1Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Yu-gi-oh or Yu-gi-oh GX. They are owned by Kazuki Takahashi, TV Tokyo, NAS, and the good people at Shonen Jump.

Turn 7: Make it to the Top! Vs. Domino Mall! Part 1

Traditions are considered to be a central theme of the holiday season. For some, this can mean coming together with family and friends to celebrate their heritage. For others, traditions are associated with celebrating miracles that happened long ago. No matter what the circumstances, it can't be argued that traditions are important to both individuals and societies on a grander scale.

However, not all traditions are enjoyable or intentionally created, but just happen over time. Unfortunately for Jaden and the others, the tradition of the holiday rush is one of these cases...

"There's so many...," Jaden stuttered in amazement.

"We know...," Alexis whispered.

"It doesn't seem to end," Jaden continued.

"No kidding," Syrus stammered, still in shock from what lay before him.

"...and I thought that the parking lot looked like a war zone," Hassleberry groaned.

"Its so horrifying, but I can't look away!" Jaden cried louder.

"Like a car wreck, isn't it?" Mr. Hayama bluntly questioned the young man.

"Its...its...INSANE!" Jaden screamed at the top of his lungs, only to be drowned out by the madness that laid before him.

The gang had taken the service elevator to Center Court, the heart of Domino Mall, a nickname which was clearly an understatement. The court itself had a large, to square like atmosphere to it. A central garden, adorned with multiple fountains and marble walkways was present within the center of the court. Due to the holiday season, the usual shrubs and palm trees had been replaced with poinsettias, evergreen trees, and a decorative snow scape. The centerpiece to the scenery was of course the large Christmas tree placed within the center of the garden.

The tree itself was large enough to rival the one in Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. It was decorated from top to bottom with ribbon and various decorations, all colored red and gold. The tens of thousands of lights that adorned it made the tree glow with a heavenly aura.

Unfortunately, this scene was unnoticed by the hoards of shoppers that were barreling past one another to finish off their holiday shopping.

"Ugh!", Mr Hayama grunted as he was shoved aside by a raven haired teen, pulling her strawberry blonde haired companion behind her.

"C'mon Ichigo! I want to get to the next sale," squealed the girl with excitement.

"Rukia, I think you're taking this holiday shopping thing a bit seriously! I know its your first time really shopping and all, but...ahh!", the blonde haired teen shouted as he was dragged back into the crowd.

"Ayah! These young one pushing and shoving and yelling! You think they'd seen a ghost!," Mr. Hayama complained as he tried not to be trampled by any other shoppers.

"So where is the tournament being held?!," Jaden asked, while dodging out of the way from a woman speeding by in an electric wheel chair.

"Up there", Alexis shouted as she pointed straight up.

Jaden's gaze rose toward the ceiling..

The center court truly was the heart of the mall, due to the fact that it opened up to the mall's upper levels. From the ground floor a person could see other shoppers walking, or herding in this case, to the other stores on the higher floors. Some of the walk ways above them even extended outward in semicircular patters and overhung the lower levels.

The ceiling meanwhile, which held a large overhanging television screen, displayed the Industrial Illusions logo on it.

"So where's the arena itself?" Jaden wondered as he crossed his arms.

"The concert level is actually separate from the shopping center portion of the mall. That screen usually displays schedules for the concerts, advertisements, and other things," Alexis explained further. "Seriously Jaden, do you ever come here?"

Jaden reached nervously behind his head before admitting, "Well, to be honest, I always just hung around my hometown. I only came downtown once in a while for a duel tournament or a movie."

"It is quite impressive what they have done here," Mr Hayama broke into the conversation all of sudden. "To take a limited amount of space and make the most of it. The designers were ingenious to push the architectural detail to such a limit. What's more, this mall even caters to small shop owners like myself. I have often thought about setting up a collectible cart here and...what? Ayah!" Mr Hayama shrieked.

The gang looked to their right to see Mr. Hayama being carried off by a random blonde haired woman.

"Hooray, someone dropped their animatronic elf statue! This is just what I need to win the home-decorating contest this year," cheered the woman as he continued to clutch Mr Hayama with a vice-like grip.

"Ugh...," Mr. Hayama grunted as he struggled just to breathe. "I never thought...what people said...about blondes...was true...," he continued the murmur to himself as he was carried off.

"...and I'm not an ELF STATUE!" he screamed at the woman.

"Its so life-like too!" the oblivious woman chuckled to herself.

"Mr Hayama!" Jaden yelled as he and the others attempted to push their way through the crowd. "Hold on lady, that's my elf statue!" Jaden screamed in vain.

Jaden watched as the woman vanished among the crowd, with Mr. Hayama's screams of protest were drowned out.

What am I going to tell Asuka?! Jaden thought in a panic.

"Jaden, in here!" Sy yelled as a bunch of arms pulled him into a random door.

Jaden heard the door slam behind him as his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit space they were in. From what he could see, the gang had ducked into an abandoned store front, or one that at least needed to be renovated. The shelves and various fixtures around the store appeared to be either toppled over or just broken. Brown storage boxes and receipts littered the carpeted floor before them and few sparks could be seen from where the cash register had been on the counter.

"Where are we?" Jaden wondered as he continued to glance around.

"Someplace that isn't overridden with shoppers, if you can believe it," Alexis' voice rang out from the shadowed room.

" Believe it or not, were standing in what remains of the Domino Greeting Card Company," Atticus said as he caught his breath.

"What, are you serious?" Jaden asked in surprise. "This place was always kept up really well. My Mom comes here all the time!"

"Well yeah, that was before the owner decided to do a "Holiday Madness" promotion last week. There were so many good deals apparently, that the whole place was pretty much ransacked," Atticus explained further.

"How do you know about that?" Syrus wondered out loud.

"Well...," Atticus said while tugging at his collar.

"He was here then," Alexis sighed.

"Huh?!" the other two boy exclaimed simultaneously.

"But, weren't you sick last week?" Syrus recalled as he pointed to the elder duelist.

"Yeah, about that...," Atticus said as he began to blush. "I kind of decided to skip out on classes to come home for the holidays. I never thought they'd let us leave to go home. I mean, does anyone even remember a celebrating the holidays last...," Atticus said before being cut off.

"Anyway, he was shopping here for his fans and came home with small travel trailer filled with cards and ornaments," Alexis said with a sigh.

"Hey, I had to buy three cards to get the cute little reindeer plush for each of them. Multiply that by a hundred or so girls and that's a lot of cards for a lot of reindeer" Atticus attempted to defend himself. "Besides, Mom appreciated the points she got for them!"

"Um, guys we have a situation going on here," Jaden reminded the Rhodes siblings.

" That's correct Sarge," Hasslberry exclaimed from the back of the store. "Operation: Dashing Through the Mall is a go!" he announced as he approached the gang, now dressed in a Santa outfit (complete with beard). "The whole reason we ducked in here was to set up our strategy!"

"Hassleberry, what the heck are you dressed in?!" Jaden asked with a dumbfounded look.

"That's Santa to you Sarge and the plan is as follows. Our group will split into two separate units, Santa Squad and Chimney Corp.. The prime directive of the Santa Squad is to track down the crazed consumer and get Mr. Hayama back. Meanwhile, the Chimney Corp. will makes its way up to the top level and secure a spot for us to watch Asuka's duel. The code name for that spot will be the Living Room," Hassleberry explained in a serious tone.

"You came up this in a few minutes?" Syrus said in disbelief.

"What makes you think that she'll still be around?" Alexis asked the Mission Leader.

"The mall closes at 9 pm and this is one of the last shopping days before Christmas, one of the big three holidays of the season. With last minute sales springing up faster then gophers on a prairie, she won't be getting far," Hassleberry declared with a confident smile.

"So who's going with who?" Alexis asked.

"I've created the teams based on skills, physicality, and physical advantage. I myself will lead the Santa Squad. With me posing as a mall Santa that is on duty, I'll be able to move through the crowd with minimal injury. My team member will be Syrus," Hassleberry explained as he held up a green elf costume with red trim.

Syrus' eyes bugged out at the sight of the elf costume.

"Why do I have to wear that thing?!" he yelled as he pointed to the miniature costume.

"Three Reasons: One, Santa needs a helper. Two, Your small enough to move through the crowd, should I get hung up. Three, you're the only one that can fit in the costume," Hassleberry finished with s sheepish grin.

"So Alexis, Atticus, and I are the chimney squad then?" Jaden asked

"Yep Sarge. Alexis came from the dueling area, so she should know how to get back there. You're good at thinking on your feet when in a tight spot, so you can help get the group out of trouble. Finally, Atticus...well...," Hassleberry trailed off.

"Permission to speak Sarge?" Atticus responded suddenly.

"Granted," Hassleberry responded with surprise.

"It is best that the pursuit team have an idea of the terrain in which they are moving through, correct?" Atticus asked.

"Correct," Hassleberry said, while mentally kicking himself for forgetting that detail.

"Then allow me to enlist in the Santa Squad. I've been to this mall more times then I can count. I also know how to get to the dueling field upstairs I think it'd be in the interest of the mission if I be a part of your group," Atticus declared with a confident grin. That and I can give Lexi and Jaden more time to themselves, he thought.

"Well, I can't find another uniform for you, so you'll have to deal with the crowd on your own," Hassleberry said.

"Don't worry," Atticus said with a wave of his hand. "I have my own methods of crowd."

Jaden turned to Alexis and smiled. "Looks like its just you and me Lex."

Alexis blushed slightly before answering back, "Right, lets do our best Jaden."

"Aww man," Syrus said as he walked toward the gang dressed in the elf outfit. "These white and green tights are really chafing and the bell on my hat keeps hitting me in the forehead.

The rest of the gang tried to stifle their chuckles as they looked at Syrus with amusement. He wore green and white striped tights, a green, felt top with red trim, and a large green hat that came to a point where a single bell dangled from it.

"How old is this thing? It looks like something from the fifties!" Sy complained.

"Stow it private," Hassleberry commanded. "We've already wasted enough time as it is. Alright everyone, on the count of three, we barrel out of that door and split up. We'll keep communication via cell phones when signals permit. Alright guys, here we go," he said as he grasped the door handle.

"One, Two, THREE!" the group said in unison before bursting out of the door way.

Jaden only had a second to glance behind him as he saw the Santa Squad mesh in with the myriad of holiday shoppers. It had taken him a minute to realize that he was holding on tightly to Alexis' hand.

Alexis, who's face was a deep crimson, continued to pull Jaden toward center court.

"Alright, Jaden. If we can make it to one of the two elevators in center court, we should have an easier time making it up to the Yule Duel tourney level. We'll have to pretty much squeeze ourselves in with a bunch of shoppers, but we should be fine," she finished explaining.

Jaden was only partially hearing what Alexis was saying. His attention kept drifting back to the dream he had before.

Why do I feel so warm again? he thought to himself. This feeling...its kind of like when I'm enjoying a duel, but different somehow.

"Oh NO!"Alexis groaned ahead of him.

Jaden looked up and so a "out of commission" sign strung in front of the elevator.

"This is just great. They weren't broken an hour ago," Alexis complained.

"You're right little lady," a voice said behind the duo.

Jaden and Alexis turned to see lanky looking man in a maintenance uniform standing behind them. He appeared to be in about his 50's, with dark gray hair and a very bushy mustache. He held a tool box in one hand and a walkie talkie in the other, which he waved as a sign of hello.

"The name's Hank, and I need to get to this elevator folks," the maintenance worker said as he scooted past the two. "Both elevators are out at the moment, due to a tinsel mishap."

"Tinsel mishap?" Jaden said in disbelief.

"Yep, the big bosses always want to put tinsel up in the elevator shafts every year. They say it makes the mall look prettier for the season, but they always end up just messing with the gears and whatnot. Frankly, I'm surprised that the inspectors haven't been on there butts about doing it each year. Although, you think the bosses would use there heads once in a while," Hank finished explaining as he manually opened the doors.

"How long until they're both fixed?" Alexis asked.

"Well, tinsel's a tricky culprit. Could be a few hours before we clean it all out. I'm a garland man myself to be honest.", Hank finished with a small smile.

"We don't have that kind of time," Jaden said as he slumped slightly.

"Well, since we got no escalators in this building, the only other option is the stairwell. Although, I don't think you'd want to try that either," Hank said grimly.

"Why?" Alexis asked.

"See for yourself," Hank said as he pointed to one of the malls corner stairwells.

Jaden and Alexis followed Hank's motion.

The stairwells in Domino Mall were situated within the four corners of the building, which expanded away from the main structure to give the look of towers or pillars from the outside. Normally these stairwells could hold a large flow of people, to compensate for the lack of escalators and the limited number of elevators. However, one wouldn't know this if they saw what Jaden and Alexis had seen.

People could be seen shoving and budging in and out of the one stairwell, putting themselves in awkward positions in order to bring their packages along with them. Multiple arms, bags and even some legs could be seen jutting of the crowd stairwell.

Hank sighed at the sight. "Apparently everyone thinks they're contortionists or people are just that desperate to finish they're shopping. I hear that its just as bad in the other four stairwells."

"Talk about stocking stuffers...," Jaden said under his breath. "So what do we do now? We have to get up to the top somehow," he said, turning to Alexis.

Alexis though was staring up at the tree in center court, as if she were studying it for some reason.

Jaden tapped Alexis on the shoulder lightly to get her attention. "Hey Lex, you with me here?"

"There's no tree topper," Alexis murmured.

Huh? Jaden thought as he looked toward the tree and saw that the top of the tree did not bare any type of topper. "So what?" Jaden asked. "Maybe they're just waiting for Christmas Eve?"

Hank's voice rang out from the elevator shaft, "Actually, there was a topper on it. It was a bright gold and red star that the owners acquired from a foreign dealer. We had to take it down for repairs when someone spotted a crack in it. Its actually sitting in a crate in center court, just waiting to be set up. Too bad all of us on the crew are busy with just repair. We need at least one twp people to place the star on top."

Alexis looked over to Jaden with a mischievous grin, while Jaden just responded with a blank expression.

Alexis sighed, "Just follow my lead," she said as she walked into the elevator. "Hey Hank?"

"Yes little lady?" Hank's voice echoed out of the maintenance hatch.

"You guys on the maintenance crew are pretty busy at this time of year, right?" Alexis asked in a innocent tone.

"I s'pose. They make as work like dogs usually.," Hank whispered under his breath as he continued to fiddle a piece of knotted tinsel.

"I'm sure that they've been on your backs about getting that star up again too, huh?" Alexis continued as she put her hands behind her back..

Jaden still was lost as to what Lex was trying to pull off. He was just scratching the back of his head in confusion at this point.

Hank popped his head out of the hatch and looked at Alexis with a curious eye. "Yeah, I s'pose they have. What are you gettin' at their little lady?"

"Well, I was wondering if we could help each other out." Alexis slyly smiled.

A light bulb seemed to light up in Hank's mind, finally understanding what Lex was getting at. "If I'm thinking what your thinking, you better hope I don't lose my job over it."

Jaden just stood watching to two in front of him both grin at each other. "Umm, care to clue me in guys?"

A few minutes had passed before Jaden and Alexis were standing in Center Square again, which had been blocked off to allow for a lift to be moved in by the tree. Both Jaden and Alexis were now clad in dark grey maintenance uniforms, complete with matching caps.

"Ok, so explain this to me again," Jaden said as he attempted to adjust the cap over his large mound of hair.

Alexis giggled a bit at Jaden and his hat before explaining, "We're going to help Hank out and place the star on top of the tree for him. In exchange, he's having one of his co-workers move the lift toward one of the top floors. We can then jump off and cut the time it takes to get to Yule Duel. You follow?"

"Alright, but...," Jaden's voice trailed off as he looked up at the tree. "It's a long way up isn't it?

Sweat started to trickle down Jaden's brow.

"Your not afraid of heights are you?" Alexis asked her friend. "You've dueled in more dangerous places than this."

"Yeah, but I was dueling at the time. I was too focused to realized what was going on around me," Jaden admitted as he finally managed to pull the cap down over his head.

"Try to think of it like your about to duel then and your opponent is waiting at the top," Lex said as she got into the lift's basket. "Now come one, we don't have a lot of time."

Jaden jumped into the lift basket and was handed the star to be placed upon the tree. It was a little taller than Jaden and took up a large portion of the basket. Luckily they were in a large basket. The lift whirred to life and began to move up along the tree at a slow pace. All that Alexis and Jaden could do now was stand and wait.

Jaden glanced around the mall to see the multitude of shoppers darting from store to store, with bags and packages being carried in their hands. He glanced over to Alexis, who was waving her head back and forth a little to "Oh Tannenbaum" to kill the time.

Geez, whoever does the music in this place must have a camera on us or something, Jaden thought as he continued to glance around.

The basket had made it halfway up the tree and the large overhead lights from the ceiling were now reflecting off of the star, casting a heavenly glow on the two young duelists. Jaden couldn't help but notice the glow it gave to Alexis, despite the outfit she was wearing.

Jaden cleared his throat, "So Lex, are you and your family doing anything for the holidays?" He hoped to get some type of conversation going.

Alexis looked over at Jaden and smiled, "Nothing much really. My parents usually try to help out at some of the local shelters during the holidays. Then we'd visit relatives on Christmas day and have dinner. Too bad we can't do that this year, with me being home and all."

"Huh? Why not?" Jaden asked.

"Well, lets just say that their boss is a bit of a Scrooge and has them working on a merger through Christmas. They'll be off the hook come the 27th, but until then it looks like its just me and Atticus," she explained with a solemn smile.

Jaden couldn't help but be angry and sad for Alexis at the same time. "How can a guy do that to a family on the holidays?! That's just not right!" he exclaimed.

"Hey, its alright Jaden. Its not like it happens every year or anything...," Alexis began before being cut off.

"Still, its not every chance that we get to come home for the holidays from the Academy either," Jaden reminded her. "You deserve to have a warm holiday as much as the rest of us."

The basket finally stopped at the top of the tree and a call came over the walky talky. "Alright you two, you two know what to do," the maintenance worker on the ground said.

Alexis and Jaden gripped the base of the oversized star and began to hoist it up over the top branched of the tree.

"You know, this is surprisingly light," Alexis said, taking the chance to change the subject.

Jaden still had a small frown on his face, but attempted to make it seem like he was just focusing on the work at hand. It only took a minute before the star had been replaced on the tree and shimmered due the lights that surrounded its base.

The glow of the star made Jaden's thoughts return to the image of a tree in the park years ago, and the little girl that was there with him.

Jaden twisted quickly toward Alexis, "Hey Lex, I really have to ask you something, before I forget."

Alexis cocked an eyebrow, wondering why Jaden was so excited all of a sudden.

"Do you ever remember going to a place called...," Jaden began before he was cut off by the walky talky again.

"Great job you two! I'm moving the basket over to the floor now. Hold on,"the maintenance worker said before the basket started to move again.

The first jerk of the basket caused Alexis to fall into Jaden's arms for a moment.

"Oof," Jaden said as he caught her.

Alexis and Jaden both blushed a deep crimson for a moment.

Alexis broke away from the embrace before nervously saying, "Heh, sorry Jaden. I lost my balance for a minute.

"Yeah, no problem," Jaden replied, still red in the face.

The lift basket pulled over to one of the top floors of the mall, allowing the two to dismount. The two duelists stood there for a moment, with an awkward silence between the two of them prevailing for a minute,

"Alright guys...," the worker's voice squawked. "Just leave the uniforms in one of the restrooms upstairs and we'll take it from there. Thanks again!"

Jaden was the first to speak up. "We'd better get going," he said as he made his way to the nearest men's room.

"Right," Alexis said, following in suit. "By the way, what were you going to ask me?"

Jaden just shrugged the questions off saying, "Nothing important..."

Moments later the two emerged from their respective bathrooms, clothed in their own attire again.

"Man, no wonder my Dad avoids public restrooms," Jaden said as he walked out with a green colored face.

"Try having a bunch of mom's changing their babies' diapers in yours," Alexis said as she clutched her stomach due to minor nausea.

"So where do we go from here?"Jaden asked.

"We're actually on the floor just below the duel field. The audience entrance should be straight ahead," Alexis said as she began to push past a bunch of shoppers again.

Jaden followed her through the thick crowd of shoppers until they reached end of the floor. What seemed to be a large store front was now converted into a large box office/entrance, with a marquee reading "Yule Duel" over it. A single ticket-taker and guard were present at the entrance.

Jaden walked up to the ticket taker. "Um, two for the Yule Duel, please?" Jaden said with big grin.

"Sorry sir, we're sold out, but your friend Ms. Rhodes may watch the duel from the competitor's box," the woman said, recognizing the female duelist instantly.

"Oh come on! Do you know how much trouble I've gone through to get here? I was carried by one of your guards, nearly hit by a car, my friends are Santa and an elf, we had to pose as maintenance workers, and I've been struggling to figure out this dream I had all day! Can't you guys show a little holiday spirit and let me pass? Just this once?" Jaden asked in uncharacteristic desperation and frustration.

"No, they don't pay us to have holiday spirit. So, why don't we take a walk and talk about your problems young man," the guard said as he grabbed Jaden's shoulders.

"Wait," Lex began to protest before a rumbling was heard coming from the Yule Duel Stadium.

"Run!", "Get out of the way!", "He's out of his mind!" a bunch of voices yelled as a bunch of spectators began to stampede out of the dueling arena.

Jaden broke from the guard's grip and shielded Alexis against an adjacent wall as droves of spectators began to flow out of the stadium.

"What the heck is going on?!" the guard bellowed as his communicator crackled to life.

"Smith, we have a situation in here!" a voice yelled.

"Jones, what is going on in there?! I have people running for there lives out here!" Agent Smith responded.

" Some freak busted into the stadium and is screaming to be seen by Mr. Pegasus. I guess hen didn't get the memo that he wouldn't be here," the other agent responded. "Seems to be a blonde haired woman, with a shrill voice, and shreds of blue clothing. Says that she has a PHD in dueling."

"Are you kidding me? Do they even have a degree program for something like that?" Agent Smith said as he armed himself. "The holidays always bring the weirdos out it seems," he muttered before he charged into the arena.

The crowd continued to pour out of the Yule Duel arena, while Jaden and Alexis clutched to the wall for dear life. The song Its Beginning to look A lot Like Christmas could faintly be heard over the loud speaker all the while.

To Be Continued...

A/N: I think everyone can guess who the tournament crasher is, right? I was a little light on the humor this time around, but I'm hoping to make up for that in part 2. Until then... Gotcha!