Chapter Twelve
When I got back out to the deck, Yugi and Joey were soaked and, somehow, Tristan and Tea were with them.
"Stowaways!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, grinning. "I'm gonna make you walk the plank! Stow…" Tristan covered my mouth to stop me from shouting again and I laughed. "So what the hell happened?" I asked.
"Joey dove over the side of the boat to try and get my cards," Yugi said. "I followed when he started drowning. Then all of the sudden, a ladder came down. It was Tristan and Tea. They snuck on with the cargo."
I nodded at the two of them, smiling. "Bad ass, you guys," I said. "But you two can stay in my room, if you want. There's enough room for Tea to sleep in the bed with me and Tristan you can sleep on the couch or the floor. It's pretty cold out here."
"Yes it is!" Tea agreed. "Thank you."
It was a pretty restless night, but the next morning, we got up early to stand out at the front of the ship and watch the island get closer and closer on the horizon. The boat docked that afternoon and I stole some leftover food from the kitchen before leaving, just in case.
"Finding your grandpa isn't going to be easy," Joey said.
"Well, we gotta start somewhere," said Yugi.
"What if someone finds out we're stowaways, Tea?" asked Tristan. "Maybe we should just swim back now."
"Are you insane?" asked Tea. "We're in the middle of nowhere. Just act normal."
After we'd all disembarked, Joey cheered. "All right!" he cried. "Every single one of us made it here, safe and…" he sneezed.
"Ew!" Tea cried, jumping out the way.
I handed him a Kleenex.
"You would never have caught that cold if it wasn't for Weevil," said Yugi, looking a little sad.
"Speaking of our wormy friend," said Joey. "Looks like he's already trying to start some trouble."
"Welcome, all duelists!" said Chemo. "Please, follow the stairs to meet your host." He motioned to a huge stone staircase, leading up to a castle. He smirked at me. "Nice to see you again, Miss Reynolds," he said.
I ignored him.
"That castle's gotta belong to Pegasus," said Yugi.
"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Joey. "Let's go."
"What's that?" asked Tea, looking into the trees as we walked up the stairs.
I followed her gaze, but didn't see anything.
"What do you see, Tea?" asked Yugi.
"It looked like…Bakura," said Tea.
"Bakura?" asked Yugi. "From school?"
"Again with this Bakura stuff?" asked Tristan. "She thought she saw him on the boat too."
"That's two times I've seen him," said Tea. "Maybe it's all in my head."
"No one else saw him on the boat," I said. "And I couldn't get a hold of him before we left."
We reached the top of the stairs and looked around at all the duelists. Yugi pointed a guy named Mako Tsunami to me. We overheard some kids talking about how Yugi was supposed to be the kid to beat now, since he'd defeated Kaiba. It still made me feel a mixture of anger and sadness to hear anyone talk about Kaiba.
"Attention," said Chemo, who was standing on the balcony now. "Please gather round. Your benevolent host is anxious to greet you all."
Yugi glared up at the balcony.
"Boy, would I like to get just five minutes alone with that guy," Joey muttered.
Pegasus almost seemed to meet Yugi's eyes for a second. I could have sworn he nodded at me as well.
"Greetings, duelists," said Pegasus. "I am Maximillion Pegasus. It is my great honor and pleasure to welcome you all to the Duelist Kingdom. You stand before me the world's greatest duelists! But come tournament's end, only one will be crowned King of Games. I implore you all to assemble your dueling decks with care, with creativity, and with cunning, for this competition will test your skills like never before. To track your progress in this tournament, you've each been given a dueling glove." Self consciously, I felt my empty wrist, which made me, Tea, and Tristan stick out. "You've also been given two star chips. You must wager these star chips in every duel you compete in. To advance to the final level of competition, for a chance at the three million dollar prize, you must win ten star chips. Ten star chips will admit you into my castle where you'll face me in one final duel." Yugi couldn't take his eyes off Pegasus as he spoke. His features were filled with rage and frustration.
"It's okay," I whispered, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You'll get inside."
"Thanks," he murmured.
"This will be a tournament unlike any ever experienced," Pegasus continued. "State of the art dueling arenas cover this entire island and intriguing new dueling rules will be in affect. I could tell you what these new rules are, but what fun would that be? You'll discover them as you compete or you won't last very long. Remember, play boldly, think strategically, and duel mercilessly. You have one full hour to prepare both your cards and yourselves. When the sky lights up with fireworks, the duels will begin!" He turned and left. Cheers and clapping followed him.
We moved quickly to find a place to set up camp. Tea and I both agreed we should be in a place where we wouldn't be ambushed or attacked by anyone in the middle of the night. When we found a place, Joey offered to give Yugi his star chip back, but Yugi declined.
"You know," I said to Yugi, as I changed out of my jeans and into a pair of shorts. Tea blushed and looked away. She was embarrassed by my lack of embarrassment when it came to changing in front of...well, anyone. "You're a really good person, Yugi." I left my shirt on, but pulled my hair back into a ponytail. "Joey is lucky to have a friend like you."
"Thank you, Olive," he said. "I'm lucky to have a friend like Joey too. And I'm glad that you ended up moving out here. It's been amazing to have you here as well."
I smiled. "Thank you," I said. I stepped out of my sandals and into a pair of running shoes.
"You can do it," I heard Tea encouraging Joey. "Just steer clear of some of the more experienced duelists at first."
"Yea," Tristan piped in. "It's just a matter of working your way up."
"Thanks, you guys," said Joey. "Well, Yugi. Between your grandpa and my sister, we don't have any room for mistakes."
"Right," said Yugi.
The fireworks started to go off.
"It's starting!" said Tea.
"Let's do it!" Yugi said. He was excited.
We started walking through a field. Yugi was talking about how he wanted to find Weevil because they had a score to settle and Joey was agreeing.
"That kid gives me the creeps," I said.
"Me too," Tea agreed.
"Have you seen the way he looks at me? You too, come to think of it," I said to her.
She nodded. "Yea," she said. "What a creep."
"It's because you both have bi…" Joey began.
"Beautiful eyes," Yugi interrupted.
We laughed.
Then Joey said, "Wait, isn't that Weevil up there?"
"Weevil!" Yugi yelled. "I challenge you to a duel."
Weevil laughed. He turned around and began to run.
We were running through a forest that was swarmed with moths. Finally, we reached a clearing where Weevil stood, watching us.
"Welcome, said the spider to the fly," said Weevil. "You've flown right into my trap, again."
"How's your nose?" I asked.
He scowled at me.
"It's time you answer for what you did on the boat, Weevil," said Yugi.
Just like the time he had dueled Kaiba, I swore I saw his millennium puzzle glow. And then there he was. The more confident Yugi; his alter ego, I guess. It was the Yugi that I had called Yami.
"Did you see that?" I whispered to Tea.
"See what?" she asked, looking around.
"Yugi's puzzle," I said. "I could swear I saw it glow."
"It must have been a trick of the light," Tea said. "I've never noticed anything."
"Yea," I agreed, not sounding like I agreed at all. "It must have."
"Alright, Weevil," said Yugi. "It's time to find out if you're as good at dueling as you are at running away."
"Was I running?" He asked. "Or was I leading you into my trap?"
"It's time to duel!" Yugi declared.
"As you wish!" Weevil shouted. The ground began to shake and open up. An arena was raised out of the ground.
"Meet you on the field," said Weevil.
"I don't like this," Joey said, uneasily. "Weevil's a little too cocky."
Yugi wagered his star chip and his dueling deck.
Some people walking in the woods stopped to look.
"Yami," I said, and Yugi looked right at me, before thinking twice. When he realized what I'd said, he looked confused. I smiled. "Good luck," I said.
They began to duel and Weevil revealed that if he played his bugs in the forest area of the arena, they would get a field power bonus and become stronger. Yugi's side of the arena was a wasteland, which he quickly figured out how to use too.
"You can beat him, Yugi!" Tea cheered him on.
Weevil played a Hercules beetle and Yugi countered with Feral Imp and a Horn of the Unicorn magic card. Even with the magic card, Yugi's card did no good. Weevil destroyed it. Yugi laid a card down in defense and Weevil played a card called Basic Insect. It was the card he'd played when he won the duel championship. The basic insect quickly wiped out his feral imp and Yugi played another card face down.
Yugi played the Dark Magician and Weevil attacked, activating a trap card that Yugi had laid down. The attack was reflected back at Weevil and all his insects were destroyed.
"Good job, Yugi!" Joey cheered. "You wiped out his monsters in one move!"
"Way to go!" said Tea. "You've got him on the ropes!"
I hung back and watched quietly.
There was a laugh from behind us and we turned to see Mai. "You losers don't seem to realize who your little pal is up against. Weevil's regional champion."
Tea scowled. "Nobody asked you!" she yelled. "So why don't you just take a hike?"
"And miss the chance to watch a champion like Weevil turn this around?" asked Mai. "No way." She turned to me and grinned. "You bored yet, sweetie?" she asked. "You're a really good looking girl. Tea too. What are you doing with these losers?" She motioned to my bare wrist as well. "You aren't even a duelist."
I laughed. "Hey, I still know what happens in that last second when all the life points go down for someone," I said. "I'm just here to support my friend."
"I heard you're on the look out for your ex, as well," said Mai.
"What?" I asked.
"I heard you used to date Kaiba," she said. "I heard you're here to see if he shows up."
I shook my head. "No," I said, quietly. "We didn't exactly end on great terms. I was just invited here by Pegasus as an observer."
She looked me up and down. "Lucky you," she said. "I'll keep an eye out for you. I'll teach you how to play, one of these days. Who knows, you could turn out to be a formidable opponent."
I laughed, but appreciated that she was being kind to me. I looked up to Yugi. He looked so determined. He cleverly got rid of a trap card that Weevil had laid down earlier. Then Weevil called some sort of nasty caterpillar looking bug and sealed it in a cocoon so it could grow stronger and become a great moth.
Yugi looked frustrated.
"Hang in there, Yugi!" Tea called.
"You gotta win this for your grandpa," said Joey. "He's counting on you."
"Just focus," I said, quietly.
"I know he is," said Yugi.
"Then you can't keep letting this little creep push you around," said Joey. "You've gotta get fired up!"
"So," said Mai. "Do you guys sit around and work up these lame cheers, or do they just come to you? I mean, don't you realize that your pep talk nonsense only distracts Yugi from the game?"
"How would you know?" Tea snapped, angrily. "I bet no one's even wanted to be your friend, let alone care enough to cheer you on."
"Ouch," I murmured. "That was rude, Tea."
"Friends haven't helped Yugi any," said Mai. "He's losing."
Yugi looked down at us and smiled.
"Well, Mai," said Tea. "From the look on Yugi's face, I'd say having friends just did help him out. So there."
Mai rolled her eyes. "Brat," she muttered under her breath.
Yugi laid down a card called curse of dragon with a magic card so that the dragon could breathe fire and destroy the forest. Weevil lost his field power bonus and Yugi attacked the cocoon with Gaia the Fierce Knight.
"It's still…it's still moving," Joey said.
"You're surprised?" asked Mai. "I told you Weevil was good."
"Just focus," I repeated, quietly.
"Why do you say that?" asked Mai.
I turned to her and smiled. "I don't need to cheer," I said, shrugging. "I'm just sending him good energy. I know it sounds dumb, but it's something my mom learned at some weird class she decided to take. Energy and attitude affect everything, you know?" I looked back up at Yugi and smiled a little. "I think Yugi's gonna pull through."
"Want to bet?" asked Mai.
"Sure," I said.
We continued to watch.
Poison from the moth had been affecting Yugi's knight. Yugi played a card that made it rain, which washed away the poison. But then Weevil attacked with a tornado. Yugi's monsters were killed.
"Yugi, keep fighting!" Joey called. "You can come back from this!"
"You're all delusional," said Mai, rolling her eyes.
"Yugi never gives up," said Tea, simply. "And we never give up on him."
"Like I said, you're nuts," Mai replied. "Weevil just destroyed his strongest combo and he's down to fifty life points. He can't win, so do me a favor and stop talking."
"I won't stop talking, you selfish, pompous, bleach blonde, know-it-all windbag," Tea snapped.
"And by windbag, she means bitch," I said, snickering. "She's just too good to use the word."
"Do us a favor," Tea continued, "and get lost. Right, Joey?"
"You said it," Joey added. "Just ignore her. Yugi's in trouble."
"I know," said Tea. "What can we do?"
"I don't know," said Joey. "I wish we could trade Mai in for life points."
Tea laughed out loud.
It was then that Tristan pointed out that Yugi was smiling.
"He's not smiling," said Tea. "I think he's laughing."
"No way," said Mai, in disbelief.
"Weevil," said Yugi, "I know it will be hard for you to accept losing a duel. Especially since you found so many ways to cheat. But, if you thought bending the rules would help you win this match, you're wrong."
"No!" Weevil cried. "This is a trick!"
"You duel dishonestly, and so you expect the same from your opponents," said Yugi. "But I duel with honor, and that makes all the difference."
"You've got nothing!" Weevil insisted in a panicked voice.
"Here's what I've got," said Yugi. "The mighty Summoned Skull."
"Wow," said Mai. "What's that?"
Weevil grinned.
"There's something you overlooked, Weevil. My mist is still affecting the field. Everything's soaked. And my summoned skull attacks with lightening, which makes your bug one big lightening rod," said Yugi.
The skull attacked and the moth was destroyed.
"It's over," said Yugi. "I've won."
"Way to go!" Joey and Tristan cheered.
"You've won!" Tea exclaimed. "I knew you would!"
"Impressive," said Mai, admiration creeping into her voice. "I didn't think Yugi could ever beat Weevil."
"People surprise you sometimes," I told her. "See you again soon."
