Project R.A.

Project R.A. (Rebirth of Avatar) is a project Yako Tenma attempted to undertake in Yu-Gi-Oh! R. He believed that the soul of Maximillion Pegasus' was contained within his cards. Tenma wanted to revive Pegasus from the dead using the body of Anzu Mazaki as an avatar for Pegasus' soul.

Requirements

In order for Project R.A. to be completed, the vessel must have the three requirements:

• The vessel must be physically and mentally fit.
• The vessel must not be a Duelist, as Duelists have what is known as the "Sword of the Heart" which makes detachment of the soul difficult.
• The sacrifice of the vessel must inflict emotional pain on Yugi Mutou.

History

When Keith Howard as brought back to life by Yako via "The Wicked Eraser", Keith lied about Yugi killing Pegasus, which served as Yako's desire for revenge by using Anzu as the vessel. Pegasus' other two adopted sons, Richie Merced and Depre Scott, supported the project due to wanting to see their master once again as well, but Gekko Tenma, Yako's twin brother, opposed due to the need of a sacrifice, regardless of his desire to see Pegasus as well.

The first stage of Project R.A. was for Industrial Illusions, Asia Division, to take over KaibaCorp, in order to use its Duel Ring Server for the soul transfer. They succeeded, and Tenma challenged Yugi on the rooftop of Domino High School with "The Wicked Avatar". After that, Tenma kidnapped Anzu and hooked her up to the Duel Ring Server, challenging Yugi to rescue her at the corporation.

As Yugi climbed up the tower, he faced the Card Professors Guild, who were all merely buying time for the project to complete. Gekko opposed to the project, but Yako possessed him with "The Wicked Dreadroot, which, when played onto the Duel against Yugi, gave a huge boost in power into the Duel Ring Server, thus bringing R.A. one step closer to completion. Seto Kaiba returned to challenge Yako for taking over his company, but lost to the Wicked Gods, which brought another charge to the project. However, it suddenly stopped, and Pegasus' soul faded back into the void, much to Tenma's horror.

As Yugi and Gekko made it to the top, Yako blamed Yugi for Pegasus' death, and believed that since Yugi is still here, the project was halted halfway, and the only way to complete it is to defeat Yugi once and for all. He also revealed that Anzu is hooked up to the server and cannot just be removed, or she will die. Even though knowing that Yugi did not kill Pegasus firsthand, Yako believed that Yugi's victory was what made Pegasus accepted death voluntarily, and the two Dueled to settle the matter. The Duel that took place eventually led to the Avatar to clash against "Obelisk the Tormentor", with both Gods killing each other. With the Wicked God that powered the project destroyed, Anzu's freed soul returned to her body, and Yako caught one more glimpse of Pegasus, before his surrogate father faded away without looking back. With that, and the influence of the Wicked God on him released, Yako realized that his project ended in failure, and understood his mistakes and finished the Duel, with him losing to Yugi.