Thanks to our regular readers, as well as to loverswatch for adding the original TAE to their favorites! Welcome!

Another month, another chapter. As always, I don't own anything in the Yu-Gi-Oh universe. I'm just writing this for fun.

Chapter 2

Why Selena Hates Boats

So, Yugi lost a duel. To Maximillion Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters. Who has the Millennium Eye. And took the soul of Yugi's Grandpa and stuck him in a video tape. And the only way to get him back is for Yugi to enter a tournament held by Industrial Illusions on Duelist Kingdom. No pressure.

Almost two years ago now, I would've shook it off and dismissed it as being none of my business. Now…it is. Or, it's my friend's business, which makes it my business. Which is why I'm getting ready to head to Duelist Kingdom with Yugi, Jonouchi, and the others. Yugi's entering to save his grandpa. Jonouchi's entering to save his sister from going blind. I'm going because….

I don't have to. I don't have anything close to my heart hanging in the balance. I don't have to go. But I am. Because my friends are, and for me that's all the excuse I need. Just…why do we have to get there by boat?!

000

A week had passed already, since Grandpa Mutou's soul was stuck into a video recording by Pegasus, and Yugi had gotten the invitation to Duelist Kingdom. Earlier in the week, Jonouchi had decided he was going to enter too, after he got a video from his sister, to win the prize money for an operation to save his sister's eyesight.

Selena was cheering for the both of them.

Or she would be, once they got there. For the moment, the psychic was too busy trying not to throw up.

Me and boats do not mix.

"Earth to Selena! Hello-o, anybody home?"

Selena grabbed Jonouchi's wrist and twisted it just enough to make him sqeak. "Don't talk to me. I might throw up on you."

"You sure it's not from lunch? I mean, you did have the clams…."

"Shut up, Honda. Or I'll puke on you next."

Bakura interposed himself between Selena and the two boys, and pried Jonouchi's wrist out of Selena's hand. "How's about we stop irritating the seasick person and start thinking about the tournament?" He suggested. "That way we've got a plan, and nobody's been barfed on."

Thank you, Ryo. Selena thought gratefully. Selena and boats had never really mixed. For that matter, Selena and water never mixed, outside the bathtub. She couldn't swim; one of the many reasons Karita got on her when it was swim day in PE. School regs said that, because she couldn't swim, Selena therefore didn't have to be issued a swimsuit or dress when it was swim day. Apparently, school regulations had never been a good enough excuse for Karita the cranky jock.

Just as well, because on all of the handful of times Selena had been on a boat, she'd gotten seasick. Badly. And this was no exception. I should've packed ginger pills. Not that they would've done much good anyway, but still….

It didn't help that ever since Yugi and Pegasus had dueled, Selena hadn't been able to completely tune out her Eye. That was coming back to bite her, as she wasn't just feeling her own discomfort about being on the water, but the various levels of excitement and nervousness and all the other emotions of the rest of the duelists on the ship. Empathy…of all the things her Demon Eye let her do, that was one ability she could do without.

Selena pressed her fingertips to her temples and closed her eyes, pressing her forehead into her knees. She took several long, deep breaths, focusing on clearing her mind; gradually she felt the myriad emotional overflow from her surroundings fade into the background, and felt at least some of her nausea diminish. She was still seasick, but at least now she didn't feel like she had to run to the bathroom and pray to the porcelain gods.

She took a final deep breath before rejoining the land of the living. The others were giving her a look, and she shrugged. "I'm not a fan of boats. The fact that I'm not leaning over the railing right now is a minor miracle."

"Well, at least now we know why you can't swim." Selena swatted Honda with her bedroll. "Hey! Kidding!"

"Lay off, Honda." Anzu said. "Selena, you sure you're all right? You still look kind of green."

"I'll be fine once I'm back on dry land." Selena replied, uncurling herself and sitting cross-legged. "It…wasn't just the seasickness, but I don't think I'll barf anymore." She shot Jonouchi a look. "Unless some people start teasing again."

Jonouchi held up his hands. "Hey, I was just worried!"

"Shut up, Jonouchi. I said I don't think I'll barf anymore. The trip's not over yet; I just might end up making good on that promise."

"Okay! Let's talk about something other than barfing on people!" Anzu's tone brooked no argument. "Like, what's the plan when we reach the island?"

"Anzu, it's a Duel Monsters tournament. We duel people!"

Anzu shot Jonouchi a look. "Other than dueling people." She deadpanned. "Don't tell me those cards you got in the mail, Yugi, were the only clues about the tournament?"

Yugi shook his head. "That's it." He sighed. "My guess is we'll find out more once we make landfall. Or, I hope we will."

Honda groaned. "You know, if they're hosting a tournament, you'd think they'd give the entrants a little more info other than when we leave, the prize, and where it is."

Selena shrugged. "It's being hosted by the mega-rich CEO of a major gaming company. The guy can be as vague as he damn well pleases, I guess." She said. "Yugi's probably right; once we get there, we'll find out more about the actual rules for the tournament. Like if there's a time limit or something."

"Since it's on an island, there'd have to be." The teen in question said. "And from the looks of it, a lot of the people here aren't too much older than us. Even Haga and Ryuzaki can't be more than our age."

"I'm gonna bet Haga's younger, actually." Jonouchi said. "I mean, he's shorter than you, no offense."

Yugi gave Jonouchi the stinkeye, but didn't otherwise reply to the jab at his height. "What I'm saying is, everyone here may be really good duelists, but most of them are kids. Even Ma—er, Miss Kujaku couldn't have even been ten years older than us."

Selena noted that Anzu's eye twitched at the mention of the older woman. Selena suppressed a snort of a giggle; which, really, wasn't all that hard, considering her stomach's opinion of the trip so far. The boys' reaction to Mai Kujaku had been hilarious; even Yugi, the one with the most common sense—relatively, a voice in the back of Selena's head added, as even Yugi had done a few not-so-bright things in the past (a certain incident involving a mythical ghost in the school boiler room came to mind)—hadn't been able to stop staring. And had even turned into a babbling mess when Mai had addressed him.

Selena had had to practically shove her fist in her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. She filed the event away in the "friendly blackmail" folder. Right up there with the haunted boiler room prank and Aptitude Test Bingo.

"Pretty sure we're going to have to figure out a way to get Jonouchi a glove like mine," Yugi continued. "And make it through the first round; I'll bet a lot of duelists will be eliminated in the first couple rounds, thinning everything out for the rest of us."

"And leaving the really good ones behind," Honda added. "You said it yourself; everyone here is already really good. Getting through the first round is going to be hard."

Selena's mouth tightened at that thought. She thought to the deck she had in her hoodie pocket at the moment; she still hadn't told her friends she'd brought her cards with her. Earlier, Jonouchi had traded cards with some of the duelists, but Yugi had refrained; so had Selena. Partly because she didn't want to part with any of the cards she already had—they'd gotten her through two "psychic duels" with X, so far—and partly because she still hadn't decided what route she was going to take once they hit landfall.

And maybe you're a little bit scared, yourself.

Selena pushed that thought to the back of her mind. She'd done a few regional tournaments in the past couple years…but nothing beyond that. Most of it was because she wouldn't have been able to afford the plane tickets to get to the American nationals.

But another part of it was the same fear that was sending butterflies into loop-the-loops in her stomach, right alongside the seasickness. She hadn't wanted to risk the sort of…notoriety getting to statewide championships would've gotten her. And the repercussions she'd have to endure at home.

She still wasn't sure if she thought she was good enough to compete at this level. Or, hell, if she'd even be able to edge her way in. Selena still hadn't figured out how she'd do that, anyway….

"Selena?"

Selena looked to Yugi. He was giving her a funny look; brows knitted, small frown. Usually an expression like that meant he knew something was wrong, but wasn't going to outright ask. More than once she suspected her spikey-haired friend had some measure of empathic sense too, even if he didn't know it.

Selena gave a weird half-shrug. "Just…nerves." She said. "I mean…Pegasus has that eye, right? And he created Duel Monsters. What if he has some motive other than just challenging you to a duel?"

Yugi's mouth went into a thin line. "I've thought about that, too." He said softly. "But I have no idea what it is. If he'd just wanted me in this tournament, then I'd have gotten a regular invitation, like everyone else here. But that video recording, that duel, stealing Grandpa's soul…it doesn't feel right. It bugs me."

"Same here," Jonouchi said. "I mean, I'm not a psychic like Selena and I don't have one of those Millennium Item thingies, but even I'm getting the heebies from all this. Something smells."

"Got that right," Honda added. He propped his arm up on his bent knee. "But what? It just brings us back to Selena's question."

Yugi rested his chin on his knees. "I don't know. And I'm not sure if I want to think about it." Idly, the boy rested a hand on the Puzzle. "The other me…he's still frustrated. Not so much depressed as before, but…."

"Upset, kind of?" Anzu asked.

Yugi nodded. "I can't blame him either…I'm bothered by it all, too. And then, even if I do defeat Pegasus, what if that doesn't get Grandpa back to normal?"

"Let's cross that hurdle when we get to it," Bakura said. "Until then, just focus on getting to the finals; if you'll be dueling Pegasus at all, it'll probably be there."

Yugi nodded. He uncurled himself from his sitting position and rose. "I'm going to go get some fresh air. Maybe that'll clear my mind a little bit."

"Sounds like a good plan." Jonouchi said. "In the meantime, anybody want to get in some last-minute practice?"

Honda held up a hand. "I'll pass. No offense, man, but I'm a little sick of dueling after the past week."

"Eh, you're fine. What about you, Selena?"

Selena shook her head. "I'm with Honda. And I'm still feeling a bit too green to be up to a few duels," She said. "And I don't think you'd like it if I upchucked all over our cards."

"Good point. Anzu?"

"Ah…what the hell? Just don't bitch if I beat you again."

"I think I'll pass on watching the slaughter." Selena said, rising. Her stomach did a few more backflips as the boat adjusted course for whatever reason. "I feel like I may be in for some quality time with the bathroom, before long."

She headed a couple doors down the hall to said bathroom—she really did feel like shit—and leaned up against the wall. She looked in the mirror, and grimaced as she looked as bad as she felt. Anzu hadn't been kidding; she did look green. I really hate boats, she thought, wondering if coming along really had been the best idea.

Selena was about to head into one of the stalls just in case she really did blow chunks when she heard a scream from outside. She ran back out of the bathroom, mind racing. That sounded like Yugi!

She reached the deck right as she heard a splash. "Get a rescue ladder!" She heard Anzu call, and intercepted Honda as he ran to grab one.

"What happened?!" She asked as they returned the group and threw the ladder down the side, she and the two boys anchoring it.

"That little weasel Haga tossed Yugi's Exodia cards into the ocean; Jonouchi dove after them." Selena's eyes went wide at Honda's reply. "When I get my hands on that little—"

A few minutes later Jonouchi was out of the water, wrapped in a towel, and cussing himself out. "Dammit…I'm sorry, Yugi, I couldn't find the rest of them." His hand balled into a fist. "When you track him down on the island, leave some for me; he's gonna get his lights punched out for that stunt."

"Chill out, dude." Honda said. "We all know Haga pulled a shit stunt. But cool your jets; I'll bet whatever pounding he gets in a duel will be enough." The fact that his fists were balled in his pockets was not lost on Selena.

Selena, too, was mad. "Normally I'd be on the side of 'think first, punch later', but right now I'm with Jonouchi." She said, hands in her hoodie pocket. "When we track him down, don't be surprised if those lame little glasses of his are broke. With his nose."

"Let's wait till we get to the island before you guys start planning revenge," Anzu said. "Landfall's tomorrow morning; let's just get some sleep and cool your jets in the meantime."

Grunts of agreement echoed all around, and Selena looked out the window, frowning. A muscle worked in her jaw. The incident that had just happened with Haga had helped Selena come to a decision.

Once they got to the island, she was going to find a way to fudge her way into the tournament.

000

I'm a lunatic. I'm a freaking lunatic. Yes, I know I never got an invite to the tournament, but honestly, I don't care. That stunt Haga pulled with Yugi's cards was no bueno, in more ways than I care to say. The little shit was too afraid to take on and beat Yugi in a fair fight in the dueling ring, so he went ahead and pulled an underhanded, shitty stunt that, as far as I'm concerned, is cheating. Any respect I may have had for him has gone down the toilet, and if I run across the little….

Now I just need to figure out how to edge into the tournament. I don't have a dueling glove, I don't have any star chips…hell, I never got an official invitation to Duelist Kingdom anyway. But neither did Jonouchi, and he was allowed on as a competitor anyway, so maybe it isn't as strict a rule as I think it is. Either way, I'm going to compete, and I'm going to get to the finals. That way, with any luck, that means we'll have double the chances of one of us winning.

Fair warning to you guys; I'm doing Camp NaNoWriMo again this year! Yee! If anybody else is doing it as well, feel free to look me up at Camp; username's Hikari Hellion.

As always, keep reading everyone!

~Hikari Hellspawn