The next morning the five friends gathered in the den to decide what they would do.

"I wanna get right to the slopes," Joey announced, to no one's surprise.

"Me too," Tea agreed. "It's been a long time since I've skied and I'm anxious to try it again. I hope I haven't forgotten what I learned years ago," she laughed.

In the end, they all decided to go skiing shortly after breakfast, tho no one could talk Joey out of signing up with the intermediate class instead of the beginner's one, like the rest of them had.

"Hey, it's a snap," Joey said airily. "Nothin' to it!"

"Oh boy," Tristan sighed, "here we go again."

"Joey, I don't think that's such a good idea," Yugi warned. "You're not that knowledgeable about this sport."

"You might get hurt," Tea added.

"Hey, relax, guys. I'll be fine. Joey Wheeler is in control!" He headed off to the breakfast table and Lisa North.

"There's the real reason he signed up for the intermediate class," Tristan sighed, and everyone agreed.

"When Joey gets like this, there's no way to change his mind," Bakura spoke up.

"That's for sure," Tea said.

Just then a familiar young boy of about ten bounded in. "Hi, you guys! Seto told me you were here."

"Hi Mokuba," Yugi and the others returned the greeting.

"What're you guys gonna do today?" Mokuba asked.

"Well, after breakfast, we're planning to go skiing," Yugi replied.

"Neat! I'm going to hang out with the other kids here, and then Seto's taking me to the city with him!"

"That sounds fun," Tea commented.

"Where is your brother anyway, Mokuba?" Yugi asked curiously. "We haven't seen him since late last night."

"When Joey crashed into him," Tristan added.

Mokuba paused. "I'm actually not sure. He was looking for the guy he's doing business with. They were supposed to talk over breakfast or something, but the guy never showed up."

"That's odd," Tea remarked. "Where would he have gone, and why?"

"That's what Seto is trying to find out," Mokuba said. "Frankly, I think the guy's kinda weird. I don't know if Seto should trust him."

"Weird?" Tristan repeated. "He did seem pretty eccentric, but I don't know if I'd say he wasn't trustworthy."

Mokuba sighed. "Well, he seemed more than just an eccentric to me."

"Ahh, well, I'm sure it's nothing Kaiba can't handle," Joey grinned, appearing suddenly from the dining room.

"Hey, do you guys want to come skiing with us?" Mokuba asked suddenly.

"Thanks for the offer, Mokuba," Joey said, "but, uh, Lisa and I already have other plans."

"But the rest of us will take you up on that offer," Yugi added with a smile.

"Alright! This'll be fun!" Mokuba exclaimed. "I'll go find the others!" He hurried off.

"Now that kid has a lot of energy," Joey commented.

"So, Joey," Tristan said mischievously, "what are these big 'other plans' you've got?"

"Lisa's doing an article on the ski resort and, uh, I'm gonna kinda follow her around while she inspects the intermediate ski class," Joey replied with a shrug, grabbing an apple from a nearby basket.

"That's wax, Joey," Yugi informed him.

"Huh? Oh yeah." Joey quickly dropped the apple back into its place. "Well, I've gotta go. Have fun, you guys!"

"Bye, Joey!" Yugi called as the other boy disappeared out the door.

Tristan cracked up. "Joey's got it bad."
****
"Wow. This mountain looks more daring from up here than it did down there," Tea commented. The slope was adorned in pine trees, large rocks, and snow banks.

"It might be easier to navigate than it looks," Yugi said. "I think I tried this slope when I was here the last time. At any rate, it's a lot easier than the Daredevil Slope," he laughed.

"What's that funny-looking thing?" Trevor, one of the two Cobbs kids yelled, pointing at an odd form on top of a jagged rock.

"How can it even stand up there without being cut?" Bakura wondered.

"Maybe it's not alive," Tristan suggested.

"No, Tristan, it's moving and yelling," Yugi replied. "Unfortunately, it's yelling in another language. I can't understand a word!"

"It sounds like French," Tea remarked. "I think it's saying 'I will have my revenge'!"

"'Revenge'?" everyone repeated.

"What's going on here?" Carl demanded, suddenly running up to the group. "What's that?"

"That thing up there's yelling in French about revenge," Tristan replied. "At least according to Tea it is."

"What! Who would be playing this trick?" Carl said hotly.

Suddenly the voice changed to English. "Ah, don't tell me you have forgotten the old legends. This is no trick! Carl Swanson, I'm back to claim what is rightfully mine, and nothing will stop me! I have nothing to lose this time, for I am not of this world anymore!" And with a hideous cackle, it was gone, leaving a drift of snow and many confused people in its wake.

"What *was* that?" Tristan wondered.

"It certainly wasn't friendly," Tea remarked.

"It was just someone's idea of a prank," Carl called to the skiers gathered around. "Nothing to worry about. Get back to your skiing, folks."

"Carl, what was it talking about?" Yugi asked. "It mentioned something about 'the legends.'"

Carl sighed. "Oh, just a bunch of nonsense. I'll tell you later, Yugi, if you really want to know." He turned away. "Now I need to go chop some firewood for later."

"What are we going to do?" Tea wondered.

"Well, I'm going to take Carl's advice and not worry about it," Tristan said. "I came here to ski, not to fall for some nutty prank."

"What do you think about it, Yugi?" Tea asked.

Yugi sighed. "I'm not sure what to think, Tea. What I'd like to know is, where did it go? Why don't we ski over to where it was standing and see if we can find any clues?"

"Sounds good to me," Mokuba spoke up.

When the others agreed as well, Yugi led the way down the slope to the jagged rock. "This is odd," he commented.

"What is it?" Tea came over for a better look.

"Nothing," Yugi replied.

"Then what's so odd about it?" Tristan wondered.

"That's what is odd about it," Bakura said, catching on. "There is nothing to see, when there should be some footprints or ski tracks or some kind of indication that something was here."

"That's right," Yugi confirmed.

"You mean it's almost as if . . ." Tristan began.

Yugi nodded. "Almost as if there really was a phantom here."

"No way!" Tristan muttered.

"A real phantom?" Cindy, the Cobb girl, spoke up.

"Cool!" Trevor breathed.

"Well, I don't know if it's that cool or not," Yugi said with a chuckle. "He didn't seem very sociable. We need to find out what it wanted."

"Alright!" Trevor agreed instantly.

"This could be dangerous," Yugi warned. "I really don't think you two should get involved."

"Awww . . . nuts," Trevor sighed.

"Your parents would be very upset if you got into some kind of trouble," Tea added.

"They're right," Cindy said. "Come on, Trevor, let's go ski some more!"

"Yeah, okay," Trevor agreed, grabbing his ski poles. "Are you coming, Mokuba?"

"I think I'll stay here," Mokuba replied.

Yugi and the others watched as the Cobb kids disappeared on down the mountain. "Why do I have the feeling that they're not going to take no for an answer?" Yugi said with a wry smile.

"I have that same feeling," Tea remarked.

"Kids that age just can't resist the thought of a mystery," Tristan declared.

"Including me," Mokuba spoke up. "I want to find out what happened here!"

"Here we go again," Tristan sighed.

"Mokuba, I'm serious," Yugi told the young boy, "this could get very dangerous. There have been several strange 'accidents' here the last few days. We need to find out what's happening before someone gets hurt. I don't want to put you in any danger . . ."

"I don't want anyone to get hurt either," Mokuba interrupted, "including my brother! The more people working on this case, the sooner we can crack it! Please let me help, Yugi," he pleaded. "I'll be careful!"

Before Yugi could reply, a scream suddenly tore through the air.

"What was that?" Bakura gasped.

"Someone come quick!" a new voice yelled. "She's falling over the edge!"