Chumley led Grandpa Muto and the others out of the living room and closed the door. Almost simultaneously, Yugi inserted the videotape into the television.
The screen showed a static image, but soon, with a distortion, the figure of a silver-haired man appeared. The man, quite familiarly, waved at Yugi, watching the image, and greeted him with a smile: "Hello~ Yugi-boy, me has been waiting for you for a long time."
"The one who just appeared on the TV, Pegasus!?" Yugi had considered many possibilities, but he never expected this videotape to contain the image of Pegasus, the father of Duel Monsters. Seeing the important figure they had just discussed with his friends appear, Yugi was quite surprised.
"Nice to meet you, Yugi-boy~ This is a videotape me sent to dear Yugi-boy, the reason being, as Chumley-boy has already explained, is in recognition of your dueling skill for defeating Kaiba-boy." With a smile on his face, Pegasus inadvertently said something that made Yugi's expression change drastically.
"Chumley just explained it?! But this is clearly just a videotape."
Yugi just mumbled a sentence subconsciously, but to his surprise, Pegasus in the videotape actually responded to him: "Of course, just a videotape, but me has long foreseen what will happen in the future, whether it's Chumley-boy explaining, or any actions you, Yugi-boy, will take next."
"For example, you's next sentence will be: 'Foreseeing the future!? How could such a thing be real!?'"
"Foreseeing the future!? How could—how could that be real!" Yugi blurted out, but only half-finished his sentence when he was astonished to find that what he had subconsciously said was perfectly identical to Pegasus's recent prophecy.
"Although we could chat for a long time, me's time is unfortunately very tight, and the videotape's duration is also limited." As Pegasus spoke, the smile on his face receded, though a slight curve remained at the corner of his lips. "So, let us quickly start your test, Yugi-boy."
Yugi was just about to say that he had no intention of participating in the competition Chumley had mentioned earlier; in his heart, the illusory title of "Duel King" wasn't very important. But just as he was about to refuse, an invisible ripple rapidly spread from the television screen, filling the entire room in an instant.
Outside the room, Chumley was explaining to Joey and the others why he had brought them out.
"Ah~ I'm so curious what's recorded on that videotape." Joey's heart felt like it was being scratched by a cat, and even though he was outside the door, his gaze kept drifting towards the living room.
Chumley moved a chair for Grandpa Muto to sit on and explained to Joey: "Think, Think, Joey. Who would be qualified to invite Yugi to that competition, and what would be his reason for recording that videotape?"
"Even if you ask me, I wouldn't know."
"Actually, the answer isn't important. What's important is that the opponent is definitely an influential figure to some extent, and the videotape he mailed to Yugi might contain extremely confidential information. If possible, we should ideally—"
Halfway through his sentence, Chumley suddenly felt a powerful dark power coming from behind him. He could feel his consciousness slowly becoming sluggish, and his body could not move an inch.
The same happened to the people in front of him. Grandpa Muto, Téa, Tristan, and Joey's bodies were swept by that invisible wave, instantly stiffening. Their eyes became vacant, as if they had been frozen.
Although Chumley's situation was slightly better than Joey's, and he could still perceive that something was happening, his own thoughts were undoubtedly being frozen little by little. Seeing that he was about to completely lose self-awareness and could no longer perceive anything around him, Chumley used his last bit of strength to utter a sentence:
"You guys, come out and get to work!"
Following his command, five orbs of light flew out of Chumley's pocket, attaching themselves to various parts of his body.
The taciturn *Gaia The Fierce Knight* restored Chumley's left hand to freedom;
The Ojama brothers each clung to Chumley's left leg, right leg, and right hand, while dancing strangely and entertaining themselves;
Finally, a multicolored *Rainbow Kuriboh* landed on Chumley's hair.
The five monsters each protected a part of Chumley's body, combining their powers as if they were *Exodia the Forbidden One*. With the convergence of Spirit Power, Chumley's normally drooping hair stood on end, making him look like a hair-gel user obsessed with "power."
The dark power spreading from the living room created a standoff with the combined Spirit Power of the five spirits, but a victor was quickly determined. The power that seemed to freeze time was shattered by the coalesced Spirit Power. Chumley's body trembled violently, and he fell to one knee on the ground, his clothes drenched in sweat as if he had just been pulled from the water, gasping for breath.
"Phew~ I almost failed. Good thing I managed to awaken *Gaia* before today, otherwise the others wouldn't have been strong enough." Looking at the five cards that slid out of his pocket, Chumley smiled tiredly. He looked at the figures before him and said, "Thank you for your hard work, *Gaia*."
"Fortu... I didn't fail you." *Gaia The Fierce Knight*'s face was covered by his helmet, so Chumley couldn't see his expression, only hear his muffled voice coming from within. *Gaia* calmly accepted Chumley's praise, but the others were somewhat displeased—
*Ojama Yellow* jumped off Chumley's arm and stood with its brothers, protesting to Chumley: "Big Bro, that's so mean of you to say~ We worked really hard too~"
"Exactly! I'm so tired, I've used up all my muscles!" *Ojama Green* flexed its arm, seemingly trying to show off muscles it didn't actually possess.
"Big Bro, we won't forgive you unless you treat us to a meal. Oh, by the way, what should we eat?" *Ojama Black* opened its tiny, almost non-existent eyes, managing to put on a serious expression with great difficulty. But soon, the drool escaping from the corner of its mouth revealed its comical nature—though it had never really bothered to hide it.
Chumley, however, ignored the clowning Ojama brothers and looked at the colorful *Kuriboh* that flew into his palm—the *Rainbow Kuriboh*. "I have you to thank as well, Aibo."
"Huh, he completely ignored us?" "And he's calling the newcomer 'Aibo'!" "We were here first~"
"Kuriii~ Kurikuri~" The *Rainbow Kuriboh* squinted its eyes, acting cute towards Chumley, and rubbed against Chumley's finger. It then cast a disdainful glance at the three Ojama brothers below, as if saying:
"This is the expression I've always wanted to see, this look of jealousy towards me, ahahahaha~"
"That guy makes me so mad!" *3
Chumley's Spirit army +1, or rather +2. The standard Kuriboh Aibo for Yu-Gi-Oh! novels has finally come online.
(end of chapter)