AN: Changing things up slightly. I'm sticking to one focused deck for Joey rather than a half dozen different one I'd have to keep track of. Also, deciding NOT to do my original plan to get rid of Joey's accent as…well honestly looking back it was really stupid and made me cringe. So, this chapter starts with Kaiba announcing the Battle City Tournament.

Heart of a Dragon

Chapter 3

-Yugi-

Silently, Yugi observed the various people assembled in Domino Square, Tea and Tristen standing at his side "This the place Yugi?" Tea shifted about nervously, the atmosphere tense and awkward.

"Indeed." Yugi didn't even need to bother double checking his invite, every person here was a duelist, several of them very familiar ones to boot.

"Hey! Yugi!" hearing a familiar bubbly voice, he turned to see Mai Valentine running over with a wide grin, Tea groaning behind him.

"Hello Mai." He nodded, "Are you here for the Tournament Announcement too?"

"Got that right." The blonde Harpy user smirked before frowning "Hey, where's Joey? I figured with his new ranking he'd be here too."

"He said he'd meet us here, but I don't see him anywhere." Tea frowned as she looked around, none of the duelist milling about the square looking like their friend "And I wanted to catch up too."

"Catch up?" Mai raised an eyebrow at that.

"He's been out of the country for work for the past few weeks." Yugi explained before noting Tristen fiddling with his phone, "What are you doing?"

"…Actually calling Joey." Tristen deadpanned as Yugi and Tea both felt like face palming. He heard the call connect on Tristan's phone, the device set to speaker, before a familiar ringtone carried out to them from one of the side buildings by the square.

"Yo!" the eager voice of Joey came out of the device just as the ringtone stopped, the group already heading the direction they heard it from.

"Yo Joey, where are ya man?" Tristen groaned "You were supposed to meet us in the square!"

"Did none of you people actually look at my new address?" Yugi could feel Joey give them a flat stare through the phone "I see ya anyways, look at the open garage." Looking around, Yugi and the others saw the building in question, Joey noticeable now that they knew where to look. The Red-Eyes duelist was waving from where he sat by a motorcycle he was working on.

"Hey there Number Two!" Mai waved as the group approached, Joey whipping grease off his hands with a grin.

"Sup everybody, you lot ready for the big tournament?" Joey gave an eager grin, his expression and posture not only more excited for a duel than it was at Duelist Kingdom, but more focused.

"Ready to toss you boys into the dirt." Mai corrected with a playful smirk before looking around "Still, nice place, you live here by yourself though?"

"Nope." Joey gave a happy, albeit awkward grin.

"Did your sister move in with you? So, her operation was a success?!" Tea and Tristan both looked excited at that prospect, a sentiment Yugi shared.

"Nah, it's not Serenity, and her operation is scheduled to begin in about a week." Joey shook his head as a flush started to appear on his cheeks, Yugi getting an idea where this was going "The person living with me now is someone I met during my various business trips, and I'm really excited for you guys to finally meet her."

"Her?" Yugi noticed Mai's expression but before he could comment on it a new voice shouted towards them.

"Hey babe, I got the food!" turning, Yugi saw a tall woman with dark tan skin and red hair strutting towards the building, some to go bags of food in hand.

"Thanks Nadira." Joey smiled, taking a bag and kissing her cheek before turning back to the stunned group, "Guys, meet Nadira. We started dating a couple weeks ago."

"Daaaaamn man, you been holding that little tidbit back!" Tristen laughed, pulling Joey into a headlock "What's the deal with that?"

"Didn't want your ugly mug to scare her off." Joey shot back without missing a beat, the two old friends still grinning despite the traded barbs. Tea was approaching Nadira to talk to the girl who'd likely be a standing fixture in the group if she was dating Joey. Mai just looked conflicted, although given that he was pretty sure she was starting to develop at least some interest in Joey back at the end of Duelist Kingdom that wasn't that surprising.

"Yugi." Hearing the voice of the Pharaoh, Yugi did his best to keep his expression calm, didn't want Mai or Nadira freaking out at someone apparently hearing voices "That girl…isn't normal." He saw the shadowy ghost of Yami stare intently at Nadira who was chatting and joking with Tea, their brunette classmate apparently quite pleased to finally have another girl to talk to "She feels powerful. Mystical."

"Like the Puzzle?!" Yugi thought back, barely able to keep his eyes from widening while Yami nodded, "I'll keep an eye on her for now." Yugi promised, tuning back into the conversation just as Tristen asked what it was like working for Pegasus. Joey groaning in exasperation wasn't the reaction Yugi had been expecting admittedly.

"That man is like a five-year-old sometimes. That Toon Deck of his isn't a gimmick to annoy people, he really just is that ridiculous." Joey slapped a palm to his face while Nadira giggled at their unbelieving expressions that the man who'd put them through so much trouble could be like that regularly "I'm serious. You want an example? I made a joke about Motorcycles being the future when he saw me working on one, saying 'one day, people will play Duel Monsters on these!'. It was meant to be a dumb statement nobody would take seriously."

"Now he's planning to make Speed Dueling on Duel Runners a thing." Nadira nodded with stifled snort "Dueling at two hundred and twenty kilometers an hour, having until the attack hits to activate a trap so you need to be able to dodge. Keep your balance on the bike and a grip on your cards. He's…quite excited."

"…Oh dear lord you're actually serious." Tea deadpanned when she realized Joey hadn't been joking about Pegasus' latest 'plan'.

"Yep." Joey shook his head as he finished washing his hands, rummaging in the bag Nadira gave him "So, how long till this tournament gets brought up? People have been waiting out there for about an hour now."

"Should be any-" Yugi began only for every screen in the Domino Square to come to life with Kaiba's smirking face.

"Of friggin course it's Kaiba." Mai sighed as the crowd all started gaping and pointing.

"Greetings Duelists." Kaiba smirked "Welcome to the town of Domino. But, more importantly, welcome to my tournament."

"I don't know what's bigger. His ego, or his melon on the big screen." Mai scoffed at Kaiba's grandstanding, Nadira and Joey smirking in amused agreement.

"I see you all received your invite to Kaiba Corp's very exclusive Duel Monsters tournament. And furthermore, you had the brains to actually show up." Kaiba sneered down his nose at the camera.

"Subtle. And he wonders why he can't get a date." Nadira retorted as Joey chuckled alongside his Girlfriend, the two's shared opinions on the blue eyes user quite clear.

"Not only is this a new tournament, but there are new rules for the game." Kaiba smirked as most people looked surprised, shouting at what was likely a recording as they demanded an explanation "New rules to summon, new rules on what can be summoned, and more. To accompany this, Pegasus and Industrial Illusions have released a whole slew of new cards to accompany this official change in the rules of Duel Monsters."

That was news to Yugi, and to the others, although seemingly not to Joey "You knew!" Tristan, lacking in subtlety as ever, pointed at the Red-Eyes duelist.

"Yep." Joey smirked "And I can't wait to test these new cards out."

"You could have warned us." Tea grumbled.

"What fun would that be?" Joey asked innocently as Yugi gave into the urge to face palm.

"It's not just that." Kaiba's speech drew their attention back to the screen "While in my tournament, you'll be using Kaiba Corp's new state of the Art Duel Disks." The man showed off his latest piece of technology, a portable holographic arena "And most importantly, this tournament uses an Ante System. The winner of every official Battle City Duel, gets to claim the rarest card from their bested opponent." As if to emphasize this, Kaiba held up a Blue Eyes White Dragon, the crowd torn between horror at losing their favorite or rarest card, and excitement at the thought of getting so many new cards for their deck if they kept winning.

"So, losing even a single duel could ruin some Duelist's decks." Mai winced, getting to the heart of the matter with rapid bluntness.

"Battle city starts begins exactly one week from today!" the screen started showing a countdown timer "Every duel shop in the city will carry packs with the new cards and the updated rule books while Kaiba Corp's website will let those in the tournament see who their opponents can be and, more importantly, what cards they can win. So, prepare duelists, in one week there will be war in the streets. In one week, Battle City begins!"

AN: So yeah, Battle City Time and Nadira, the equivalent of Kisara (the Blue Eyes Maiden) has been introduced. I'll be showing her more, as well as backstory and how she met Joey, which will be brought up during chapters that cover the time before the tournament starts. I'm also changing up what cards Joey wins, since his deck is now different, and how many duels he'll enter. I figured if you need six locator cards, I can have at most five duels (unless I have him win extra cards) and I have two specific duels in mind. If you have anyone else you want him to duel, let me know.