Rock Bottom: Season One

Invitation

Three weeks after the Death-T fiasco, and life was returning to normal for all of them, Seto being the only exception to that. Duke had said he'd only miss two days of work, but he'd been gone a full week now, and according to their superiors, he'd given his two weeks notice over the phone on Monday.

The current Duel Monsters regional tournament was drawing to a close, so Yugi had invited Joey, Seto, Anzu, and the others to his house to watch the championship match on TV. While Marik and Ryou played lightning rounds of Duel Monsters on the floor during the commercial break, Seto tried not to fall asleep in his chair. He'd fallen behind on sleep this week, and it was starting to catch up with him. Meanwhile, Yugi sat between Anzu and Joey on the couch, speculating as to who would emerge as the regional champion. Joey still didn't understand how bugs could beat dinosaurs, and Yugi was trying to explain to him that he should stop thinking in such literal terms when it came to Duel Monsters cards, because Duel Monsters existed in a world of its own with laws of its own.

"See?" Yugi said as Weevil Underwood pulled a move on Rex Raptor that completely blindsided him. "There's no single class of monster that's inherently better than the others; any class of monsters can come out on top if combined with the right strategy and the right magic cards."

The announcer on TV interrupted their conversation. "And now, a very special honor for our new champion! Here to present the Duel Monsters Regional Championship trophy, the creator of Duel Monsters and the president of Industrial Illusions, ladies and gentlemen and fellow duelists—I give you Mister Maximillion Pe-e-egasus!"

"Congratulations," Pegasus said graciously, smiling as he handed the small trophy to the bug duelist.

"Th-Thank you," Weevil stammered, clearly starstruck as he met the creator of Duel Monsters himself.

"And as regional champion, I invite you to compete in a bold new tournament I'm hosting at Duelist Kingdom!" Pegasus continued, looking to the camera now.

Later, as Pegasus left the stadium in his limo with a pair of his lackeys sitting across from him, he would take a moment to revel in his plan.

"Mister Pegasus, with the announcement that you made tonight, we'll have thousands of duelists flocking to Duelist Kingdom," one of those lackeys said in a flattering tone.

"Yes," Pegasus answered serenely. "An event such as this will hopefully attract those who possess the Millennium Items that I seek. Which reminds me..." He looked to his head of security.

Croquette answered promptly, "The package was delivered to the boy, just as you ordered, sir."

"Excellent!" Pegasus grinned. His plan had been put into motion; now he just had to wait for it to run its course.

In the meantime, though, Grandpa entered the room where his grandson and his friends were all gathered. "I just got off the phone with Professor Hawkins," he announced, holding a package. It had taken him this long to get a hold of him because the professor's research often took him to isolated locations with little to no cell-phone reception. "He'd given the Blue-Eyes card to his granddaughter Rebecca, and I spoke to her briefly on the phone." He turned to look at Seto now, who straightened up a bit as he gave his full attention to the elderly man. "She's only eight years old, and when I told her that the card had been ripped, she threw a bit of a temper tantrum and said she didn't want it anymore. I suspect she might change her mind at some point in the future, but until that happens, Seto, I trust you'll take good care of it." He handed the taped-together card to Seto, whose eyes grew wide.

"I–Thank you," Seto said, stunned. As he stared down at the card, his blue eyes glowing, Anzu spoke up.

"This is weird," she said, looking suspicious. "I thought there were only four of those cards in the whole world, so how did Seto get three of them? The odds are against it."