything else, and the others followed me.
We followed the corridor straight ahead until we found ourselves facing a set of tall wooden double doors. The doors swung open on there own, and we stepped into the room beyond. The room was very high-ceilinged, like a warehouse, lit by stadium-style lights. The only accessible floor was a wide walkway, leading out over a lower floor maybe twenty feet below. Making up the center of the walkway was an old, over-sized Duel Arena.
“Welcome to the Duelist Kingdom final stage, Duel Force,” came Pegasus’ voice. We followed the sound with our gaze and found Pegasus standing on a balcony overhead, to our right.
“Is this it,” Tucker asked, “the sight of our game?”
“Game?” Pegasus asked in disbelief. “My dear Tucker-boy. I assure you this is very real.”
“You mean that we are actually needed to save the whole world?” Jen asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “How?”
“I will make everything clear,” Pegasus said, “but first you must prove yourselves in a test. I am looking for four Duelists, and even though you four are the most likely candidates so far, I must be certain.”
“Okay, huddle,” said Tucker anxiously. We formed a tight circle and leaned in to hear what he had to say, “This guy is so obviously off his rocker. Let’s get out of here before he locks us up for stealing his straight jacket or something!”
Normally I would have agreed with him, but I felt compelled to speak up.
“I don’t think we can,” I argued, “I sat up all night thinking about this. If he is telling the truth, if something bad is about to happen, and only we can stop it, then we have to help. Because if he’s telling the truth, we may be the only ones who can protect the people we care about. That’s too big for us to dismiss. Let’s take his test, and then if things still look fishy we’ll get outta here.”
Tucker laughed, and then he realized that I was being serious. "This isn't some summer movie or anime," he told me, "where kids save this world. This is the real world."
"A real world where strange things have happened," I replied, thinking back to some of the supernatural happening that had been attributed to Duel Monsters in the past, that most Duelists silently not to talk about, "things that make no sense. Maybe this is one of those."
Tucker looked angrily at me for a second and then looked away. “Fine,” he said, “but if something bad happens, I’m blaming you.”
The four of us stepped back out of our huddle and looked up at Pegasus. “We’ll take your test,” I said.
“Excellent,” said Pegasus, clapping his hands together. “The test will consist of four duels, one for each of you. You will face a Kaiba Corp Duel Robot programmed with four specific decks designed to test for specific traits. Only the four that I am searching for will have those traits and be able to overcome all of the tests.
“The first Duel is for the Fire Duelist, Tucker-boy," he concluded, with a broad smile. "Please step up and meet your opponent!”
Tucker walked up to one end of the holoarena, still fuming, and plugged his Duel Disk into the arena’s data port, allowing the cards placed on his Duel Disk to appear in the arena itself. As he did, a disk-shaped machine with a duel field attached to the bottom descended from the ceiling, into place at the arenas opposite end. The four displays at the corners of the arena exterior flashed to life, displaying beginning Life Point scores of eight thousand.
“Kaiba Corporation MK 1 Dueling Robot online,” The robot announced in a tinny, metallic voice. “Deck number one loaded. I will go first. Draw one card. Summon ‘Armored Lizard’ in attack mode.” A monster, a reptilian creature with blue armor plating down its back, appeared on the computer’s field (ATK: 1500). “End turn.”
The robot’s move was simple, but that simplicity itself felt like something more, and in that moment I was sure that this mechanized foe was not to be taken lightly. I frowned slightly, Hopefully Tucker can figure that out.
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