Chapter 7: Under Garmentum
Yugi awoke to welcome the new day. He stepped out of Hotel Delfino to see the mostly cloudy skies. "Doesn't look like there will be rain in the forecast," he believed. "Too bad we're not going anywhere today… at least, as far as I know." Without warning, something from Yugi awoke.
"It seems like this vacation was, indeed, in order," he assumed.
"So I'm starting to understand." That's when Yugi had an idea. "Say, Pharaoh… Maybe you'd like some rest and relaxation outside the Millennium Puzzle. After all, it's your time off as well as mine, Joey's and Serenity's."
"Are you sure? And wouldn't the others have some sort of suspicion about me if we swap ourselves?"
"Don't worry. No one else is awake… and it won't be like the time you went out with Téa." The voice laughed, humored to the moment.
"Don't get me wrong, Téa and I had a nice time that day." Yugi chuckled before he guided his hands below the pyramid which began to move. It shook while glowing in gold.
"YU-GI-OH!" both shouted. In a flash, Yugi grew up a couple of feet. Yugi glared to the air and breathed it.
"Isle Delfino…" he muttered. Yugi seemed alone for a moment when…
"Yami?" spoke Serenity. Yugi, or Yami, turned to see Serenity holding Plue in her arms.
"Serenity…" Noting the new size, Serenity believed this was someone else.
"Did Yugi switch with you?"
"He did. Said that this vacation's also mine and he wanted to share it with me." Serenity nodded, understanding Yugi's consent.
"So Yugi…" Plue awed how Yami and Serenity knew each other.
"By the way, is Joey awake?"
"He woke me, talking about the casino opening today. More than likely, he's already playing the slots." At the casino's entrance, Joey, Ryoko, Elie and the ermine groaned to a sign on the door.
"HOTEL DELFINO CASINO TO OPEN AT 3:00."
Those wanting to gamble had to wait. "Not until this afternoon?" groaned Elie.
"Here I am ready to test my luck and skill as a duelist and I get shut out by a locked door?" whined Joey.
"Well, nothing better to do than wait for the afternoon to arrive," Ryoko shrugged. The other three sighed. They wanted to play in the casino, now having to bide their time. Outside, buzz about Yami reached the vacationers. The teenage girls fawned to Yami, notably Orihime, Kagome and Winry. Yami instantly became nervous as those who wanted to play in the casino saw the commotion.
"So, you're a 5,000 year-old pharaoh from Egypt?" asked Winry.
"How are you still alive after all this time?" wondered Orihime. "Are you a secret Soul Reaper?" The comments toward Yami made him rather concerned.
"I assure you, everything will be discussed," he promised. While Yami received attention, the three who fought each other days ago could only watch in disbelief.
"Those three are still punishing us for having that spar on the beach," Haru murmured. "How long will it take for them to get over that?" Ichigo and IY understood Haru's grief.
"That's what happens when our egos and bravado gets the better of us," Ichigo realized. "Just give it some more time for everything to blow over." The teenage girls swarmed Yami. Serenity came to Yami's side with an idea.
"If you wanna learn about him this badly," she voiced. "I suggest we teach you about Duel Monsters." The girls became interested.
"Oh, boy…" Joey gulped. "I'm not sure Yami knows what to expect, considering Winry's barging in to learn of the squirting devices a couple of days ago." Joey's concerns came true when Yami turned to him.
"Joey, the Duel Disks," he spoke. "Could you retrieve them?" Joey shrugged, not willing to betray a friend.
"Sure thing." Joey rushed to their room, passing an opened door with May peeking out. Just before Joey could reach the room.
"Did we miss breakfast?" she questioned. Joey turned to the brunette girl.
"Lesson time. We're gonna teach everyone about Duel Monsters." May seemed interested to this lesson.
"Hey, lemme get ready before knowing that!" Joey snickered, accepting the request.
"Sure!" Joey entered his room and gathered four circular silver armlet that had what seemed to be a blade with arrows and slots. Joined by the trainers and May's brother, Joey exited with the items in question, including packets. "Got 'em, Yami, including the decks."
"Thanks, Joey!" praised Yami. Seeing the action, Diego came out to see the ordeal as Yami and the Wheelers faced the crowd. "In our home, we play a game called Duel Monsters. This originated about 5,000 years ago when Egyptians played, now performed by everyone around Domino City and the rest of the world we're from." Joey pulled four cards from a deck, each having a different color: yellow, orange, magenta and green.
"Each color represents what type of card it is: Normal Monsters are yellow, Effect Monsters are orange, Magic and Spells are green and Traps are magenta. Yugi's grandpa loaned us these decks for all of you to try out."
"We can teach you how battles work and even duel you," Serenity offered. Seeing all the hubbub, Ash rose his hand.
"Count me in!" he volunteered. Everyone glared to Ash's will to try Duel Monsters. Yami smirked, inspired by Ash's will.
"Alright, Ash!" he called over. "Come on over. You'll duel Joey!" Ash stepped to the Wheelers which Serenity showed the decks upside-down, the red face of the card up. Pikachu wondered on the deck as well. Ash wouldn't be alone.
"Well, if you wanna do it, Ash," TK spoke up, causing Kari to glance. "I'll be your opponent, not Joey." Humored, Yami decided to allow the two boys to duel each other.
"Very well," he complied. "In that case, I'll be coaching TK and Joey can coach Ash." Joey and Serenity helped slip the armlets on Ash and TK, making sure they fit comfortably. As that discussion occurred, Winry found Diego and rushed over to him.
"Hey, Diego!" she called out. Diego turned to Winry on the approach while Alphonse and Edward were fixated on seeing this duel between Ash and TK, along with the rest who wanted to circle around, alongside some Piantas and Toads.
"Winry, what's up?" the host asked.
"I need your help on something to do with Ed. See, Ed hates milk. I've ridiculed him, plenty of people had ridiculed him because he's… short for someone his age." Diego listened, willing to help Winry. That's when he plotted an idea.
"I have a plan. Follow me." Both Diego and Winry headed back to the hotel and to the kitchen. Diego opened the fridge and pulled out a gallon of milk and a tin bottle labeled "CHUCKOLA COLA." He also grabbed tall cups and a funnel. He twisted the Cola open and poured the soda into the cups before sealing in plastic wrap. He reached the sink to rinse the rest of the content. He then grabbed a pipe cleaner and dry towel to remove the water. After that, Diego placed the funnel on the top. "Can you get the ice trays in the freezer?" Winry opened the door above the fridge and found three ice trays.
"How many?"
"Two will be enough." Nodding, Winry pulled two of the ice trays as Diego poured milk down the bottle through the funnel. He recapped the bottle and put it in a bucket which Winry poured the ice. "And it's ready." He carried the bottle of disguised milk back outside. The duel between Ash and TK grew as TK had "1550" reading on his armlet. He also had two cards in a hologram face down. One creature was a white winged centaur in blue armor and holding a blue and gold shield in one hand and a sword in the other. Another was a man in an orange robe with a blue cloak. Ash had "1600" on his armlet. He had a giant gray rat and three face down cards, one turned sideways.
"Alright, Ash!" the blond grinned. "I know you have Giant Rat and one face down in defense mode. So I'll use Airknight Parshath to attack that face down!" The centaur raced in and the face down card emerged as a red, bone-made wall with a demonic redhead man's head inside. The centaur sliced the demonic wall, destroying it and Ash's counter lost 50, now down to "1550."
"Thanks for running into my Wall of Illusion," he exclaimed. "I'll lose it thanks to your Banisher of the Light, but your Airknight goes back to your hand." Airknight disappeared which TK put in his hand full of cards. Winry grew giddy to seeing holograms of the monsters in play. She tried to rush in but Chad and Rachel held her back. Diego found Edward and delivered his surprise.
"Hey, Edward," he greeted. Edward turned to Diego curious.
"What is it?" he wondered before looking to the drink in the bucket.
"Saw you looking a little parched so I got you something to help." Edward looked at the bottle, shaking it.
"Chuckola Cola? Can't say I've seen it before." Diego left to reunite with Winry. "This should be good." He soon drank it and the sudden taste made him gag. He coughed and spit the milk out. He wasn't pleased. "What the hell! I hate this milk! Why did he give me this crap?!" While Edward looked for Diego, Ash used a dog in a red ninja outfit slash a brown centaur with the man-half holding a red scepter. The moon behind the dog started to fade as TK's counter fell from "150" to zero against Ash's counter of "425." Cheers for Ash erupted as Kuriko and Kari came over to praise Ash for his win.
"That was incredible, Ash!" the blond congratulated. "Impressive use of Nin-Ken Dog and Mystical Moon!"
"Thanks, and I actually had some fun!" Looking on, TK felt Kari didn't see him in the same light as Ash.
"I hate to say it but I think Tai's sister's preferring him," Patamon weighed in. However, the two stood back and faced each one's eyes.
"Don't you think you're a little old for him?" snapped Kari.
"Big deal if I'm more mature than him or you!" responded Kuriko. "I know what I want! You can't deny it from me!"
"I can and I will in a duel! You and me!"
"Bring it, little girl!" TK and Yami watched in awe between the two.
"That… was fast…" gulped TK.
"Looks like we have ourselves another duel on hand," Yami bobbed. "Let's get them setup." As Kari and Kuriko geared themselves for their duel, Edward reached Diego talking to Winry, the secret out. He suspected Diego didn't do this alone.
"Dammit, Winry!" he yelled. "Why are you forcing me to drink that vomit?!" Diego backed away, wanting no involvement with the two.
"Let me put it this way, Ed!" she growled. "Kids here have or will grow by the time they're your age! Hell, I'm taller than you right now!"
"That's nothing! I'm like this no thanks to the auto-mail!"
"And who's fault is that?! If you knew the risk doing that forbidden alchemy, you and Al wouldn't be in this predicament!" Chad snagged both heads and lifted them, stopping the argument.
"Enjoy the vacation," he sternly warned. "Not each other's throats. Understand?" Fearing Chad's hands crushing their skulls, the two nodded. Another duel occurred. Kari had control of a woman with black wings and wearing a strapless yellow gown. She wielded a staff. She also had another woman with white wings and ruby armor. Kuriko had two girls in different gowns and headgear: the blond wearing black with rabbit ears and a pink-haired in white with a lamb for a hat.
"My Dark Witch attacks your Pikeru!" ordered Kari. The black wings charged forward to attack the pink-haired girl. With a swipe, the pink-haired became pieces. Another duel had Serena battling May. The brunette had a muscular woman in blue tattered cloth bash the blond's redhead in tiger striped clothes and drums. Duels had everyone participating, even Yami who faced Ichigo. Yami had a man in a purple cloak facing Ichigo's red shadowy figure with purple claws.
"That wasn't expected but I understand Despair from the Dark," Yami complimented.
"Thanks, it means something," Ichigo returned. "Now, Despair! Take out his Dark Magician!" The shadowy figure raced in with his claws. Yami smiled.
"It's over, Ichigo," he grinned. "I activate… Reinforcements!" A trap card emerged with knights running in. "My Dark Magician gains an additional 500 Attack points, bringing it to 3,000!" Dark Magician spun his scepter before pointing it at Despair. "Now, Dark Magic Attack!" Dark Magician blasted Despair to pieces and Ichigo's score fell from "200" to nothing. "This duel… is over." The holograms faded and Ichigo stood to thank Yami.
"I learned a lot today, and I doubt I'm alone."
"I've seen potential in all of us who played the game today, even the youngest who dueled. Maybe next time, we can learn from Ash and May." The sun began to set for the night when the girls saw something on the cork board.
"Spa treatment?!" shrieked a giddy Rachel. "I can save casino time until tomorrow!"
"Right, I wanna do this as well!" cheered Yuna.
"If I can present myself for Professor Negi, count me in," Nodoka offered. One more wanted to see this as Rini tugged on Serena's dress. Serena looked down to the pink-haired girl.
"Hey, Serena?" she called. "Can I get this spa treatment? I want to do it for Max." Serena seemed surprised with Rini's request.
"I don't know…" she muttered. "It may be too much…" Rini was about to cry when Kagome knelt to help her.
"Of course you can join us with this treatment," she offered. Kari and Rachel nodded to inviting Rini to the spa treatment. While the girls had their treatment, Elie, Joey and Ryoko were at the slot machines. They paid coins before pulling the levers.
"Come on…" Ryoko hoped. One came up a flower, another came up a flower… but the last came up a star. "No!" Elie patted Ryoko on the shoulder.
"Relax, it's nothing out of our pockets," she reassured. Ryoko sighed, still wanting to win. Suddenly, alarms rang.
"Ha ha!" cheered Joey. He spun three "7s" from one pull. "JACKPOT!" Ryoko and Elie looked to find the winning slot machine. Coins rained from the chute. Ryoko floated and put Joey in a headlock before scrubbing his scalp with her knuckles.
"Way to go, Joseph!" she praised. Elie came up and kissed him on the cheek, her peck held for a while.
"I keep this up, I may wanna stay here with you!" Meanwhile, the spa treatment for the girls started with Piantas applying cream to the girls' faces. Nokis and Toads filed and painted finger and toe nails. Towels wrapped their heads while each wore robes.
"This is… a lot," mentioned Rini.
"Just wait," Kuriko advised. "It gets better from here. It's not the same as back home, though."
"Well, it's the first time I've been in something like this," Madison chuckled. "Some of us haven't had this luxury." With everything for the girls at the spa, the boys were in the dining hall where Shū made dinner with TK's help. The creatures chose to be with the boys for food. His supper made, TK sat with Ash and Max.
"That was a fun day, today," he huffed. Kazuki also joined the group.
"What's going on?" asked Max.
"Well, I wanted to talk to Ash about Kuriko," Kazuki started. Ash had a feeling about Kuriko but had to ask.
"Isn't she the one who brought you and Yuna here?" he guessed.
"She is." A few of the creatures came to the table. "Kuriko's been acting strange since we came to the island. Normally, she's planning on getting Yuna away to flirt with me and to take my genes." TK blinked but had a guess.
"Genes, as in DNA?" he believed.
"Yeah, it's a long story about my family lineage, but that's not important. It's just… Ash, is there anything you did to get Kuriko's attention?" Ash began to think about Kazuki's question. Max had to butt in to help Ash.
"Knowing him after sometime traveling around Hoenn," he started. "Ash wouldn't know about getting any attention aside from competing in any Pokémon League." Ash would bop Max for the tease, but he felt Max being right.
"Can't argue that statement," he mulled. "I'm sure there's a reason Kuriko wants me. It's kinda odd." TK and Kazuki nodded, agreeing with the odd point. Tenchi, overhearing the talk, patted Ash on the shoulder.
"Hey, at least you don't have four women after you," he assured. "You have any idea how much of a nightmare that would be?" Ash, Max and TK giggled to Tenchi's dilemma.
"I was gonna say," TK opened up. "Not only Kuriko but my friend, Kari." Ash gasped a little before bowing.
"I am not here to take your friend away," he promised. To TK, it wasn't a big deal.
"That's okay. In all honesty, you're a better choice than Davis."
"Really?" Negi also came by, willing to have a say in this.
"I have a classroom of girls willing to have me with them, Sir Tenchi," he scoffed. "I'm still young but it's nice to know of a few who would love me despite being their teacher." The group discussed more as the girls returned from the spa. Before anyone had suggestions… blood-curdling screams echoed through the hotel.
"Was that the girls?!" realized Alphonse
"Let's go check!" urged Patamon. Everyone raced to their rooms. Haru and Musica reached their room to find it empty.
"Right, Elie's in the casino!" reminded Musica. Elie arrived with Ryoko and Joey.
"We heard screams!" she huffed.
"What's going on?" wondered Joey.
"Not sure," Haru shrugged. "We heard screams like you did." Amy began to cry, having everyone run to Rachel's room.
"What's the matter?" questioned Yami. Rachel, hugging Amy, turned to those asking.
"Our underwear!" she brought up. "It's been stolen!" May came out to see Ash and her brother.
"The underwear's missing from my luggage!" she cried. Elie emerged from her room and confronted the boys.
"It's no coincidence!" she started. "My underwear's gone and so are others like Serena's and Serenity's." This disturbed the men and boys.
"Someone's pilfered the girls' panties!" Edward growled. Darrien took charge.
"Let's get everyone into the dining room," he ordered. Everyone was escorted to the dining room and Shū headed to the kitchen to make desserts for the girls. Ash and Conan stayed behind to investigate.
'All but two of the girls have been at the spa when the pilfering occurred,' a voice from within Conan studied, remembering Ryoko and Elie were with Joey in the casino. 'I did a head count of everyone from Ash to Li to even Alphonse. I'll find out who did this to Rachel and Amy, as well as all the girls. One truth prevails.' Ash pondered to finding a scent.
"Whoever did this acted recently," he pondered. "So the scent's still fresh." Pikachu nodded to this point. "Pikachu, try sniffing around for any trace." Conan gawked to the idea.
"Pikachu?" he shrieked.
"Yeah, Pikachu's sniffed out plenty of stuff before." Conan sighed to the idea, but it did spark the voice inside to consider the ploy.
'Ash, it's brilliant!' he minded. 'But we need a better nose for the job, a dog for example.' That's when the voice recalled a dog within the hotel.
"Den?!" yelled Conan. Den barked as she reached the boys. Ash saw Den and agreed.
"Hey, Den," he called over. "We need your help. See if you can sniff out who took your master's underwear." Den barked before sniffing around room after room with Pikachu. Their scent grew, closing in on their suspect.
"We're getting warmer…" They reached one closed door where Den growled.
"In there?" Ash opened the door and found a hill of women's and girls' underwear while the ermine seemed to be playing inside.
"The scent's so invigorating…" he awed. "I'm not sure which to pick out. This one? Or this one?" Ash, Pikachu, Conan and Den found their suspect.
"How about any of the men?" The ermine jumped when found out by the four.
"So, you took advantage of the girls going to the spa and stealing undergarments for your pleasure?" suspected Conan. The ermine dashed out of the room.
"You can't take me alive!" he yelled. To Ash, that wasn't an option.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he commanded. Pikachu fired a massive stream of electricity and tagged the ermine, zapping it. Stunned, Ash grabbed the ermine by the scruff.
"Let's see you weasel out of this," Conan mocked. The ermine wasn't pleased too much.
"Smart kid, having 'weasel' as a verb," he groaned. In the kitchen, everyone watched Ash and Conan enter with Pikachu and Den.
"Did you find out who took our panties?" a worried Miharu wondered.
"We did one better," Ash announced as he held the ermine up. Negi and Nodoka realized who it was.
"It's Chamo!" gawked Nodoka. Negi sighed to Chamo's actions.
"This is what happens when, after being told over and over, you're told to behave and you don't," he frowned. Chamo scoffed, bringing out a cigarette.
"Come on, bro!" he urged. "I'm here to help strengthen that magic of yours. I'm relying on scent among these girls to see which ones-AH!" Chamo stopped when Ash ripped the cigarette away from him.
"This is a non-smoking hotel," he explained. Diego appeared to see the commotion.
"This little runt's the cause of the problems?" he asked. Everyone nodded. "This is serious. I have three ways to deal with you. I could shoot you from the hotel's cannon to a faraway island; I could turn you into a chew toy for the Chain Complets for a day thanks to a Magikoopa wand I have in the "Lost and Found;" or I could replace that fur with tar and feathers." Three choices and the girls huddled up.
"Didn't think we'd be unanimous about it," Rebecca agreed. "Let's go with that." The girls broke the huddled, a decision made. Kagome came forward.
"Diego, here's what we've decided," she started. What awaits Chamo's fate?
TO BE CONTINUED…
(That's for you to decide. What should Chamo face for his crime? Go onto my poll and the punishment will be decided after the next One-Piece chapter and a wedding one-shot.)