Welcome to my first ever Yu-Gi-Oh! story. This is rated T for language, violence, and whatever the hell else I put in. It will be a slow burn love story (a romance where the love takes a considerable amount of time to build up for those of you who don't know what that means), but it is definitely worth it. This story will make you laugh, rage, and cry if you have any feelings toward Yami Yugi. Without further ado, here is the first chapter of "Puzzled Journey".
Rain pattered noisily against the window pane of the Game Shop as a young man with tri-colored spiky hair and an ornate pyramid dangling from his neck from a smooth rope, played Duel Monsters with a woman, not too much younger than himself, who was chewing her lower lip in thought as she calculated her next move. He was down to 200 life points while she had 500. They'd been dueling for well over an hour, focused and intent on defeating the other. The young woman drew a card from her deck and smiled, believing that she had the game in the bag.
"I'm going to combine my Dark Magician Girl and my Thunder Dragon with Polymerization to create Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight with an attack power of 2600. Say goodbye to your Dark Magician, Yugi!" she said with a proud and satisfied grin, placing her cards down on the table in front of her. She was about to beat Yugi for the first time in years at his favorite game.
"Not so fast, Ava," the young man smiled, flipping over his face down cards. "You've forgotten about my hidden cards. I activate Spellbinding Circle, stopping your Dark Magician Girl in her tracks and the card Magic Formula to boost my Magician's Attack power by 700, defeating your Dragon Rider and taking away your remaining life points."
Ava Knight groaned loudly and dropped her head heavily on the table with an audible 'thunk'. Her messy, red-tipped brunette hair shielded her face from view as she playfully pouted her loss. She glanced up at him through her bangs, cerulean eyes demanding an answer from her friend. "It's not fair, Yuge. How come you always win? I don't think I've beaten you in a game of Duel Monsters since we were ten!"
Yugi laughed and scratched the back of his head, not really having a response. "I'm not sure, Ava. I just put my faith in my cards and somehow I pull off a win. The key is keeping a level head even when things are tough. You know what Grandpa always says, 'It's not over-"
"-until the last card is played,'" Ava finished with him. "Yeah, I know. I do have faith in my cards, and I am proud that this is the closest I've gotten to beating you in a long time." As she spoke, Ava stacked up her cards neatly and tucked them into the pocket of her dark grey jacket that she wore over her pink Domino High uniform blazer over a white blouse with a bright blue bow around her neck and a matching blue skirt that only came to the tops of her knees that all of the girls at the high-school wore. Not only was the outfit absolutely hideous, but it made her very self-conscious as well, especially when she sat down. She always wondered if people could see very high up her skirt and were either just too embarrassed or perverted to tell her.
"I know! You're a really good duelist. You had me worried there for a while. Who knows, maybe you'll win our next match if you keep playing like that," Yugi stood up, his deck already safely put away in his dark blue school blazer thrown over a white shirt and a pair of blue jeans. He slung his black and white backpack over his shoulder and started walking towards the door, "Now, come on, we've gotta get going before we're late for school."
"Right!" Ava scooped up her own red and black bag before heading out with Yugi. "Bye, Grandpa! Love you!" She shouted over her shoulder as she sprinted out the door not waiting to hear a reply from the elderly man. She squealed uncomfortably as the cool rain poured down on her head. She cursed herself for not being smart enough to grab an umbrella unlike Yugi.
"Hey, Yugi! Wait up! I'm getting soaked!" Yugi paused and turned to face Ava, his own black umbrella poised over his head. He laughed at his friend's perturbed expression when she finally reached him. Like the gentleman he was, Yugi held out his umbrella to Ava and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to keep her close to him. He stood only a few inches taller than her height of 5'4, but he was still considered short for his age. But despite his height, he still was a kind and supportive friend to everyone and always went out of his way to help others.
He was always so protective of her -border lining the extreme at times- even more so after they received their Millennium Items eight years ago after her father died in the expedition that retrieved them. While Yugi worked on his new Millennium Puzzle, Ava was given the Millennium Band, a small golden ring that didn't quite fit properly at first, so she wore it on a chain around her neck until her hands were big enough for it to fit. The Band had an inscription on it that Solomon hadn't been able to translate, but he still felt like it should belong to her. One night a couple of months ago, Yugi finally completed his Millennium Puzzle and came rushing into Ava's bedroom, excited to show her. She had never told him, but a minute before Yugi ran in to see her, her Millennium Band glowed and heated her skin, it illuminated her whole room, bathing it in light, but as quickly as it came, it left, leaving her alone in the dark, but not for long because a split-second later, Yugi came bursting in. After owning her Millennium Item for so many years, she was still no closer to understanding it than when she first received it.
She twisted her ring around her finger, one of her many nervous habits she'd developed, leaning closely to Yugi as they slowly trekked through the rain towards school. Lately, she had been feeling closer to Yugi than usual, like something between them had changed, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She snapped out of her musing when Yugi started speaking.
"I'll be teaching Joey how to play Duel Monster's today. He said he just built a deck and wanted to play against me."
"He's definitely gonna have his work cut out for him," Ava muttered as they climbed the steps of the school and tried in vain to shake out some of the water from her white and red sneakers. Yugi closed up his umbrella and jostled the excess water off before holding the door open.
Yugi chuckled, ruffling his hair. "We'll see. Who knows? Maybe he'll be as fast as a learner as you are. We can talk about this later, but now, we're late for our first class!"
"Alright, it's your turn, Joey," Yugi said after placing his card face down, ending his turn. His best friend, Joey Wheeler sat across from him, staring intently at his cards while he grumbled thoughtfully, occasionally brushing his shaggy honey-blonde hair from his eyes. He, like all of the other males at Domino High wore the typical jeans and dark blue blazer, but he pushed the sleeves up to his elbows in an attempt to rebel a little against the strict dress-code guidelines.
The small group of friends sat in the mostly vacant classroom. Students were just beginning to file in from their lunch break, but there was still plenty of time before the bell rang. Ava sat at her own desk beside Yugi's and turned around to face him as he instructed Joey through the rules as they battled. The blonde was busy taking his time deciding which monster he wanted to throw down into the battle. He studied his cards intently, trying to determine which would be his best bet. His brow furrowed in concentration as he pondered and Yugi just sat across from him patiently waiting for his friend's turn to end.
"Hey guys, what's going on? Aw, isn't Joey cute when he's thinking?" a deep voice called from behind them. Tristan lumbered up behind Joey and wrapped his strong-arm around Joey's neck in a headlock, effectively ruining his concentration on the game. Tristan was much taller than any of his friends and his brunette hair gelled into a single spike only added to his height.
"Will ya knock it off?" Joey smiled tersely with a vein pounding on the side of his head. "Yugi here is teaching me how to play Duel Monsters."
Tristan blinked incomprehensibly, his strong arms still locked around his buddy's neck. "Drool Monsters?" He asked, mishearing.
The vein in Joey's temple pounded even more, making Ava a little nervous about his health. "It's DUEL Monsters, ya nimrod!" He said through clenched teeth. "And just watch and learn."
"What the heck is Duel Monsters?" Ava smacked Tristan upside his head and scowled at him as if he'd personally insulted her. He just looked at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
"Don't tell me you've never heard of it, Tristan! It's only the greatest thing ever!" She pulled out her deck of cards to show Tristan, hoping her high level cards would impress him.
"Isn't that the weird card game people have been talking about?" Tristan asked as his hazel eyes scanned all the cards, their impressive stats completely lost on him. "Seems kinda stupid if you ask me." Ava groaned loudly and began explaining the basics of Duel Monsters to Tristan, who by the end of it, seemed even more confused than before.
"Neh, just shut up and watch," Joey growled, slapping a card down on the table with a triumphant grin. Ava fought the urge to sigh. It only had 600 ATK points. "Take a look at that, Yugi! Check out my card!"
"Nice move, Joey! That's a good monster," Yugi praised his friend, before laying his favorite card down."But I think I'll attack...with this, my Dark Magician."
"EEH? What?! How can you play such a powerful card and have no facial expression?" Joey exclaimed boisterously, slamming his hands down on the table in shock.
"Don't feel too bad, Joey. I've battled against Yugi for years and haven't beaten him since we were kids." Ava helpfully chimed in. "He's just a really good opponent."
"Well, I don't know about that," Yugi rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly at the praise. He was always so humble and downplayed his own strengths and talents like he didn't truly believe he deserved the recognition. He was always so meek and humble. "I've just got some pretty awesome cards thanks to Grandpa and his game shop. He taught me and Ava everything he knows about Duel Monsters."
Ava wrapped her arms around Yugi's shoulders and playfully mussed his hair, earning her a half annoyed/ half amused growl. He swatted her hands away and smoothed his hair back into place with a mock glare sent in her direction. "And yet, somehow, you still beat me every single time. I swear you're cheating, Yugi," Ava winked.
"Say, Yuge, think we could stop by your grandpa's shop sometime?" Joey pleaded, widening his dark brown eyes like a puppy and clasped his hands underneath his chin. His lower lip trembled theatrically causing Ava and Tristan to roll their eyes at his antics.
"I don't see why not," Yugi shrugged. "We could stop by after school today, if you'd like?"
"Maybe he'd even show you his ultra rare card!" The boys all laughed at Ava's enthusiasm as she clapped her hands excitedly. She felt a brief, small flash of warmth run from her fingertips along her right hand for a split second, like someone and squeezed it comfortingly, but it vanished so quickly, she wondered if she'd imagined it.
"Miss Knight would you please settle down and return to your seat?" Their middle-aged teacher requested as he walked into the room causing the younger girl to blush slightly at being caught.
"Yes, Mr. Mori," Ava sat down quickly. When the teacher had his back turned, she chucked a wadded up piece of paper at Joey's head when he wouldn't stop snickering under his breath. She barely paid Mr. Mori any attention because she was too busy thinking about seeing Grandpa's card in just a few short hours.
The group of friends all but bolted from the classroom when the last bell rang. Joey in the lead followed closely behind by Ava, then Yugi and Tristan brought up the rear at a steady jog. Eventually, Joey and Ava slowed down enough for their friends to catch up. Joey attempted to hide his heavy panting brought on by his flat-out sprinting, and failed miserably. His cheeks, flushed pink with exertion and beads of sweat dotted his forehead.
"Okay…runnin' in this humidity is a bad idea," He decided as he held his knees for support while he wheezed. "I'm starting to think that I need to cool it a bit."
Tristan scoffed. "You just don't want to admit how badly out of shape you are, unlike myself." He puffed out his chest and flexed his biceps theatrically, earning him a second smack across the back of his head from Ava, whom had grown tired of his childish behavior.
"You showing off your 'manliness' is almost not annoying." Tristan's chest deflated comically and he dropped his arms down to his sides, his bravado extinguished.
"So guys, did ya hear about Téa?" Joey inquired. "She got accepted to that dance school in America that she was talking pretty much nonstop about. Certainly explains why we hadn't seen her around school much lately. I don't know about you guys, but I'm proud of her."
"I am too, Joey. It's not every day you move so far away to achieve your dream, is it?" Yugi smiled. "Still, I am going to miss her even if we didn't know her very well. She was always very nice to all of us."
"A little too peppy for my taste," Ava muttered under her breath. Her cheeks flushed red when she noticed that Yugi had heard her mumbling. Before he got a chance to ask what she meant by that, Ava redirected the conversation away from herself. "Look, guys. Here's Grandpa's shop."
"Whoa! Now this I gotta check out!" Joey rubbed his palms together with a mischievous gleam in his eye. Ava barely managed to get inside the shop before Joey rushed in after her, already scanning the display cases for the best cards. "Ooh! I that one and that one and that one…" he rambled on, pointing to practically every monster card with an attack power greater than 1500. His friends all laughed loudly at the sight of Joey's face pressed flush against the glass cases.
"Hey, Grandpa, we're home!" Yugi called through the building. A moment later, a short, elderly man with violet eyes resembling those of his grandson, and spiky, silver hair secured underneath a golden-yellow bandana stepped out of the back room. He smiled brightly when he saw his grandchildren and their friends.
"Ah, Yugi and Ava! I see you brought home some friends as well. They're not planning to eat all the food in my refrigerator, are they? I've already got two hungry teenagers; I doubt I can handle four."
"No, but Joey here," Ava waved a hand at the blonde who hurriedly stood at attention and began to discreetly wipe at the smudges his face and fingertips made on the glass display cases. "is learning to become a Duelist, and we were hoping you could show him your ultra rare, special card."
"What's that? My card?" Solomon Mutou scratched at his silver bearded chin in thought. He looked away for a second in thought. It didn't seem like he was going to trust anyone enough to allow them to see his treasured card. Or…he was just keeping them in suspense for his own amusement. Judging my his sly grin, it was the latter.
"Pretty please, Grandpa?" Yugi stepped forward with his hands clasped in front of him and a wide, hopeful grin stretched across his face. He widened his violet eyes for effect and that seemed to do the trick. Solomon let out a loud belly laugh, as he stepped behind the counter and pulled a small, brown chest from the pocket of his forest green overalls.
"Oh, alright. You kids are in for a real treat! Here it is," He pulled the lid off, reached his hand in, and gingerly plucked the card from the deep blue interior, holding it up for everyone to see. "This is my super rare treasure: the Blue Eyes White Dragon. This card is so rare and powerful, I never let it leave my hands!"
The three out of the four teenagers loud out an audible, "Whoa!". Meanwhile, Tristan plucked the card from Solomon's hand and was looking at it from all angles, trying to understand why his friends were so awed by it. "I don't get why this is such a big deal. I mean, it's cool and all, but it's just a card."
Grandpa quickly snatched his card back and held it to his chest protectively while turning his back to Tristan in fear the younger man might try to take it from him again. "There's only four of them in the whole world. This one isn't even for sale and will never be. It's priceless!"
Yugi and Ava shared an amused look. It was always funny when Grandpa pulled out his Blue Eyes because he was almost as defensive over that card as he was his own grandchildren. It truly was his most valuable possession. And Joey made the mistake of reaching for it, asking if he could hold it, to which Grandpa completely ignored him and placed the card back in its box without returning the lid in case his grandchildren or their friends wanted to look at his treasure a little bit longer. Before Joey could argue about why Solomon should allow him to at least hold the legendary Blue Eyes White Dragon, the bell over the game shop entrance jingled invitingly.
"Welcome to Solomon's Game Shop," Grandpa greeted cheerfully. "Can I help you?"
"If you can't, it certainly wouldn't surprise me," a cold voice sneered. The newcomer was just a few years older than Yugi with short, light brown hair that hung partially over his steel-blue eyes. He carried a silver briefcase in his left hand and sauntered in with an air of authority and arrogance. The way his ice cold eyes surveyed the place made Ava on edge and she took an instant disliking to him.
"Seto Kaiba?!" Yugi exclaimed loudly."What's the head of Kaiba Corporations doing in a place like this?"
Seto Kaiba was the world's youngest CEO and quite possibly the wealthiest thanks to his investments in the gaming industry. He was very tall for his age, several inches taller than Tristan, and the way he carried himself with such confidence and power frightened away any opposition that could arise in his company. His chestnut colored hair was long enough to cover the nape of his neck and slightly obscure his eyes from view unless you were standing in front of him. This was a man who didn't play; he was all about power and intimidation and he knew exactly how to use both.
Kaiba smirked cruelly as if they were all lowly commoners beneath him. "Not that it's any of you pathetic losers' business, but I'm here to see the card you were so enthusiastic about earlier. But an ultra rare card in this miserable little dump is almost laughable."
"You're into duel monsters? That's awesome! Maybe we could all duel together!" Joey enthusiastically suggested. But his enthusiasm drained from him when Kaiba scoffed scornfully and all but shoved him to the side, like he was nothing more than a fly buzzing in his ear.
"Me duel you? I'd have more of a challenge playing Solitaire. I am the number one ranked duelist in the country and the favorite to win the championship. Heh, you wouldn't last two minutes in a duel against me. Now, go curl in a corner, you pathetic little dog."
Ava stepped out from behind Yugi and got up in Kaiba's face, not really noticing or caring that he stood well over a foot taller than she did. He insulted her friend and she wasn't going to take that sitting down. "Hey, you pompous peacock! Just because you somehow bribed your way to the number one slot, doesn't give you the right to act like a total jack-ass to my friends!" She poked his chest for emphasis between words. Apparently, being stood up to by a complete nobody was a sore spot for him. Kaiba grabbed Ava's wrist in his iron grip and twisted just enough to cause pain, and send a message. His eyes turned hard, scrutinizing her and sending a message: "Don't cross me or you'll regret it."
"Look, I don't know who you think you are, little girl, but standing up to me is probably the worst idea you could ever have, but I'm willing to overlook your stupidity just this once; so I suggest you back off before you really make me angry." He growled, shoving Ava back and releasing her wrist. She stumbled back into Yugi, who caught her with ease and stared up at Kaiba with hard eyes, but no visible anger on his face. Ava felt another flash of heat spread across her hand, but this time, it travelled up her arm in an almost protective embrace.
"Now, does this shop have any cards that are actually worth my while?" Kaiba smirked, his cold eyes sweeping over the cases quickly. His gaze landed on Grandpa's treasured card sitting in its small box and his mouth dropped open a little in shock. He shoved his way past the four teenagers, ignoring the indignant shouts and placed his hands on the counter on either side of the card."Could it be? The Blue Eyes White Dragon in a dump like this?" His fingertips twitched, itching to touch the rare card, but before he could even think about it, Solomon dashed his hopes.
"Well, that's enough window shopping!" Grandpa declared, snapping the case shut and placing it back underneath the counter. "Is there anything else I can help you with today?" His tone, which was normally kind and cheerful, was hard and distrustful and he fixed his amethyst eyes on the young CEO in a small glower, telling him to finish his business and leave. After all, he did just hurt his adopted granddaughter and that was something that wouldn't be easily forgiven.
Kaiba audibly growled and violently slammed his silver briefcase on the countertop, popping the locks open quickly and spun it around the face the elder man, whose enthusiasm went up when he saw that the case was full of powerful and rare cards, but not a single one of them was as powerful or rare as his Blue Eyes White Dragon. Yugi, Ava, Joey, and even Tristan all gasped when their eyes landed on the vast amount of rare cards stacked neatly in the velvet-lined case. "Listen here, old man. Give me your Blue Eyes and you can have every card in this case." He offered with a pretentious grin, as if his offer was too good for anyone in their right mind to refuse. But Grandpa did just that.
"These cards are all nice, but no thanks." He smiled, ignoring the dumbstruck looks on everyone else's faces. The older man seemed proud of his decision and crossed his arms comfortably over his chest. Kaiba snarled, not understanding why his offer had been refused. The card he had spent years searching for was right there in front of him, within reach and he wasn't going to leave this place without it. Another idea hit him, and he leaned in a bit closer to make his offer.
"Fine, if you won't trade for it, perhaps you'll sell it. Name your price, old man. I can pay anything you could ask for."
"I'm sure you could. But this card is more valuable to me than anything you could ever offer. Not because of its strength or rarity, but because of what it means to me. This card was given to me by a very dear friend, so I treasure this card as I do that friend. Parting with it is completely out of the question, Mr. Kaiba." The rich man's hands shook with barely contained fury.
"See, Kaiba, Grandpa would feel the same if it were a card as common and weak as Kuriboh," Yugi said wisely. "It doesn't matter the rarity or strength of the card, but what does matter is how you feel about the person who gave you the card and how well you treat it shows how well you'd treat that person."
"You're absolutely right, Yugi. I can't and won't part with this precious card because it has bonded with my heart. So thank you for the offers, Kaiba, but I'm not interested." Ava wrapped her arms around her grandfather's neck, proud of his resolution to Kaiba's persistent offers and not crumbling under the pressure as many people would have. She pressed a gentle kiss to his weathered cheek and turned to smirk up at Kaiba's infuriated face.
Kaiba forcefully slammed his briefcase shut and stepped away from the display case, heading toward the front door. He wrenched the door open and turned to leave, but not without scoffing at the old man's stupidity. "Fine! I've heard enough of this garbage, you senile old fool!" Then he stalked out of the shop, making sure to slam the door behind him, rattling the building, before he hopped into his limo and sped off down the road, seething.
And even though Kaiba couldn't see it, Ava still flipped the pretentious, spoiled brat off, earning loud guffaws from Joey and Tristan, an eye roll from Yugi, and a gentle scolding from Grandpa, but his eyes glimmered with mirth. She just shrugged like it was no big deal."I'm not gonna say sorry. You always taught me not to lie, Grandpa," Ava locked up the shop and flipped the 'OPEN' sign to 'CLOSED' before rubbing her hands together readily. "Now, what say we make some dinner and forget all this mess?"
"I sure hope Gramps has some cool cards today!" Joey said as the group walked home from school the following day. Ava was currently riding piggyback on Yugi's back, her head on top of his while she ran her fingers though his hair. He was only two inches taller than she was, but he was plenty strong enough to carry her light frame on his back with ease.
"I just hope he's got dinner cooking! I'm starved!" Ava moaned dramatically. Yugi laughed loudly and craned his neck to look up at her incredulously.
"Didn't you eat like an hour and a half ago? How can you be so hungry already?"
"What can I say? I'm a growing girl. I have needs that must be fulfilled," she stated, sliding off his back once they'd reached the game shop. She patted her stomach to emphasize her point. "Hey, Grandpa! We're back for more food!"
"And we came to get new cards!" Joey added, shooting Ava a bemused look. Everyone's brows furrowed when they received no reply from the friendly old man. They all spread out to look for him (Tristan and Joey taking the downstairs, and Yugi and Ava checking out the upstairs loft where they lived) but they found no sign of him.
"Maybe… he went out to buy some groceries?" Tristan suggested once they regrouped back in the shop. Yugi was sitting behind the counter, his chin in his hands while Joey and Tristan sat in stools along the wall beside the phone, both of them watching Ava pace back and forth. It was easy to see how concerned she was. After all, Grandpa never went out unexpectedly without at least calling either her or Yugi or without leaving a note somewhere. The warm feeling she was beginning to get accustomed to crept up her hand from her Millennium Item, relaxing her slightly. They all visibly jumped when the phone's shrill ringing split the tense silence.
"I'll get it," Yugi volunteered, quickly snapping to attention. "It could be Grandpa calling to tell us why he's late. Hello, Solomon's Game Shop."
Ava couldn't hear the other voice very well, but she felt a rush of cold roll through her when Yugi's posture stiffened. His fingers gripped the phone so hard, his knuckles turned white, not that he noticed or cared. A cold feeling of dread washed over him as he listened to the voice on the other end.
"Kaiba?! What have you done with my Grandpa?" Yugi demanded forcefully. At the mention of their rival's name, Joey, Tristan, and Ava all bolted up, immediately demanding to know what he'd done with the older man. Yugi shushed them with a wave of his hand, dismissing their words so he could pay attention to Kaiba. Ava snatched the phone from Yugi's hand and held it up to her ear.
"Listen to me, you pretentious bastard, I swear that if you've hurt my grandfather in any way, I'm going to castrate you with a rusty saw!" She hissed venomously. She had her back turned to her friends, so she didn't see the blood drain from the three male's faces and their hands went between their legs protectively. Joey leaned over to whisper in Tristan's ear,
"Remind me never to get on her bad side." to which the taller man nodded his agreement.
Kaiba chuckled darkly, as if she was just a small dog that was yapping harmlessly at his heels. "Well, if it isn't the little girl. Your pointless threats don't frighten me any more than you do. You're nothing more than a pathetic, little child trying to act big and tough," Kaiba sneered, taunting her. "As I was telling Yugi just a moment ago, your grandfather is here visiting me, but he isn't feeling too well. You and Yugi need to come by my office to pick him up. But I suggest you hurry; he isn't looking the greatest… Guess, I'll be seeing you and Yugi very soon, little girl." There was bit of shuffling on the other line and a soft 'click' signaling that the line had gone dead, and Ava was left standing the middle of the game shop, gripping the phone with white knuckles, unequivocally livid.
With a roar, she slammed the phone down onto the receiver and began storming towards the exit, only to be blocked by Joey, holding his hands out so she couldn't pass. Her indigo eyes flashed furiously at being halted, causing his stance to falter for a split second. She felt a pair of hands grab her shoulders from behind, but she instantly recognized them belonging to Yugi and relaxed somewhat. Tristan stayed back, away from Ava's temper, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire. He had to admit, though, that seeing a woman stand up for herself and loved ones so fearlessly was terrifying and a force to be reckoned with.
"Ava, Yuge, what the heck is goin' on? Where's Gramps and what's Kaiba got to do with him?" Joey demanded, also worried for the old man. Both of them had an anxious, but determined gleam in their eye, and if he were honest, he was genuinely thankful not to be on the receiving end of it. He may not know Gramps very well, but he was a part of Yugi and Ava's family, and he would fight for them against anyone who stood in their way. Even a rotten, selfish, conniving scum-bag like Seto Kaiba.
"Kaiba said Grandpa is at his office…and that he isn't doing well and needs us," Ava said through clenched teeth. "Now get out of my way so I can go rip Kaiba's balls off!" She tried to take a step, but was held back by Yugi's strong hands still clamped firmly to her shoulders He gave them a reassuring squeeze.
"Ava, we need to head to Kaiba Corp and focus on helping Grandpa instead of revenge. He's trying to goad us into fighting him; we can't stoop to his level," Yugi stepped in front of Ava, looking her in the eye. He turned his friend to face him, knowing how her temper flared. She needed to calm down before they went charging headfirst into a situation they weren't prepared for. He waited until she stopped resisting him before releasing her shoulders. "I know that what he's done is wrong, but Grandpa wouldn't want us maiming anyone and making enemies. But still, we can't let him get away with this either. Let's go get Grandpa back."
Well, there it is. Chapter one of Puzzled Journey is now complete! I will try to update as often as possible, but it still takes a lot to write these things, so bear with me! This will be a four part series and I hope you'll be willing to stick with it!
Also, I drew the cover art in October of 2013 so please don't plagiarize it.
Let me know what you thought of it! PM me if you have any desire to learn any spoilers and leave a review telling me what you thought!