(A/N: For all the hard effort I had to put into this chapter, I really hope it was worth it. This is the first time I'm covering canon events…though I'm sidestepping around them. Basically: I'm covering the Yugi Vs Joey Battle City duel in this chapter, but I'm only showing so much of the duel proper. If you want to see the actual duel unfold unedited, you can just go watch the episode. I'm not making changes. I hate repeating what canon provides. And the real meat and potatoes of this chapter comes from everything going on around it. My advice, at least splice the actual episode in or have it on standby. There's plenty of streaming services for this kind of thing. But, besides that, enjoy!)

After finishing their meal and throwing their trash in the proper receptacles, Gundham and Sonia began to scope the city out for anyone wearing a duel disk. Unfortunately, all the people they came across were either out of luck and were already out of the tournament, or had seen Sonia's duel with Mai and were leery about dueling someone with the Darklord monsters.

"I fear I might be one card short of a show," Sonia said disheartened after the twenty-third rejection.

"Worry not, Dark Queen. I believe that fortune will smile upon you." Gundham looked up at the sky. "It is not dark yet. We still have time. After all, we—"

"WE'RE DOOMED!"

Gundham and Sonia were both distracted by the foul yelling of a young man with an outlandish afro and wearing baggy clothing that looked like it hadn't been washed in quite some time. He was holding his head, sweating and shouting doomsday sentences.

"It's over! The end of times are upon us! Mom! I'm sorry your son never amounted to anything! I'll be a good boy, I swear!"

Gundham and Sonia exchanged looks and, against their better judgment, decided to see what the problem was.

"Come now," Sonia said with a sweet smile. "It cannot be that bad."

"You don't understand," The young man said, grasping Sonia's dress with no care for personal space, "We're all dead! DEAD! D-E-A-D! Dead men and women be we! A cornucopia of pain and despair is coming out way to ensure our demise and there's nothing we can do about it!"

Sonia smiled awkwardly and caressed the young man's outlandish hair. "There, there, I'm sure it will all work out."

"What exactly is the trouble?" Gundham asked in plain speech. "You typically hear men and women shouting about the end of times, but it usually involves misplaced keys to their transportation of choice or an altercation involving parent and child due to poor academic showcasing. However, you never hear doomsday declarations quite as loud and assured as yours. For better or worse, you have this bearer of the evil sign's attention."

The young man quickly gained his composure, paying no mind to the fact that, had he grabbed just a little more forcefully he would've straight up been groping Sonia. Tears began to flow down his face as he held out his hands like an advancing zombie. "So I was gazing at my crystal ball earlier and—"

"Crystal ball?" Gundham asked. "You're a scryer?"

"What? No! Fortune Teller!" The young man exclaimed. "I don't spy on people, I see the future! Scrying is a gimmick anyway."

"Wait, a second," Sonia cried out in surprise. "I think I've seen you before. Are you not Yasuhiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Clairvoyant from Class 77-A, the class next to ours?"

"Huh? Yeah, that's me. Huh? Wait, you guys go to Hope's Peak too?"

"Ultimate Princess, Sonia Nevermind at your service," Sonia said with a smile and a chuckle.

"Gundham Tanaka, Ultimate Breeder."

"Oh yeah," Yasuhiro said, scratching his impressive afro, "the foreign chick and the guy always holding himself up in the animal house."

"It's not an animal house, it is my evil lair!" Gundham declared.

"Uh, whatever you say," Yasuhiro said. Jeez and people think I need to get with it.

"Did you foresee some sort of ill fate upon the world?" Sonia asked Yasuhiro.

"I did. This tournament is going to end with the destruction of civilization as we know it. We're all going to die, be roasted or forced into slavery by this blond Egyptian guy named Marik and his giant chicken."

"His what?" Gundham asked, mind not too sure if Yasuhiro meant the poultry variant of chicken.

"It's big, it's huge and it wants to devour the souls of us all. It's even solid gold for pete's sake."

"Egyptian…golden…chicken…" Gundham trailed off. "Wait, you speak such blasphemous words of the deity Ra, the sun god?"

"Ra?" Yasuhiro asked. "Don't tell me you actually believe in all that polytheism stuff. It's all myths."

"Myths or not, the game of Duel Monsters was based around those myths," Gundham pointed out.

"No they weren't. I don't care what the internet says."

"Then how do you explain the likeness Maximillian Pegasus used to create the game?" Gundham asked.

"I don't care what the likeness is. It's just a coincidence," Yasuhiro said defiantly. "The occult is bullcrap!"

No sooner had the words left Yasuhiro's mouth that he instantly regretted them. Not only was a chill now running down his spine, but he could feel a murderous, fiery aura emanating…from Sonia.

"Would you care to repeat that?" Sonia asked, her eyes glowing red with anger.

"By the gods, so she is indeed a true hellspawn!" Gundham gasped. He then folded his arms and smiled. "How lovely."

"H-hey lady, not knocking your hobbies, but it's kind of the truth you know."

This only served to needle Sonia further. "Duel me," she said harshly.

"Excuse me?"

Sonia's bearing returned to normal as she just extended her arm, palm open, fingers angled at the ground, "Get out your deck, arm your duel disk and duel me. I shall not stand for the occult being so offhandedly dismissed."

"H-hey come on lady, you can't blame a guy for speaking his mind…right?" Yasuhiro asked, though at this point one scary look away from wetting himself.

"In my country, those that disrespect the crown are subject to swift punishment dictated by the offended party and my punishment is that you will be humiliated in a duel. If you will not comply, I shall sick the Four Dark Devas of Destruction unto you."

"Heh, hear that, mortal?" Gundham smirked. "The Dark Queen demands sacrifice from you or you shall be fed to my hellspawn beasts. And don't think they will show you any mercy because they just had a light snack. The fangs of demons bite to penetrate and destroy. You would be wise not to entice their gaping jaws."

"H-hey c-come on, I'm already in enough trouble with the mob thanks a transaction gone wrong, can't you cut a guy some slack and let him off the hook with just a warning? I've barely been able to hold onto my starting locator card all day."

Sonia's gaze tempered further. If looks could kill, Yasuhiro would already be a smoldering crater of ash and dust.

The clairvoyant hung his head, put his knuckles to his hips, whined and whimpered. Great work, Hagakure, you just had to go and piss off foreign royalty. Like you aren't in enough of a tight spot. No time for a divination to gauge how strong she is either. Nothing for it. I'm going to have to duel her blind. Hopefully she sucks. "Well, if it's a duel you want," Yasuhiro said, suddenly acting like he wasn't scared of Sonia, "It's a duel you'll get!"

"Let's duel!" The two declared at the same time, both activating their duel disks.

"I'll go first," Yasuhiro said. "I draw." He looked at the cards in his hand. "Perfect. I summon Genetic Woman to the field, in attack mode!" A woman with leopard-like arms and sporting psychic energy emerged onto the field. She had 1700 attack points.

"Intriguing, that's from one of the new brand of monsters I've heard circulating around the market lately, the psychic type," Gundham said.

"I searched high and low to put my deck together. No card was too obscure or weird for this collector."

"Intriguing," Gundham said.

"Indeed and with such a powerful monster, I'm confident in my field presence. I end my turn," Hagakure said. All right, Genetic Woman on the first turn. On my second turn I'll probably draw a trap card and I can tribute summon into Kozmo Sliprider. That'll let me destroy any spell or trap card she has set to the field. Heh, this duel's mine before its even gotten started.

"My turn," Sonia said. "Draw." She drew the top card of her deck. "I activate the spell card Graceful Charity. That way I can draw three cards as long as I discard two. Next, I activate Monster Reborn, letting me summon my Darklord Superbia back from the graveyard that I just discarded."

Yasuhiro gasped when he saw the bald, red headed dark fairy with 2900 attack points.

"And to that I activate Darklord Superbia's special ability. When he's special summoned from the graveyard, I can call another fairy-type monster back from my graveyard and I select Darklord Edeh Arae." Sonia's monster with 2300 attack points appeared.

Yasuhiro began sputtering gibberish. This wasn't happening. This seriously wasn't happening right now.

"And now, I play Dunames Dark Witch," Sonia declared, arming her field with 3 monsters.

"Wait, p-please, w-wait," Yasuhiro stuttered.

"Bow down," Sonia commanded in a hush tone. "My monsters, attack!"

Sonia's fairies dogpiled Yasuhiro and, destroying his monster and mobbing him in the process, brought his life points down to 0 on the first turn and left him a twitching mess on the ground, cards scattered everywhere.

"Now hand over your locator card and your rare card," Sonia said forcefully, "Unless you would like to bring down upon you more wrath from the Novoselic Kingdom."

"I yield, I yield!" Yasuhiro declared, holding up his hands in prayer and pleading, "Don't hurt me. I want to have some shred of dignity left."

Gundham glanced to the side. "That's assuming you had any to start with."

"What the hell, man? Why you gotta be like that?"

"Like you, I only say what truth lies before me."

"D-don't be mean, and you're one to talk, Mr. Scarf and earring."

"Fool! You do not comprehend the need for such accessories. The blasphemy that has left your mouth should be met with fire and brimstone!" Gundham roared, only to back off and say with a smile, "But you are at the Dark Queen's mercy right now and I am in no position to step upon her territory."

Yasuhiro sighed. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." He held up his only locator card and his rarest card. "Be gentle with it, all right? This thing cost me an arm and a leg, you know."

The card in Sonia's hand was a sight to behold: Kozmo Dark Eclipser, a powerful 9-star monster with vastly superior abilities. Some called cards like this "ahead of its time". "From whence did you procure—"

Yasuhiro shrugged. "You'd be surprised what you can find with enough adventuring."

More like bargain bin garage sale hunting, Gundham thought, able to discern the lies of others as well as he crafted his own delusions. One person's trash is clearly another person's treasure.

"Man, I'm outta here. If Marik's gonna destroy the world I want as far away from this nonsense as possible. I'm getting my mom, my OOParts and I'm moving to Canada!" Yasuhiro then ran off a wrecked, blubbering mess.

"Have you ever seen a more disgraceful human being? I find it hard to believe he attends our school," Gundham said and then tore his attention from Yasuhiro to Sonia. "Have you calmed down?"

"I have indeed," Sonia said with a happy glimmer in her eye. "I'm in the finals, just as you are Gundham! I am so excited."

"It is good to see you in good spirits," Gundham smiled. "Well then, let us secure provisions for the long night and find where the arena for the nocturnal gladiators shall commence."

"Oh, I agree." Sonia gasped. "Oh, but I must call my parents and my brothers sisters and cousins to let them know I shall be participating. They did not want to waste their time on their royal duties they could be performing if I would not be representing Novoselic in the finals."

"Well then your relatives shall hopefully be most pleased."

"Indeed," Sonia said and took a deep breath. "Well, no time to waste. I'll follow you this time and you can order the food so you don't leave my sight while I call my relatives."

"In the words of the old testament, thematically appropriate for our situation, So let it be written, so let it be done."

"She did it! Miss Sonia's in the finals!" Kazuichi cheered.

"Then I suppose all that crying was all an act?" Hiyoko asked, palm over her lips, cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk.

"Hey!" Kazuichi barked at her.

"How is the rest of our class faring, I wonder," Peko stated.

"Well, the tournament's entering its last few hours before the finals," Kazuichi said. "I bet I could find out. Anyone bring their laptop? Mine's all the way in my dorm room."

"I could go run and get it," Akane volunteered. "I wanna know how everyone is."

"Trust you with a delicate piece of machinery. Sorry, but I think I'd be better off getting it myself."

"We could use Miss Yukizome's from her office," Hiyoko said.

"I'm not exactly keen on touching the teacher's things," Nekomaru said as he dug earwax out of his ear with his pinky. "I'll go get it. Where'd ya leave it?"

"Right next to my bed. It's off so just don't drop it, kay?"

"Why can't we just use the TV to find out what we wanna know?" Akane suggested.

"It's for duel viewing only. You can't check tournament progress," Kazuichi said. "I tried that earlier while I was waiting for my turn while we had our tournament."

"We could always ask Ibuki," Peko said.

"Ibuki's in the middle of the city," Kazuichi pointed out.

"Odd, then who's that running towards the school at top speed?"

The others briskly walked over to the window, making out only a dust cloud as Ryota followed said cloud, eventually hearing a rapid clomping of footsteps up the stairs until Ibuki threw the door open to their classroom looking panicked.

"JoeygotcapturedandIbukirantogethelpandshe'stalkingsuperfastandthis food smells awesome, may I try some?"

"Help yourself," Teruteru said.

"Ibuki!" Fuyuhiko shouted.

"Fuyuhiko!" She cooed.

"What the hell was that all about just now?"

"Sounded like you said Joey was in trouble or something."

Ibuki gasped. She'd been distracted by food. "Ah! That's right! Ibuki came here to orchestrate a rescue mission!"

"Rescue mission?" Akane asked. "What happened?"

"So this French maid chick named Celeste showed up and challenged Joey to a duel and then she turned out to be working with the Rare Hunters and they kidnapped Joey and Tea. They tried to nab Ibuki too, but she ran and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her!" Ibuki explained, still looking panicked. She then held up her index finger and looked serious. "So I need Nekomaru and Akane's help rescuing Joey and Téa."

"Do I get to beat people up?" Akane asked, looking excited.

"All the Rare Hunters you can punch."

"Hold on there, Ibuki," Fuyuhiko said. "You're talking about a group of Egyptian originated mobsters here. They're not exactly the type to just be caught off-guard by brute force."

"What are they gonna do? Shoot us with invisible guns?" Ibuki asked, perplexed. "They're just card thieves, like Team Rocket, but taking cards instead of pets. Joey just got outnumbered, but Akane's like at least twice his strength." She cooed. "And there's Nekomaru."

"Wh-what about Mahiru? I-isn't she supposed to be bringing that Joey guy's sister to the fountain?" Hiyoko asked.

"She is, but she'll likely just wait at the fountain for us and chew Joey out if we're late. Ibuki can explain the situation no problem."

"W-well as long as Mahiru's okay," Hiyoko said, glancing aside and blushing.

"What shall we do?" Peko asked Fuyuhiko.

"Ibuki, you go on your so-called rescue mission. I'm checking in at home."

"What for?" Kazuichi asked.

"If things get tough, I don't mind using some resources to bail all of you out. Domino City's only big enough for one mob group and that's my family," Fuyuhiko said with a crooked smile.

"Okay so you guys have a plan B. What are me and Hiyoko supposed to do?"

"Uh, just stay here and watch the tournament I guess. Ryota's part of the rescue party. He—"

Ryota threw open the other door to the classroom. "Everyone…we need…" he panted.

"We already got the situation," Akane said. "Operation Rescue Joey and Téa is a go. Just point us in the right direction."

"Well, um, this is embarrassing," Ibuki said. "Ibuki doesn't actually know where they were taken."

"What the hell? Then how are we supposed to find 'em?" Nekomaru bellowed.

"By scent of course," Ibuki said. "Ibuki's been hanging around Joey all day. I'll bet some of his body odor got on her and Akane can sniff it out no problem."

"What do I look like to you a bloodhound?" Akane asked sharply. The room grew silent for a moment as though no one had a good way to answer that question. "Whatever, I'll give it a shot," Akane said, clearly sounding annoyed.

Ibuki held out her arm. "Here, the scent's probably strongest here. It's wool after all," she said, referring to her arm warmer.

Akane ran her nose over it. "Whoof," she said, scrunching her nose after getting a good whiff. "Yeah, you've definitely got a boy's scent on you."

"Can you track it?" Ibuki asked hopefully.

"Yeah, but only if we go back the way you came from."

"So we've gotta double back, first?" Nekomaru asked. "Seems like a pretty inefficient rescue mission."

"Well what else can we do?" Ibuki asked. "It's not like Ibuki can track Yugi Mutoh down in a hurry and she doubts Kaiba's going to help. He hates Joey."

"I doubt even Seto Kaiba would be honorless enough to leave someone he hates to his fate. It'd be horrible business," Fuyuhiko said. "Take your time," he told Ibuki. "I'll work on my end."

"Then we've got a plan," Akane said. "Let's roll!"

Everyone suddenly began shuffling out of the room, leaving Kazuichi alone with Hiyoko and Teruteru. The room was so quiet after everyone left that only the hum of the television could be heard.

"Well!" Hiyoko barked. "Don't just stand there like a slack jawed idiot! Go and get your laptop and check on the tournament already, dumbass!"

"R-right!" Kazuichi stammered and bolted from the room.

Teruteru opened his mouth to speak, but Hiyoko stuffed it with her words. "If it's an innuendo or a sex pun, I'm beating you over the head with a chair!" she snapped.

Teruteru promptly shut up and went back to cooking.

Yugi and Kaiba stood in Domino Square right in front of the fountain. The time was approximately 6:15. Soon the sun would begin to set and most duelists would hamper to open restaurants for dinner.

"We've been standing here for over half an hour," Yugi said, apprehensive, though it was currently his counterpart at the helm of speech and cognitive abilities.

"Relax, would you? Mokuba will be here."

"Unless Marik was mimicking him to lure us into a trap," Yugi said.

"Well then he has very poor planning skills," Kaiba said with a smug smirk. "If I were Marik, I would've had the trap ready to be sprung the moment we set foot here."

Téa, please be all right, Yugi thought.

As the crowd began to shuffle out, Kaiba and Yugi heard a shout, "Seto!"

Kaiba looked dead ahead, down the street and standing on the edge of a sidewalk, was Mokuba and he wasn't alone.

"Mokuba!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"Téa!" Yugi shouted.

"Yugi!" Téa shouted.

"See, what did I tell you?" Celeste asked her rhetorically. "Straight to Yugi like I promised. Now, how about—"

"Yugi!" Téa exclaimed, running straight for her best friend, collapsing in his arms, reaching her arms up and over his shoulders for a much-needed hug. She started crying. "I thought…I thought I would never see you again."

Yugi was startled at first, but reached out put a reassuring hand on Téa's shoulder, caressing it softly. Closing his eyes in solemn reassurance, "I'm glad to see you're all right, Téa," Yugi told her.

Kaiba had to be the one to break the mood. "All right you two, that's enough. You're in public. Save your soap opera moments for when you're alone."

As Kaiba said this, Celeste was nearing the group and she'd been in ear shot of Kaiba's statement. "Quite," she said, gazing up towards the sky. "I was contemplating hurling myself."

Clinging to Yugi, Téa flashed a hostile gaze at Celeste.

"Oh please, like I'm going to try something with both the tournament host and the reigning Duelist Kingdom champion two feet from me," Celeste said, noting Téa's behavior.

"Try something?" Yugi asked. "What does she mean, Téa, didn't she rescue you?"

Téa let go of Yugi, turned towards Celeste and hurled an accusatory finger in Celeste's direction. "Yeah, but she's also the one that got us both captured in the first place."

"Is this true?" Yugi asked with a stern gaze.

"Well, I won't deny that the Rare Hunters swarmed the area and I didn't interfere with your friend's capture. I suppose that would make me guilty of nothing more than bystander syndrome, though," Celeste said.

"But you said…you said you were colluding with the Rare Hunters?" Téa snapped.

"Did I say that?" Celeste asked. "I was only trying to get in Marik's good graces. After all," she smiled at Téa, "It's only because he trusts me that I was able to help you escape."

"Marik...trusts you?" Yugi was completely confused as to Celeste's allegiance.

"In a sense. I was able to weasel some information out of him that you may find useful."

"Does that include the location of the final Egyptian God Card?" Kaiba asked.

"Ah yes, the god cards, the whole reason this tournament is even happening if I've put all the pieces together correctly. Make no mistake, Marik has the last one himself, The Winged Dragon of Ra. Suffice to say, he will be a difficult opponent for any of us."

"For any of us? You're working against him? I thought he trusts you," Yugi said.

"As if I want to be stuck wearing a gaudy uniform like that for the rest of my life," Celeste stated. "I'm a young lady with very high standards and ratty bulky cloaks are so 90s. Get with the times."

"Sounds to me like she was never really on Marik's side to start with," Kaiba said.

"But she's not exactly on our side either," Téa glared.

"This is a tournament," Celeste said. "I wasn't aware there were any sides besides who you try to root for to win the whole thing. Although, I must say, I find your battle of good and evil with Marik to be truly entertaining."

"Celeste, you have no idea the grave situation you're making light of," Yugi said with a tone of warning.

"Oh please, Marik told me everything about the situation. I told you, he trusts me."

"Did you see his face?" Kaiba asked.

Celeste looked at the ground. "Sadly no, despite speaking with him many times, I was unable to meet with him face to face." She looked Kaiba and Yugi in the eyes, covering her mouth with her fist, to hide her deceptive smile. "I suppose that's his own way of being cautious."

"Well you can tell me all about it later," Yugi said. "Where is Joey?"

Celeste turned her head to the side, looking almost bored. "Marik's setting his base of operations at the pier after arriving by boat. We'll likely find Joey there as well as Marik's trap."

"Trap?" Yugi asked.

"No doubt by now he's taken over Joey's mind with the Millennium Rod and will force Joey to duel you."

"Oh no!" Yugi gasped.

"Mind control? And here I thought you were a rational human being," Kaiba said in mockery of Celeste.

Celeste merely glanced her red eyes towards Kaiba and then glanced back at Yugi. She had no time to spare on the tall non-believer. "So, what will you do?"

"Head for the pier! Joey is in danger!"

"Then I'm going with you," Celeste said. "As things stand all you'll accomplish is getting one or both of you killed. But if you place your absolute trust in me," Celeste gave Yugi her hand to shake. "I promise no harm will come to you or Joey."

"Yugi, you can't trust her. She's a snake…and a cheater!"

"Perhaps," Yugi said, not wanting to distrust Téa, "But the fact remains is that she helped you escape and she's willing to help us rescue Joey." Yugi extended his arm to shake Celeste's hand. It was icy and cold to the touch. "Celeste, you have a deal."

"You dweebs aren't going anywhere without me," Kaiba said. "If we're going after Marik, then I'm coming along as well."

"Oh, but of course, Kaiba," Celeste said. "Let me guess, you already have a helicopter prepared to take us back to the pier in style."

"Kind of takes the fun out of the surprise, but yes," Kaiba said and pressed a button on his collar to call for the helicopter to appear. "It'll be a tight space bringing five people over, but it's at least better than the streets."

The helicopter rose out from over a building and flew down to let Kaiba, Yugi, Celeste, Mokuba and Téa on board. "Set a course for the pier," Kaiba told the pilot as he jumped in.

"Ugh," Celeste grunted, "Chivalry is so dead. Really, has he never heard of ladies first?" She then eyed Yugi suspiciously as he began to climb in ahead of Téa. Embarrassingly, Yugi stepped down and let Téa in first, and then let Celeste in and climbed in last after Mokuba.

As the plane took off, Celeste sat down alone as Mokuba took a seat in Kaiba's lap. That only left one open chair. Téa and Yugi looked at each other nervously. "What?" Kaiba barked, looking at them. "It's a chair. Sit down."

"It'll…be a short plane ride," Yugi said, sounding awkward.

"Y-yeah," Téa said, covering her mouth to hide her blush. Yugi sat down first and then Téa resigned herself to positioning herself in between his legs without making the situation seem…inappropriate. However, that didn't stop her from leaning her back against Yugi's chest…or putting her arm around the backs of his shoulders. "S-sorry," she apologized to Yugi.

"It's…fine," he said.

Téa could hear her heartbeat in her head. This is so embarrassing. Please tell me he can't hear that too.

"My, my," Celeste chuckled. "You two look like a romantic couple in one of those TV dramas. All that's missing is the third vertex of the love triangle and the incorrectly analyzed hospital results for pregnancy."

This only served to make the situation more awkward as neither Téa nor Yugi willing to refute Celeste's teasing.

So, there's more to them than just friends, Celeste thought, Well, perhaps not on the surface, but their shyness tells all. Interesting, very interesting.

"O-oh!" Téa exclaimed, finally finding her voice. "Let me call Tristan. He should know what's going on?"

"Ah, I'd almost forgotten. Is he all right? Wasn't he with you when this happened?"

"Fortunately for your worries, Tristan was not present when the Rare Hunters attacked."

"Last I knew he was helping your grandpa bring in groceries," Téa said as she dialed for the Mutoh Game Shop.

"Tell him to meet us at the pier. We need all the support we can get if Marik truly does have Joey under his control."

At the Mutoh Game Shop, Byakuya sat across from Tristan in the back of the shop on the couch while Tristan sat in a chair. Byakuya sat with his hands folded as he and Tristan were engaged in the 25th duel since Byakuya's arrival at the shop. Byakuya was on a 24-game winning streak and it didn't look like that was going to change any time soon. Tristan's low skill level with the game was actually a benefit to Byakuya as it had helped him, in these last 24 games, relearn his way through the game from the ground up, try different strategies and, in the last nine, finally settled upon a deck that suited him. And, he was about to prove, with this deck, that he was ready to retake Battle City by storm.

All he had to do was wait for Tristan's turn to finish. "I place a monster face-down in defense position and end my turn. I'm also setting a card face-down," Tristan said, placing both cards onto the mat.

"A pathetic attempt at defense," Byakuya said as he drew the top card off his deck and added it to his hand. "Observe." He tribute summoned his only monster on the field: Thesatalos the Firestorm Monarch. "I summon Thestalos the Mega Monarch in attack position. Now then, as he has the same ability as his weaker counterpart, let's have a look at your hand again, shall we?"

"Agh, you're killing me here," Tristan said, handing his hand over.

"Oh no," Byakuya said with a satisfied smirk, "The other way around. I get to look at your hand this time."

"Gotta be kidding me," Tristan groaned. "Gramps is this even fair?"

"Oh that's the card's effect all right," Solomon nodded.

Tristan sighed.

Byakuya snatched Tristan's hand up and immediately placed Mechanical Hound, a seven-star monster, in Tristan's graveyard. "And that," he said, will be 1400 points of damage. Oh, I'm sorry, I tributed a fire monster, that'll be 2400 points of damage. And when you combine that with my direct attack earlier…"

"I get it, I get it," Tristan sighed. "I lose. Man, you are a pain in the—"

Tristan was cut off by the phone ringing.

"I'll get it," Solomon said, rising to his feet and walking towards the ringing phone.

"Okay so that's 25 wins. You gonna let me walk away with some dignity, or are you going to shoot for 30?" Tristan asked Byakuya.

"As much as I enjoy pummeling you into submission, I do have a tournament to win." Byakuya chuckled. "Not that defeating you 25 times in a row hasn't been stress relieving."

"What am I? Your punching bag?"

"I could hire you as an official one," Byakuya chuckled. "Name your price."

"Screw that," Tristan said. "I'm not spending the rest of my life as your whipping boy."

"That suits me just fine, the thought of having to put up with you for the rest of my life makes me physically ill anyway."

Then why even make the offer? Tristan thought.

"Tristan!" Solomon called from the other room.

Tristan groaned as he got up from the chair and walked into the foyer where all the games and posters were. "What? You want me to go down to the pharmacy and pick up your meds or something?" Tristan asked only to see the grave look on Solomon's face. Tristan immediately took the phone. "Hello?"

"Tristan, are you there?" It was Téa.

"Téa!" Tristan exclaimed. "Yeah, I'm still here. I've been made into the training dummy for some rich guy that waltzed into Yugi's grandpa's shop."

"Well this is more important. Joey's in trouble. Meet me and Yugi by the pier as soon as you can."

"The pier? Is he okay?" Tristan asked as Byakuya walked up behind him.

"We don't know, but Marik's involved. Get over here as soon as you can."

"I'll be right there," Tristan said. "If you need to, give him a few lumps on the head for me for being a total screw up, okay?"

"Er, right. See you there," Téa said and then hung up.

"I gotta go," Tristan told Solomon as he bent down to tighten up his shoelaces. "Joey's in trouble."

"You said the pier, right? Trouble brewing?" Byakuya asked.

"Oh, right, because you care so much," Tristan said.

"I don't let debts go unpaid. Though you were a subpar training partner, you helped me get a good grasp for my new deck. I don't mind assisting in a small matter."

Tristan sighed. "Fine, whatever. Let's go then. Follow me."

"Is Joey all right?" Solomon asked.

"Téa said she didn't know, but Marik got to him, so it's probably serious. How the hell did he get kidnapped by that creep in the first place?"

"Did you say Marik?" Byakuya asked.

"Huh? Yeah, why? You know that creep?"

Byakuya looked at Tristan oddly for only the briefest of moments before quickly folding his arms and showing his usual calm and composed outlook. "I've…heard of him."

Tristan knew Byakuya was hiding something, but there was no time to discuss the matter. "Whatever, if you're coming with me, let's go. I've got a motorcycle, you can ride sidecar."

"A motorcycle? What are you? A barbarian?" Byakuya asked and pulled out a pager. He pressed a button on it and it beeped.

"What did you—"

"Wait and you'll see," Byakuya said. He stepped outside and Tristan followed suit.

"Look man, my house is only a few blocks away. We can just—"

Byakuya put his palm outward towards Tristan's general direction as he heard the roar of an engine as a sleek limo pulled up along the side of the road. "Get in," Byakuya ordered as he pressed another button and the door opened wide automatically.

"Aw, nice! Where'd this come from?" Tristan asked.

"Come from? It's mine," Byakuya asked.

"You drive?" Tristan asked.

"Of course not," Byakuya said. "Now get in." He slipped into the passenger's area with Tristan as they sat down in a red carpeted, leather seated limo complete with wine suitable for minors and the finest of coffee and teas. There was also fine cheese and grapes sitting off to the side.

Tristan, however, noticed a problem as he sat down and closed the door. "Uh, where's the driver?"

"What driver?" Byakuya asked. "This is a state of the art, self-driving automobile armed with the finest in Togami Corporation technology." He pressed another button on his pager. "Destination: Domino Pier." The car then hit into drive and Byakuya pulled out a tablet from under the chair cushions. It gave him direct access to the view outside the windshield. He then poured himself a glass of wine and sipped it, setting it down on the nearest drink holder. He then leaned against the seat and put his seatbelt on.

"There, like this we'll arrive at the pier in no time in style."

"Man, how much did this thing cost?" Tristan asked.

"If you have to ask, you can't afford it," Byakuya chuckled. "Now would you mind being quiet for the whole trip? I offered to help, but that doesn't mean I want to get chummy with you."

"Whatever," Tristan said, leaning back and turning his head to the side. "Not like I want to travel with you either, but you offered to help so…"

"Didn't I just tell you to be quiet?" Byakuya stressed.

"All right, all right. Jeez. If you're so rich why not just buy yourself a tournament victory?"

"There are some things in this world," Byakuya chuckled with a smirk. "That you cannot earn with fiscal stability. Some things in this world," he said with the utmost seriousness and determination, "Must be earned."

And with that, Byakuya's car drove down the streets towards Domino Pier in absolute silence.

"My plan to rid Yugi of his millennium puzzle is approaching fast," Marik said as he stood amid crates upon crates at the Domino Pier. He looked at Joey, whose expression was vacant, a sign of Marik's mind control. "And you will be put to good use, my mind slave. Now, Odion should be bringing your companion any second now."

And as if on cue, Odion, completely garbed in his Rare Hunter uniform, hood and all, approached. "Master Marik," he said, getting down on one knee.

"Odion, where is the girl?" Marik asked.

"Sir, it appears she has escaped. Also, it appears two of our spare cloaks were stolen. The other prisoner, Mokuba Kaiba, has also vanished."

Marik grimaced. "Celeste," he hissed. "I knew that witch couldn't be trusted." He grinned. "It's a good thing I planned ahead."

"Planned ahead, sir?" Odion asked.

"Celeste disappeared for about an hour or so after I captured young Wheeler and Miss Gardner. I took that opportunity to already brainwash young Miss Gardner. Celeste will no doubt have led her straight to Yugi and the Pharaoh and plans to bring him here. What a touching reunion. How I can't wait to see the look of despair upon his face when his friend is already under my control despite her escape."

"Brilliant as always, master," Odion said.

"Of course it is," Marik said.

Odion then held up 12 locator cards. "I have also procured these locator cards," he said. "With them, you and I can enter the finals."

"This may not be necessary if this plan goes off without a hitch," Marik said. "But it's a good backup plan. Now then, hand young Wheeler his deck and get into position. The fun is about to start. Hahaha!"

It didn't take long for Kaiba's chopper to reach Domino Pier. For Téa and Yugi it couldn't get there fast enough. Though, when it arrived, Téa had far more urgent matters requiring her attention.

"Huh? Hey, look, it's Joey!" she pointed down at the ground.

"And he's all alone from the looks of things," Mokuba said, scampering over to the window.

"Take us down," Kaiba ordered the pilot.

The helicopter lowered to the ground and landed, allowing its five passengers to disembark.

"Welcome," Joey said as the passengers emerged, though his voice sounded off.

"Joey!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Not exactly," "Joey" responded. "Joey is not present. He's gone away."

"Marik!" Téa exclaimed.

"Don't act so surprised," Celeste said nonchalantly. "I told you this would happen."

"Celeste, so I was right in suspecting you had betrayed me and after I so generously offered you the cards you wanted to improve your deck."

"We had an agreement, remember? I held up my end of the bargain. You held up yours. What I did after that was my business," Celeste said, fiddling with a lock of her hair and not making eye contact with the mind-controlled Joey.

"Marik, this is between us. I told you that if you involved my friends, you would sorely regret it, now let Joey go!"

"Yes, reason with the megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur, that'll work," Celeste said with a bored tone.

Yugi glanced back at Celeste with a mix of fear and irritation.

"It's as the witch says, Yugi. Now, duel with me, or you'll never get Wheeler back."

"Marik," Yugi growled.

"I want both your god card and your puzzle back, but in order to do so," Joey held up his duel disk. "There's only one way for that to happen."

"What's going on bro?" Mokuba asked.

"It looks like Joey's being forced to work for Marik in some capacity and now he wants to duel Yugi. This should be interesting."

"If you're expecting Joey to have The Winged Dragon of Ra, don't bother. Marik may be desperate, but he's not stupid," Celeste said. "In fact, I'd say he's hiding in the area somewhere, observing the situation carefully. If you want his god card, go ahead and track him down."

"Celeste!" Marik exclaimed.

"What? I'm under no obligation to protect you. I told you. Our business is concluded more or less."

"Thanks for the update," Kaiba said. "Hear that, Yugi? I'm taking off."

Kaiba proceeded to walk away, but Téa stood in his way, arms wide.

"Gardner, get out of my way. I'm not playing games."

"So you're just going to walk away like it doesn't concern you? Joey needs help! And like it or not he's one of your tournament participants. If something happens to him or even to Yugi, I'm holding you responsible!"

Kaiba maintained his composure, unbeknownst to anyone, but him, Téa's words cut deep. He glared at her. "All right, fine. I'll stick around for a little longer."

"Excellent," Marik, in control of Joey said, "Follow me."

"Joey, wait!" Yugi exclaimed. "I know you can hear me. Your mind is under the control of Marik and you must break free, understand? The same Marik you vowed to help me crush! Think, Joey! You've got to remember your promise to me when you gave me your Red-Eyes. Marik couldn't defeat me in a duel so he decided to turn you against me in order to win my puzzle and my Egyptian God Card." Joey made no reply. "Joey, I know you're in there and I'm going to set you free. Marik's power is feeble compared to the strength of our friendship."

Yugi heard what sounded like a mocking coughing noise. Judging from the proximity to him, it sounded like it came from Celeste. He ignored it.

"Please, say something, Joey."

However, Joey simply turned around on Marik's orders and began to walk away.

"Joey!"

Joey turned around, a sinister grin on his face as Marik spoke through him, "You'll never set it free, unless you follow me, Yugi."

Yugi gasped, unconvinced and baffled that Joey couldn't fend off Marik's control.

"How boring, I told you this would happen. Friendship? How droll. Marik's made his standpoint perfectly clear, Yugi. So are you going to man up and take him on or are you going to continue to disappoint me?"

"How can you stand there and act so calm as if this doesn't concern you?" Téa demanded.

"Because it doesn't concern me," Celeste pointed out. "I'm a mere spectator. Yugi and Joey are the stars of this show," she chuckled. "As produced by Marik."

"You're twisted!" Téa shouted.

"Ignore her," Yugi said. "Joey is our concern right now, Téa and he needs our help."

"Right," Téa nodded. She and Yugi chased after Joey.

As they headed off, Kaiba glanced down towards Celeste. "You said Marik told you a lot of things."

"I did say that, yes."

"Did he tell you anything about the last Egyptian God Card?"

"Yes, based on the Egyptian Sun God," Celeste said. "He didn't mention much, just that it was superior to Obelisk and Osiris in every way, or so he claims. I haven't laid eyes on it myself, so I can't say for certain."

"Superior to Obelisk, huh?" Kaiba asked and glared. "I'll be the judge of that." He walked forward after Yugi and Téa. "Oh, and one more thing," he said, his back to Celeste. "What exactly are you trying to accomplish with your little mind games here?"

"Accomplish?" Celeste asked. "I haven't the faintest idea what you mean. I'm taking a break from dueling and I'll choose to spend my free time how I see fit."

Kaiba glanced back at Celeste. His gaze harbored mostly disbelief and a tiny bit of resentment. The way she acted and carried herself reeked of arrogance and self-importance, but then again, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. "Fine, whatever. Don't fall behind if you want to see all the dominoes you set up finally fall."

"An apt choice of words," Celeste chuckled, given the name of the city.

She and Kaiba followed suit after Yugi and Téa who, in turn, were following Joey. They all then stood at the edge of the pier where an anchor hung over a gap in a square group of floating boards designed to be a small dueling arena.

When Celeste saw it, she nervously fiddled with a device she'd hidden inside her skirt pocket and promptly held it behind her back, grasping it firmly. She stood behind Kaiba and kept near the storage unit opposite the arena so that no one could sneak up behind her and see it.

"This is our dueling arena, Yugi," Marik said through Joey's lips. "Do you like it?"

"What sort of twisted game are you up to, Marik?" Téa demanded to know.

"Why my little Téa, why question a show you're about to be a part of?"

"Téa!" Yugi exclaimed, turning around sharply as Téa clutched her head.

"It hurts…my head. Yugi...help me."

Celeste narrowed her gaze. So, Marik already got to Téa and left her in her prison… she trailed off, thinking about her actions and Marik's in turn, leading to this moment. Ah, I see. I see. Clever ploy, Marik. Bravo. Unfortunately, Celeste fiddled with the device behind her back. I'm one step ahead.

"Téa!" Yugi exclaimed, running over to her and putting his arms around her, crouching to be at her level. "Téa, you can fight it. It's going to be all right. I'm right here."

"It's pointless, Pharaoh!" Marik's voice echoed in Téa's mind. "Téa Gardner is under my control."

"Yugi…" Téa exclaimed, straining her brain to fend off Marik.

Ah, well isn't this interesting, Celeste thought. Téa's been outside of Marik's clutches for so long, his hold over his has become weak. I wonder… "Yugi!" She called to him. "Your millennium puzzle! If you use its power, you might be able to break Marik's hold on Téa!"

"What is that witch saying?" Marik exclaimed in awe. "How could she possibly even think that would work?"

It's worth a shot, Yugi thought. "Téa!" he exclaimed aloud and the Millennium Puzzle gave off a powerful glow, ejecting Marik's presence back to Joey.

"Impossible! This can't be! Celeste, what have you done?"

"It's not what I've done. You let me break her out. It's not my fault the power of Yugi's millennium puzzle and his bond to his friend far exceed that of your rod. Ah," she said with a smirk, covering her mouth with her fingers, "But don't worry, I doubt the same trick will work on Joey Wheeler. You've been in control of him for far too long and far too consecutively." Celeste smiled at the Joey controlled Marik. "But thank you for letting me conduct this experiment."

Meddlesome witch! Marik exclaimed to himself. I'll make her pay! "All right then," Marik said through Joey. "The duel proceeds as normal." He had Joey hold up a hefty looking anchor cuff. "These cuffs are linked to the anchor you see above you. Try it on."

"Yugi…" Téa said weakly.

"It'll be all right, Téa," Yugi said. "I'll win, for Joey's sake. Stay here." Yugi gave her body a tight, reassuring squeeze and then left Téa sitting on the ground to stand before Joey and prepared to duel him, attaching the cuff to his ankle.

"Excellent," Marik said. "Now then, see the box at your feet? That's your life point counter. When one player's life points hits 0, the anchor above will plummet all the way to the bottom of the sea. However, inside these boxes are the keys to your release. And you'll only have about thirty seconds to free yourself before the anchor plummets into the ocean."

"But wait, if I win this duel, will you set Joey's mind free?" Yugi demanded to know.

"Of course, but you'll have to fish his body out of the bottom of the ocean to do it," Marik chuckled. "But that doesn't matter because you won't be winning. And Seto Kaiba, don't think you're merely a spectator in all of this. As soon as I'm finished with Yugi and his friends, I'm setting my sights on your Egyptian God Card, Obelisk the Tormentor."

Kaiba looked distraught. This twisted game was giving him hard flashbacks to the kids of twisted games he himself used to impose upon Yugi before Yugi opened his eyes during that fateful duel when he lost to Exodia.

"All right, I've heard enough," Mokuba said. "This duel is getting way out of hand. Come on, Seto," he said to his big brother. "You've got to put a stop to this before someone gets hurt! Plus, Marik may try something like this on us next."

Those were the only words Kaiba needed to hear to start shouting. "As head of the Battle City tournament, I demand that this duel be stopped now!"

Marik growled to himself. I had planned on Téa being used as bait so that Yugi would be forced to participate in my little game, but Kaiba has every authority to shut the duel down at his whim. He could deactivate Yugi and Joey's duel disks before the duel's even begun if I don't have any leverage.

And that was when said leverage came from the most unexpected place possible. "Kaiba, you shut down this duel down and that anchor goes plummeting with or without Marik's consent."

All eyes were now on Celeste as she stood atop a stack of crates with the device she'd been fiddling with in her hand. "I stand here holding a remote control for the box containing the mechanism that the anchor is connected to. One false move and I'll send both Yugi and Joey plummeting into the sea."

"Oh no!" Yugi gasped.

What? Even Marik was surprised.

"You're insane!" Kaiba exclaimed. "I could motion to have you disqualified immediately for this! What's to stop me from climbing up there and taking that remote away from you."

"Because, Kaiba," Celeste said, holding the device out in front of her. "You need to climb up a stack of crates and push me off my perch to take this, but I need only move my right thumb about five inches. You asked earlier, what I get out of this?" Celeste laughed morbidly. "I get entertainment. What's the matter? Never had a sporting death match before? They're all the rage in the underground. That's what makes them so fun. Russian Roulette, an obstacle course, electric chess, this is no different to me from any of those."

"Celeste! Stop this!" Yugi exclaimed.

"I told you she couldn't be trusted!" Téa exclaimed.

"She has to be bluffing!" Mokuba exclaimed. "She didn't have any sort of device like that when she rescued me and Téa, I'm sure of it."

"Oh, but I do. I was already well-versed in Marik's plan before I even brought you here. Tell them, Marik."

Witch! I don't have a remote control for that box. But we're the only two people that know that. I thought she didn't want to be associated with my schemes, so why is she helping me? What is she after? Marik calmed down. Still, I have to play along. It is the only way my plan will spring to fruition. "It's as she says. I knew you wouldn't let me down, Celeste."

"Naturally," Celeste said with a sweet smile.

I can focus on Celestia Ludenburg later, Marik thought. Right now, I need to be focused on the duel at hand, then I can pay attention to that meddlesome witch.

With all eyes back on Joey and Yugi's duel, Celeste let out a deep breath and held up the device she was holding. The Togami Corp. logo was plain as day on the back of the device. That bluff almost blew up in my face, she thought. But they don't call me the Queen of Liars for nothing. Now then, put on a good show for me, Marik. Victory or his friend, which is more important to Yugi Mutoh? I must know the answer.

As Yugi and Joey's duel got underway, another scheme of Marik's was taking place, namely kidnapping Joey's sister in the name of his evil plan.

Serenity and Mahiru had already arrived at the fountain in Domino Square, missing Yugi and the others by mere minutes. "What's going on, Mahiru?" Serenity asked. "Why did we stop?"

"We're here," Mahiru said, Domino Square.

"We are?" Serenity asked, voicing sounding bright like sunshine. "Is Joey here?"

Mahiru scanned the horizon with her camera's zoom function. "I don't know…what's he look like again?"

"He's tall, blond hair with a really big comb over. Brown eyes. He's well-built too."

"That doesn't give me much to go on," Mahiru said, snapping up a few dueling photos while she was scanning the horizon for Joey. She then lowered her camera and grabbed Serenity's wrist. "Here," she said, "Stand closer to me by the fountain. If you're easier to spot, maybe he'll see us first."

"O-okay," Serenity said, standing a bit closer.

"Jeez, what's that guy thinking making me come all the way out here and then making us wait?"

"Maybe he's busy dueling and it's taking longer than he thought. I'm sure he'll be here, Mahiru. Joey wouldn't let me down."

"You sure have a lot of faith in that brother of yours," Mahiru said.

"Well, I mean, of course I do," Serenity said, putting a hand on her chest. "Our parents haven't been some of the best people, our dad especially, so Joey always tried to involve himself in my life and take care of me when they couldn't. Did you know, he actually put all of the prize money he won from Duelist Kingdom into my university savings. Well, the money he didn't use for my operation anyway."

"He…did all that?" Mahiru asked.

"Uh huh," Serenity nodded.

"So…why isn't he here now?" Mahiru asked, her rhetoric much less harsh than it had been before.

"I don't know, but I'm sure he'll be here soon. I know," Serenity said, clapping her hands together. "Maybe he got here before us, but he went to go surprise me with a present or something."

"…You're lucky," Mahiru mumbled.

"Pardon?" Serenity asked.

"The only guy in my life is my dad and he hardly sets an example for what a guy should be like," Mahiru stated. "Your brother sounds like a guy that…well," Mahiru smiled awkwardly, "I kind of want him as my big brother."

Serenity laughed. "Well, I guess Joey is a really good big brother, well, when he and Tristan aren't sticking straws up their noses."

"They do what?" Mahiru asked flatly.

"Oh that's not unusual for those two. Tristan's actually been in Joey's corner for as far back as I can remember."

"Who's Tristan? Your cousin?" Mahiru asked.

"Well, he's like a cousin, but he's more than that. He's a special friend that's helped Joey…when I couldn't," Serenity said.

"Sounds like you're not just lucky to have Joey," Mahiru said. "He's lucky to have you too."

"Yeah, you're right, Mahiru. And, um, thanks for taking me all the way out here. I appreciate it. I wasn't sure what Joey was thinking letting me be picked up by someone I never met or could even see, but…I'm glad I got to know you."

"Hey, don't start talking in past tense," Mahiru said.

"Huh?"

"I have to be honest. I was ready to dump you off here, the moment we got here too, but," Mahiru said, turning her head away from Serenity and holding up her index finger, "this trip's actually been kind of fun. And," she smiled, "It's just not in me to abandon someone. So, um, it's weird of me to ask this, but…even after Joey shows up, do you mind if I like…stick around and stuff? I mean…I just want to make sure your okay, you know?"

"Sure!" Serenity exclaimed and grabbed where she thought Mahiru's hands were—and they were there—and held them up. "I can't wait to see the look on Joey's face when I tell him I've made two new friends today and it's all thanks to him."

"Speaking of which, I hope Mikan's okay."

Serenity smiled. "You worry about everyone, don't you, Mahiru?"

"I guess my mom rubbed off on me a little," Mahiru said, smiling awkwardly.

"Well I think it's a fine trait to have. Worrying about others is a sign of compassion, which I think is the most important thing in a person. Don't you agree, Mahiru?" Mahiru didn't answer her. "Mahiru?"

"We're about to have trouble," Mahiru said gravely.

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?"

Mahiru pushed the back of her arm against Serenity's forearm, pushing her towards the fountain. "Can I help you gentlemen?"

"Mahiru, what's going on?"

"Yeah, you can come with us and not move too much, girly," an older, gruff voice said.

"If you're trying to get a lady's attention, you shouldn't crowd around her like this. She might get the wrong idea. Don't you boys know about personal space?"

"I guess you could say our mama's didn't raise us well."

"Yeah? Well my mom raised me perfectly well and she taught me how to deal with creeps like you?"

"Oh yeah, and what's that?"

"Smile!" Mahiru exclaimed and even through her bandages, Serenity saw a bright flash of light.

"Agh! My eyes!"
"I can't see!"

Mahiru then grabbed Serenity's wrist and declared, "Come on, run!"

Serenity ran behind Mahiru, following her without question. "Mahiru, where are we going? What's going on?"

"Thugs," Mahiru said. "And weird ones at that. We're going to go to the mall and blend in with the crowd, maybe talk to the police. I managed to shake them by photographing them after turning the flash all the way up, but once they're done being disoriented, they'll pursue."

"But what about Joey?"

"We'll talk to a police officer and he can help us meet up with your brother later. Right now it's more important that we evade trouble."

"Okay," Serenity said, "I trust you, Mahiru."

Mahiru nodded at her and then noticed that the thugs in robes were chasing after her and Serenity once again and slowly gaining on the two of them. "I gotta think of a way out of this mess fast, or the two of us are in big trouble."

As Serenity and Mahiru headed out on the run, Celeste continued to watch the match between Yugi and Joey. Joey had the advantage right now and Yugi had just played Big Shield Gardna.

So he's not holding back, Celeste thought. There's hesitation, but Yugi clearly has no intention of letting that endanger his life. I like that.

"Joey, please snap out of this!" Téa pleaded.

And I can't decide if that's plain irritating or doing anything to help the situation. Oh well, Marik should have a firm enough hold on Joey and even if the situation ends up with Joey being freed, the duel cannot be stopped now, Celeste said, fiddling with the device behind her back. Well, unless I wish it, I suppose.

At that moment, Celeste's cell phone rang. She promptly answered it. "Hello? Yes, I'm here," she told the person on the other line. Her phone call caught Kaiba's attention. "What? You didn't believe me. I told you "there's going to be a little trouble at the pier and I want to be prepared."" Celeste chuckled in amusement. She listened to the other party inquire about her surroundings. "Oh, it's quite the interesting death match, let me tell you. I'd love to keep chatting," she said, glancing down at Kaiba, "But I'm getting looks." She then hung up the phone.

"You're getting looks because I want to know how you can afford to stand there and look so calm in the face of imminent death," Kaiba demanded.

Celeste glanced to the side, stroking her hair. "I just have a good poker face." Not to mention I have a plan, she thought clutching her fake remote. Eventually Yugi will have to make a choice between victory and defeat and once that choice is made, I'll step in. Too bad for you, Marik, Celeste thought, smirking to herself, You may think you've outsmarted me, but I'm one step ahead of you.

Inside Byakuya's limousine, Tristan was fidgeting with his deck, shuffling it in order to calm his nerves since he had nothing better to do. Well…until Byakuya started asking about a duel between Yugi and Joey to the person he was speaking to on the phone. Tristan patiently waited until Byakuya put his phone away before opening his mouth.

"What was that about? Yugi and Joey are dueling?"

"In a manner of speaking," Byakuya said. "Remember when I said I'd heard of Marik, well let's just say I know someone who happens to be…involved with the situation currently going on down at the pier. I was merely checking up on them. She mentioned something about a death match."

"A death match?" Tristan practically yelled.

"No need to shout, I can hear you just fine."

Tristan undid his seatbelt and grabbed Byakuya's suit with his hand. "All right, what exactly do you know? If you caused this situation, I swear I'll—"

"Put your fist down and unhand me, you look like a Neanderthal," Byakuya told him. "Rest assured I have far better things to do with my time than make the 99% fight amongst themselves for my amusement, even if one of those people happens to be Yugi Mutoh. Now sit back down and put your seatbelt back on. We'll be there in forty-five minutes and we can properly assess the situation for ourselves."

Tristan began to motion back to his seat, only for the car to come to a screeching halt and he fell face first against the cushions. "Ouch."

Byakuya was perturbed, but not because Tristan might be getting drool on his fine leather seats. No, his car shouldn't be screeching to a halt like that. It was programmed to plan its route around duels going on in the city. So whatever was going on in front of it was no mere unexpected red light.

Shuffling to the front of the car, Byakuya stuck his head outside the driver's side window. Outside stood four people: two men and two women, all of them teenagers like him. The two men were huge, though one was big because of muscle, the other was all body fat. One girl was perfectly tanned with breasts so large and muscles so toned Byakuya, for a brief moment, considered her a potential concubine simply for her physical prowess. The other girl, riding atop the shoulders of the muscular guy, had hair like Byakuya couldn't believe was real. It was definitely dyed with its streaks of blue and white and what the hell was she wearing? Did she get dressed in the dark?

"Hey!" Byakuya barked at them. "What are you ingrates doing in the middle of the street?"

"See, I told you to look both ways," the muscular guy told the girl atop his shoulders.

"But we're on a rescue mission so we have right of way. And the car stopped."

"Yes, but now the driver's mad," the fat guy said, only to stare at Byakuya's annoyed gaze. "Y-you're…"

"Angry and annoyed. Get out of my way or I'm running you all over."

"Hey! You can't treat us like that! We're on an important rescue mission."

"Hang on a second, I know that voice," Tristan said as he scrambled to the passenger's side of the car, "Ibuki? Is that you?" he asked, sticking his head out of the front passenger's side window.

"Tristan!" Ibuki exclaimed, scrambling off her mount's shoulders. She ran over to Tristan and gave him a hug around the neck, practically putting him in a headlock.

"You know that guy?" the well-endowed, tan female asked Ibuki.

"Yup, Tristan is Joey's best friend and that means he's Ibuki's friend too."

"You know Joey Wheeler?" Byakuya asked.

"Uh-huh. Uh-huh," Ibuki said, nodding twice. She winked with a twinkle in her open eye. "Ibuki's on a rescue mission to help Joey cause he's in serious danger right now so she brought the best of the best to beat up that Marik guy's goons."

"Then get in," Tristan said. "Byakuya here's taking us straight to the pier where it's all going down."

"We get to go to a rescue in a limo?" Ibuki asked. "Count Ibuki in!"

Byakuya opened the doors automatically and barked, "Get in and don't break anything. There are plenty of refreshments, but don't devour them all, not that I can't pay for more, but I need to eat too."

"Yahooo!" Ibuki exclaimed. "Shotgun!" Ibuki scrambled into the limo and tried to push Tristan out of the front passenger's seat.

Tristan didn't even bother resisting and went to the back of the limo. That was when Byakuya got up and began to go to the back of the limo. "Hey, where are you going?" Ibuki asked him. "Don't you need to drive?"

"It drives itself," Tristan said.

"That…is…so…cool!" Ibuki exclaimed.

"That's the Togami Corporation for you," Ryota said. "The finest technology in all of the world, ahead of their time even."

"Wait, Byakuya Togami as in the Byakuya Togami?" Nekomaru asked.

"Naturally," Byakuya said, taking his seat. He gave Nekomaru a cool stare. "Do you know of any other Byakuya Togami."

"Naw, I just didn't expect to see such a politically imposing figure in a place like this. Figured you'd be too busy screwing over the little guy," Nekomaru said, scratching the side of his nose.

"For your information, as I just finished telling Tristan, I have better things to do with my time than deliberately screw over the 99%. Now everyone buckle their seatbelts or this car doesn't go anywhere."

"You heard the man, safety first!" Akane exclaimed, punching a fist into her other hand.

Everyone buckled their seatbelts promptly and the car took off again, Ibuki humming to herself in the front passenger's seat to a tune only she could hear.

Man, check her out, Tristan thought. And I thought Mai Valentine stood out from a crowd.

"Why are you looking at me?" Akane asked him. "Is there something on my face?"

"Nah, just sort of admiring the view," Tristan said, trying to act like a cool customer.

"What he means," Byakuya said sophisticatedly, "Is that your physique is a splendor to the eyes."

"Heh," Akane said, grinning widely, "Yeah, I know. People like to compliment my appearance a lot."

"Ah, so you are used to having an adoring male fanbase. I bet if I could find a parlor dress in your size, you would look magnificent," Byakuya said. "May I have your name?"

"Akane," Akane said, "Akane Owari."

"Splendid, I'll certainly keep you in mind for the future, Miss Owari."

"What's that mean?" Akane asked, confused.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with right now," Byakuya said. "But I'll be keeping my eye on you. You have certain…qualities, Miss Owari that I find superior to others around you. We'll be in touch."

"I don't really get it, but that doesn't sound too bad."

Ryota, or rather more accurately, the unnamed Ultimate Imposter, sat with his left hand placed atop his right hand, leaning forward and holding his hands by his mouth. He wondered if he should say something, that Byakuya was interested in Akane's body for the possibility of producing an offspring for the sake of the next generation of Togami inheritance. However, then he'd have to explain to everyone how he knew that. Right now he was Ryota Mitarai, the Ultimate Animator and Ryota knew nothing about Byakuya Togami or his family's inner workings. He'd step in if Byakuya did anything…inappropriate, but for now he'd let the matter go. After all, Byakuya Togami, the man he respected above all others, wouldn't be interested in becoming a teen father. That much, the Imposter believed, he could be certain of.

Still standing on her stack of crates, Celestia Ludenburg observed the duel between Yugi and Joey, watching with great interest as Joey continued to hold the advantage with untouched life points.

Yugi certainly has his work cut out for him, Celeste thought. Still, if he's even half the duelist I think he is, this should be nothing to come back from. There are dozens of possibilities to permit him to win or at least claim a distinct advantage, especially with Spellbinding circle ensnaring Alligator Sword.

Celeste watched the timer above the anchor and fiddled nervously with the device she had from the Togami Corporation. Hopefully this duel will reach an obvious conclusion before that anchor falls. I'd hate to have this gamble be all for naught, Celeste thought. She then noticed a bright flash from the millennium puzzle.

"All right, Joey, it's just you and me now," Yugi said, currently standing as his usual self, no presence of Yami to speak of.

What's this? Did he switch away from dueling as the Pharaoh within him? Celeste narrowed her gaze. Interesting, most interesting. I see. I see. Yugi still hasn't given up on freeing Joey through the bond they share as friends. Most intriguing. But, if he's willing to take such a big risk, then Yugi must be capable of dueling almost as well as the Pharaoh, if not equally. A wily smirk appeared on Celeste's face. Oh Yugi, this ploy of mine just became much more interesting.

Guiding her escort by the hand, Mahiru continued to run as fast as her legs could carry her. Unfortunately, Marik's goons were quickly gaining on the two women.

Clenching her teeth, Mahiru knew she'd be caught soon if she didn't think of something. Fortunately, as she glanced around, a sizeable rock sat off the side of her path. Picking it up, Mahiru hurled it over Serenity's shoulder and beaned one of Marik's thugs right in the nose.

"Agh!" The pursuer fell right over, nose broken and bleeding.

One down, Mahiru thought as she and Serenity ducked under the overpass of a bridge. However, they were cut off by another Rare Hunter standing at the other end, cutting off Mahiru and Serenity's escape.

"That's far enough, girly. Come with us and you won't get hurt, least not by us."

Mahiru backed up two steps.

"What are we going to do, Mahiru?" Serenity asked.

"Stay behind me," Mahiru said, encouraging Serenity to move towards the wall. She stood in front of her. As the thugs closed in, Mahiru stood rigidly and swallowed a lump in her throat. What should she do? Call for help? Was anyone even around? She could try the flash again, but the goons might jump her the moment they saw the camera and the area was really narrow.

Taking a deep breath, Mahiru had only one course of action she could take. It was time for the prey to become the predator.

"All right, that's enough! Shame on you gentlemen!" Mahiru shouted.

The thugs stopped moving.

"What the hell is wrong with all of you? Shaved heads? Crazy hairstyles and colors? Are those bags under your eyes? Are you getting enough sleep? Who dressed you anyway? Do you have any idea how drab you look in dark cloaks. And those metal chains are magnet hazards…"

Mahiru continued to go off on a tangent, confusing everyone around her as she used the only weapon left in her arsenal: shame and scolding. Maybe if she confused the thugs enough, they'd get tired of her nagging and run off.

"Z-zeek, what's she doing?" the bald thug asked his crazy haired companion.

"N-no idea Max."

What's Mahiru doing? Serenity wondered. She sounds like a fussy mom all of a sudden. I thought we were running for our lives.

Mahiru was now poking her palm with her index finger. "Do you have any idea how long I've had to walk after coming off the train station? I'll tell you, it was forty-five minutes. Have you ever walked for forty-five minutes straight in an uncomfortable situation. I have."

"All right, enough!"

And with that declaration, Mahiru's stall, scold and shame tactics were at an end as Zeek grabbed her mouth and slammed her against the wall. Mahiru whined in her displeasure.

"Mahiru!" Serenity yelped.

"You got a smart mouth on you," Zeek told Mahiru, pinning one of her arms up above her head as Mahiru glared into his face. "Truth be told, I like 'em feisty. Now hold still."

Reflexively, Mahiru's leg shot out, aiming for every man's weak spot.

"Guh, she nailed me in the Kuribohs!" Zeek exclaimed, holding his hands between his legs.

"Feisty brat," Max grumbled, only for a small, square object to come hurtling through the air and nail him right in the eye. "Ah, what the heck?"

"Stings, doesn't it?" A cocksure, suave, but stern voice called from the end of the alleyway. Mahiru looked down the end of the tunnel to see a young man with crazy black hair and green eyes. He had a sleeveless black shirt on with a red vest worn over it and black jeans. He was also holding the same objects he pelted the Rare Hunter with in between his fingers: several six-sided dice. "And there's more where that came from?"

"Mahiru, what's going on?" Serenity asked.

"I think we've been rescued," Mahiru said. "Come on," she said, grabbing Serenity by the hand. She then pushed Serenity forward and turned around to pull up her camera. "Say cheese!" Mahiru exclaimed harshly, taking another picture with a bright flash.

"Ah god dammit, not again!" Max shouted as he and his buddy covered their eyes.

"So, can I get the names of you fair ladies," Mahiru and Serenity's rescue asked.

"Less talking, more running!" Mahiru exclaimed as she ran passed him, still leading Serenity by the arm.

"Uh, sure," the young man and followed after the two women.

After running through back alleys and getting lost in crowds, the three teens finally found a spot to rest behind a large sign advertising a big costume convention coming up next month. "All right," Mahiru said, catching her breath. "We should be able to rest here for a moment. Thanks for the rescue, um…"

"Duke Devlin," Duke said with a smooth smile, "Charmed I'm sure."

"Actually, I kind of am. It's nice to know chivalry isn't completely dead," Mahiru said.

"Speaking of chivalry, may I ask the names of my two rescued damsels in distress."

"I'm Mahiru, Mahiru Koizumi. And this is my friend, Serenity Wheeler. …Ah." Mahiru had just said the words so naturally and she'd barely been around Serenity for more than a few short hours.

"Wheeler…Wheeler…I feel like I've heard that name before," Duke said, stroking his chin.

"Well, my brother was a finalist in Duelist Kingdom. His name is Joey. Lots of people know him."

"Oh yeah, that's right. I remember now. It was a few months ago. I totally kicked his butt in Duel Monsters and made him dress up in a dog suit."

"You did what?" Serenity gasped, looking pale.

"Hey! Show some class! She's terrified after being chased by those thugs and so am I!" Mahiru barked.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there," Duke said, taking a step back and also mentally backpedaling. He scratched his cheek. "Those days are behind me, you know. I'd probably apologize to Joey if I saw him. I was a different guy back then."

"I should hope so," Mahiru said, still a bit huffy.

"Look, I feel like I've stuck my foot in my mouth a bit. Let's start over," Duke said and cleared his throat. "You ladies were in trouble and I made it my business to jump in. What can I do to help further? Those thugs clearly weren't interested in asking for directions."

"I have absolutely no idea," Mahiru said, rattled. "They just swarmed us. I was just supposed to drop Serenity off at the fountain to her brother and then he shows up late and this happens and I don't know what might've happened if you hadn't shown up when you did!"

"All right, all right, easy there," Duke said, clasping his hands along the sides of Mahiru's shoulders. "Take a few deep breaths and calm down." Mahiru did so and Duke caressed her hands. "That's it. You're not going to be able to think by blowing into a full-blown panic."

"D-duke," Serenity stuttered. "You don't think…that those thugs are after me because of my brother, do you?"

Mahiru gasped. The horror of that reality started to sink in. Quickly she pulled out her phone and began dialing.

"Who are you calling at a time like this?" Duke asked.

"A friend," Mahiru said. Please pick up, Ibuki, she thought.

Inside Byakuya's limousine, Ibuki sat in the front passenger's seat rocking out to some Japanese death metal. She swayed back and forth happily with a pair of spiked headphones on her head. As she sat there in pure bliss, her phone began to ring. And, since it doubled as her music player, it completely interrupted the song.

"Awww," Ibuki complained, "Right when it was getting to the good part. Who's calling anyway?" she looked at the caller ID. "Oh, it's Mahiru." She promptly answered the phone and ejected the headphones out of the jack. "Hello!" Ibuki exclaimed.

"Where are you?" Mahiru's voice from the other end sounded rather irritated.

"Ibuki's in a limousine rocking out to some awesome tunes," Ibuki said.

"Where's Joey? Weren't you with him?"

Ibuki gasped. "Ah, crap!"

"Let me guess, you got separated."

"Yes! I mean no! I mean yes and no!"

"Well, which is it? Out with it, Ibuki."

Ibuki sighed. "Okay so these thugs showed up and kidnapped Joey and Téa, but it's totally not Ibuki's fault. She ran off as fast as her legs can carry her and now Nekomaru, Ryota, Tristan, Akane and Ibuki are all headed straight to rescue Joey and Téa like a super cool awesome hero team." Ibuki sounded ashamed of herself as she said, "Um, sorry Ibuki didn't call you to let you know what was going on. She got so wrapped up in the rescue, she totally forgot you were getting Joey's sister."

"Don't you think that's important information?" Mahiru asked from the other end.

"Hey, Ibuki said she was sorry."

Mahiru sighed. "Whatever, it's fine. Where are we meeting you guys?"

"Um, we're headed for Domino Pier. Trouble's brewing down there. Joey might be in danger, but that's precisely why we're gonna rescue him."

The phone was quiet on the other end, Ibuki could hear the voices, but barely. It sounded like Serenity was trying to ask for the phone. Ibuki knew it was her. She never forgot a voice.

"Ibuki." And sure enough, there was Serenity on Mahiru's phone.

"Serenity," Ibuki said, looking rather sorrowful, which was rare for her. "Ibuki's really sorry your brother got kidnapped. But…but she's totally gonna make it right. She only ran away so she could get help. Don't worry," she said, reassuringly. "We'll get your brother back."

"Please do," Serenity said, "Joey's all I have. After our parents got divorced, it's just been me and my mom, but…" Serenity trailed off.

"Serenity," Ibuki said seriously. "I know the situation is really scary, but Ibuki promises, no, she swears, that she'll see you and Joey reunited because…that's the kind of a person that Ibuki is."

"Thank you, Ibuki," Serenity said. "I'm glad that Joey has a friend like you that's dependable."

Ibuki chuckled on the other end of the line. "Well to be fair, Ibuki sort of forced her way into his heart, but he doesn't seem to be complaining. Really wish he'd so okay to her band idea though."

"Band idea?"

"Yeah, Ibuki wants to start a band with Joey, it'll be awesome. She still hasn't thought of a title and we still need a lead singer, but she's totally set on the idea. It'll be so rad."

"Well I can't wait to see you all perform," Serenity said. "Joey being in a band sounds like something I'd really like to see."

"Yahooooo! If you're supporting the idea, there's no way he can say no. Thanks, Serenity!"

Serenity just giggled. After laughing she then said, "Say, Ibuki, um…"

"What is it? Speak up," Ibuki encouraged.

"I want to go to the pier. I know…that it's probably dangerous, but, if Joey's in trouble then I want to be there. He always helped me when we were kids, so I want to be able to help him for once."

"Serenity," Ibuki said and then broke out into a wide smile. "We'll see you there. Remember, Domino Pier, okay?"

"Okay," Serenity said and then hung up, handing Mahiru back her phone.

"Looks like we're heading for Domino Pier," Mahiru said.

"So, Joey's in real trouble from the sound of it," Duke said.

"You plan on helping out?" Mahiru asked.

"Of course I do," Duke said. "I got involved in this mess and I'm gonna see it through to the end. Besides," he said, winking, "Duke Devlin never abandons a lady in need."

"I'll give you points for being a man, but you lose points for corniness," Mahiru said. "Now come on, let's go."

The three began to head off, only for Mahiru to hear. "Hey, there they are!"

"Ah, crud, it's those thugs from earlier again."

"What do we do?" Serenity asked.

"Just run!" Mahiru exclaimed as the group sprinted down the street. They turned a corner only to almost smack straight into two people their age.

"Oh my!" One of them gasped.

"Sorry," Mahiru apologized, only to see exactly who she ran into. "Wait a sec, Gundham? Sonia?"

"Mahiru? What are you doing out in the city? I do not recall you being part of the tournament."

"I'm not, I'm playing escort," Mahiru said, firmly squeezing Serenity's hand. "Serenity, Duke and I are being chased by some thugs."

"We're heading for Domino Pier," Duke said. "There's trouble."

"Ah, so a foul wind finally blows, does it?" Gundham asked. "I'd be happy to offer the boon of my satanic powers. Show me my adversaries!"

"Stop!" One of the thugs called out, running up to the group.

"These dolts?" Gundham chuckled. "They will make a fine offering to the fell god Belial. Come, my Four Dark Devas of Destruction!"

Gundhams hamsters emerged and appeared on his shoulder as dark energy seemed to radiate from Gundham's person.

"What is he?" Duke questioned. "Some sort of hell worshipper?"

"Believe it or not, he's my classmate and you're going to help him."

"Huh?"

Duke asked as Mahiru darted behind Gundham. "Sonia, come on."

"Y-yes," Sonia said, but she lingered as Mahiru darted around the corner at the end of the street.

"Do not worry, Dark Queen," Gundham said, "I have no intention of falling here. The finals await!"

Sonia nodded with a firm, determined expression and then dashed off after Mahiru and Serenity to find out what exactly was going on.

"Can you fight?" Gundham asked.

Duke pulled dice out of his pocket and held them in between his fingers. "I was going to ask you the same."

"Three on two is hardly a fair fight," Gundham chuckled. "I won't even need to use my release state."

"Whatever, get 'em!" Duke shouted and threw a bunch of dice at Marik's goons.

"Go, my minions! Attack with Swarming Golden Dragonfly Formation!" Gundham's hamsters flew off his shoulders and attacked at high speeds towards Marik's thugs. A street brawl had begun.

"I see, that is troubling news," Sonia said, after hearing what Mahiru had to say.

"Yeah, tell me about it. The sooner we make it to the pier the better. I just hope the guys are all right." Mahiru glanced at the ground. "I still haven't thanked Duke properly for his help."

"I'm sure they will be fine. Gundham's skills are a fighter are almost the same level as his dueling ability. It's those thugs you should be concerned for."

"Heh, yeah, I guess you're right," Mahiru said. As she and Sonia continued to hurry towards the pier with Serenity, the trio crossed through a red light given there was no traffic, only for a car to turn the corner and come to a screeching halt.

"Hey! What are you doing?" the driver, an irate, busty blonde, shouted, "Cross at the green, not in between!"

"We're terribly sorry," Sonia said. "But we're being chased and—wait, Mai?"

"Sonia?" Mai asked.

"You know her?" Mahiru asked.

"We dueled once not that long ago. She is Mai Valentine, pro duelist."

Mai threaded her fingers through her hair. "Well, I don't like to brag, but I suppose I am pretty impressive."

"Please help us," Mahiru pleaded. "We're being chased by some thugs and they're trying to kidnap me and my friend here."

Mai took a moment to reassess her knee-jerk response, which was to help out no strings attached. She chuckled a little, realizing that if someone had asked her for help prior to Duelist Kingdom, she would've kept driving and told the requester that it had nothing to do with her. Joey and the others really had changed her for the better. "Well, I can't say I'm willing to leave a bunch of cute girls to the mercy of some thuggish brutes," Mai told the girls. "Hop in."

"Thank you," Mahiru said, still a little panicked. "Thank you very much."

"The pier, right?" Mai asked as the girls climbed into her car.

"Actually, would you mind terribly turning around a bit?" Sonia asked. "A good friend of mine is battling it out with the thugs that are chasing us."

"Car's only got room for four, but I'll see what I can do," Mai said, putting the car in reverse as she checked her rearview mirror. She then turned down the other third of the T-intersection and drove towards where Gundham and Duke were, spinning the car to one side and gazing upon the scene of battered, hamster bitten and dice blistered thugs.

"See, nothing to worry about," Sonia said.

Mahiru remained speechless, but not in the shocked kind of way. She wondered if she shouldn't simply affirm Sonia's correctness, or chastise Gundham and Duke for brutality. However, given the thugs had been chasing her with ill intent in mind, she just decided to rub her head and keep her mouth shut on the matter. "Hey," she called out to them, "Get in."

"You would have us squeeze into a vehicle meant for four?" Gundham asked.

"You can sit with me, Gundham," Sonia said. "I do not mind."

"You can sit with me, Duke," Mahiru said. "I guess. But if you try anything, I will have Gundham kick you out."

"Please drive carefully, Mai," Serenity requested.

"No promises," Mai said. "When I want to get somewhere quick, I don't exactly obey all traffic signals."

"Could you make an exception just this once," Mahiru said as Duke and Tristan climbed in. "Serenity can't see and driving recklessly isn't exactly—"

"If I wanted backseat driving, I'd reconnect with my parents," Mai said sharply.

"Well excuse me for trying not to get us all killed!" Mahiru shouted. Duke's back then bumped into her chest. Taking note of this, he turned his head around. "Eyes front!" Mahiru barked.

"All right, all right, sheesh," Duke said, scooting forward a bit almost off the seat.

"Nice fangs you got there," Mai said. "I don't believe I caught your name."

"Mahiru," Mahiru said. "Mahiru Koizumi. And I try not to lash out too much, but you know things can just be annoying. Mahiru then sighed deeply as she noticed Gundham had positioned himself to be seated along the side of the door of Mai's convertible. "For example, Gundham, what are you doing?" she snapped.

Mai glanced back at him through her rearview mirror. "Hon, I'm hardly one to lecture on safety, but don't blame me if you fall out."

"Ha, if I see you heading for a vehicular impact, I shall simply flee this metal monstrosity," Gundham said. "And even if I were to be injured, my Shield of Darkness shall protect me from unwanted harm."

Mai thought to question it, but instead just rolled her eyes, put the car in drive and hit the gas pedal. "So, anyone mind cluing me in as to where exactly I should take you guys?"

"Domino pier," Mahiru said. "I'll explain on the way. Seriously, though, Gundham, if you have to sit anywhere, sit on the floor of the car."

Not in a mood to argue and seeing no reason to, Gundham sat on the floor of the car in front of Sonia. "My apologies to your discomfort, Dark Queen," Gundham told her.

"It's fine. I told you, I do not mind."

"Dude, I think she's inviting you to sit on her lap," Duke said.

"Eyes front!" Mahiru snapped again as Duke accidentally bumped his back into her chest.

This is going to be a long twenty-five minutes, Mai thought as she set her car in drive and headed for the pier.

Back at the pier Yugi was, in Celeste's eyes, making a very impressive comeback. He had started the duel with half his life points gone and Joey's were untouched. Now Yugi had practically tied the game with his 1000 life points to Joey's 1100. More impressive was the fact that, as Celeste had noticed, it was not Yugi's alter ego, the millennia old pharaoh residing within his millennium puzzle, but Yugi himself currently dueling.

This duel is providing me with quite the entertainment and quite the plethora of information. It would appear Yugi can duel just as cleverly as his counterpart even with all the action he is taking to force Joey to break free of Marik's control. But I wonder… Celeste's mind gazed backwards into her memory when Joey had taken a different card from Yugi's hand than Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Yugi is only performing as well as he is because he is forcing Joey not to outright destroy him. If he were up against a merciless opponent, would he truly be winning right now? And even so, though he is currently winning, will he have what it takes to strike the final blow? You cannot have both, Yugi, victory or your friend, which will you choose? Be fortunate I am here to ensure no one is hurt, Celeste again fiddled with the device in her hand. And you'd better act quickly, you only have five minutes before I'll have to use this.

The young gambler then heard the screeching of tires as a blue convertible rounded the corner and she saw six people crammed into it. Now what's this then? She recognized Mai immediately. Isn't that Mai Valentine?

Mai's car screeched to a halt as she turned the car sideways and everyone started getting out.

"Ah, could that be…?" Sonia gasped, looking in Yugi's general direction. "Is that Yugi Mutoh?"

"And that's Seto Kaiba over there?"

"Forget the people, what the heck is up with that rig?" Mahiru asked, referring to the anchor and chains.

"Looks like a duel's going on."

Téa began to notice the crowd. "Mai! Is that you?"

"Téa! What's going on?"

"You've got to help us!" Téa shouted.

"That's why we're here!" Mahiru exclaimed, a determined expression on her face. She, Gundham, Duke and Mai began racing forward while Sonia hung back to keep Serenity steady and secure.

"Hold it right there!" Celeste commanded, holding up the device in her hand. "Take one more step and I send Joey and Yugi plummeting into the sea!"

"Say what?" Duke gasped.

"She's not lying. That anchor is holding Yugi and Joey in place and they're being forced to duel by Marik," Mokuba explained. "Seto would've shut down the duel, but Celeste is holding a remote control that'll send the anchor plummeting straight into the sea anyway. The only way even one of them can survive is if one of their life points hit 0, but then the other person will be pulled into the ocean by the anchor."

"Joey," Serenity said solemnly. She reached for her bandages, but Sonia stopped her.

"Do not remove those in this situation," Sonia said, disheartened. "You do not want to see your brother like this." Sonia turned Serenity around and forced her head into her shoulder. "Do not worry, we will save him. We promised."

"Thank you, Sonia," Serenity said.

Mai, however, had a few choice words for Celeste. "You there!"

"Are you talking to me?" Celeste asked.

"Of course I am, what sick twisted little show do you think you're purporting?"

"I haven't the faintest idea what you could be referring to. I'm just following the whims of fate," Celeste said. "So why don't you stand there and enjoy the show? Make one false move and I will see both duelists cast to a watery grave."

"Best not to provoke her," Gundham said. "Hell hath no fury like an angry succubus."

"Dammit, what the hell are we supposed to do?" Duke growled.

Just stand there and watch, Celeste thought. She waited until the others were all focused on the duel then she inconspicuously climbed down from her perch and stood alongside the crates, rather than atop them. She then picked up a small pebble in the road and chucked it…right at the back of Kaiba's head.

Kaiba turned his head around and saw Celeste waving him over. Rather, he saw only her hand, recognizing it as hers from her finger brace. While he did think it could be a trap, he was intrigued by the fact that Celeste was asking for his attention. He walked towards her.

"Big bro?" Mokuba asked. "Where are you going?" He looked up and saw Celeste had vanished. "Huh? Where's Celeste?" He then noticed Kaiba walking further away. "H-hey, Seto."

"Stay here, Mokuba," Kaiba said.

Slowly he approached Celeste. He figured if he darted towards her, she might set the anchor off. He found her hiding behind the crates, hidden from view to everyone except him. "What do you want?" he asked when he was within a few feet of her. "You know, at any moment I could now reach out and steal that from you. You're playing a very dangerous game, Celeste."

"I like danger and it likes me," she said with a wry smile. "Besides, this isn't a remote to the anchor anyway."

"But…you said…"

"Mokuba was right earlier when he said I was bluffing," Celeste said, head turned slightly to the side, finger, just underneath her lip. "But it was a necessary bluff."

"Necessary? Thanks to you, Yugi and Joey are dueling in a battle to the death and I don't have the time to stop it!"

"You do, that's why I called you over here," Celeste said. "Remember what I said to Yugi when I first met you? That as long as he placed his absolute trust in me that no harm would come to him or Joey?"

"You expect me to remember that?" Kaiba asked.

"Not really, but that's why I repeated it," Celeste said. She held up the device in front of Kaiba. "When the duel is about to end, or if time is about to run out, push the button and throw it at the middle of the arena."

"Hold on, first tell me what the hell this contraption is."

Celeste chuckled. "If I did that, you'd use it right away and I can't have that. The problem is, if I do it, Marik will notice. However, you're sturdy and well-built and you have a good arm. You'd be able to throw this and hit the target exactly from where you were standing."

"And I'm just supposed to trust you?"

"I brought Mokuba back to you, didn't I?" Celeste asked.

Kaiba's right eye twitched. Celeste really knew where to cut where it hurts. "Fine, but mark my words Celeste, if either of them end up drowning, I'm holding you responsible."

"That suits me just fine because as long as you listen to me, neither of them will," Celeste said with a sweet smile. "Now, get in position. The fun is just about to start."

Kaiba and Celeste then walked in opposite directions as Kaiba stood next to Mokuba again, clenching and concealing the device as Celeste resumed her perch. Mai, Serenity, Duke and students from Hope's Peak had been so focused on the duel that they'd completely missed her and Kaiba's conversation.

Celeste looked at the timer. Two minutes left and it seemed like Joey was, once again, struggling against Marik's control. However, as he struggled to break free, he suddenly leaned back, hands on the back of his head, screaming. The crowd, even Celeste, winced at the sight of Joey in absolute agony.

He dropped to his knees. "Get out of my head," he told Marik.

Celeste's eyes shut tight and she too wound up looking fondly back on the goofball that had given her the greatest, most heart pounding duel she'd ever experienced. Well, plan or no plan, she could not fight the feelings welling up in her chest and the words welling up in her throat. "Fight it, you fool!" she shouted from her perch, arms folded.

"Celeste?" Yugi looked in her general direction.

"Is this the same Joey Wheeler that stood against me despite everything I threw at him. I thought you were better than this! If your will is strong, then prove it. Prove that not even mind control can stop the Joey Wheeler!"

"What's gotten into her?" Mahiru wondered.

"It sounds like she dueled Joey earlier and she thoroughly enjoyed it, so even though she's working for the Rare Hunters, she doesn't want to see him get hurt from the bottom of her heart."

"Then why is she letting Marik go through with this?" Téa wanted to know.

Mai didn't have an answer.

And, as for Celeste, she was suddenly disgusted with herself. What the hell was that just now? I sounded like an idiot. It's not like I actually care about him. So why did I…?

"Celeste!" Yugi called out to her. His expression was quite positive. She could even see a smile. She looked down at him. "I haven't forgotten what you said. You said that if I trusted you that no harm would come to me or to Joey, so if you're going to help us, do so."

The plan is already in motion, Celeste said, standing perfectly still.

What in the world is going on? Marik wondered. Is Celeste on my side or isn't she? Growling he then resumed his hold on Joey's mind. "Do as I command and play Meteor of Destruction and destroy Yugi, mind slave!"

However, Joey had had enough and, thanks to Yugi's encouraging words and Celeste's outburst, he finally had enough willpower to drive Marik back. "I can't! He's my best friend!" Joey shouted on his knees, arms spread out wide. "I won't destroy Yugi! Yugi's…my pal!"

"Fight him, Joey!" Yugi shouted.

Joey placed his hands atop his head as Marik tried to force his will to bend.

"You can do it, Joey!" Yugi encouraged. "I know you can! Be strong!"

"Gotta…be strong," Joey repeated.

Tense silence fell over the situation until Yugi finally had the stones to speak up…against Marik, "Marik!" he shouted. "You hide like a coward, but wherever you are I know you can hear me and I've got some news for you! There will be a loser in this duel, but it's not who you're thinking. It's not me and it's not Joey either. It's you," Yugi said and pointed at the possessed Joey, "Marik. You will lose this duel."

Oh dear, Celeste thought. Points for courage, but that might not have been the brightest decision to antagonize him, Yugi.

"You may have thought you could force Joey to destroy me by taking over his mind," Yugi continued, "But it looks like there's something you didn't take into account when you made your plan, the strength of Joey's bond with his friends."

Friendship again? Do they never tire of spewing such disgustingly sweet speeches? Celeste thought dryly.

"Time may be running out, but Joey's back and we're in control of this duel now. Your power over Joey has been removed and I'd say that means you lose! That timer may run out, but since Joey is free, you can't be considered the winner of this duel. Get it? Since you're not dueling anymore, how can you possibly win this duel?"

Celeste ran Yugi's logic through her head for a moment. …Because both of you will drown? She questioned to herself.

"What're you going to do now, Marik? Just wait in your little hideaway until you lose this duel?" Yugi asked. "This is your last chance for victory so come and get me! Joey can't be controlled so it's up to you!"

Celeste sighed, unsurprised when Marik seized control back to make Joey play Meteor of Destruction. However, something unexpected happened when Joey jumped to his feet, shouting, "Help me, please!"

"You did it!" Yugi cried, watching as the life restored to Joey's eyes, freeing him from Marik's control once and for all.

"Yugi!" Joey exclaimed in concern.

"Trap card, activate!" Yugi shouted, activating Mystical Ref Panel and trapping Marik's meteor within its mirror.

Celeste's jaw went slack. She knew Yugi would have to make a choice between victory and his friend, but she never thought he would actually have the power to directly choose.

This is it, Celeste said, sucking in a haggard breath. This is what I wanted to see. Victory or friendship, which is more important to you, Yugi Mutoh. Show me!

"There's not much time left," Yugi said. "If one of us doesn't win, we'll both be pulled under and there's no way I'm gonna let that happen, Joey."

"What're ya sayin' Yug?"

"I'm saying that I've decided to save you, Joey," Yugi said. "There's no point in both of us going down and if I lose, your safe."

Celeste's smile widened. Oh this is absolutely precious. Thank you, Yugi for providing me with all the information I could ever need for the rest of this tournament. "Kaiba! There isn't a moment to waste, do it now!"

Kaiba looked up at to where Celeste was shouting.

"What are you hesitating for? I gave you that device, now use it?"

"Kaiba?" Yugi asked, distracted by Celeste's shouting.

Gritting his teeth and willing to worry about the consequences later, Kaiba pressed the button and chucked the device straight at the duel, hurling it right underneath Mystical Refpanel's hologram. The device beeped three times in quick succession and then exploded in a sonic blast that made all of the holograms disappear. It also made the life point boxes containing the keys at Yugi and Joey's feet go dark.

"What's going on? What's happening?" Marik wondered. Although no longer in control of Joey, he could still see the duel from a Rare Hunter that had retreated after he'd failed to include Téa in his plan.

"Guys, look, the timer!" Téa exclaimed, watching as the timer holding up the anchor glitched out and shut off.

"NO!" Marik shouted.

"Was that what I think it was?" Kaiba asked, watching the chunks of the device he hurled sink into the water.

"What the…what's going on? Is my duel disk out of batteries or something?"

"Was that an EMP blast?" Duke asked. "Where'd that come from?"

"It was mine of course," Celeste said, approaching the group. "I bought it," she chuckled, "From a very generous benefactor."

"So it wasn't a remote for the anchor?" Mahiru asked.

"That was a lie," Celeste said. "Sorry for worrying everyone, but it was necessary."

Kaiba glared at her. "You and I are going to have a long chat, later."

Celeste chuckled in amusement. "I'm sure we will."

Then, more tires could be heard as another car pulled up to the scene: a shiny black limousine. Ibuki quickly emerged from the vehicle on Akane's shoulders. "The cavalry has arrived!" She shouted. "Da-da-da-da!"

"Who's asking for a beatdown?" Akane asked cracking her knuckles.

"Ibuki!" Téa shouted, recognizing her.

"Hello!" Ibuki exclaimed in cheer. "Wait, Téa, what are you doing unkidnapped? And is that Joey over there? But…what about Ibuki's big rescue plan?"

"If you were looking to make a big rescue, you're about five seconds too late," Celeste chuckled. "The calamity has already ceased."

"I suppose you want to say that's because you were here," Byakuya said, emerging from the vehicle and slamming the door behind him.

"Togami," Kaiba said, glaring at him.

"Oh, hello Kaiba. I didn't expect to see you here. We'll have time to catch up later after I win my way to the finals."

"Hmph," Kaiba said, ignoring him for the most part.

"So," Byakuya said to Celeste. "Did it work?"

"Like a charm," Celeste chuckled. "See for yourself."

Byakuya gazed at the shut down duel between Yugi and Joey as Joey was fruitlessly trying to pull apart the chains binding him with his bare hands. "Yes, I see that those duel disks have stopped functioning and will likely need KaibaCorp maintenance. Well then, if you'll excuse me…"

"Wait a sec, that's it?" Tristan asked him.

"I came here to check on my investment," Byakuya said. "Since the danger has cleared and my investment has been checked upon, I'm leaving. I'm still several locator cards shy of the finals and I aim to win my way back to the top. Understood?"

"Then you'd best get yourself out of a fix fast," Kaiba said. "Time's running out."

Byakuya got back in his limo and got it to drive off.

"Ah, wait, do you think maybe you could—" Ryota started, but Byakuya was long gone.

"Well, there goes our ride," Nekomaru said. "Hey, Akane, give me a hand here, would you?" he asked, waving her over to go help free Joey and Yugi.

Ibuki got down off of Akane and stood on her own two feet. "Mahiru!" she exclaimed, looking in her classmate's general direction. "Good to see ya!" She gasped. "Is Serenity okay?"

"She's fine," Sonia said, approaching with the younger teen.

"Oh my, my, Sonia's here too," Ibuki said. "Wow, and Gundham as well. Now all we need is Chiaki and we'll practically have the whole class."

"You're an energetic little thing, aren't you?"

Ibuki gasped. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! You're Mai Valentine! EEEEEEE!" Ibuki squealed.

"Well, I can see someone's a fan of mine."

"Of course, Ibuki's a fan, you're awesome!"

Mai played with a lock of her hair and smiled.

"Hey, hey, do you like to sing?" Ibuki asked. "Ibuki has this great idea for a band and she thinks you would be an awesome lead singer!"

"A band, huh?" Mai asked. "I could be interested."

"Yahoooo! You rock, Mai! Ibuki knew she liked you for a reason."

"Is she always like this?" Serenity asked Mahiru.

"You get used to it," Mahiru said.

Ibuki gasped. "Oh my gosh, Serenity!" She gave Serenity an unexpected hug. "You're so cuuuute! I bet your eyes are just as adorable. Here, let's get these off!" Ibuki reached for Serenity's bandages, but Serenity recoiled.

"No!" she gasped.

"No?" Ibuki questioned.

"She wants the first thing to see is her brother dueling in the finals," Sonia said.

Ibuki gasped. "Oh yeah, Joey beat Celeste so he totally qualifies."

Kaiba looked at Celeste. "You lost to Joey Wheeler?"

"It was luck of the draw," she responded and walked towards where Joey and Yugi were as Nekomaru and Akane pulled the chains apart to free them with their raw muscles.

Joey shook his leg out. "Man, that's loads better, thanks."

"No sweat," Nekomaru said.

"Who are you guys anyway?" Yugi asked.

"We're from Hope's Peak Academy," Nekomaru told Yugi. "Ibuki brought us."

"Ibuki?" Yugi asked, as he hadn't met her.

"I'll introduce you later. She's a new friend of mine."

"Ours," Yugi replied with a smile. "Any new friend of yours, Joey, is a friend of mine too."

"Then let's all be friends," Akane said, suddenly putting Yugi in a headlock. "And let's get something to eat too, I'm starving."

"Barbaric. You just witnessed a death match and the first thing you think about is your own stomach," Celeste said as she made her way to the wooden arena.

"Celeste!" Joey exclaimed, holding up a fist. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here!"

"Take it easy, Joey," Yugi said. "She helped us. If it wasn't for her, you and I might be at the bottom of the ocean right now."

"Wha…?" Joey looked confused as he gazed at Celeste as she stood several inches shorter than him. He scratched his temple. "But I thought you were working for Marik."

"Well, I was," Celeste said. "But that's through now. He and I are done."

"Cool, then what's say we bury the hatchet and start over?" Joey asked, holding his hand out.

Celeste responded only by slapping a locator card and a Duel Monster card face-down into Joey's hand. "Huh?"

Celeste was already facing the opposite direction. "As if I'd ever want to be friends with an idiot like you. The very sight of you makes me sick. But…" she trailed off. "You beat me fair and square. You've earned yourself a reward." Celeste then chuckled. "Be careful though. If you slack off, I just might win it back from you. Ta-ta, gentlemen, I still have two more locator cards to win and I don't have a lot of time. I'll see you later."

Celeste began to walk away.

"Hey, hold on!" Joey exclaimed. "So that's it? You're just gonna walk away?"

"Yes," Celeste said. "My business here is concluded. I've no reason to stick around."

Yugi saw what Joey was driving at and tried a different approach to Celeste's icy demeanor. "Celeste, I know I've barely met you, but…you're better than you seem to think you are. You're not above having friends. And…you really helped me out today, so…thank you."

"Yugi, Yugi, Yugi," Celeste said with a sigh. "You're a sweetheart." She smiled at him like a prostitute spotting a virgin on the street. "But be careful with that trusting heart of yours, people like me might break it."

"It's true, there are people out there that might hurt others, but you're not one of those people. I don't know why you deceived me and pretended as though you were going to sink me and Joey into the ocean, but…you told me to put my absolute trust in you and I never stopped believing in you."

Celeste's smile turned kinder and she quickly faced away from Yugi. "If fate wills it, we shall see each other again, soon. Until then, Yugi, Joey." Celeste then walked away.

"Celeste, wait!" Yugi called after her.

Celeste marched right up to Kaiba. "Shall I wait in the helicopter. I imagine you have quite the interrogation for me."

"Go in and don't move," Kaiba told her.

"As you wish," Celeste said and walked towards the helicopter she and the others had flown here in.

As she disappeared from the scene, Joey and Yugi made their way over to the others as Téa threw her arms around the two of them. "Thank goodness you two are all right. I was so worried about you."

"We're fine, Téa, but thank you," Yugi told her.

Joey then noticed his sister. "Ah," he gasped, "Serenity." He made his way over to her. He put his hands on his shoulders. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Safe and sound just like I promised," Mahiru said. Joey turned to face the smiling red head.

"Oh, you must be Mahiru."

Mahiru nodded.

"Thanks for bringing my sister all the way out here," Joey said. "I hope it wasn't much trouble. Sorry things didn't go exactly as planned."

Mahiru glanced aside. "You got kidnapped, not like I can hold you responsible for that. Besides, the Rare Hunters were more trouble than she was."

"Rare Hunters?" Joey gasped.

"We got chased around for a while," Serenity said, "But Mahiru was with me the whole time so I was less frightened then I could've been. Then Duke showed up and Mai drove us all the way here."

"Mai?" Joey turned around to see Mai Valentine standing not too far away.

"Good to see you not in life threatening danger, Joey," she said with a smirk.

"Same. Thanks for helping my sister."

"Next time try to take care of her yourself," Mai said, slapping Joey on the side of the arm. "I don't do charity work for just anyone, you know."

"I'll keep that in mind," Joey said with a smile. "But really, thanks for helping out."

"Hey, what about me? Don't I get any praise?" Duke asked. "If it wasn't for me, your sister and Mahiru might be in Marik's clutches. Mai never would've happened on the scene."

"Yeah, sure, thanks Duke," Joey said, extending his hand out. The two men shook, burying the hatchet on Duke's past for good.

"I just love happy endings," Sonia exclaimed.

"The atmosphere in this area is growing far too cheery," Gundham said, arms folded.

"Who are you two?"

"They're my classmates," Mahiru said. "We kind of bumped into them on the way here."

"Jeez, at this rate I'm gonna have to orchestrate a pizza party to thank you guys."

"Heh, I need no thanks from you, mortal," Gundham said, though his smile betrayed his words. "However, a battle of skill in the tournament finals would be adequate repayment for your gratitude."

"Eh, what'd he say?" Joey asked, scratching his head.

"He means he would like to duel you in the finals," Sonia said. "And would prefer you hold nothing back."

"Oh, well why didn't he just say that?"

Gundham gave Joey no reply.

"Sheesh, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you worked for those Rare Hunter jerks yourself."

"Heh, maybe you don't know better. Perhaps this is all one big dream conjured up by your subconscious and I am not really here," Gundham chuckled.

"Gundham, behave," Sonia requested with a nervous smile. Gundham only laughed.

"So what now, you guys?" Téa asked. "Joey, you have six locator cards now, right?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, Celeste just gave me my sixth!"

"Incredible! Then that makes five finalists standing right here!" Sonia exclaimed.

"Five?" Joey asked. He pointed to himself, Yugi, Mai, and then his finger got lost.

"Wait, you mean you two…" Mahiru said, only to trail off.

Gundham and Sonia stood back to back and flashed their locator cards. "Like terrors of the night, we have struck the battlefield in cold blood," Sonia declared.

"And obtained our just rewards for our merciless behavior," Gundham continued.

"What? You two?" Joey gasped.

"Can't speak for Gundham," Mai said. "But Sonia's a tough customer. Don't underestimate her just because she looks and acts like a sweetheart. There's a deceptive dark side to that girl."

Joey instinctively took a step back, only for Ibuki to jump on it.

"Joey!" she shouted, clinging to him like a koala. "Ibuki was so worried about you, but she's so happy you're okay."

"Gah! Ibuki! What the heck are you doing? Get off!" Joey exclaimed, dancing around like a monkey to get her off.

"Not until you promise to start Ibuki's band with her. Mai said she'd be our singer and your sister thought it was an awesome idea, so will just say yes already?"

"All right, all right, I'll play the drums. Now get off me!"

Ibuki climbed down. "Woohoo! Band get!" she shouted.

Joey sighed. "So, what's gonna be the name of this band anyway?"

"I dunno," Ibuki said. "I haven't thought of that yet, but I'll have plenty of time to come up with an idea while I'm watching the finals." She gasped. "Mahiru, you should come along and watch. You can take awesome photographs!"

"I was already planning to," Mahiru said, excitedly.

"Wait, you're not going back to school?" Akane asked, surprised to hear this. "What about Hiyoko? You really upset her by leaving her behind. Now you're going to go watch the finals and you're not even going to tell her?"

"Upset her? Is she okay?" Mahiru asked, looking worried.

"She's calmed down a little, but she got really upset that you didn't take her with you to go get Serenity. I thought you were her closest friend, now you're abandoning her for an adventure? I'd sooner find myself on the wrong end of a mugger's gun than do what you're doing!"

Mahiru looked downtrodden and hesitant for a moment. She had to admit, Akane had something of a point. It was too bad Hiyoko didn't have a cell phone. She could just call her. Still, she wanted to follow her dream and take pictures of the finals up close and personal. At least two of her classmates were going to be participating. There was no way she could not be around in person to take photographs and make memories.

"How fast can you run?" Mahiru asked.

"Like lightning," Akane responded.

"Run and get Hiyoko," Mahiru said. "Bring her to the unfinished stadium on the east side of town. Mai told me that's where the finals are."

"Huh, that's where?" Joey asked.

"I hear Kaiba's building a new arena there," Mai said. "He's probably trying to show off."

As if on cue, Kaiba's helicopter took off with Celeste in it.

"So," Mahiru said, looking at Ryota and Nekomaru. "What are you two going to do?"

"I think I'll go back and watch the finals from the comfort of our classroom, possibly my dorm room," Ryota said.

"Same," Nekomaru said. "All that excitement in person isn't good for my heart condition. One adventure per tournament's enough for this manager."

"Jeez, you sound like an old man, coach. When I bring Hiyoko back I'm staying to watch."

"Well that's on you then," Nekomaru said.

"Wow, Akane and to think you didn't even know how to play when this started."

"I know, right? I mean, I barely understand the rules, but watching those monsters fight each other just gets my blood bumping, you know," Akane said.

"Joey and I can help you get better if you want," Yugi offered.

"Wha—really?" Akane asked.

"Sure, we're friends, aren't we? That's what friends do."

"Well, okay, but…try not to use big words, all right? Games like this aren't really my style. I don't like to think on complicated things too much."

"No sweat," Tristan said, suddenly putting his arm around Joey's neck. "We can have Joey duel you, his mind's practically empty if he got mind controlled."

"Tristan…" Joey said irritably.

"I'll duel her. I've never even played the game before, but since the tournament will be over tomorrow, why don't we make a day out of it and we can all sit together and have fun."

"That does sound like fun," Mahiru said. "There's a game room on the third floor of Hope's Peak Academy. I'll talk to the staff about letting us in on a Sunday."

"You'll be there, Mahiru?" Serenity asked.

"Of course," Mahiru said, holding up her camera. "I always take pictures of events my friends are in. Ah, speaking of which." She suddenly took Serenity's picture.

"Ah!" Serenity gasped, mouth hung open a little.

Mahiru chuckled. "I'll take another one after the bandages come off, that way I can have a comparison photo and so can you."

"I bet I look really silly with these bandages on," Serenity said.

"A little, but they'll be off soon enough." Mahiru put a hand on Joey's shoulder. "The moment your big brother gets into his first tournament duel, you can take those silly things off and see him in action."

"Yeah," Serenity nodded, only for her stomach to growl. As if it set off a chain reaction, Joey, Yugi, Mahiru, and everyone's stomachs except Gundham and Sonia's started to gurgle a little.

"Man, dueling sure works up an appetite. I'm starving."

"Well, there's a pizza parlor not far from the pier," Mai said. "We can all eat there."

"Pizza?" Joey and Tristan shouted at the same time and began scrambling for the place.

"It's in the other direction!" Mai shouted, but the two buddies weren't listening. "Those simpletons." She chased after them.

"Wait for me!" Ibuki shouted, running after them.

"You guys don't seem like you're hungry," Mahiru said to Gundham and Sonia.

"We ate recently," Sonia said. "We'll meet you at the stadium."

"Though our paths diverge for now," Gundham said. "Our bonds are stronger than hell forged iron. We shall reconvene at the sacred battleground declared henceforth by the keeper of the great white dragon."

"Uh, could somebody translate?" Yugi asked.

"I think what he's saying is that even though we're splitting up now, we're all going to be meeting up again at the finals," Duke said.

"Are you taking off, Duke?" Yugi asked.

"Actually, if it's all right with you, I'd like to stick around," Duke said.

"Of course it is," Yugi said. "We're friends, right?"

"Heh, you know it," Duke said and he and Yugi bumped fists.

"Speaking of which, Duke," Mahiru said.

"Hmm? What is it, Mahiru?"

"I never said it properly back there cause things were really crazy, so I'll say it now," she smiled widely at Duke. "Thank you, Duke. I really appreciate what you did back there for Serenity and me."

"Ah, my sweet Mahiru," Duke said getting on one knee and taking her hand in his. "If it would please you, I would cross a sea of flames to rescue you once more."

Mahiru quickly jolted her hand away as Duke tried to kiss it. "Okay, that's taking it too far."

"But…Mahiru…"

"Look, I appreciate what you did for me, but that doesn't mean I like you like that," she said.

"Ah, playing hard to get, I can roll with that," Duke said as he placed his fingers on his chest and extended his other arm out to Mahiru. "But that will not keep me from my feelings, my dear Mahiru. You and I are already tied by the red string of fate."

"Uh huh, sure we are," Mahiru said dismissively and walked away. Duke looked crushed.

"Don't get down, Duke," Téa said. "You'll find a real girlfriend someday."

"Ah, but none of them will be as feisty or as straightforward as that one," Duke said. "I've decided I want to win Mahiru's heart, even if it kills me!"

Sonia squealed. "This is just like a romance anime."

"I don't really get it, but it sounds like things are getting exciting around here," Akane said. "Anyway, I'm off. I gotta go get Hiyoko. See you guys later!" Akane tore off down the road.

"I'll be taking off too," Ryota said, "Good luck in the finals, Sonia, Gundham, Yugi."

"You take care too, Ryota," Sonia said.

"Godspeed," Gundham said.

"Nice to meet you," Yugi said and then, with a nod, Ryota walked away.

"I'd better follow Akane," Nekomaru said. "She's likely to get lost without some direction and we're on a time limit. I'll see you guys later." Sonia and Gundham nodded to him. "Was nice meeting you," he said to Yugi and Téa.

"Nice meeting you too," Téa said.

"Same," Yugi added.

Nekomaru then headed off and then Yugi, Téa, Duke, Serenity, Sonia, and Gundham nodded to each other and followed after their friends.

While the situation had completely cooled down and Yugi and his friends would soon be enjoying several large pizza pies shared among them, the aftermath of Marik's botched plans hadn't yet ended.

After landing on a spacious rooftop, Kaiba and Celeste stood across from each other, the former's gaze intent and sour as he stared at the latter.

"I suppose you want to disqualify me for my actions. I honestly wouldn't blame you if you did," Celeste said.

"The thought had crossed my mind," Kaiba said.

"So, are you?" Celeste asked.

"That depends on your answers," Kaiba said.

"Then start asking questions," Celeste said.

"When and where did you get a Togami Corp EMP grenade?"

"Ah, that. After I helped Marik capture Joey, I scoped out the Rare Hunter's lair and then called the corporation headquarters, asking if they would have Byakuya make the transfer in person. They really are good at customer service," Celeste answered. "Marik had already told me his entire plan and I, for one, didn't want to see anyone get hurt, which reminds me, you'll still need to fix Yugi and Joey's duel disks."

"KaibaCorp technology doesn't break that easily," Kaiba said. "They'll fix themselves come the finals. Besides, I'll have my top programmer with me and I plan to give everyone's duel disks a tune-up before the finals begin anyway. Let's continue with another question, why did you work for Marik in the first place?"

"He offered me an interesting proposition, rare cards for Joey's defeat, which I later turned into his capture after I lost."

"You risked lives for rare cards?" Kaiba asked.

"Oh you're hardly one to talk, Kaiba. Tell me, why aren't there four Blue-Eyes White Dragons in circulation again?"

Kaiba looked startled. "How do you…?"

"Oh yes, Kaiba, I know all about your poor sportsmanship to Solomon Mutoh's Blue-Eyes. It was incredibly difficult to uncover and I only found out by chance, but before you call me shallow for a hunt for rare cards, you should examine your own dark history first."

"I've changed since then."

"Tell that to the internet," Celeste said with a chuckle.

Kaiba sweated a little. Celeste was holding a PR nightmare in her hands if he rubbed her the wrong way. "You aren't working for Marik now though, right?"

"Presently? No. I have no further plans in motion that collude with Marik. By your will, I simply intend to get two more locator cards and participate in the finals. Also, would you disqualify me after I so altruistically saved your brother and, at all times, never had any intention of letting Yugi or Joey die."

"That reminds me, what was the point of letting that death match go on? Why the cold-hearted bluff?"

"Let's just say that there was a question I had that only seeing that duel play out could answer. It's answered now."

"You took a big risk pretending as though you could kill them both with the push of a button."

"Sometimes, you have to take risks. You run a multi-national billion-dollar company. You should know all about risks, Kaiba."

"I suppose I do," Kaiba said with a smirk. "All right, Celeste, just one more question: what question were you trying to answer exactly?"

"That's not something you need to know," Celeste said. "Well," she smiled brightly, "Unless I wind up facing Yugi in the finals, then everyone will know."

"Interesting," Kaiba said with a smirk. "Were you testing Yugi's character?"

"Uh oh," Celeste chuckled. "Looks like I'm found out."

"Trying to see if he would take the victory or sacrifice himself for the sake of his loser friend, I must admit that's quite callous indeed. Were you hoping to use that for psychological warfare on the off-chance you'd duel him in the finals?"

Celeste chuckled. "I see your mind is as sharp as the fangs of your Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

"Interesting," Kaiba said. "All right, Celeste, here's how I'm going to handle the situation. Given that no one got hurt, the fact that you had a plan in mind to make sure no one got hurt and because you rescued Mokuba, it's your lucky day. I won't disqualify you."

"I am humbled by your mercy, Kaiba," Celeste said as though she were somehow still mocking him.

"Get back in the helicopter and I'll take you back to the ground. The finals start when 16 duelists make it to the meeting ground with six locator cards," Kaiba said. "You'll have to earn yourself a spot through your own merits. And then you can show me, if taking such a big risk and trying my patience was worth it."

Celeste smiled sweetly, a knife hidden behind it. "I aim to impress," she said.

"Then get in," Kaiba said.

"Of course," Celeste said, approaching the helicopter, "Thank you, Kaiba."

As the helicopter flew towards the ground, Celeste's smirk only grew wider. Two locator cards. Such a matter will be simple enough. I'll rip them off two no-name duelists and then I shall see you in the finals Yugi. She chuckled. Joey, you thought I was tough on you. Thanks to the cards I obtained from Marik, the punishment and merciless action I will take against Yugi will make our duel seem like a fond memory to you. Ahuhuhuhuhu. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

(A/N: Celeste, you devious little minx, you. And whoo boy this chapter too forever to complete. I've been at this sucker for three days in a row to try and get this whole subplot completed. I hope it was well worth it. I don't intend to do long chapters like this often, only when the situation calls for it.

Next time, we cut away from our heroes to resume focus on the only protagonists we have left that aren't yet qualified for the finals: Chiaki and Hajime. We'll follow them for 2 chapters and then the finals shall officially begin with chapter 29 for a set up chapter with chapter 30 being the first duel of the finals. Hedge your bets now. What duels do you want to see? What duels do you think you will see? And between Mai, Ibuki and Celeste who stands the best chance of getting in Joey's pants? Will Duke succeed in winning Mahiru's heart? You can only get the answers to those questions by continuing to read Dueling Trigger Finger. And, as always, until next time, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)