A/N: Hope you'll enjoy the chapter. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far. I really appreciate it. You guys rock!!!! :)

Disclaimer: You know the drill. It's not mine.

Chapter 11

Journey to Duelist Kingdom Part 1

Mina P.O.V.

"A tournament at Duelist Kingdom," Tea exclaimed, a thoughtful look on her face. "Isn't that an island?"

"I think so," I told her as we all looked at the five cards that were sitting on Yugi's desk. In all honesty though, I was only half listening to the conversation since I had already gotten my invitation in the mail. That and the guilt that I was feeling was practically eating me alive and I hadn't even done anything yet. The fact that I was going to work for this creep was enough to make my skin crawl.

"So that's where Pegasus is keeping your grandpa," Joey asked, not knowing that hearing his voice made me feel worse. At McDonalds this morning I had almost confessed to him about everything, but I realize now that I can't confide in him. He wouldn't understand, none of them would.

"I guess I'll just have to face this by myself too," I thought as I watched the others talk about Pegasus and the tournament. I don't know how much longer I can deal with this.

"I still can't believe it," Tristan was saying, "Pegasus used some kind of weird spell to grab your grandpa's soul away and now he's toying with you, forcing you to duel in the tournament."

"And I have a sinking suspicion that he's toying with me too," I thought to myself. Pegasus is the kind of person who likes to mess with people's heads. He wants us to squirm. It's like we're rats in a maze or something equally ridiculous. Of course even I know that this is more than just a game to Pegasus. He wants Yugi's millennium puzzle for some reason so he took Mr. Muto's soul away so that he could force Yugi into this tournament.

That still leaves out a big chunk of information though. Why does Pegasus want the puzzle? How did Pegasus steal Mr. Muto's soul in the first place? Could Pegasus have a millennium item himself, and if so is that what gives Pegasus the power to read minds and take souls?

But most importantly, why does Pegasus want me to take Yugi down in the tournament. Is it apart of his game or does it have something to do with me being Sailor Venus? I'm not an analyzer like Ami and I don't have killer instincts like Rei, so a lot of this doesn't make any sense to me. I'm sure that if Ami or Rei were in this position they could read into what Pegasus is up to in a matter minutes. What I've figured out so far almost took me two days to figure out and I still don't have any real answers to my questions.

"Ugh, this is way too much pressure."

"This is bad," Tea said after a moment of silence from the others.

"You've got that right," I agreed rubbing my temples. "This is really bad."

About a minute later, Tristan perked up.

"Hey Yugi, check this out," he said while picking up the "Glory of the Kings" card. "According to this card the tournament winner takes the grand prize of three million dollars."

"What, three mil," Joey exclaimed. When I first read the card I had done the same thing, but what could Joey possibly want with three million dollars?

"So what Tristan, who cares about money at a time like this," Yugi asked.

"Hey give me that," Joey said as he took the card from Tristan.

"Guess Joey does," Yugi muttered.

"Three million in cold cash," Joey almost whispered as he looked at the card.

"He must be thinking about all the food he could buy with that much cash," I thought as I watched him stare at the card. "Typical guy, I don't know why I ever thought for a moment that…no it's not like it matters anyway. Besides, I've grown out of that boy crazy phase that I was in. I've got more important things to worry about now."

Yeah, I've got three million dollars worth of worries.


After school at a dance studio downtown.

4:47 p.m.

"And five, six, seven, eight!"

A few weeks ago, if you had told me that I would end up liking this hip-hop dance class I would have laughed in your face and ran off.

Though today, it was probably the only thing that could distract me from my long list of troubles. Because of the tournament, I was going to miss next weeks dance class so I was putting everything I had into today's steps. I focused on my dancing so hard that I didn't realize that I was out of breath nor did I take satisfaction in the fact that I had out-danced Megan who was known for being the best dancer in the class.

Our instructor Miss Cathy, was very pleased with my focus and was using me as an example for the class. I did take slight satisfaction in that because Miss Cathy was an amazing dancer, and not just in hip-hop either although I have to say that it's what suits her best.

"Now everyone, this is how I want you to dance," she was saying. "With passion, with drive, and with focus. Unlike other dances hip-hop dancing is not just about the steps, it's about expressing who you are through the dance."

"Oh please, she's just a stuck up show off," Megan sneered. I tried to ignore her because I was too intent on the dance steps, but I'll admit that the words stung a little."

However, this isn't the first time I've been called that and it won't be the last.

"Miss Rockwell, I will not tolerate outbursts like that while I am teaching," Miss Cathy replied. "If you can't hold your vile tongue I suggest that you leave this instant."

"Go Miss Cathy! Tell that bratty Megan who's boss!"

Now, I'm satisfied.

So after that the rest of the class danced again, including the pissed off Megan. (At least she finally decided to shut her pothole of a mouth).

At the end of class everyone cleared out pretty quickly, with Megan being the first to leave. I lingered a bit because I didn't want it to end.

"Mina, are you okay," Miss Cathy asked just before I could leave the studio. "You seem out of it today."

"I thought you said that my dancing was great today."

"You're dancing was fantastic, filled with all the things that I always try and teach my students, but there was no joy in your dancing except after that instant when I had to discipline Megan."

"Well it was about time someone put her in her place," I joked while putting on one of my winning smiles. Maybe now she'll let me go home and finish packing. On Sunday I have to leave for the tournament.

"You just seemed so sad today, I'm used to you being all smiles," Miss Cathy interjected.

"No one can be all smiles all the time," I replied sounding more bitter than I intended. "I'm just tired is all, I'm like a workaholic these days." I hoped that I sounded a little more cheerful that time. I really didn't want to disrespect Miss Cathy in any way. She'd become the mother figure in my life in these few short weeks and I didn't want to lose that.

"Well just know that I'll be thinking of you," Miss Cathy said with a smile.

I smiled though it wasn't fully genuine. "Thanks, that means a lot."

That statement was at least true. It did mean a lot.

But it would've meant more to me if my own mother had said it.

Realizing this I decided that no matter what I had to complete the task that Pegasus had laid out for me. If I did what he said he would help me save my father. Maybe I could even find a way to save Yugi's grandpa myself if I got close enough to Pegasus.

I'll still have to betray Yugi, but at least I'll be looking for a way to make up for it. Pegasus is obviously a cunning man who will do anything to get what he wants. I may not know what that is but I plan on finding out, and no matter what the cost I'm going to get that money for my father.

Still, I've got one really big problem…Mom.

"Mina."

Artemis poked his head from my backpack again and looked up at me with those big blue eyes.

"Are you sure about doing this, you'll be betraying your friends," Artemis said.

"I have to Artemis, for my father," I replied.

"But your mother…"

"Doesn't need to know about this," I cut in. "It's not like she cares about what I do anyway."

"But you should still tell her where you're going," Artemis said. "It's the least you could do."

"No, the least I can do for her is to avoid her which is what I've been doing," I told him. "I'm just taking it one step further by leaving." Then again...

"Mina you…." he trailed off when he realized where we were. We were going inside the apartment complex that we lived in. I was going to pack the last of my things and leave.

"Mina, what about your mother and what she said," Artemis exclaimed. I didn't answer him and he slunk back into my backpack. He was terrified of my mother, and for a good reason, but I was tired with the constant fear of her. If Artemis wants me to tell Mom where I'm going so badly then fine, I'll tell her. I don't have much else to lose at this point. Getting killed by my own mother wouldn't have been the worse kind of death that I've experienced. I've been through far worse.

So when I walked into our apartment or condo, or whatever you want to call it; I entered without fear of the woman that sat on the couch even though she stared daggers into me. A bottle of tequila was on the coffee table in front of her and she was smoking a cigarette. Her eyes were blood shot and she was wearing a really trashy dress. Her blond hair which had been shoulder length was now cut into a bob style like Tea's, but on my mother it just looked weird.

The woman that was sitting there may have looked like my mother, but she wasn't by any means my mother.

Not anymore

"Minako, didn't I tell you that I didn't want to see your face," she whispered as she dragged on her cigarette.

"Yeah, I don't really want to see you either," I replied bitterly. "I just came to get some things from my room and then I'll leave."

"You're not leaving," she shouted standing quickly. She reached out for something on the table. It was…a gun!

In that moment I knew that I needed to be quick. With nothing but survival on my mind, I quickly ran into the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife we had and then fell to the floor just as my mom fired the gun.

When she stopped shooting I rose hastily to my feet and with one fluid motion I threw the knife at her.

The knife didn't hit her where I had intended. Truthfully, I had intended to kill her when I had thrown the knife, but in my subconscious mind I'd known that I had held back.

The knife had pierced her hand. The same hand that had been holding the gun. Her blood streamed to the floor as she screamed and dropped the gun.

I probably would have started screaming myself if I hadn't been so focused on getting what I needed so that I could get out of there. I thought of nothing else as I ran up the stairs and into my room. Even though my mother was wounded she could still do bodily harm to me if I didn't hurry.

So after getting to my room I closed the door and locked it while packing the rest of what I would need as quickly as I could. Artemis peeked his head out of my backpack, but after one glance he knew that he'd better stay inside so that I could focus.

And so that he wouldn't get shot when my mother decided to bust in here.

"Okay, that's everything," I muttered throwing my red ribbon into my duffel bag. As an afterthought I ran into the bathroom and got the razor blade out from the drawer. I knew that it wouldn't do much to protect me if my mother got in here. For all I knew she could be outside my door.

And she was.

"MINAKO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She was banging on the door, but she wasn't shooting. I realized that it wouldn't be long before she did though.

So, without a second thought I grabbed my duffel bag from off my bed and ran outside to the balcony. I looked down below me and saw a few people walking past. I hoped that they would be paying attention because what I'm about to do…if I don't make it out of this alive…

I threw down my duffel bag and watched as it nearly hit a man's head. I then climbed onto the railing and just as my mother came crashing through my bedroom door, I jumped. That man down there was my only hope and if he didn't catch me it would be all over for me.

I closed my eyes and screamed. I was prepared for my death and almost wished that it would come faster.

But it didn't come.

Someone had caught me, and when I opened my eyes I could hardly believe that my savior would turn out to be…


A/N: And that's the end of the chapter. But who caught Mina?

Note: Okay, I just put a poll up. I want you to guess the answer to this question. Who caught Mina and saved her from her death? Those who guess the right answer will get excellent prizes including a sneak peek for what will be happening in this story and if you guys have questions this is the perfect opportunity to get answers. You'll get an answer to one question about this story by simply voting, (you don't even have to win.) So if you want that one question that you've been dying to know answered. Vote and then send me a message. When the next chapter is posted, if you've guessed the right answer send me a message to claim the other prize which will be the sneak peek. Anyway I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter. Bye for now.