Yeah, no duels in this chapter. Just a little housekeeping for the KC Grand Prix chapters. Gotta set this stuff up. And I cheated. I'm posting two days earlier than I said I would. Just couldn't resist. AND, good news, the Double Duel chapter is wrriten and ready for action. BUT, you all will have to wait a couple more days/weeks to read it. Sorry. XP

Disclaimer: I don't own the Yugioh characters or storyline.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The Hawkins Family

The gang all sat together in a Best Western suite and made sure the door was locked and the blinds were down on the window. Kay sighed and sat on the bed. Jounouchi walked up to her, his arms crossed and a frown on his face.

"Alright, Kay, spill! What the heck's been going on? I mean, this is the second time we've almost been killed!" She looked up at him in surprise.

"The second time?" she asked. Kristen stepped forward.

"Yugi got a video from your uncle, telling us to come here, but when we came, we went into a limo and it nearly went off a cliff." Kay's eyes widened.

"What?! That's insane!" Cat nodded.

"That's what we thought. It took us a whole day of walking in the middle of nowhere to finally reach this city. And after we got here, that weird guy started following us and he used his monster to corner us in an alley."

"What did he say to you?" Kay asked.

"Hey, I'm the one asking the questions!" Jounouchi exclaimed, but everyone ignored him.

"He just told us to come with him, but we didn't trust us. He asked us a few more times before summoning that monster." Anzu frowned at the memory. "It was pretty frightening."

"How is it that he summons a REAL monster?" Honda asked. Kay sighed.

"I wish I knew. See, I came here because Croquet called me and said something was wrong. I arrive and learn that our entire company has been hacked by a series of viruses. When I look into the system, the viruses are so bad that the only way to rid our system of them is to wipe out everything!

"So, I had Croquet bring in as many computer experts as possible and went to talk to my Uncle after our phone call was cut off. I ran into Kaiba when I got there and I went to his room to find it trashed and him gone."

"So Pegasus was kidnapped?" Yugi asked. Kay nodded.

"I also learned that there was a vault of hidden data in the Industrial Illusions main computer. I was able to stop them from gaining the data with Kaiba's help and now I have the data on a flash drive in my backpack."

"But why would you keep something like that? Won't those weird guys go after you?" Honda asked.

"That's kind of the point. I figured it was the only way I could ever hope to find my uncle." They all nodded and Jounouchi pat her on the shoulder.

""Ya got guts, kid."

"Don't touch me." He pulled his hand away from her.

"So what are you going to do now? And you said Kaiba helped you, where is he?" Yugi asked.

"Kaiba and I went our separate ways because I couldn't tolerate him anymore. And I'm going to do what I can to find my uncle. There's not much more I can do."

"We'll do what we can to help you." Kay smiled a little.

"I appreciate that, Cat, but it's probably too dangerous." Jounouchi scoffed.

"Please! We practically eat danger for breakfast. Did you forget that we all recently saved the world from a madman? It's pretty much part of our job description. I swear, I'm gonna put it on my resume." Everyone rolled their eyes at Jounouchi.

Kay snapped he fingers.

"That reminds me…" She pulled out the stone Agent 470 dropped. "He said this thing had something to do with the Aztecs. I need to get some research done on that. It might explain what exactly these guys are up to."

"Then let's go!" They all stood up and Kay nodded before following them. They left the hotel and walked towards the library.

"By the way…Yugi, do you happen to have your duel disk?" Kay asked. He shook his head.

"I didn't bring it with me. I have my deck, but I didn't have room in my suitcase for the duel disk. Besides, we left a lot of our stuff in that limo and it's out somewhere in the middle of nowhere."

"We need to get you a duel disk in case you need to duel against these whackjobs!" He nodded with a small smile.

"Sounds good to me." Kay reached into her bag and held out a card to him.

"Go to that game shop over there. It's run by Industrial Illusions." She pointed to a small store that had signs with pictures of duel monsters. "Show them that card and tell them I sent you to get a duel disk." Yugi blinked.

"Ok."

"Kristen, why don't you go with him? We'll meet you guys at the library. It's just down the street." She nodded.

"Can do!" The two ran off and the rest of the gang continued on their way to the library. Yugi and Kristen ran inside the game shop and there was a young girl, about 16 or 17, working there with spiky black hair, a stud in her nose, and pretty outrageous make-up. She was reading a magazine and chewing on some gum when she noticed Yugi and Kristen.

"Oh, hey. How can I help you?" she asked, moving her magazine to the side.

"Um, yeah." He handed her the card. "Kay sent me here to get a duel disk." She examined the card.

"Oh yeah, no problem." She handed him the card and turned to get a duel disk off the shelf. She handed it to Yugi with a smile. "Here ya go!"

"Thanks."

"Hey…you look kind of like Yugi Mouto." Yugi blinked and shifted his eyes a little.

"Really?" he asked slowly.

"Yeah. Albeit you're a little short and your hair's a little different, but you definitely look like him."

"Um…thank you?" She smiled.

"No problem. Have a good day." Yugi and Kristen left and exchanged looks. They then shrugged and walked up the street until they came to the huge library. Yugi grinned a little.

"Think this is the place?" he asked Kristen. She giggled a little.

"No idea." They both exchanged smiles and were about to enter when…"

"YUGI!" They both stopped and turned in time to see a short person with blonde hair and wearing a pink sweater hug Yugi around the middle. Startled, Yugi dropped the duel disk but Kristen caught it before it hit the ground and sighed with relief.

She looked at the girl hugging Yugi and frowned a little bit.

"Yugi, who is this?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm and hide the obvious jealousy she was feeling. Yugi shook his head.

"I don't know." The pulled back and looked up at him. She had green eyes, glasses, and freckles.

"Ya mean you don't remember me?" she asked, pouting a little bit. "Well this should help jog your memory." She pulled a card out of her pocket and held it up to Yugi, grinning proudly. Yugi blinked and looked at it. His eyes widened.

"Ties of Friendship! You're Rebecca Hawkins!" She grinned and nodded.

"The one and only."

"Wow, you look so different without your teddy bear and with the glasses, I didn't recognize you." He smiled a little.

"That and the fact that she pretty much jumped on you so you couldn't even see her face."

"Shut up, pharaoh!" Yami chuckled.

"So what are you doing here by yourself, Rebecca?" Before she could answer, an older man with gray hair and a mustache wearing a cream colored suit ran over to them, huffing and puffing.

"Rebecca! I asked you to slow down!" he gasped. She smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, grandpa." Yugi smiled.

"Professor Hawkins!" He grinned.

"Hello Yugi, it's been a while."

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked. Professor Hawkins smiled.

"Your grandfather told us you came here to visit Pegasus and I needed to talk to you about something most important, so Rebecca and I came here." Rebecca smiled and nodded.

"I've changed a lot since you last saw me, Yugi! I gave up my teddy bear and now I have a boyfriend!" She grabbed his arm and he blushed.

"Um…well…I…uh…" he stammered, blushing. Kristen frowned, a vein throbbing in her head, but she shook her head and forced a saccharine smile.

"Hi, I don't believe we've met. I'm Kristen." Rebecca automatically looked at Kristen and didn't even make an effort to smile back. She frowned at her, suspicion in every inch. Professor Hawkins, on the other hand, beamed at her and offered his hand.

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Kristen. I'm Professor Arthur Hawkins. I'm an old friend of Yugi's Grandpa's." Kristen gave him a genuine smile and shook his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor."

"Yugi, are you here alone with her? Where's everyone else?" Rebecca asked, not bothering to keep the bitterness out of her tone. Yugi blinked before remembering that everyone else was waiting in the library for them.

"They're in the library! Kristen and I needed to go and pick up a duel disk for Kay." Rebecca's expression darkened.

"Who's Kay?" she asked. Kristen frowned, already feeling irritated by this girl.

"She's my friend. By the way, Rebecca, don't mind me asking, but when did you meet Yugi?"

"I met him after Duelist Kingdom. I dueled against him and he gave me this card." She held up the Ties of Friendship, smirking smugly.

"I see…and, uh, how old are you?" she asked. Rebecca immediately glared.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped.

"Nothing. It's just that you said you gave up your teddy bear so I'm just curious." Rebecca frowned.

"I'm nine." Kristen stared at her in disbelief. NINE?!

"I thought you were at least thirteen." Rebecca smirked again and flipped her long, blonde hair over her shoulder with her free hand.

"I do look pretty mature for my age." Kristen frowned a little and Yugi looked from the girl with a death grip on his arm to the jealous brunette, a slightly clueless look on his innocent face. Professor Hawkins smiled a little with a sweatdrop on his head – completely aware of what was going on.

"Why don't we go inside and talk to your friends?" he asked. Yugi blinked and nodded.

"Sure." Rebecca giggled and lightly pulled Yugi.

"C'mon, Yugi-poo." Kristen twitched a little, another vein throbbing on her head as Rebecca led Yugi inside. Professor Hawkins looked at Kristen and smiled awkwardly.

"You'll have to forgive my granddaughter. She's very…um…brazen about things."

"I noticed…" Kristen mumbled before the two followed Yugi and Rebecca into the library. They walked inside and looked around for the rest of the gang. They found Kay and Anzu in the computer section of the library.

"Hey guys," Kristen said, walking over to them, "find anything?" she asked.

"There's this legend about an Aztec stone that somehow connects to Egypt, but it doesn't really make any sense to me."

"Perhaps I can help explain things." She jumped and turned to see Professor Hawkins. Kay looked at him and then at Rebecca, still hugging Yugi, and raised an eyebrow before looking back up at Professor Hawkins.

"Not to be rude, but who are you?" she asked. Anzu looked up.

"Oh, it's Professor Hawkins and…" She stared at Rebecca and Yugi, frowning a little, "Rebecca. What are you doing here?" she asked, intending for it to be a general question but directing it more towards Rebecca.

"We came here to see Yugi. For you see, I've researched the Aztecs as well as the Ancient Egyptians." Kay immediately looked interested.

"Really? Do you know anything of this?" she asked, holding up the Aztec stone she got from Agent 470. Professor Hawkins gasped and took it, looking at it carefully.

"Well I don't believe it! I've read about it but I never thought I'd get to see one in person."

"What is it, Grandpa?" Rebecca asked, FINALLY releasing Yugi's arm and going over to Arthur.

"It's a piece of the Stone of Restoration. There are only ten in the world." Kay, Anzu, Kristen, and Yugi all blinked and exchanged glances before looking back at Arthur.

"Sir, can you please explain?" Kay asked.

"Absolutely. You see, the Aztecs were an incredibly advanced culture. They had an incredible stone known as the Stone of Restoration. They used it to bring to life monsters like the ones used to play the Shadow Games in Ancient Egypt. However, the Aztecs knew that these monsters were too dangerous so they found a way to destroy the stone.

"However, ten pieces remained of the Aztec stone. Some of the Aztecs wanted to revive the monsters again and carved directions as to how you can use the ten pieces to permanently revive monsters. Other Aztecs feared the return of the monsters and scattered the stones.

"Some believe this feud over the Stone of Restoration is part of what destroyed the Aztec civilization."

"So, those weird pictures I have, those are instructions as to how you can use the Stones of Restoration?" Kay asked.

"I'm guessing yes."

"But what good would it do to create these monsters?"

"There's a legend that claims these monsters can destroy humanity and create a new world. Perhaps our enemy wishes to create these monsters in order to begin a new world."

"But they've already created real monsters! Why do they need the information Kay has?" Yugi asked.

"If my theory is correct, the Aztecs never fully completed the rituals in order to permanently restore the monsters. The monsters would die and fade away in a matter of hours. Perhaps our enemy can only call upon the monsters temporarily, but they don't have the final step to complete the Restoration process."

"This is all so confusing…" Anzu said. Kay looked thoughtful.

"So…they need the information I have in order to call upon these monsters. Then I guess I can never let them have the flash drive." She sighed. "But I have to save my uncle! He could be in serious danger." Yugi nodded.

"We'll save him, Kay. Professor, do you have any idea who this guy could be?" Yugi asked. Professor Hawkins shook his head.

"I'm afraid I have no idea."

"Wait, I just remembered something. I guy I dueled with mentioned the name Aldric. Does that name ring any bells, Professor?" Kay asked. He shook his head.

"I'm afraid not."

"Hmm…I also have another thing to point out. I remember when Kaiba dueled one of those guys. His Aztec Stone fell off his neck and rolled to Kaiba's feet, and then the man started to cough up blood and he was dead! But the guy I fought only passed out. Can you explain that?"

"If one loses in a duel and possesses the Aztec Stone, it will reject them and go to the stronger of the two. However, if you possess a stone and do not have a strong enough heart and mind, the stone will consume your life." Kay shuddered.

"That's creepy…"

"Yes."

"We should probably tell the others all of this."

"Where are they?" Yugi asked.

"The reference section. I'll bet Jounouchi's brain is fixing to explode."

"Excuse me, Miss Kay; may I see your flash drive? I'd very much like to view the pictures you have." Kay looked reluctant and she glanced at Yugi, who smiled and nodded. She pulled the flash drive out of her bag and handed it to Arthur.

"Here you go, Professor."

"Thank you." She stood up and he took her vacant seat and put the flash drive in a USB port on the computer and opened up the files. Rebecca stayed with him while Yugi, Anzu, Kristen, and Kay went to the reference section to find the rest.

Cat and Honda were reading large books without a problem, but Jounouchi looked really bored/annoyed.

"Gah! I can't take it anymore!" he cried. Cat and Honda looked up at him.

"Jounouchi, it's only been ten minutes!" Cat pointed out. Jounouchi massaged his temples.

"Yeah, but I'm ready to die of boredom and my brain is starting to hurt." Honda and Cat exchanged glances before letting out a sigh, shaking their heads.

"Have no fear, Jounouchi; you don't need to read anymore."

"Thank God!" he cried, putting his book back on the shelf. Cat looked up at Kay.

"Did you find out anything?"

"Tons! Come back over here with us." Honda and Cat put away their books and followed them back to the computers where Professor Hawkins and Rebecca were looking at the pictures on the monitor.

"Hey, it's, uh…that guy!" Jounouchi said. Honda punched him in the head.

"Idiot, that's Professor Hawkins and Rebecca!"

"I knew that! I was just trying to see if you remembered."

"Cat, do you know who they are?" Kay asked. Cat nodded.

"Yeah. I was there when Yugi dueled Rebecca."

"Why'd he duel her at all?" Kay asked.

"Well, Yugi's Grandpa had Professor Hawkins' Blue Eyes White Dragon card."

"Wait, what?!" Kristen asked. Kay nodded.

"Yeah. Other than mine, there were four Blue Eyes White Dragons in the world. I heard one was destroyed, I just didn't know the story."

"Kaiba ripped it." Kay frowned.

"Well that figures…"

"Anyway, Rebecca wanted that card back and made Yugi duel her. He let her win and she went to take the card back, but freaked out when it was ripped. But Professor Hawkins came into the picture and explained the story of why he gave Yugi's Grandpa that card. He also revealed that Yugi would have won if he hadn't surrendered to Rebecca."

Kay giggled and pinched Yugi's cheek. "Yugi, you're such a sweetie."

"Ow! Kay!" he cried in protest. She laughed a little bit and Rebecca frowned at the two before looking back at the computer monitor.

"And then Yugi gave Rebecca his Ties of Friendship card that he won at Duelist Kingdom to show that they'd always be friends." Kay raised an eyebrow.

"From the looks of it, she has more than friendship on her mind." Yugi turned red.

"Kay!" he protested again. Kay laughed and shrugged.

"Sorry, Yugi, just calling it as I see it. That girl practically had a death grip on your arm." Kristen frowned and looked away from the group to hide her expression as she recalled Rebecca calling Yugi her "boyfriend."

"So, anyway, that's the story."

"Ok. Now we have all the details, let's get back to the task at hand. What do we do now? Wait for the next guy to attack?" Yugi nodded.

"Seems like the only thing we can do. Though, I'm kind of curious as to what happened to Kaiba." Kay frowned.

"Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that Kaiba Corp. was hacked as well. Think they assumed Kaiba had some information they wanted?" she asked.

"It's possible."

"Finished!" They turned to look back at Arthur.

"Did you figure anything else out, Professor?" Kay asked. He looked at her and nodded, a proud look on his face.

"Yes, I did. I think I was able to make out what those stone carvings meant. From the looks of it, there are ten pillars in which the stones must be placed, and a sacrifice will be needed in order to power the stones and use them to summon the monsters."

"What kind of sacrifice?" Jounouchi asked, grimacing a little. Arthur frowned a little and Rebecca looked up at them.

"From the looks of it, a human sacrifice." Everyone gasped and either looked freaked out or disgusted. Kay's eyes widened.

"You don't think…"

"What?" Kristen asked. Kay's face paled into a sickly, white color.

"You don't think that's why they're holding my uncle captive, do you?" she asked softly. Everyone grew silent. Jounouchi was the first to speak.

"Nah! And besides, it doesn't matter 'cause we're gonna stop this weirdo before he can do anything!" Everyone nodded and agreed and Kay smiled a little bit.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Arthur handed Kay her flash drive.

"Here you are."

"Thanks."

"So where do we go now?" Jounouchi asked.

"I need to research this a little bit more. What I found was just scratching the surface. Why don't we go to my laboratory?" Arthur asked. Rebecca beamed.

"Yeah! We have tons of books about the Aztecs there! Maybe we can figure some more stuff out, like where those pillars are. Besides, it'll mean I can spend more time with my little Yugi-kins." She hugged him and he blushed, looking very embarrassed. Anzu and Kristen both started fuming while Kay and Cat looked just a little annoyed at Rebecca.

"Where is your laboratory, Professor?" Kay asked.

"We'll take my truck. It's about three hours away from this town."

"Wow, convenient!" Jounouchi exclaimed. Kay nodded.

"I'll say."

"Let's go!" And they followed Arthur out of the library. Kay looked back at the city and wondered how Croquet and the others were doing. Her thoughts wandered to Adelinda and Mokuba. Did they make it home ok? And finally, she thought about Seto and her face turned a pale pink for reasons she did not understand.

I mean, she hated him, right?

With that, she followed Arthur and the gang to a truck. They all piled in the back and Arthur took the driver's seat. Rebecca insisted on sitting with Yugi, much to Kristen and Anzu's dismay.

"We all set?" Arthur called.

"Yup!" Rebecca chimed, snuggling up to Yugi who continued to look embarrassed.

"Then we're off!" He started the engine and they drove off. Kay looked back the entire way until they left the city and she sighed.

"Hold on, Uncle. I'll find a way to rescue you."

And THERE we go. That ends this chapter so far. But I'm sure you're all wondering, "Where's Kaiba? Where's Mokuba and Adelinda? WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Well, wait until next chapter to find out! Yeah, had to include Rebecca and Arthur in here. She's the crazy fangirl. It adds humor and hints towards Nekoshipping. Hee hee.

And with that, I request that you REVIEW!