Episode 22: The Destined Duel! Yugi vs Kaiba

In Pegasus's dungeon, Kaiba is confronted by Pegasus, who taunts him about keeping his brother's soul. (In the US version, Kaiba growls, "You're not human!" at Pegasus. In the Japanese, he says, "Pegasus, kisama!" which literally means, "Pegasus, you!" But it's a not-terribly-polite form of "you.") Pegasus tosses him five Star Chips for his duel with Yugi, which he must win before he can battle Pegasus for Mokuba's soul. Kaiba asks him why, but Pegasus only responds in riddles. Still, Kaiba has no choice but to agree to Pegasus's terms.

Meanwhile, the gang emerges from the tunnels at last. Bakura's Millennium Ring points to Pegasus's castle, where they're all headed, now that Yugi and Joey both have enough Star Chips to enter for the finals. Téa watches Yugi, thinking that when he duels, he seems like someone else. It's almost as if there are two Yugis! She remembers Yugi's duel with Bakura in the Shadow Realm, when there was big Yugi dueling, and little Yugi on the field with the others. She's about to ask Yugi about it, when Joey, Tristan, and Bakura call from the steps leading up to the castle, telling her and Yugi to hurry up, or they'll go inside without them!

Yugi starts to hurry to catch up, trips over a rock, and falls flat on his face. Téa teases him about whether he's going to rescue his Grandpa that way, and he reminds her that he rescued her—it was when she was working after school in a hamburger joint to make money for her dance lessons. In the Japanese, there's a big "Burger World" sign over the restaurant. Why do they feel the need to cut it out in the US version?

At first, she was upset to see Yugi and Joey at the restaurant, afraid that they'd let slip that she was under 18, and too young to be working there. (In the Japanese episode, the worry was that "big mouth Jounouchi" would tell the school she's working, because their high school doesn't allow students to work.) Just as Yugi and Joey were talking about how nice Téa was (in the Japanese, Jounouchi was kidding about having caught Anzu working, and Yugi worriedly told him to cut out out), she showed up with their burgers, drowning them in ketchup, warning them not to tell anyone she was working there. She told them that she was saving up to go to New York to study dance, and was pleased when they didn't laugh, but encouraged her to follow her dream.

Later, she found a note they'd left in her locker, telling her they'd found a space in an old warehouse she could use for a dance studio, and asking her to meet them there after school. (In the Japanese, the note told her to go to the gym after school, and threatened to tell on her if she didn't show. The note was written on the back of an incriminating photo of her in her Burger World uniform, rather than the innocuous pair of ballet shows shown in the US version.)

But when she got to the warehouse, Yugi and Joey weren't there, and a mugger tried to steal her money. (In the Japanese, it was a perv with a camera, planning to blackmail her into having his way with her. Apparently, the note was really from him. Quite a bit of this sequence is cut out, with the guy videotaping closeups of various parts of Anzu's, erm, uniform.)

Just then, Yugi arrived and jumped the guy, who easily threw him off. Téa went for him, biting his arm, and he knocked her against a wall. Then, while Téa was out, Yami Yugi challenged the mugger to a game of high card draw. Yami's Dark Magician defeated the mugger's Curse of Dragon, and Yami did his Mind Crush (it's Mind Crack in the Japanese) on the mugger, knocking him out.

Back in the present, Téa asks Yugi what he did to that guy, but little Yugi doesn't remember. Téa says sometimes he seems like a different person, and he agrees that ever since he solved the Millennium Puzzle, he sometime he feels like there's another person inside him. Téa says it doesn't matter, because both Yugis are good guys. (Japanese Anzu says "Yugi is Yugi.") Finally, they head off to join the others.

But when the gang reaches the top of the steps, they see Kaiba standing there waiting for them. He challenges Yugi to a duel, telling him he won't let them enter the castle until Yugi agrees to duel him. Joey's all set to take Kaiba on, but Kaiba's not interested in dueling Joey again. There's only one player that's ever beaten him at Duel Monsters, and that's Yugi. He remembers when Yugi defeated him by drawing Exodia and told him about the "heart of the cards," and says that now he has a reason to duel with his heart. Yugi sees the fire in his eyes (literally), and accepts his challenge. Kaiba leads him to an open area on top of one of the castle's towers.

Meanwhile, Bandit Keith arrives at the castle to enter the finals. But Kimo, who's guarding the door, advises Keith to check out the action on the annex roof first, and Bandit Keith finds a tower window from which to watch the duel.

Yugi and Kaiba wager five Star Chips, and agree to use Kaiba's Duel Disks for their battle.

Kaiba begins by summoning Ryu-Kishin (the monster is actually Ryu-Kishin Powered; Japanese name Gargoyle Powered), and Yugi responds with Curse of Dragon. Kaiba gives Yugi some condescending compliments, after which Yugi uses Curse of Dragon to destroy Kaiba's monster. (In the Japanese, Kaiba tells Yugi they have the same purpose—to defeat Pegasus—and that Yugi should lose this duel and let Kaiba take him on, because Yugi won't be able to beat Pegasus. There's a bit that's cut out of the US version where Kaiba is thinking about the way Pegasus duels by reading his opponents' intentions. He doesn't know how Pegasus does it, but he thinks that by using the Duel Disks, he'll be able to keep the holograms of the cards between them, hiding his face so that Pegasus won't be able to read him. Meanwhile, Yugi is thinking that Kaiba doesn't understand that Pegasus's power is in his Millennium Eye, and the Duel Disks won't help him. You know, in the US version, they never really explain why Kaiba thinks his Duel Disks are going to give him an advantage over Pegasus. It makes so much more sense when you get the whole story....)

Then Kaiba plays Swordstalker, who's powered up by the monster in his graveyard—this is why he let Yugi destroy his first monster—and attacks Curse of Dragon. But Yugi uses the magic card Monster Replace, exchanging Curse of Dragon for the Dark Magician in his hand, and destroys Swordstalker. Then Yugi re-summons Curse of Dragon.

Kaiba summons La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp. Yugi attacks La Jinn with Dark Magician, but Kaiba activates the trap card, Ancient Lamp (Magic Lamp), which protects La Jinn and deflects the attack back onto Curse of Dragon, destroying it. Their life points are now equal at 1500.

Yugi says they're evenly matched, but Kaiba thinks that this preliminary skirmishing has all been a ploy to distract Yugi from his real plan—to assemble all three of his Blue Eyes White Dragons and combine them into the ultimate monster, the Blue Eyes Ultiimate Dragon!

To Be Continued