PART 38

(Nicole's POV)

Nothing but duels. Each table was painted as 2 card mats or 4 depending on the size of the table. John escorted you to the table in a corner. Soon enough, a young waitress came up to you and took your orders. John ordered a coffee while you asked for a hot tea with cream.

"How long have you been dueling my dear" he asked generously.

"Six months, but I've won many small and middle sized tournaments back home. I haven't participated in a large tournament yet. I guess you can say I've had good coaches" you replied thinking about Yugi and Seto back in Domino City. What were they doing right now at this very moment? Did Seto even care that you had left without saying any real goodbyes? He couldn't have cared. The last time you even saw him, he was an angry wreck. You were broken out of your strain of thought by John's voice.

"Hello, anyone home" You shook your head and brought yourself back to reality.

"I'm sorry just thinking about random things"

"I see, shall we begin the duel?" he suggested.

"Yes let's" you answered as the waitress came back with your drinks.

The two of you dueled for hardly ten minutes before there was a victor. You by a landslide

"You are a good duelist" he gasped.

"What, never lost a duel before my friend" you asked curiously.

"Well of course, but not many recently & indeed not this fast." he answered.

"Well, you win some you loose some my friend. Thank you for the drink, but I think I better get to exploring the streets on my own a little." you spoke getting up.

"I hope we meet again. Maybe I can get better & prove myself victor in our next match." he told you.

"Marie"

"What?" he asked confused.

"Marie, that's my name, Marie Bennet, and I'll take you up on that offer sometime John." you turned and left him staring at you in confusion.

You continued your tour of the streets until you ran into a small game shop and decided to take a look. You were looking through the cards when a poster caught your eye. You looked closer at it to see it was advertising a tournament that would take place on Monday. Knowing the normal moving schedule, you still had a week or two of adjustment before you went to school. You just had to figure out how to get to the arena. You grabbed a few booster packs and asked the man at the counter for directions as you bought your stuff. He wrote them down for you and you were on your way. You were quite happy with yourself at the moment. Then it hit you. The poster said the tournament would be televised. You couldn't take the risk. That's when a small party shop caught your eye.

"Unless...."

You walked around in the party shop trying to fid just what you needed. Soon enough, you found the perfect item. It was a mask that reminded you of the one in Phantom of The Opera, but this one covered your face from the nose up. The white was so plain, but a little paint and the perfect accessory could fix that. You bought the mask and headed out. You also picked up a box of hair dye to add another element. On your way, you passed a flower shop and found the perfect accessory. You bought a few blue roses as the idea evolved making all this even better.

"So how was your walk?" Your mom asked as you set the roses in a small vase on the counter.

"It was nice. Found these at a street vendor for pretty cheap, so I couldn't resist." You replied.

"Oh well, that's good to hear."

"Well, I don't know about you but the long flight is starting to get to me."

"What do you mean, you slept for most of the trip?" she asked surprised.

"I know, but still being miles above the earth for several hours takes it all out of you." You traveled back into your room this time with some paint in hand. You placed some newspaper on your desk and got to work. You painted the top of the eye to look like eye shadow, and also around the top edge a little bit. It wasn't much, but it sure made a big difference.

Next on your agenda was the fact of your hair color. True you didn't want to, but you could be recognized & dying one's hair was a simple way to limit the chances. You spend the next hour or so turning your hair from the normal dark brown to a dirty blonde seeing going lighter in hair color was always a pain. Once you were done, you took note on the lateness and went to bed.

(ff Monday)

You woke up to the sun's rays peering through the balcony door. You looked at the clock to read 7:30. Perfect the tournament started at 9:30, so you had two hours. You quickly got up and took a shower and got yourself ready. You wore a pair of jeans with a deep blue top and blue slip on flats. Carefully, you slipped one of the roses from the other day & the mask in a duffel then made your way out the door. You threw on a long sleeved jacket letting it say over your top until you had the rest of the outfit on at the tournament.

You arrived at 9 and went to the bathroom to change. You stripped off the jacket and slipped the mask on. You removed the thorns from the rose and shortened it, so it fit correctly when you placed it in your hair at your ear. Still, it seemed as if something was missing. Then you remembered. You took the locket that looked just like the one you got Mokuba and put it on. The feeling of the cold metal to your skin seemed to calm you. You took a deep breath and walked out putting your duffel in one of those public lockers you rent for like a dollar. You traveled to the registration area with like 10 minutes left.

You noticed duelists of all ages here. That meant they had to have age brackets set up. You walked you to the registration table.

"Name please" the woman sitting there asked.

"I wish to keep that to myself for now if you don't mind" you suggested politely.

"That would make you a mystery duelist"

"That will work for me"

"Next is age"

"16, but I turn 17 in two months"

"Well the bracket your in is 16 and up, so it wouldn't matter if you were 16 or 17. Now here is your dueling number this will determine when where and who you duel. Good luck out there"

"Thank you, so what do I do now" you asked taking the slip with your number on it.

"You just wait for the tournament to begin."

"Well, thanks again" you spoke walking into the area.

You noticed mainly guys were here, most likely because female duelists were not that common in France? You were getting many stares from guys checking you out. If they only knew how stupid they looked with those faces. You couldn't help but laugh to yourself. About 15 minutes later a voice came over the intercom system.

"Welcome all duelists to Tour de Duel. You all have been given a duelist number. This will tell who when and where you will be dueling using that number. If you just look at the screens with your age bracket you will see the information for the first round. The rules will be gone over before each duel. This is a single elimination tournament. That means you loose you go home. Now duelists, have a good time and good luck to all."

You looked at your screen and got the info you needed. You traveled over to your arena to find your opponent already standing there on his platform looking important.

"Oh great this is going to be an easy win" he boasted

"Now why would you say that?" you questioned stepping onto your platform.

"You're a girl, and we all know girls can't duel" he commented

"Hn, Well, it seems you need to be taught a lesson in female duelists don't you?" you pointed out.

"Give it a try. I say we make a wager. I win you go on a date with me the greatest duelist in France just loose the mask babe."

"Alright, but if I win, you leave me alone. Deal?" you added.

"Deal!" he answered.

You knew this duel was going to be oh so easy. This guy's ego was bigger than Seto's. Making himself totally blind to all his future mistakes. You knew he was going to make the most important mistake and you were going to take advantage of that. As the announcer began with the introductions, you found your opponent's name to be Pierre, but you were only known as a mystery duelist. The rules were called out and you did all the pre-duel things. Now it was time to start.

"Let's duel!"