Alright, time for the next chapter. I wanted to get this posted before I had to work tonight, because tonight is going to be rough, and on nights like this, I usually don't want to do anything afterwards.
Also, I need to say something. I know not everyone was going to like the direction I took with the meta stuff in this fanfic, and I'm fine with people not liking that aspect. But some people have started being rude with their reviews. Nobody is forcing you to read this fanfic. If you don't like the direction it's going, you can stop reading at any time. I don't mind. You don't have to leave a rude comment telling me how "Oh the fic is ruined now!" and other stuff that I've been getting. I'm still writing what I want to write, and I'm not going to stop.
(This isn't directed at people who were either nice when telling me they didn't like the direction, or to those who just needed clarification on the subject)
So with that said, I own nothing except the computer I'm typing all of this with. Hope you all enjoy!
-Abridged series.-
"Mind speaking."
Normal dialogue.
Everyone gathered by the Café once again to watch another video. Yugi and Joey were thinking about what the fandom said to them the other night.
"What do they mean by 'unlocking our memories'?" Yugi asked quietly.
"I'm not sure. I don't think they meant my ancient memories," Yami said.
Yugi and Joey looked at each other, and then they looked at everyone else. They were told that they didn't have to keep their revelations a secret, but they didn't have to tell the others until they felt it was the right time.
Right now though, the main focus was watching the next video with everyone, and try not to think about it too much.
Yugi's group was ready, the Kaiba brothers were ready, Noah was ready, and everyone reading this is ready.
-Yami: Introducing the Jiggle-o-meter! The bouncier the boobies, the stronger the reading. It's fun for all the family!-
After a very, no… EXTREMELY awkward moment of silence, Mai quickly knocked her chair back and stood up, hands slamming on the table.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF HARPY LADY IS THAT!?" she yelled. No one answered her right away, until Tea stood up as well.
"Please tell me this is a joke!" she yelled. Again, no one responded. Mai rubbed her forehead and sat back down.
"You know what, considering what we've already seen with these videos, I probably should've seen this coming," she said. Mai then turned towards the boys. "You guys better not be getting any idea!"
"Huh, what are you talking about?" Duke said, waving his hands in surrender. "We're not getting any ideas!"
"I think this is just one joke for the beginning of the video," Bakura said trying to ease some of the awkwardness.
"Let's hope so," Tea said, but as the video started, she saw the meter in the top corner. "Oh come on!" She exclaimed.
"Um… at the very least, it isn't a real product," Serenity said.
"Let's be thankful for that," Mai sighed in defeat.
Kaiba scoffed at seeing the meter. "Like I care about any of that," he said to himself.
Being trapped somewhere in the internet, Noah saw his fair shar of… questionable links, links that he would never click on… at least not until he was older.
-Yugi: Man, this Virtual World is starting to feel more and more like Tron, only with less motorcycles and more card games. – "Okay, if there are going to be people playing Duel Monsters with motorcycles, it better be like Tron or else," Tristan said. "I might start taking an interest in that."
-Yugi: God, my lungs are on fire. It feels like I've been running for days.-
-Yami: Yugi, it's been eight seconds. – Yugi started laughing. "Hey, you'd be surprised. Especially if you're running down a hallway that looks like it never ends."
Tea was laughing as well. "That's what it feels like running the mile in gym class."
-Yugi: Lay off man. I'm in pretty good shape. I play card games all the time. I'll have you know I can lift two decks at once. That's impressive, right? – Joey started laughing. "Very impressive Yug," he said with a hint of sarcasm.
"If only playing Duel Monsters could help get those muscles up," Tristan said as he tried flexing his muscles.
-Yami: Keep running Yugi. The plot has to be around here somewhere.-
-Yugi: Yeah, speaking of which, weren't we in the middle of a tournament when all this crazy Noah sh*t started? What exactly happened with all that? – "You know what, I was wondering that too. I hope we get to see what Marik was doing the entire time we were here," Duke said.
-Yami: Maybe the writers went on strike again.-
-Yugi: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa… We have writers? – A couple of people in Yugi's group were laughing. Meanwhile, Yugi and Joey looked over at each other.
"Well, that hits differently," Joey whispered to Yugi.
"You're telling me," Yugi whispered back.
*intro sequence*
-Tea: Thank God I'm no longer surrounded by those loud, obnoxious creatures. It was starting to feel like an anime club back there. – "Did… did that meter just move?" Tea asked.
"It sure did," Mai said. "And if I'm going to be completely honest, with that angle, it's no wonder why it did," she thought, but wouldn't tell Tea that.
-Tea: But what am I supposed to do now? If only there were a convenient dream sequence around here that could show me the way.-
-Yugi: Hey Tea, Earth to Tea! Hey, are you in there? It's your convenient dream sequence. – "Hey, that's what Yugi said in the first video," Tristan said, "And what you said in real life."
"…Real life," Joey thought.
-Tea: Hey Yugi, my eyes are freakishly large today.-
-Yugi: Mine too! – "Oh wow, they weren't kidding," Bakura said as everyone looked at the screenshot in question.
"…They cover up literally half of my face… probably even more than that," Yugi said.
"Turn to the side, Yugi," Duke said. Yugi did so, and Duke started looking back and forth between the video and Yugi's face. "Yeah, your eyes are definitely larger in the video."
"…Are we not going to talk about my eyes?" Tea asked.
"We could… but they're not as large as Yugi's eyes in this once shot," Joey said.
Tea looked at the screen before sighing. "Fair enough."
Mokuba was laughing a little at Yugi's large eyes.
-Yugi: Hey, look at this card! It's the Dark Magician Girl! Remember how much you like the Dark Magician Girl?-
-Tea: No, actually, I think this is probably the first time I've even seen this card. – "Not true!" Tea exclaimed. "I love the Dark Magician Girl! She helped me win against Crump!"
"Wait, you were dueling Tea?" Mai asked.
Tea smiled proudly. "I sure did, and I did really well against that sleaze-bag!" she said, leaving out the detail that it was a very close call. "You don't doubt me, do you?" she asked.
"Oh, not at all!" Mai replied. "I'm just surprised to hear that. If that's going to be shown in this video, then I'm looking forward to it."
-Yugi: No, no, no, you love this card. In fact, you love this card so much that you once went to a Broadway show about the Dark Magician Girl. Critics called it the most poorly conceived musical since Pokémon Live. – "Wait… there are musicals about Duel Monsters?" Joey asked.
"Yeah, Grandpa would take me to them when I was younger," Yugi said.
"Man, I kind of wish I saw them. Did old Red-Eyes ever make an appearance?" Joey asked.
"I think a few times, but Blue-Eyes appeared more often from what I remember," Yugi said.
"Figures," Joey mumbled.
Mokuba sighed a little. "Wouldn't it have been cool if we could go to those when we were kids," he asked.
"You mean watch over-the-top acting with bad effects and horrible songs? I'll pass," Kaiba said.
"Hey guys, what does 'nsfw' mean?" Serenity asked as the video showed Dark Magician Girl flying across the stage.
Joey paled a little, remembering what happened when he was looking at the fanart and fanfiction. "Uh… I wouldn't look too much into that if I were you… at least, not until you're older."
"…Do you know what those letters mean?" Bakura asked.
Joey started turning red in the face. "…No! I just… seeing where they are placed… I uhhh, I just assumed it meant something involving that area," he tried to explain.
Mai sighed. "Unfortunately, he's not too far off the path. I think we should just leave it at that and move on."
Noah had seen those letters while he was frequenting the internet, but something in the back of his mind was telling him not to go searching for those websites, at least not until he was older.
-Tea: Well, at least this is better than Cirque du Soleil! – Tea shrugged. "I've never been to one of those shows, so I wouldn't know."
-Announcer: And now, how about a volunteer from the audience!-
-Tea: Oh crap! I knew I should've worn panties! – "Wait, did that really happen?" Serenity asked.
Tea paused for a second. "Well, not exactly like that… but I do remember being on stage that one time. They were doing a special performance where they got to choose random people from the audience to be in the show, and the actress who played Dark Magician Girl chose me."
"That sounds so cool!" Serenity exclaimed.
"I wish I could've transformed like that, but I just put on my costume backstage. After the show, the other kids who got to be in the show and I got a special backstage tour, and the woman who played Dark Magician Girl gave me a wand signed by her!" Tea said. "That was one of the best days of my life!"
"That sounds like a lot of fun!" Bakura said.
Tea nodded before another thought popped into her head. "And if I hear any of you talk about panties, you're gonna be in for it!" she said sternly, causing the others to shy away.
-Tea: Hey, it's Yugi and Yami, and they're staring right at my good stuff. – "Wait a minute," Yugi said, knowing where this was possibly going. "I wasn't there! I remember that show being advertised, but I was with Grandpa that day!" Yugi said.
"Yeah, I remember inviting you. Plus, how can the both of you be there at the same time? And furthermore, this happened when we were kids, and we're clearly older in this video," Tea said.
"Well, this is your convenient dream sequence," Duke said.
-Tea: This is the happiest day of my… PENGUIN!-
-Penguin: Come with me if you want to live. – "Uh Tea, you don't have a killer robot chasing you, do you?" Tristan asked.
"No, I don't. I don't even like those movies," she replied.
-Tea: Hey, can you introduce me to that one penguin who's voiced by Elijah Wood? He's dreamy! – "But I did watch that movie when I was younger," Tea said with a small chuckle.
-Penguin: You dare to mock the penguin order?!-
-Tea: Penguins are so cute. I want one.-
-Penguin: I will peck out your eyeballs and feed them to my kin. – "I'm beginning to think this penguin doesn't take too kindly to compliments," Bakura said. "Also, is there a reason for the penguins?"
"That creep's deck had a penguin theme," Tea said. "I don't think I'll be able to look at penguins the same ever again."
-Tea: Aw, such a cute little guy! – "if only you knew what he was saying," Mai noted.
-Serenity: Ah! Somebody get this f*cking dinosaur away from me!-
-Tristan: What a majestic beast. I must destroy it! – "So YOU were the one who killed the dinosaurs!" Duke exclaimed.
"I wasn't even alive back then, idiot!" Tristan said back.
-Tristan: Here I come Serenity! Ow! My scroat! This is for killing Littlefoot's mom you jerk! – "Oh wow, now it's my turn to go back to my childhood," Tristan said.
-Duke: Hey baby, mind if I take your top off really quick.-
-Serenity: Huh? – Joey glared at Duke. "You're not using Serenity to cure your… condition, are you?" he asked.
"You mean a disease that isn't even real?" Duke asked. "Calm yourself down man!" Duke replied.
Joey would have said something back, but when Duke mentioned 'not being real,' he sighed. "Fine, but only because it isn't real," he said. Duke thought something was off with the way he said that, but decided to ignore it for now.
-Tristan: Serenity look, I'm finally becoming a maaaaaaa… It wasn't a meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs, it was Tristan Timothy Taylor. – "Ah Ha! Indisputable proof!" Duke said.
"Oh ha ha, very funny," Tristan replied.
-Serenity: I'm glad I could help cure you, Duke.-
-Duke: Haha, the pleasure was all yours.-
-Tristan: But I killed the dinosaur! – Duke chuckled. "Sorry, but that's not good enough."
Tristan was about to say something back when he felt Serenity nudge his arm. "Thanks for saving me too Tristan," she said with a smile.
Tristan had a goofy grin on his face, with Tea sighing in the back.
-Morgan Freeman: And so, the penguin struggles on through unbearable weather conditions. Why does the penguin do this? Nobody knows, but we'll film it and get Morgan Freeman to narrate the whole thing. And call it a documentary. That's the beauty of nature. – "I think I'll only watch a documentary if he's narrating," Bakura said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
-Morgan Freeman: Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go catch Kevin Spacey with the help of Brad Pitt. – "Hm, I don't think I've seen that movie yet, whichever one he's talking about," Tristan said.
-Tea: Where the mothercrap is this?-
-Crump: Welcome Tea Gardner to Penguinopolis! Home of the mighty penguin empire! Isn't it beautiful? Nothing but penguins as far as the eye can see. – "Oh no, here we go," Tea said.
"Is this the guy obsessed with penguins?" Bakura asked.
"Yep."
"He even sounds like a creep," Mai noted.
Mokuba gasped slightly. "Crump did mention penguins every once in a while, whenever he was around us, and didn't he want to build that penguin themed amusement park?"
"That creep can go be with every penguin in the world for all I care, as long as he's nowhere near us," Kaiba said.
-Crump: Crump's the name and penguins are my game. Second member of Team 4Kids and head of programming. You remember Viva Pinata? That was me! – "Viva Pinata? That actually sounds cool," Serenity said.
"Yeah, it does," Yugi said. He wasn't sure why, but he suddenly got an image of an egotistical horse pinata in his mind. It was only there for a brief second before it left.
Joey thought back to programming. "Is that how people were able to watch us?" he wondered.
-Tea: You're insane! – Tea shook her head. "That's an understatement."
-Crump: You just don't understand the beauty of the penguin. They're so aerodynamically perfect. Can't you see it? The shape, the smell, the taste of penguins. Penguins, Penguin! – Nobody watching the video knew what to say. I mean, what could they say about all of this?
Joey was the first to speak. "What is wrong with that guy?"
"Oh yeah, like I mentioned before, that guy was obsessed with penguins to an unhealthy degree, and I am so glad I was able to kick his butt in our duel!" Tea said. "I'm also glad he never made any of those weird sounds, that's just creepy."
"I legit got chills when he made that noise," Duke said. "It just sounds so wrong."
Mokuba and Kaiba were thinking similar thoughts. "Was he really that obsessed with penguins?" Mokuba asked. "Enough to make those weird noises?"
Kaiba scoffed. "Like I said before, leave him with his penguins for all I care."
Noah was getting weirded out by Crump's obsession. Sure, he knew Crump had an… interest in penguins, but he didn't remember it being to this degree. And with Crump being gone, he figured it was for the best that he never found out if it was true.
-Tea: …Are you finished?-
-Crump: Penguins.-
-Tea: Stop saying penguins!-
-Crump: Can't help it. I love penguins. – "Yeah… we can tell," Mai said sarcastically.
-Tea: Eww.-
-Crump: Platonically.-
-Tea: Oh.-
-Crump: And physically.-
-Tea: Eww! – "…You know what, I'm beginning to think his real interest in penguins was tamer compared to whatever this is!" Tea said.
"I've heard of obsessing over something to an unhealthy degree… but this is ridiculous," Tristan said.
Kaiba got chills when he realized just how much Crump… loved penguins. "You know what, good riddance," he said.
Mokuba slightly chuckled. "Yeah, that's the final nail in the coffin."
Noah was now grateful that he didn't have the Big Five connected to a back-up system like he was. Not that he wanted to deal with them anytime after the events of the Virtual World, but if it meant that he wouldn't have to listen to Crump's obsession with penguins, then it was worth it.
-Crump: But I love the thought of having my own body even more. And so, Tea Gardner, age 16, sneaker size six, bra size F, I challenge you to a children's card game! – Tea started going red in the face. "THAT IS NOT TRUE!" Tea said loudly.
"Yeah, if it was true, that meter in the corner would have broke by now," Tristan said, and he was one second too late to realize what he had just said before getting a blow to the back of his head by Tea (and Mai if Tea hadn't beaten her to it).
She turned to the others. "Anyone else have anything to say?" Everyone smiled and shook their heads quickly.
-Tea: Wait, how did you get all that information about me?-
-Crump: The penguins told me.-
-Tea: How the hell do the penguins know my bra size?-
-Crump: The penguins know everything. – "Welp, I'm never going near a penguin ever again," Tea said.
"I don't thank any of us ever want to be near a penguin again," Yugi said.
-Tea: Listen you creepy old man… penguin thing, I'm not going to duel you, and that's final!-
-Crump: Friendship sucks!-
-Tea: Oh it is on in a manner similar to that of Donkey Kong! – "So that's all it takes to challenge you to a duel," Joey said. "And does that mean we get bananas as a reward?"
"Nope," Tea said.
"How about a first-aid kit?" Tristan said, finally getting up and rubbing his head.
-Yugi: These doors must be out way out of here. I'm gonna try one of them. Here goes! Ah! – "Oh man, that looks like it hurt," Bakura said.
"It didn't really hurt so much, just felt like I had no chance of breaking through it with force," Yugi replied.
-Yami: And that Yugi is what happens when you try to do things on your own.-
-Yugi: That door just bitch-slapped me! – Yugi started laughing, and everyone else joined him afterwards.
-Yami: Yes, that door may be our greatest foe yet, and I'm not even kidding. – "Okay so, Pegasus, Marik, Noah, Dartz, and all of the other people we fight… they got nothing compared to this one door," Joey said. This got a laugh from everyone.
-Yugi: Look, the doors all have symbols above them. One star, two stars, three stars, and four stars. – "Is that that 'Team Four Star' that they keep mentioning?" Duke asked.
"Probably," Bakura said.
-YamI; Oh lovely, a rejected puzzle from a Professor Layton game. That's just fan-tucking-fastic. – "Maybe Ishizu could have figured it out," Tristan said.
"Remember, she did get stuck on that one puzzle in the other video," Yugi said.
-Yugi: Okay, there's only one way to solve this problem, by challenging the door to a duel!-
-Yami: Of course. – "You're going to challenge the door to a duel?" Mai asked.
"Actually, that's not too far off from what happened," Yugi said.
"Really?" Bakura asked.
"Each of those doors had monsters guarding them, and the stars told how powerful the monster was. It was kind of a clever puzzle," Yugi said.
"No kidding," Serenity said.
-Kaiba: Not long after we were adopted, Gozaburo took us to live with him in his mansion. – "Here we go again," Yugi said. The Kaiba brothers started paying more attention at this point.
-Gozaburo: Hobson tells me that you haven't been keeping up with yours studies.-
-Young Kaiba: Oh you mean the giant-faced mutant you have posing as a butler?-
-Hobson: Hobson Smash! – "Yikes, he does look creepy," Mai said.
"That's the guy Grandpa said was in his shop when he was kidnapped by Kaiba way back then," Yugi said.
"He doesn't look that intelligent either. Not if he's going to smash everything in sight," Joey said.
Mokuba shook his head a little. "Yeah, Hobson is pretty creepy looking, but he still does whatever you want…"
"And to be honest, that's all that matters to me," Kaiba said.
-Gozaburo: Hobson! No smash! No! Smash bad! Smash very bad!-
-Hobson: Hobson sorry!-
-Gozaburo: That's better. Now go tend to the silverware.-
-Hobson: Hobson not really sorry. – "…Okay, he acts like of like a small child," Tristan said.
"…I can kind of see something endearing about that… just wished he looked less creepy," Mai said.
-Young Kaiba: Why do you even have me doing all this work? I'm already a child prodigy. What more do you want? – "A chess prodigy!" Mokuba said proudly, earning a small smile from Kaiba.
-Gozaburo: I want you to become every bit as cold-hearted as me. I want to project every last bit of my hatred onto you, but most of all I want you to become the vessel of my other dead son. – Noah felt a slight twitch in the back of his head at the mention of this.
"Wait… what!?" Mai asked. "Does this have something to do with that Noah kid?"
Yugi nodded. "Simplifying all of it, Kaiba was kind of a replacement for Noah."
"Huh, no wonder the boy has a grudge against Kaiba," Mai replied.
-Young Kaiba: What?-
-Gozaburo: Nothing.-
-Young Kaiba: No seriously, what?-
-Gozaburo: Nothing!-
-Young Kaiba: No seriously, it sounded like you said… - "Denying it doesn't make it any less true," Kaiba said with a hint of spite in his voice.
-Gozaburo: Hobson! How's that silverware coming?-
-Hobson: Hobson polishing! – "Why do I have the feeling he isn't polishing silverware and is instead polishing something else," Bakura said.
-Young Mokuba: The way they treat Seto stinks, but I know how to make him smile!-
-Hobson: One day, Hobson smash everything! Then Hobson make them do silverware! – "Unless you can get your skin to turn green, I don't think that's possible," Tristan said.
-Young Mokuba: Hey Hobson, can you give this textbook to Seto?-
-Hobson: Hobson suppose!-
-Young Mokuba: Thanks Hobson, you're the best.-
-Hobson: You're nice to Hobson. Hobson not smash you. – "Well, at least I know I'm safe," Mokuba said. "And I'll make sure you're safe too," he said to Kaiba.
-Young Kaiba: Man, what a day. I don't even want to look at another textbook.-
-Hobson: Hobson have textbook for Seto.-
-Young Kaiba: Go f*ck yourself Hobson! – This actually got a laugh from Kaiba. It also got a laugh from Yugi's group.
-Hobson: …Hobson doesn't know how to! – "That's probably for the best," Tea said. "We don't need another old man with creepy vibes."
-Young Kaiba: Wait, this book has trading cards inside! Mokuba must have sent them to me. And look, it's a Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Mokuba made me a Blue-Eyes card. One day, I know I'll have the real thing in my deck. – "Mokuba drew that for Kaiba?" Serenity asked. "That's so sweet."
"Mokuba really loves his brother," Mai said. "It is really sweet."
Mokuba smiled and teared up a little at seeing young Kaiba with the card. "I'm really glad I got you to smile during all those harsh times," he said.
Kaiba smiled. "You really did help me back then." Mokuba gave Kaiba a small hug, which was retuned by the elder brother.
Mokuba looked back at the card. "Wait... did I write something on that card? I don't remember doing that," he wondered.
Noah stared at the floor (void?) below him. If he had a little brother like Mokuba, would he have also gotten the same love Mokuba had for his brother? It was a sweet moment, and he wished he could have had these moments too.
-Young Kaiba: And then when I'm rich, I'll create a Duel Academy where every kid can go to learn how to play card games. Nah, scratch that idea, it's stupid. – "Oh yeah, wasn't that mentioned a few other times in previous videos?" Tea asked.
"I think so," Yugi said. "I don't think it's a bad idea."
"Why don't you sign up Joey?" Duke asked.
"Eh? I don't need to go to a dueling school! May I remind you that I was third in Duelist Kingdom, and made it to the finals in Battle City!"
"It was a joke, man," Duke replied.
-Kaiba: I want that Blue-Eyes card! Mokuba, take it from him.-
-Mokuba: But Seto, that's you.-
-Kaiba: Just do it Mokuba! – "Wouldn't that cause some kind of temporal paradox or something?" Tristan asked.
"Probably best not to find out," Mai said.
Mokuba hummed. "I mean, this is kind of awkward, since you're stealing from yourself… so would I even be mad about that?"
"If that card were to be stolen, then I'd rather it be from myself instead of some random loser," Kaiba replied.
-Tea: I choose the Dark Magician Girl as my deck master!-
-Crump: Ah, now that's what I call a DMILF.-
-Tea: A DMILF?-
-Crump: A dark magician I'd like to fu…-
-Tea: Yuck, God what is wrong with you, you perverted old creep? – "You took the words right out of my mouth!" Tea said.
-Crump: Allow me to tell you in unnecessarily explicit detail. – "Oh no, please don't," Tristan said.
-Crump: When I was a young boy, the only pet I ever wanted was a penguin. I love penguins. I respected penguins. I worshipped penguins. Penguins were everything to me. – "Look, I want to give this the benefit of the doubt. Because there has to be more to this than just the penguins. But… this video really isn't doing this guy any favors," Bakura said.
"Agreed," Everyone said.
-Crump: And now that I'm all grown up, guess what I want to be?-
-Tea: A penguin?-
-Crump: A woman.-
-Tea: Agh! – "Ew, what?" Mai said.
"Yep. This guy was so creepy, and had some serious issues!" Tea said, a shiver going up her spine.
-Crump: That's right. When I take your body, I'll be free to live out my fantasy of being a young teenage girl, in Japan! – Mokuba shivered. "I am so glad we fired this guy," he said.
Noah was also getting shivers up his spine. Now he was really happy that Crump was gone forever when the Virtual World was destroyed.
"To think I was so focused on getting rid of everyone that I had this creep working for me," he said to himself.
-Tea: The only person who's going to take my body is Yugi and/or Yami! – Yugi and Tea both blushed slightly.
-Yugi: Yami look! It's Tea, and she's playing a card game with a penguin! That's not fair, she's never even played Duel Monsters! – "That's not true either." Tea said.
-Yami: Uh, what about the time she dueled against Mai Valentine, and won? – "Technically, I surrendered, but I guess a win's a win," Mai said.
-Yugi: She's never played Duel Monsters!-
-Yami: Or the time she dueled Joey in episode two, and won! – "Did you really have to remind me of that?" Joey asked, a little embarrassed.
-Yugi: She's never played Duel Monsters! – "Wow Yugi, you're really underestimating her strength there," Tristan said.
Yugi chuckled. "Not this time. Tea's a great duelist, as you'll see really soon. I watched her beat Crump myself."
Realization came to Tea. "Oh! So that's where Dark Magician came from! I was still wondering what happened back then."
"Yeah, I still don't fully understand it either, but I'm still glad you were able to win thanks to his help!"
-Crump: It's useless Tea. When I fire off my Penguin Torpedo, your life points will be reduced to zero, and your shape and teenage-girl body will be all mine! Whahahahahah! I… f*cking… love… penguins! – "Okay, I think the final play is right here. Watch me kick this guy to the curb!" Tea said confidently.
-Tea: Okay Tea, this is where all your years of experience finally pay off!-
-Yugi: You've never played Duel Monsters! – "Nice encouragement Yug," Joey said, to which Yugi chuckled a little in embarrassment.
-Tea: I summon Graceful Charity in attack mode!-
-Crump: Graceful Charity is a Spell Card. – Joey, Tristan, and Duke were trying to hold their laughter in. Yugi was also trying to hold in laughter, not because Tea was the one saying it, but just the phrase 'Graceful Charity in attack mode.'
Mai sighed and Serenity and Bakura glanced at Tea, who had a confused look on her face.
"What?" she finally said. "I know that's not how Graceful Charity works. Is this video implying that I don't know what I'm doing?" she asked a little louder. She looked over at the three boys, who finally got control of themselves and kept their laughter in.
"Hon, I've got a bad feeling about all of this," Mai said as the video continued.
-Tea: Oh… Um… Mirror Force?-
-Crump: No. – Mokuba was rubbing his forehead with his hand. "Ugh, no one can be that stupid when it comes to Duel Monsters, can they?"
"Hmph, if they're a part of the Geek Squad, anything's possible," Kaiba said.
-Tea: Uh, okay. Just… just hang on. Give me a minute here, I'll think of… - Tea gasped as the torpedo hit and Tea fell to the ground.
"What's going on?" Serenity asked. The screen faded to black with one word uttered.
-Crump: Penguins!-
"Uhh, Tea…" Yugi started. "I think the duel just ended…"
"What? No it didn't. We haven't gotten to the part where Dark Magician appears and wins with Dark Magician Girl," Tea responded. "I'll happen on the next turn, watch." As the video continued, everyone was ready to see what she meant by that.
-Yugi: Tea? Tea! Can you hear me? Are you alright? – "…Wait what!?" Tea yelled. "But what about Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl? I had that duel in the bag!"
-Tea: Oh Yugi! My hero! I missed you so much! – "Uhh, your voice is different now," Bakura said.
"So wait, did they just skip the part where I won the duel?" Tea asked.
"I… don't think so," Yugi said.
-Yugi: Uh… Tea, are you feeling okay?-
-Tea: I am now that you're here Yugi. – "…What kind of voice is that?" Joey asked. "It almost sounds like a combination of you and…" Joey stopped, starting to realize what that meant.
From the look on her face, Tea was starting to realize what was going on too. She didn't say anything at the moment as the video continued.
-Yugi: Well that's good. Anyway, we should probably get going…-
-Tea: By the way Yugi, do you like penguins? – "…No," Tea said slowly.
-Yugi: Penguins? – "No!" Tea repeated, louder this time. But once everyone heard Crump's laughter, and saw the penguin in Tea's eye, everyone's fear was answered, and one more word solidified it.
-Crump: Penguins!-
As the ending song started, Tea was shaking her head like crazy. "No! no! NO!" she said loudly. "I did NOT loose that duel! I kicked that creep's butt! And I did NOT lose my body to him!"
"I watched you beat him!" Yugi said. "But I think these videos are going to go down this path instead."
"So… not only is this video going to say that I lost the duel, but…" She paused and realized what else that meant. "That means we're gonna have to deal with this creep when we watch the next video, and who knows how long that will go on for!"
"I am so sorry hon," Mai said, patting Tea on the back.
Tea sighed. "Thanks Mai. Looks like I'll just have to get used to it."
-[the word 'penguin' just lost all meaning] – "Not just the word, but the entire species is ruined for me," Tea said.
-Yugi: You're lying, I never hit you! You're tearing me apart Lisa! – Joey smirked. "Hey Tea, you did not lose that duel… you did not! …Oh hi Yug," he said.
"That's not funny!" Tea replied.
-Penguin: Toon in next time for our 50th episode anniversary! "Joey Wheeler – Ace Attorney." Penguins not included. – "Thank goodness," Mai said.
"Hey! I'm going to be the star of the 50th episode!" Joey said.
"Wow, can you believe we're already at the 50th video?" Bakura asked.
"That's really impressive," Yugi said. "I'll be looking forward to that tomorrow."
As everyone was starting to head out, Joey and Yugi both felt something. They glanced at each other, with a knowing look in their eyes. Once everyone was gone, Yugi and Joey walked up to each other.
"You think they'll come back tonight?" Joey asked.
"They might," Yugi said. "Did you feel that just now? It felt like… something was trying to enter this realm."
"We'll find out more tonight," Joey said with a thumbs up. "For now, let's get back home." Yugi nodded.
Mokuba closed out of the video. "I don't think Tea would have lost that duel. Did she seem different when you guys were all together?"
"For the sake of this question… No, she was fine. But I honestly couldn't care less if she did lose," Kaiba said. "And if the mutt is going to be the star of the next video… well that's going to be fun," he added sarcastically.
Noah needed a moment to cleanse his mind from all the creepiness that happened with Crump in this video. Johnson was next, and he was curious how this would go, since he had to intervene with this duel.
That night, Joey once again found himself with the fandom, and Yugi and Yami were joining him, even though they weren't in the same room this time.
"Okay, what are you guys gonna tell us tonight? We have memories that we need to unlock or something?" Joey asked.
"Yes, but this time, we need your guy's help," A girl said.
"Our help? What do you mean?" Yami asked.
"You might have felt it earlier, but 4Kids is trying to sever our connection with you guys. We are able to reach out and form a connection with all of you because of the abridged series. If those videos go down, we can't communicate with you."
"But why the videos?" Yugi asked.
"Well, pop culture is something that can flow through many different realms. You guys know a lot of the same pop culture that we do, and you even referenced some things in this chapter. But the abridged series is the first thing from our world that appeared in your realm that is directly related to you. Because of this, it opened a rift, and that's how we could contact you guys."
"So… we need to keep those videos up?" Joey asked.
"Yep, and right now, 4Kids is trying to take them down using the website you guys are using and their broken system… but we won't get into that system right now."
Yami nodded. "So, what do we have to do."
A few people smiled. "In the next video, there will be an opportunity to temporarily knock back the censors, and we're entrusting you three with this task. And by this time, the others should be able to help you too."
Joey, Yugi, and Yami looked at each other. "What do you two think about all of this?" Joey asked.
Yugi and Yami looked at each other, and then back at Joey, and then back at the fandom. Yugi stepped up with a determined look on his face. "What is it we need to do?"
I think you can tell where all that is going if you remember what happens in the next video. Guess we'll have to see where all that heads to. Now, onto the reviews!
Azure Dark, Graceluvbug37, M.M, Mrpeepington, epantoja521, SilverJoJo, Under Of Flower, ks, Hi: Thank you! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Dragonkeeper10: Slight spoilers, but they're all going to find out about everything in the next chapter, so we'll have to see what happens.
Ronin Warriors Fanatic, BDozer: At least Kuriboh still liked the video. And as for Tea... well...
NoTimeNoReviwer: I don't know too much about the Fatal Frame series, but cool that there's a small similarity.
Evilkitten3: Yes they are! Or hopefully they will since 4Kids will have a say about that!
danifan3000: I'm planning on having Dark Magician Girl for the Orichalcos arc!
Guest, Alangalaxy, kittycatcatcher: Doesn't look like she took it too well.
Chronosign: I've heard about those shows. People say they're really good.
SailorDarkMagicianGirl: I'm probably not going to use Wattpad, and thanks for the review!
Spiritstrike: I love any puzzleshipping moment! And yeah, Yugi is such a good friend to Joey (Wishshipping is my BROTP).
Guest: I wished they used it in more episodes.
thedarkpokemaster: I like that ship too! I also knew someone who shipped Tea with Mana. I think it's called Crystalshipping.
acedragoon: All extra videos will be in a separate fanfic.
Johnny Spectre: I love Joey so much!
Guest #2: She probably did look it up when she got home... who knows what her reaction was!
dragonslayerjahn: Wait, is that true? I didn't know he said that! That puts things into a new perspective!
Thunder Crush: Every time I write the brothers reacting to Gozaburo, I always hope I'm not making them OOC, and I'm glad I'm not according to all of you guys. Also, technically it's the same universe, but 4Kids censored their memories and the world around them, and the fandom is trying to overthrow that censorship and give them their original memories back. I hope that makes sense.
Pattychan: Ture! While the dub does have its charm at time, the original will almost always be better than the dubbed.
2Lazy2MakeAnAcc: *laughs* about that...
BatWingteenavenger: I love reading meta stories, and I thought I'd give it a try.
raydark182: The main point right now is to unlock their Japanese memories, and then when they react to any other 4kids changes, they'll have more to say on those rather than just... 'Did this really happen?' and 'I don't remember that happeing.' Also, I wanted to try writing something meta.
ShootToMiss: Right now, just the Japanses anime. I think the manga and season 0 might be a little too much for them right now.
Guest: Joey: Diaper? *sees Baby Dragon* Oh no...
MasamuneNoirPrime: I'm glad you like my little subplot! I was worried people wouldn't like it, and some didn't, but most of you guys do, so thank you!
Guest: If you don't like it, I'm not forcing you to read this. Go read another fic if you want to.
Guest #3: Thank you for the review, and yeah, people don't have to like that aspect of the fic, but they don't have to be rude about it.
Merinus: As we all know, all of the power in the world comes from leather pants! (And leather shoes!)
TheManiacalMadman: I don't know if you noticed, but I think 'drinking' was autocorrected to 'driving' and my first thought was "don't drink and drive kids" lol.
VileG: Well, thank you for being nice about it, unlike some other people.
jckgwk: Thank you. It's not even because they don't like it, it's just how rude they seem to be.
Guest #4: I'll have a few show up in the future.
OKay2304: Aww, thank you so much! I hope you like this chapter!
I apologize if I missed any. See you guys June 20th or 21st!
Next time: Episode 50 - Joey Wheeler, Ace Attorney. Duel Standby!