(This story takes place 4 months after the Doom Gunmen arc, but 2 months before the Latest Magna series in Egypt. IT is currently summer, and they aren't in school. Also, the character Raia Chitoshi is from the story Virtually Yours character, made by Mage of the White Beast, who gave me permission to use her charecter)

Joey sighed as he looked over his deck. He went through it again, checking it for any flaws. But it was as good as it would be getting. It could win him any tournament.

"Too bad there aren't any tournaments." He thought bitterly. HE looked over at his friends as they ate their lunches.

"Come on Yug, let's duel."

Yugi frowned. "What, best out of 10 thousand?"

Joey pounded his fist on the table. "This is ridiculous! We work hard to become the top two duelist in the world, and now we can't find a single person willing to challenge us!"

Tea smiled and put her sandwich down. "What's wrong Joey, looking back at the days when even I could beat you?"

Joey shook his head. "All I'm sayin' is I want something new."

Tristan looked at Joey angrily and hit him on the back of the head. "If you're so bored, get off your butt and challenge someone."

"That's the thing Tristan, we've tried! But everyone runs off." Yugi touched the Millennium Puzzle. "This thing has even caused the newbies to run off. I've even offered to let them use my deck, and they still think they'll win."

Tea bit her lip. "You could always enter a tourney."

"There aren't any that will let us in!" Joey said desperately. "Illusion Industries haven't had a tournament since Pegasus retired. And Seto is still in America, trying to design his theme park. We'd go to a card shop, but none will let us enter. The owners say we drive away business!"

Tea gave them a sympathetic look. "Tough at the top, isn't it."

"Ya." Yugi said sadly. It had been over 2 months since he had dueled someone other than Joey. And even then, it hadn't been much of a duel. HE had won in 5 turns and the kid had ran off, crying to his mommy."

"I tell ya Yug, it's time like this I wish we had some evil doer running around trying to destroy the world.

****

Yugi threw of his shoes and flopped on his bed. He hadn't done anything all day, yet he still felt tired.

"Yugi."

Yugi looked up at Yami, who stood above him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing..at least for me. But I am worried about you. Lately, you seem..distant."

Yugi closed his eyes. "It just feels like I'm in a rut. All summer, it's been helping grandpa, eat lunch with the guys, read stuff on the Internet."

"I'm sure there is something to do. Why not look at our deck?"

Yugi frowned. "I have. 10 times. It's solid. There isn't a card I need." HE sat up. "I mean, the next set doesn't even come out for 2 whole months!"

Yami chuckled. "Weren't you the guy who complained that Pegasus was making the sets too quickly a year ago?"

"Ya, but now that Pegasus retired, the company has pushed production to a crawl." Yugi moved to his laptop. "Use to be I could go and read some great threads about strategies and new combos. But now." Yugi logged onto a site. ".look here, on duelmonsterrealms.com: Nothing but theories on the next secret rares and some new training guide with a promo in it."

Yami smiled. "Just what we need, another card we need to learn to beat."

"Ya, if we ever duel someone again."

Yami sighed and looked over at the pile of mail Yugi's grandfather had left on his desk. "Hey Yugi, did you see this? You got a letter from Pegasus."

Yugi sat up and grabbed the letter. "Probably another offer to join the Duel Monster's Fan Club..what the?"

Yami leaned over Yugi's shoulder. "What is it?"

"Pegasus want to meet with me and Joey tomorrow at his estate. HE says it's important."

****

"Man, where did Pegasus get the money for this?!?!"

The four friends stared up at gate of Pegasus' mansion. They rang the buzzer, and the steel gate swung open, and they walked up the path.

"This guy has problems." Joey said, looking at the statues of Funny Bunny that littered the lawn. "I mean, I knew Kabia was obsessed with the Blue Eyes White dragon, but it never got this far!"

"A plane shaped like a dragon isn't as bad as this?" Tea asked playfully.

"That's different.."

"How so Joey?" Tristan asked him.

"I don't know...arrrgh!! Forget abot it!"

The friends laughed as the reached the main door. The butler let them in, and led them to Pegasus' main office. HE looked up at them and smiled. He had not changed a bit, still a pink suit, same hair cut. Yugi half expected him to pull back his hair and reveal the famous millennium eye. Instead, he merely shook his hand and offered them a chair.

"I am glad you could come Yugi boy." Pegasus began. "I have asked you to come here because I need your help." Joey and Yugi looked at each other, a mixture of excitement and fear on their face.

"What do you need?"

"As you know, it is because of me that the god cards were created. But the fact is, there was a reason I made them. There was a reason I searched them out." He sighed, and began to pace. " about 3 years ago, a few months after I first found the millennium eye, I went back to Egypt, to look for duel monsters for cards. It would be this search that would introduce the first series, the one that had the Blue Eyes, the Dark Magician, Exodia. All legendary cards. While there, I discovered a secret tomb, one no one had seen for a millennia. Inside, I learned of a tale that made me believe that my search for the millennium items could end and I may have found a second path."

"I found a tablet that spoke of the Pharaoh. After he had beaten a dark force, he believed that all was well and that peace would finally come to the land. He was wrong. His commander of the royal army, Kappa Neo, betrayed him. Kappa Neo was a legend in his own time, so powerful that the Pharaoh created a weaker item for him, in hopes Kappa would remain loyal. He didn't."

Yugi nodded. "A lesser item. Like Raia's heart. It isn't officially an item, but it's close."

"Yes. This general, for reasons unknown, took some tablets to the Greeks, and even though they were losing the battle with the Romans, they still had an army. He gave to them a gift to destroy the Roman army, and in return, they had to help Kappa Neo destroy the Pharaoh. The Greeks and Egyptians battle upon the sands, but in the end, the Pharaoh sacrificed himself to seal the powers. The tablets were destroyed and the Greeks fell to the Romans, who became Egypt's greatest ally. Kappa Neo ran off, and died in the desert, his item buried in the sands. But the images of the tablets survived, hidden by Greek Soldiers in a tomb."

"What were the images?" Joey asked, leaning in.

"Kappa Neo gave them 9 tablets, of which they used to contact the Greek gods. IN turn, the gods infused into the tablets 9 weapons, which, when used by duel monsters, would be able to destroy any other monster. They were powerful like that, but their true strength was when the were together. When all together, they opened the gates of heaven and summon an grand army of pure light." Pegasus paused.

"When I looked upon these images, I knew that it may be the answer to my problems. With these 9 cards, I could open the gates of heaven and return my beloved to this world. I worked all day and night to hand paint them. But when I brought all 9 together, I felt an energy from them, one that I feared. I separated them, but still felt them calling to me. I needed to stop them, so I went to Egypt, and found the god cards. With them, I believed I could block the Greek weapon cards. But they only made matters worse. I knew I had to get rid of the Greek Weapon Cards."

"What did you do?" Tea asked.

"Did you ever hear the rumors that when duel monsters first came out, I held a tournament?"

Yugi looked at him. "So it was true! A tournament of the greatest masters of the game."

"Yes. I used the tournament to narrow the field down to 8 contestants. To each of them, I gave one card, and kept the last for myself."

Tristan looked at him. "I fail to see the harm in this. I mean, if the cards are separated, it seems that all is alright."

Pegasus sighed. "That's what I thought. But with further reading, I have learned of my mistake. When I first brought the cards together, I opened a rift in space. Over time, this rift has grown. Soon, it will open, and the gates of heaven shall open up, releasing the army of light. The only way to stop this is to bring back the 9 cards. By placing them in a certain order and performing the spell the pharaoh once did, the gate will close."

Yugi looked at Pegasus with concern. "But the spell killed the Pharaoh."

"Only because he tried to do it without the tablets. This time, we will be able to use the cards to close the gate, draining their power instead and insuring the gates remain closed forever."

Joey looked at him. "You say we."

"I need you two. You two are the best duelists, and the only ones that can defeat the 8 other duelists that hold the Greek Weapons cards."

Yugi looked at his friends, and nodded. "We'll help you."

Pegasus smiled. "Good." He moved to a safe. "The Greek Weapons are nearly invincible, so you will need to use one to defeat one." HE pulled out a card and gave it to Yugi. "You'll need to share this one till you gain more."

Yugi looked at the card carefully. "The Crown of Zeus." Yugi thought for a second. "Who are the duelists that we must duel?"

Pegasus shifted. "The thing is, in order to make sure I never got crazy and tried to take the cards back, I held the tournament in secret, and all the duelists hide their identity. Only the 8 know who were there."

Joey threw up his hands. "Wonderful, a needle in a haystack!"

Tea put her head in her head. "You mean 8 needles."

"Not quite. For a while now, \ a rumor has been going around that Kabia Boy was trained by one of the 8, and that is how he became so good in the game."

Tea frowned. "Yea, but Kabia is in America."

"But his sister Raia isn't. She may also have trained with this duelist. Go see her and find that first duelist!"