(A/N: So I wasn't planning on releasing this chapter this soon, but after getting stuck on File 12 of Astral Chain—FUCK CRIUS—and wrapping up everything I needed to do with Byleth on Smash in one post-work evening—FUCK CLASSIC MODE—I'm literally starved for anything to do until the final Fire Emblem Three Houses DLC comes out on the 12th. So, you guys get to relish in what I do when I'm bored on a Sunday. Yeah, I'm not a big sports fan so I didn't do anything for the super bowl besides write this. Enjoy, folks!)

"And that concludes my report of the situation," Noah told Kaiba. He had just finished briefing Kaiba on the incident last Saturday. It was currently Tuesday morning. In less than 48 hours, the tournament would officially begin.

"Our opponent is good if they managed to completely bypass your watchful eye," Kaiba said. "Unless there's something you're not telling me."

"Kaiba, I'm hurt," Noah replied, though he certainly didn't sound it. He then spoke rather curtly. "You and I may not always see eye to eye, but one thing is for certain: KaibaCorp was our father's company, and I will not let it crumble so long as I can."

Kaiba accepted Noah's declaration. Ever since Chihiro had installed Noah as Kaiba Corp's AI security system, there had been far fewer hacking attempts and even less corporate espionage that Kaiba wasn't able to be alerted to immediately.

"As I already said, whoever did this knows their software, perhaps even inventing it from scratch."

"And the possibility that it could be an inside job," Kaiba said.

"Why don't you relax and focus on watching over your tournament and getting Kaiba Land up and running. You leave following the trail back to our attacker to me," Noah told him.

"Sounds like a plan," Kaiba said and dismissed Noah's visual interface from his list of active programs. He then leaned back in his chair, brooding. He then called up Roland. "Roland, triple security tomorrow night for the preliminaries, both registration and observance."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba," Roland responded.

Kaiba then hung up on him. It was then he received a page from his receptionist. "Mr. Kaiba, there's a Celestia Ludenburg on the phone for you."

Ludenburg? What does she want? "Patch it through," Kaiba said, and hit the button for the speaker phone.

"Salutations, Kaiba. I trust the day is finding you well," Celeste said in a chipper tone.

"Time is money, Ludenburg. I don't have time for pleasantries."

"Quite, quite," Celeste said. "I was just reviewing the rules for this week's tournament and I'm afraid I have a problem."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "What sort of problem?"

"The tournament registration forms, under penalty of disqualification, require that a duelist register using their real name to prevent impersonation. Aliases will not be accepted," Celeste responded.

"That's correct," Kaiba stated. "What's wrong with it? It's for my company's security so I don't get more Marik Ishtars pretending to be Namus or Odions pretending to be Marik Ishtars."

"Yes, yes, I'm aware. However, I regret to inform you that this rule prevents me from competing."

"Excuse me?" Kaiba questioned.

"If you are going to be quite strict about something like that, then, as much as I would love to participate, I cannot abide by such a rule."

Kaiba's left eye twitched briefly. "You can't be serious."

"I'm quite serious."

"Ludenburg, you're only require to register your real name. There is a form for duelists willing to be referred to as—"

"I know what the form says, Kaiba," Celeste said, sounding a bit snappy. "But I cannot and will not write that name on a piece of paper."

Kaiba paused a moment. "Let me see if I'm understanding this. You're saying that you won't write your name down and that pride is keeping you out of my tournament."

"I'm saying that your background check is so thorough that I fear that Celestia Ludenburg would be kicked out of the tournament for perjury under your own strict rules. Make an exception for one, make an exception for all," Celeste said to him.

Kaiba sighed deeply. "What would you like me to do?"

"Excuse me?"

"My tournament is to feature some of the best duelists across the globe. If you're not competing, there's a problem."

The other end of the line was silent for a moment.

"Hello?"

Celeste finally answered. "Kaiba, are you saying you would bend the rules to allow me to compete?"

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying what would I have to do to allow you to compete?"

Celeste was, again, quiet. "I'm going to come by later with my form. I request that you redact my "name" with the thickest black marker you have on you. My name is Celestia Ludenburg and I will go to my grave with that name."

Kaiba smirked. "Well, if that's what it takes to get you in my tournament, so be it. I break for lunch in two hours. I'll have Mokuba waiting at the entrance. Just pass it off to him. He'll bring it right to my desk."

"Kaiba…I am in your debt. One day, I will repay it."

"You owe me nothing," Kaiba said. "This is just business."

"Perhaps to you, good sir, but to me, this is a matter of the utmost seriousness. One day, I will repay you for your generosity. I, Celestia Ludenburg, swear to it."

"Fine. Whatever. Are we done here?" Kaiba asked.

"Quite," Celeste said, and hung up.

Kaiba sighed, swept his hands over his face and leaned with his elbows against his desk. I swear if that phone rings within the next thirty seconds…

Brrrrrt! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!

Kaiba groaned and picked up the phone. "Yes?" He listened to the other end. "A little bit. Did you need something?" He listened for a while to the person on the other end. "I don't think that will be necessary. I'm going to make sure that, unlike Battle City, the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix is freakshow-free." He listened again to the person on the other end and then they quickly hung up.

That… Kaiba sighed and ran his hand down his face. I will never understand her sometimes.

The next day, in the afternoon, Hajime was surprised when Kaiba entered his office. He immediately rose from his desk. "S-sir?"

"Go home, Hinata."

Hajime thought his heart was going to stop. "Go…home? Am I…f-f-fired?"

Kaiba laughed. "No, nothing of the sort, but if you don't leave now you won't have time to prepare for tonight."

"Prepare for…oh! The preliminaries. …Wait! You're letting me go home early?"

Kaiba nodded, giving Hajime a serious stare. "I'm only saying this once and if you tell anyone I said this, I'll deny it. Aside from Chiaki, you're the only person in this tournament I believe deserves to face Yugi and win the entire tournament."

Hajime couldn't believe his ears. That was high praise from Kaiba. "Isn't that a bit biased?"

"Maybe, but your dueling record and determination speak for themselves. I hear you've been improving your deck little by little. You nearly beat Yugi with just a bunch of cards you could throw together. Imagine what your dream deck is capable of," Kaiba stated.

That's…a good point, Hajime thought. And with the benefit of hindsight, he added, remembering his loss to the Stern Mystic, I suppose I do have a decent shot at it.

"I'm not saying any of this to make you get cocky. I'm saying this because I don't want to see you blow it in front of the entire world. You're not just an Ultimate Duelist, you're also an employee of Kaiba Corp. The only one, in fact, competing in the tournament at all. I want you at your best and I'm not taking no for an answer. Take the afternoon off, double check your deck and your duel disk, get a shower, get to the preliminaries. That's an order."

"Yes, sir!" Hajime exclaimed. "What about…?"

"If you have anything in progress, Noah and I will handle it." There was a hint of a growl to Kaiba's voice as he said. "Now get going."

Hajime nodded and left without another word. Kaiba, curious, stepped around behind Hajime's desk to see what he was working on. Hmm, he's ahead of schedule after the demo. Impressive. When I hired Hinata, I honestly wasn't sure he'd be as useful as he's been, but he's proven himself to have more skill than just dueling. Hinata, don't disappoint me tonight or tomorrow.

That night, Hajime arrived along with all of the other preliminary duelists to a big, fancy showroom with Chiaki in tow.

"I wonder if there's anyone here worth meeting," Chiaki said. "You know, from other countries."

"It'd be a bit hard to talk to them, don't you think?" Hajime asked, taking the language barrier into account.

"Most duelists at this level that can't speak a language in a country for a tournament usually bring an interpreter," Chiaki said.

"Hajime! Chiaki!" A girl with red hair in a yellow skirt, and a yellow coat over a white blouse came charging up to them, skidding to a halt. She then gave a peace sign with the biggest, competitive, toothy grin either one had seen. "Yo!"

"Oh, Kotomi," Chiaki said with a smile. "I didn't realize you were competing."

Kotomi put her knuckles to her hips and laughed. "Kaiba invited a lot of people from Hope's Peak to this event. Course, I don't expect all of us to make it to the finals."

"I thought you were just a casual duelist," Hajime said. "You didn't even compete in Battle City."

Kotomi gave her V for Victory pose again. "That was before this past Spring. Even since you got transferred in, I've been competing non-stop all over Japan. And I finally managed to make something of myself. You're looking at the Kawasaki regional champion!"

"Wow, that's really impressive Kotomi," Chiaki said. "I'm sure President Murasame must be really proud of you."

Kotomi's cheeks turned the color of her hair as she poked her fingers together. "I…well…I haven't told him. I kind wanted to surprise him."

"He doesn't know you competed?" Hajime asked.

"He's so busy, you know?" Kotomi asked, shaking her head, shrugging. "That boy needs a break. Luckily, I convinced him to watch the tournament. I told him it'd be fun. I can convince him to do anything if I get a bit pushy."

More like he's too nice to say no, Hajime thought

A girl suddenly pushed her way through the crowd with a tray of food. She had two different colored eyes and was wearing a Pikachu hoodie. She almost tripped as she stumbled towards Hajime, Kotomi and Chiaki. "Waaa!"

"Easy there, Aiko. Don't trip," Kotomi said.

"Hey! I didn't just go running off for no reason. That was mean Kotomi!" Aiko complained.

"Aiko? Why are you here?" Hajime asked.

Aiko shoved the plate of food into Kotomi's stomach as the girl lurched forward, but took the plate to start eating. It was she that was hungry after all.

Aiko closed her blue eye and made a rectangle with her index fingers and thumbs, looking through them with her green. "Indeed, how does one make themselves the star in a tournament like this?"

Kotomi swallowed an chicken meatball. "Just tell 'em you won the Saitama regionals."

"I was trying to be dramatic!" Aiko protested.

"Anyone else from your class make it?" Hajime asked.

"Yup, Miaka got in. She wouldn't tell us why though," Aiko said.

"Is she cosplaying like always?" Chiaki asked.

"Oh, she said she'd be here pretty close to registration," Kotomi said. "You know how much she's not a people person."

Could've fooled me considering last time, Hajime thought.

"H-hey! Look who it is!"

Chiaki and Hajime turned while Aiko and Kotomi looked over their shoulders. Chiaki brightened up when she saw Yugi and his usual group of friends heading towards them. "Yugi! Joey! And everyone else! Good to see you all!"

"Oh, wow! Chiaki, it's been forever," Téa said, walking up to her. "How's the baby?"

"Oh, Izuru's fine. Miss Yukizome will be here soon, so we left him with Mahiru to babysit," Chiaki said with a smile and a blush.

"He's gonna be with us tomorrow after the opening ceremony though," Hajime said. "As long as Chiaki and I aren't dueling, one of us can look after him."

"Awww, I bet he's cute. I wanted to see pictures, but I'm guessing you guys didn't bring any."

Both Chiaki and Hajime smiled nervously, chuckling inadvertently.

"Who're they?" Joey asked.

"Oh, right. I suppose you guys haven't met them before. They're upperclassmen," Yugi said. He gestured to Kotomi. "This is Kotomi Ikuta, of Class 77-A. She's the Ultimate Cheerleader."

"Oh, wow. I love cheerleading!" Téa exclaimed.

"Really? You don't do it at school," Joey brought up.

"Hey, not every type of cheer has to come from a sporting event." Kotomi pounded her puffy chest with a firm fist. "As long as your cheers come from the heart, reach their intended audience, and have an impact on them, you can cheer anywhere." Kotomi raised her finger above her head towards the ceiling. "And my cheers reach the sky and beyond! The perfect cheer can affect the entire world and even rock the cosmos! YEAH!" She exclaimed pumping her fist. "I feel fired up already!"

"Wow! Miho feels energetic just listening to you," Miho said, pumping her fists cheerfully and dancing in place.

"I'll say. I think you've got enough energy to power this entire building."

Kotomi folded her arms proudly. "I'll take that as a compliment," she said with a big grin.

"And this," Yugi said, gesturing to Aiko, "Is Aiko Umesawa. She's the Ultimate Movie Director."

"Movie director?" Tristan inquired. "Wait! I've seen you before. You're—"

"Yup!" Aiko winked. "The one and only Pika-Girl!"

"Oh! Yeah! You're that internet personality with all the high quality low budget films!" Téa exclaimed. "Ohhhh, I still cry whenever I watch Nightlights in a Crowd."

Aiko laughed happily. "I'm so glad to meet a fan. It really makes it all worth it." She puffed her cheeks. "Now if only somebody would watch the movie of mine I recommended like he promised," she said, looking at Yugi.

"I-I-I've been busy," Yugi said nervously. "Tell you what, I promise I'll watch it Friday if you make it past the preliminaries tonight."

"You promise?" Aiko asked, looking less like a Pikachu and more like a squirrel.

"I promise," Yugi said nervously.

"Okay!" Aiko exclaimed, taking Yugi at his word.

"Man, you meet all sorts of people at Hope's Peak, huh?" Téa asked, finding it interesting that Yugi had people he was on good terms with beyond just his own class and Hajime's.

"It's a great school. I really wish I could share it with you more," Yugi said.

"Hey, don't sweat it," Téa said. "After the tournament, I say you and I hang out on Sunday, just the two of us."

"You know," Yugi said. "I'd like that."

"Yoohoo!"

And there went all of Téa's joy from her heart into her stomach.

Junko and Mukuro emerged from the crowd. "Well, seems like everyone's all gathered up. Quite the turn out," Junko said.

"You've already sized up the competition then?" Hajime asked her.

Junko nodded. "Yeah, and most of them don't seem like much of a challenge." She stretched. "I'm gonna fly through this tournament."

"What about you, Mukuro?" Yugi asked her.

"Me?" she asked, surprised by the question. "Oh. No. I'm not competing." She bowed. "Despite my performance the other day at the Kaiba Dome, Mr. Kaiba believes that, given my lack of a professional track record, it could be chalked up to extremely good luck."

"What?" Joey snapped. "You gotta be kidding me! Where's Rich Boy? I'll clock him until he changes his mind!"

Mukuro shook her head. "Please do not trouble yourself on my account. I agree with Kaiba's decision. The incident at the dome was only possible because I was at my absolute best focus. That is not a skill I intend to use in front of a live, filmed audience. Please understand."

Junko nodded multiple times. "She's not wrong. Big sis' dueling ability is pretty bad when she's not laser focused. When you see Makoto, you can ask him yourself. He's dueled her enough times."

"Speaking of Makoto, where is he?" Yugi asked.

"Dunno," Junko said. "Trust me, if we'd seen him, Mukuro wouldn't still be following me." She elbowed her sister in the stomach. "Isn't that right, you flat-chested deviant?"

Mukuro gave no response other than a stern clearing of her throat.

As it happened, poor Makoto was having a bit of transportation trouble. While pedaling to registration on his bike, the chain had completely shattered. After a futile attempt to repair it, he was now really behind schedule and was likely going to be late and, therefore, disqualified. He'd tried calling Kaiba, but every time he did, he was getting a poor connection. And, after the third time, he just stopped trying.

Feeling defeated, Makoto was thinking about just heading home and forgetting the tournament when a pair of bright car lights came up over the horizon and rolled towards him and his broken bike. The car came to a stop and a familiar face stepped out.

"Makoto? That you, kid?"

"Oh, Mai!" Makoto exclaimed, recognizing the blonde on sight.

"What's the matter? You looked like a cat that just got kicked out of its home for good," Mai said to him.

"Oh, well, you see, my bike chain broke and now I'm really behind schedule for the Kaiba Corp tournament registration," Makoto said.

"Oh! What a coincidence. I was just on my way," Mai said.

"What? Really?" Makoto gasped. He figured Mai might be in the tournament, but he wasn't going to assume.

"I had to run some errands before heading over, but I'm good now. Hop in. I think we have enough time to drop your bike off at a repair shop."

"Oh, no. Actually, I'd rather let someone from my school fix it. He's really good with bikes," Makoto said.

"Oh, well suit yourself, less time spent on the road. Here, let me help you get that thing in the trunk," Mai said.

Mai and Makoto lifted the latter's bike into Mai's trunk. Makoto then got into the front passenger's seat of Mai's car.

"Well, I suppose this counts as my good deed for the day," Mai said, putting the car back in drive before cruising down the road. She then laughed to herself.

"What's so funny?" Makoto asked.

"Nothing, just thinking about something. A couple of years ago, if I saw a kid your age down on his luck, I would've just driven by without a care, but ever since Duelist Kingdom, I've really eased up on the whole "looking out only for number one" thing," Mai said to him.

"It just feels good to help people," Makoto said with a smile.

"And have friends," Mai said.

Makoto nodded. "Yeah, that too."

Mai chuckled. "Well, I might giving you a ride now, Makoto, but come tonight, we're competition. Don't expect me to go easy on you, kiddo."

"I wouldn't ask any less of you," Makoto said. "I won't go easy on you either."

Makoto, Mai, and all of the other competitors that didn't arrive early, got there with enough time to spare before the opening ceremonies. All duelists were then escorted into a special room and given a number so that they could line up in a specific order. Then, once they were led through a pair of doors, they were shown off on stage to all the news reporters and journalists that had come to cover the event.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Roland announced to the dark room, stage lights aside, "May I have your attention please? These day will go down in history! For today begins the most prestigious duel tournament ever to be organized! Welcome to the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix! We've circled the globe to bring you this all-star congregation of duelists. Thanks to our efforts, you see over 8 thousand duelists before you. But tonight, only 32 will advance to compete in tomorrow's tournament!"

"Whoa, that many eliminated?" Téa wondered, whispering to her friends.

"Ladies and gentlemen, arm your duel disks! Your competition stands next to you! Pick your opponents and duel with all of your heart! As soon as you finish one duel, restore your life points and move onto another opponent. When we have only 32 duelists left, the preliminaries will be over!"

"That means if you deliberately hold off on winning a duel, you could increase your chances of not having to duel as many people," Yugi realized.

"Yes, but that also increases your chances of letting your opponent take advantage of your stalling. Thirty-two of these people will be our potential challengers, Yugi," Yami said. "We should watch carefully."

Yugi nodded.

For more than 5 hours, going almost to 2 in the morning, the potential finalists dueled their heart out to try and claim a spot in the preliminaries.

"It's not just about strength. It's about stamina!" Kotomi exclaimed at one point. "Let's go Cataclysmic Scorching Sunburner!" An Asura with red skin and wielding a massive flaming sword appeared as it used said sword to then incinerate her opponent's life points directly, fueled by the flames of her recently destroyed Fire King High Avatar Gairunix. "Incinerate!"

Her opponent, with only 1,200 life points left was soundly defeated.

"Resetting life total!" Kotomi exclaimed. "Shuffling deck!" It took her all about a few seconds to do both. "All right, who's next?"

Elsewhere in the crowd, Gamaciel and Dogoran appeared on opposite sides of the battlefield simultaneously, only for a giant hammer to smash Dogoran like a pest. This was quickly followed by a direct attack from Gamaciel. And it was all courtesy of Aiko.

She yawned. "Pikaaaaa…" she stretched. "Chuuuuu. Need…coffee." She yawned again, hoping this was over soon.

"Red-Eyes! Inferno Fire Blast!" Joey's voice was unmistakable in the crowd.

"Blackland Void Dragon! Void Gale Blast!" And so was Hajime's.

"Everyone's really trying their hardest, huh?" Yugi asked Yami.

Yami nodded.

"See Junko anywhere?" Yugi asked, unable to spot her.

Yami pointed to where Junko was committing a first turn kill with Frightfur Wolf. Yugi stared in shock. "Whoa, she's really good."

"Her deck has changed entirely since our duel," Yami said. "Before she used nothing but darkness monsters."

"But the Orichalcos was influencing her then, right?" Yugi asked.

"I suppose you are right."

"Oh, here you are, Yugi," Téa said, joining him up in the high rising spectator's balcony.

"Oh, hi Téa," Yami said.

"We uh, haven't really had a chance to talk since you left with Junko last week, huh?"

"I…suppose not," Yami replied.

Téa approached the edge of the balcony and scanned for Joey, watching him duel his heart out against Abe the monkey duelist.

"Joey's really trying hard out there," Téa said.

Yami nodded. "I'd be honored for a rematch with Joey if he wins the tournament."

Téa's eyes looked sad. "But he won't, will he?"

"Téa, how can you say that?"

"Chiaki and Hajime are ultimates," she said, looking at their respective duels. "Not to mention Yukizome's an amazing duelist. Does Joey really have a chance? He lost his rematch to Celeste."

Yugi shifted into control. "Téa, what are you saying? This isn't like you. You've always had faith in your friends."

Téa grabbed her wrist and looked away from Yugi. "Hey…Yugi? Are Ultimates just…better people?"

"What? Where's this coming from?"

"It's just…I've seen how well you get along with Junko and Hina, not to mention Makoto and Celeste. Do you…really need us anymore? Are Joey, Tristan, Miho, Bakura and I…are we just in the way?"

Yugi gasped. "What? Téa, how can you say that?"

Téa felt a lump in her throat and choked on a tear as it rolled down her cheek, balling her fist. "It just feels like, ever since you started attending Hope's Peak, you've been slipping away from us. I don't…I just…"

Téa was reassured by Yugi putting his hand on top of hers. "I'm not going anywhere, Téa. You guys mean the world to me. I mean yeah, we haven't spent a lot of time together, but I promised I'd hang out with you Sunday, right? And that's a promise."

Téa moved her hand, but only to place it on top of Yugi's. She laced her fingers in between his, gripping it. Yugi blushed. Her hand was warm.

"Téa…your hand."

"I know," Téa said. "I just…can I leave it there…for a little while?"

"I…guess so," Yugi said.

The two continued to watch the duels together. "Where are Tristan, Miho and Bakura?" Yugi asked.

"They went home. It's late, Yugi," Téa said, sounding a little better. "But, I couldn't just leave. I wanted to support Joey and…I…um…no never mind."

"What? What is it?"

"I said never mind!" Téa exclaimed, avoiding looking at Yugi because of the huge blush on her face.

"Téa, you can talk to me," Yugi said. "You're important to me, okay? If you're having a problem, I'll listen."

Téa's chest clenched like it was caught in a vice. "Do you promise? No matter what…I can tell you anything?"

Yugi nodded.

Téa stared at the balcony ledge. "When the Pharaoh dueled Junko…right before her soul got taken away…she kissed him. She stared right at me, like she was trying to make a point."

"What?" Yugi gasped. He heard Junko and Yami kissed, but not the circumstances.

"I think Junko likes you, and I think she thinks that I'm in the way," Téa said.

"Téa, that's silly, you're being paranoid," Yugi said. "I'd never let Junko come between us. Regardless of who I form a relationship with in the future, I'd refuse to let them tell me that I couldn't be friends with someone I'm already friends with. I could never be with someone like that."

"Really?" Téa asked. "You…you aren't like…super interested in Junko or anything? You're…still open to…other people?"

"Well, I…" Yugi reached his hand up behind his head and blushed, giggling and smiling nervously.

"Would you date me?" Téa asked.

The blush on Yugi's face made it seem like his brain was overloading. At this, Téa smiled. She gave Yugi a hug. His face snuggled right into her chest. "I haven't been around you in so long…I've forgotten just how sweet you are."

Yugi was barely able to listen to Téa as he was a blushing mess. His eyes and nose were being presented a lovely bounty, softer and warmer than anything that had come before it.

Téa let go of Yugi and held him by his shoulders. "Yugi…I…" However, just as Téa was starting to bend at the knees, and Yugi about to stand on his tiptoes, a loud signal horn blared through the air, killing the mood.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Roland exclaimed. "May I have your attention please? We are now down to 32 duelists. All finalists, please closed your duel disks and eject your decks."

Joey sunk to his knees. "Oh man, that was close." He had only 200 life points left.

"It's to be expected," Rebecca said, adjusting her glasses by the frames, still 2,100 life points strong. "I am a genius after all."

"You're tellin' me," Joey said, getting to his feet. "For a little blonde twerp, you're pretty good."

"I'm twelve thank you very much," Rebecca said, sticking out her tongue.

"And? My sister's 13 and she's way more mature than you," Joey said.

"You know what? It's fine. Doesn't matter. I'm in the finals," Rebecca said, patting herself on the back metaphorically. "And when I win the tournament, I'm going to propose that Yugi be my boyfriend in front of the entire world."

"Oh please, if anyone is going to be Yugi's girlfriend, it's going to be me," Vivian Wong declared, strutting up towards both duelists. "We'll have a grand wedding surrounded by bamboo and nature!"

From the back of the dueling floor, Junko glared at both women. Téa is one thing, but unfiltered garbage will not be tolerated. Yugi is mine, she thought.

Her thoughts of despair were interrupted by the sound of a motorized wheelchair. "Big sis, are you okay?"

Junko looked down at the green haired elementary schooler in the wheelchair. She ruffled her head. "I'm fine, Monaca. Can't glare too hard or it'll give me wrinkles."

Monaca giggled and hugged Junko's arm, nuzzling it. "I made it into the finals, big sis. Are you proud of me?"

"Perfect," Junko said, arms folded. She turned towards the crowd. "I knew I could count on you, Monaca. Any word on the hacking from the other day?"

Monaca shook her head. "Nope. I used all the Towa Corp software I could to get an answer, but it's hard without being able to access the Kaiba Corp database from the inside and I don't want to get in trouble."

Junko smiled in resignation, nodding. "I suppose that's to be expected. But don't worry, we'll have our back door soon enough."

Monaca giggled, giving a creepy smile that only Junko could appreciate. She then gasped. "Oh! I had Mr. Kitty do a sweep of the area with his ring power." Mr. Kitty was Monaca's nickname for Bakura and Yami Bakura because of their fluffy looking hair.

"You did, huh?" Junko asked, putting a hand over her face. "And? Anything?"

"It was hard to pinpoint in all the chaos, but whoever did do the hacking job is here at the tournament and they're probably still competing," Monaca told her.

Junko grinned. "Interesting. Well, it's way past your bed time. We should go." She grabbed the handles of Monaca's wheelchair.

"Right, sleepy time for tomorrow," Monaca said and nodded off in her own wheelchair.

To allow the duelists to gain the proper amount of sleep, proceedings weren't starting until 11am tomorrow. Kaiba was prepared to extend the tournament for several days if that was what it took to get through everything.

Yugi and Téa headed down onto the floor to check on Joey, leading Rebecca to hug Yugi.

"I made it too, Yugi. Aren't you proud of me?"

Téa glared at Rebecca. Junko was one thing, but Rebecca was entirely another. That girl would not get her hands anywhere close to Yugi.

"Y-yeah, g-good job, Rebecca," Yugi said, barely louder than Rebecca's purring.

"Okay, that's enough," Téa said, forcefully separating them. "It's way past everyone's bed time."

"I hear that. Yug, you think I could crash at your place? It's closer and then we can leave for the tournament tomorrow."

"Sure," Yugi nodded. "Do you want to stay over too, Téa?"

"S-stay over. At…your house?" Téa blushed.

"Hey! I wanna stay over! I wanna stay over!" Rebecca pouted, arms flailing.

"Well, I suppose I have enough room for three guests," Yugi said, grinning nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

Elsewhere in the room, Mai approached Makoto. "How'd you make out?"

Makoto nodded. "I made it in to tomorrow. Thank you, Mai. I owe you one," Makoto told her, face full of conviction.

Mai smiled. "It's no trouble, kiddo. You wanna say goodbye to Kaiba or are you ready to get some sleep?"

Makoto nodded. "We can go. I'm sure I'll have a chance to see Kaiba tomorrow. Plus, it's really late."

"You got it," Mai said with a smile. The two unknowingly passed by Hajime and a sleepy Chiaki.

"Tired," Chiaki said. "Carry me."

Hajime knelt down for Chiaki to get on his back. She fell asleep almost immediately.

Yukizome approached them both. "You guys make it?"

"Yeah, we're good," Hajime nodded. "Chiaki's wiped though. Any chance we could ride with you back to campus?"

"Not a problem," Yukizome said with a smile.

"Up high!" Kotomi exclaimed, going over to Aiko as the two slapped five. "Finalist spot get!"

"Are you sure you're going to be able to sleep for tomorrow?" Aiko asked her.

"Sleep is for the weak!" Kotomi exclaimed, raising an arm to the ceiling. "I'm…" she yawned. "So full of…" she yawned again. "fighting…nah…spirit."

"You're winded," Aiko said to her. "As am I. Come on, I'll get us a taxi."

Little by little the hall emptied out. Duelists and reporters alike vanished from the building before Kaiba ordered his men to kill the lights.

"Are you going to be ready for tomorrow, sir?" Roland asked him.

"You let me worry about me," Kaiba said crossly. "And I'll be ready."

"Yes, sir. Am I dismissed for the night then?" Roland asked. He was tired too, but had the professionalism not to look it."

"Dismissed, Roland," Kaiba said.

"Sir!" Roland exclaimed.

Kaiba stepped outside and went around back, walking north a block to find Mikan sleeping on a bench. "T-Tsumiki?"

Mikan woke with a jolt. "E-eep! Uh oh…" she giggled, looking more embarrassed than upset. "Busted."

"What are you doing here?" Kaiba asked, bewildered.

"Well, I…when I heard that the preliminaries were going to carry on in to the early morning, I came and brought this," Mikan took a thermos out of her apron. "H-here."

Kaiba took the thermos. It was warm. "What's this?"

"Um, warm fish and noodle soup," Mikan said. "You know, in case you have trouble sleeping. I was waiting around here, figuring you'd pass by on your way back since I didn't see your limo or your jet parked anywhere. But I got so tired I dozed off myself. Oopsie."

Kaiba was dumbfounded. "You were waiting in the middle of a public street, on a bench, just to give me soup?"

Mikan looked miserable all of a sudden. "I know, what was I thinking? I'm being a bother again, aren't I? I should've never come, right?"

Kaiba sighed. "No, that's not what I…why did you even want to do something like that? Why go through all of the trouble?"

Mikan was surprised by the question. "Huh? Why? Um…because I want to?" She said, interrogatively. "Isn't that why anyone does anything?"

She was dodging the question and Kaiba knew it, but he was too tired to press. He sighed. "Fine, if it makes you happy, I'll take the soup," Kaiba said, tucking it under his arm. "How do you plan to get back to Hope's Peak?"

"Huh? Oh. I was just going to…walk?" Mikan only now realized how cold and in the dead of night it was. She giggled nervously. "You're not going to let me, are you?"

"No. No I am not." Kaiba said curtly. He pulled out his phone. "Roland?"

"Mr. Kaiba. Something wrong?"

"I'll be needing an escort for two back to Kaiba Corp. Have one sent to my exact location."

"Yes, sir. Understood," Roland said and then Kaiba hung up.

"Huh? Kaiba Corp?" Mikan questioned.

"Let's just say I'm good at reading people," Kaiba said. "If you felt left out of the proceedings, you could've just said so."

"What? N-no no no!" Mikan protested. "This was…I was just…"

"You're a terrible liar when your flustered, Tsumiki."

Mikan looked down and away from Kaiba, tears looking like they might well up any second.

"I doubt they'll be any need for your talent during the tournament, but if you want to be the on-call nurse that badly, I suppose I can let you."

Mikan glanced up at Kaiba. "R-really?" she squeaked, tears forming. "I'm not…being annoying?"

"Well, you are rather persistent, but no, you're not annoying." Kaiba folded his arms, smirking. "Better to have and not need than to need and not have as the saying goes."

"Kaiba…" Mikan sniffed.

"You're not going to use my shirt as a tissue. Pull yourself together," Kaiba demanded.

"Ah, y-yes!" Mikan exclaimed, startled. Her tears vanished instantly.

As she and Kaiba stood there, waiting for their ride, a cold wind blew past for a summer night. Kaiba noticed Mikan's legs shaking. Without a word, he removed his blue suit jacket and draped it around her. "Better?" he asked.

Mikan blushed. She wanted to speak, but the words were stuck in her throat. She was too surprised.

When the car arrived, Kaiba let Mikan in first and then sat next to her. He folded his arms and closed his eyes, pretending to be deep in thought, but really, he was nodding off sitting up.

Kaiba then felt a weighted Thunk against his shoulder, followed by deep, audible breathing. Mikan was asleep again, her cheek pressed into his shoulder. Kaiba didn't even move and they both slept the entire way back to his office.

The opening ceremony to the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix was nothing short of what one might expect from Kaiba. It was over the top, loud, and had a gigantic crowd. Tens of thousands of people were in the stands, with friends and family of the remaining 32 contestants getting priority seating.

It was 10:55 when Tristan came by with a jumbo popcorn, three hot dogs and a 32 oz soda.

"Please tell me that's not all for you," Téa sighed.

"Huh? No. This hot dog's for Bakura," He said, passing it off. "This one's for you," he said, handing it for Téa. "And the last one and the popcorn are for Miho and me to split."

"Awww, Tristain," Miho said, cuddling up to him.

"Hey, watch the PDA, you two, we're near the cameras," Téa told them.

Miho immediately sat up, but still took a bite out of the hot dog as Tristan offered it to her as he raised it in its boat. He then wiped the ketchup and mustard off of Miho's smiling face.

"Sorry, excuse me! Pardon me!" Serenity suddenly pushed her way through the crowd. "Phew. Made it."

"Cutting it awfully close, aren't you, Serenity?" Téa asked.

"Sorry, Mr. Hongou called me early this morning and said he needed to see me," Serenity said.

"Hongou? I thought you said your teacher's name was Ms. Kananami," Tristan said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh! Mr. Hongou is a scientist that works for Hope's Peak's R and D department," Serenity explained. "He's responsible for evaluating the main course talents and seeing about students in the reserve course that show potential to switch courses."

"And, what did he want with you?" Tristan asked.

"Just a formal checkup and a review of my grades," Serenity said with a smile. "Apparently I'm really healthy!"

"Well that's good," Bakura said. "I'm sure Joey will be happy when he hears that."

"Speaking of big brother, where is he?" Serenity asked.

Tristan pointed to the floor. "Kaiba's got all the finalists in a holding area below ground level so they can be introduced for some grand ceremony. Junko texted us about that a little while ago."

"Junko's here?" Serenity asked.

"Didn't Joey tell you?" Tristan asked. "She's competing."

"Oh, right. I guess I forgot," Serenity said. She smiled nervously and let out a nervous chuckle. "So, how much time before—"

Celebratory horns sounded and cerulean and white fire works erupted into the air. Serenity, realizing her question had been answered before she could finish asking it, sat back in her seat with her hands placed in her lap. The tournament was about to begin.

The floor peeled away as a platform was raised from under the ground and 33 duelists—the finalists plus Yugi—were shown off to the entire crowd, duel disks worn properly and securely.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Roland announced. "It is my honor to give to you our master of ceremony. Please welcome young Mokuba Kaiba!"

From the air, a Kaiba Corp helicopter dropped a rope ladder and Mokuba descended, skipping the last few steps and landing on one knee. "Good morning Kaiba Dome! Are you ready for the best tournament you've ever seen?"

The crowd roared and cheered.

"I said, are you ready for the best tournament you've ever seen?" Mokuba asked louder, pumping his fist.

The crowd cheered louder.

"All right! Then without further ado! Let's meet our competitive finalists!"

Mokuba stood in front of a guy around Yugi and Joey's age wearing a red cap that covered his eyes with goggles strapped to the hat. He had brown hair and a slightly tanner than white complexion. He wore a black shirt and jeans.

"He's the undefeated vagabond of Duel Monsters who speaks through his actions rather than his words. Give it up for Ace Konami!"

True to his description, Ace waved with just a smile and no sound from his lips.

Mokuba continued to step up in front of each contestant as he announced them, starting with Junko.

"You know her face from magazines and commercials, but did you also know she could duel? Let's hear it for Junko Enoshima, Hope's Peak's Ultimate Fashionista!"

Junko blew kisses to the audience and waved with both hands wildly above her head to get attention.

"All the way from Germany, please welcome the national champion: Zigfried Lloyd!" Mokuba exclaimed.

Zigfried turned to the side and sniffed his silver rose as he threw out his magnificent pink hair. He then tossed the flower to a lucky lady in the audience. She swooned as she stared up at him.

"Also from Germany, we have the undefeated junior's division champion: Leon Wilson!" Mokuba exclaimed.

Leon stood proudly in front of the crowd and then waved at some of his friends here in Japan that waved back from the audience.

"Next," Mokuba said, standing in front of a man wearing a bandana with eye holes cut into it as a mask. "We have the mysterious masked duelist Abdnarg Otum!"

The crowd cheered despite no one really knowing him, but Yugi stared at him in phantasmal form with bewilderment. "Don't we know that guy?" he asked Yami. Yami could only chuckle.

"Next comes a duelist whose more comfortable taking on dirt than cards, but her skill cannot be denied. Please welcome to her first ever high-profile tournament: Chisa Yukizome, Hope's Peak's Ultimate Housekeeper alumnus!"

"Kyouske!" Chisa called, hoping he could see her waving. Her boyfriend did, waving back from the audience without rising from his seat. Yukizome's eyes were closed so it was clear she was just doing it to get his attention.

Oh drat, she made it in, Téa thought. Joey's chances just torpedoed as far as she was concerned.

"Also joining us from Hope's Peak, many of you have seen her movies, but none of you have seen her moves! She's the new Saitama Regionals champion and she'll bring a shock to your system! It's everyone's favorite Pika-Girl, the one, the only, Aiko Umesawa!"

Aiko waved her hands high above her head with an adorable smile on her face, hoping her parents could see her. Her fans exploded with cheer, especially when she gave her famous "director's pose", which consisted of her making a rectangle with her fingers and looking through it, while going "Kachu!"

"KACHU!" Many of her fans exclaimed, mimicking her.

"And for Hope's Peak the ball just keeps on rolling! He might not look like much, but looks can be deceiving! A former finalist in Battle City and a good argument ever that luck's a part of skill. It's Makoto Naegi! Class 78's Ultimate Lucky Student!"

Makoto nervously scratched his cheek with his finger. He felt a bit embarrassed being in the spotlight.

"You can do it, Makoto!" Sayaka cheered from the audience.

Mukuro raised a banner above her head that just said "Makoto Is the Best" in sloppily painted kanji. It was just blank ink on a rectangular white board. She said nothing. The banner did her talking for her.

Also in the audience, Makoto's sister was his loudest supporter as ever. "YEAH! ALL RIGHT MAKOTO! WOOHOO!"

Makoto didn't know what was more embarrassing, standing up here like a big shot, or the fact that he could pluck his sister from a crowd.

"Glad to see everyone's so excited cause here's someone who's always excited. In most events she's the supporting role, but today she takes center stage. Please welcome the regional champion of Kawasaki and Hope's Peak's Ultimate Cheerleader: Kotomi Ikuta!"

"GUTS!" Kotomi exclaimed, rising her fist into the air like she was delivering an uppercut.

"HUH?" Soshun Murasame exclaimed from the audience.

"It would appear you have been deceived," Madarai said, sitting next to him.

Sosuke Ichino, an upperclassmen and fellow student council member with the same hair and eye color as Kotomi, slapped Murasame repeatedly on the shoulder. "No wonder she said not to save a seat for her. Boy do you feel stupid," Ichino laughed.

Murasame, never one to not laugh at someone else's joke, gave a mirthless laugh.

Matsuda, having been dragged along by members of his class, turned the page of the manga in his hand. "I believe Ikuta is attempting to impress you, president."

This only made Ichino laugh louder.

"Now, now, let's not make assumptions of others Matsuda. You have a bad habit of that," Murasame said politely.

"It's not an assumption if it's the truth," Matsuda remarked.

Mursame had no response.

"Still, this is certainly like the Vice President to pull a stunt like this," Madarai stated.

"I suppose that's true," Mursame said. He had every intention to watch Kotomi intently. He would be cheering for her as best he could.

"Stepping away from Hope's Peak a moment, while she might look like a child, she's a devious user of the dark attribute feared across many playgrounds, public parks and school districts. She's the one, the only Ramona Shibakura!"

The crowd was floored when the person in question was a cute little high school girl shorter than Rebecca Hawkins with blonde hair, her white and blue school uniform and beads in her hair creating the tiniest of twin tails on the sides of her head.

She blushed and went full moe on the crowd. "I'm not very experienced, but I'll do my best."

For the suckers in the audience, they began dropping like Dorito encrusted flies over how cute she was. To everyone else, confusion sprang up. How was someone like this supposed to have the reputation Mokuba just described?

"And right back to Hope's Peak we go. He might be a bit eccentric and difficult to comprehend, but many who duel him barely get past the first turn. He's what happens when the term "All or nothing" grows legs. It's Class 77-B's Ultimate Lucky Student: Nagito Komaeda."

Nagito just smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Nagito?!" Hajime exclaimed. Nagito hadn't even told him he was competing, let alone that he'd made it into the finals.

Chiaki laughed happily.

"Did you know about this?" Hajime whispered to her.

"Nope. I'm just glad to see him competing for his own merits," Chiaki said.

"Yeah, he didn't exactly come up to us and say he'd be happy to lose to us," Hajime said. Still, you think he would've at least wanted a lift to and from the preliminaries.

"Joining us all the way from Tohoku. He's a soft-spoken gentleman with a love for animals. He's Sendai's regional champion: Tai Takemaru!"

Gundham's ears perked up as he glanced towards Tai waving to the crowd. "Do the hands of fate deceive this devil's eye of mine."

Takemaru waved politely to Gundham, seeming to recognize him. Gundham acknowledged his former classmate's presence in a similar motion and then covered his face with his scarf. Sentimentalism was unbecoming of the Supreme Overlord of Ice.

"And finally, we get to introduce another foreigner. This one comes to us from Britain. You might've seen him on the web making funny videos, dubbing over famous duels and making parody videos about the game, but today he's shedding his microphone for his duel disk. It's Earl Williams, better known as London Kuriboh!"

Earl smiled to the crowd wearing his novelty baseball hat, circle framed glasses, tawny beard and brown leather jacket with the Union Jack printed on the back of it. Under his arm was his prized, plush Kuriboh doll colored like the British flag. He then started humming in a way that sounded like "Dodalalalalalalalala Lalalala"

At the humming, realizing his guest had something to say to the crowd, Mokuba passed London Kuriboh the microphone.

"I just want to say that it's an honor to be here and…Eeeeey! London Kuriboh here once again to bring laughs and life to this great game we call Duel Monsters. Well most people call it Duel Monsters, maybe there's some person over in Australia who calls it Wasick Monsters and call duelists Card Wasicks! Wait, I lost my train of thought there. Anyway, today you're going to be watching me duel my way to the top and hopefully take on this knob," he said, referring to Yami, "in the leather pants with a haircut so wild any barber would be ashamed to replicate. I mean yes, his bum looks good in leather pants, but that pointy hair is just so distracting! Do you wear your hair that way to prevent birds landing on your head? Not cool, man. Birds need a place to sit!"

Members of the audience were rolling with laughter. Téa, however, was quite annoyed. Even Junko was trying not to corpse from her position in front of a live camera.

Yami, rather than respond to the insults, simply smirked. "Well, perhaps you'd like to see if my dueling skills are better than my fashion sense. Assuming, that is, that you can win the whole tournament."

"Well your dueling skills would have to be better than your fashion sense. Otherwise you wouldn't be the King of Games!" Ear responded. The audience laughed.

Stop it, I'm going to pee a little if I can't laugh on camera, Junko thought.

"Alright I'll have to leave it at that but to everyone watching this don't forget to like and subscribe as this tournament is being live streamed not just by the Kaiba Corporation but by my own camera crew and sponsored by Hetap! Hetap: the only drink worth killing over!"

I've killed for less, Junko thought, grinning.

Earl then passed the microphone back to Mokuba. He then gestured to the British duelist. "London Kuriboh everyone!"

The audience clapped politely.

"Next, while not an Ultimate himself, he hangs out with one of the toughest bikers in the country. With a head as hard as metal and a tempered fighting spirit and determination, he's here to prove that not all bikers are meatheads. Straight from the Crazy Diamond biker bang, it's Takemichi Yukimaru."

A small boy about 14 years of age with white hair and brown eyes stood amongst the crowd in his prized Crazy Diamonds jacket. His hair was wild and untamed with spikes in every direction, but still didn't reach Yugi's level of crazy.

"YOU GO BOY!" Mondo shouted, standing up in the audience. "SHOW THE WORLD WHAT THE CRAZY DIAMONDS ARE MADE OF!"

Takemichi just nodded and said nothing in response, getting a group of girls near the front around his age swooning. Takemichi, however, ignored this entirely, instead turning his head ever so slightly in one direction and sliding his hands into his jacket. This only made the girls swoon harder though.

"Fresh brat," Téa thought aloud.

"Next up, we have the Tokyo regional finalist for two years running and a competitor in many high level tournaments. Though he's yet to take a trophy home, he's been dueling in competitive play almost as long as my big brother. Many call him a has been, but no has been makes it this far in a tournament this big. Let's give a big dinosaur welcome to Rex Raptor!"

People clapped to be polite, but not many cheered. Rex, for his part looked pretty cleaned up for the most part. He'd shed the old green jacket and yellow shirt for a black t-shirt stamped with Tyrant Dragon on it and an orange jacket to match. Even his hat had changed. Although it was still red. It had the shadowy heads of Two Headed King Rex facing in opposite directions embroidered into it.

Rex didn't care about the low murmur of the crowd. He was on the path of redemption and he'd stick to it. He smirked like an asshole and stood his ground.

"And after Rex, we have a Battle City finalist. You all know him from his prophecies to his famous Jinzo. It's Espa Roba!"

Gundham threw his head back and laughed at the mention of Espa Roba. He gazed over from his position towards the self-proclaimed psychic. Espa gave Gundham a thumb's up as a dark aura emanated from the Ultimate, and a pink aura emanated from the psychic.

I didn't know Espa was here, Hajime thought, wondering if he might meet the psychic in battle for a rematch.

"Next, the second-youngest competitor in our fair tournament, but the youngest champion in the western side of the world. Let's have a round of applause for Rebecca Hawkins!" Mokuba shouted.

"Grandpa!" Rebecca exclaimed, waving and flailing her arms around, hoping he would see her. She was so excited.

"Uh, joining us next, one of the few duelists to push the King of Games to his limits, it's Rafael Nevermind!"

Now it was Sonia's turn to be shocked. She glanced over to where Rafael was supposedly standing as the large man threw off a bulky cloak hiding his visage, shocking all of Yugi's friends.

"Who's that guy?" Serenity asked.

"He was one of Dartz's cronies!" Tristan exclaimed.

"He beat Yugi," Téa said.

"Sounds like Kaiba doesn't want that much to slip," Bakura said. "Might not want to say that too loud."

Téa nodded.

Sonia continued to look worryingly at her brother, but he just smiled and waved politely to her. This seemed to calm Sonia. When no one had heard from him after Dartz was dealt with, she assumed the worst, but it seemed some time of solitude had brought her smiling big brother back.

"Next up, the only duelist with enough net worth to rival my brother. He's a self-proclaimed chosen one, a Battle City finalist, and an Ultimate in his own right. It's Byakuya Togami."

"Well look what the cat dragged in," Tristan said, none too pleased to see the guy that humiliated him 35 times in a row.

"Be nice, Tristan," Téa told him.

"Next, we have the former Intercontinental Champ and a finalist of the famous Duelist Kingdom. It's renown machine duelist Bandit Keith!"

Keith stood there with a big grin, built arms folded. Gotta say, hell of a turnout. Just the stage I need for my chance to get back on the top!

"Up next, it's the battler with the Brooklyn accent. The Red-Eyes specialist and Yugi Muto's best friend, not to mention a finalist in Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, and the Canadian Nationals. While not an official title, give up for the Ultimate Underdog, Joey Wheeler!"

"All right big brother!" Serenity cheered.

"Hell yeah! Make way for Joey Wheeler!" Joey exclaimed, raising a fist up. "Wait a sec…Underdog? HEY!"

Mokuba moved on without acknowledging Joey. "Next we have the new Tokyo regional champion and master of the Black Luster Soldier. She's a student council president with a ruthless streak and a prime contender for the Japan Nationals later this fall. It's Eliza se Arc."

Standing in her school uniform, student council president badge and cuff proudly worn on her chest and arm respectively, Eliza looked as confident and menacing as always.

"Joining us for her first ever tournament. She's small, but she's an absolute genius. Also competing in her first ever real tournament, but with a reputation among her age group, please welcome Monaca Towa!"

From her wheelchair, Monaca waved to the crowd with a smile that hid her true nature.

"That little girl?" Téa wondered aloud.

"She's in a wheelchair," Miho said sympathetically, covering her mouth.

"Poor girl…" Tristan said, forcibly crying tears, while making a fist—the way a real man cried. "I hope she gets far. With life stacked against her, she needs a win or two."

"Towa…isn't that the huge engineering corporation?" Bakura asked. "They make air purifiers and animatronics."

"Oh! And don't forget all the children's toys!" Miho exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah! I think I have one of them," Serenity said. "I hear they're working on a new toy line that's bear themed. No previews have been released though."

"Awww, bears are cuddly. I might want one when they pile onto the shelves," Téa said.

"You've seen her in catalogues, movies, and even Kung Fu tournaments, but this Chinese superstar is also her country's best duelist and once held the title of Asian Continental champion!" Mokuba exclaimed. "Please welcome Vivian Wong!"

Vivian struck a pose reminiscent of a famous Chinese fighting game character to get the crowd wound up.

"Wow, she's really pretty," Serenity said, clapping her hands together.

Téa growled at the mere sight of her. She made a move on Yugi the night before and the brunette was nothing if not territorial.

"Okay, cool it before I put a collar on you Miss Shiba Inu," Tristan said to her.

"You see her in all sorts of costumes, but today she's dueling entirely as herself. It's Hope's Peak's Ultimate Cosplayer Miaka Senri!"

With her green hair and pink eyes on full display, Miaka tried to shrink back from the cameras, trying not to be noticed. She felt so…exposed without a costume, but Kaiba was insistent she go as Miaka Senri.

"The audience is here to see you, not whatever you're dressed up as. Grow a pair."

She'd given him an estranged look at the time, but after some soul searching, and prodding from a friend, here she was.

"Miaka!" Serenity exclaimed, waving to her.

Miaka waved to Serenity half-committedly due to nerves.

"Come to think of it, if Miaka got in, why didn't you compete Serenity?" Tristan asked.

"I wasn't invited," Serenity said. "Miaka has this big reputation. I've competed in only one tournament. I mean, I'm still learning, you know."

"Still learning? You kicked my butt last weekend," Tristan said.

"Tristan, um, to be fair, you've lost to me before," Miho reminded him, trying to put him down gently.

Tristan hung his head in defeat.

Men, Téa thought. She then looked at Bakura who was sitting up and behaving himself. Well… she then saw Yami up on stage, I suppose they're not all bad.

"Going back to Hope's Peak yet again, we have the most talked about power couple in the world of Duel Monsters. Please welcome Battle City finalists and personal favorites of the Kaiba Corporation: Hajime and Chiaki Hinata! The Ultimate Duelist and Ultimate Gamer of Class 77-B!"

Hajime and Chiaki waved to the crowd with one arm each, holding hands. "You ready for this?" Hajime asked.

"About as ready as you are," Chiaki answered him.

"Heh, good answer."

"Aba! Ayayaya!" From the audience, little Izuru reached out with his hands from Hiyoko's lap towards his mommy and daddy. Mahiru had passed the little guy to the blonde so she could take pictures.

"That's right! That's your mommy and daddy up there," Hiyoko said, helping the baby wave his arms. She then put one hand along her cheek and shouted, "And one of you better get to the finals with big sis!"

"Um…Hiyoko…" Peko said. "May I…?"

Hiyoko shuffled away from Peko. "Nuh uh! Mahiru gave Izuru to me to hold you toilet clogging skank!" She cradled him gently and then nuzzled the baby with her cheek. "Isn't he so adorable." She then started emitting incoherent baby talk before her nose smelt a stench most foul. She quickly passed him off to Peko. "Never mind," she said, sticking her nose in the air. "You can have him."

Kazuichi sighed. "Who's turn is it this time?"

"Pretty sure it's mine," Nekomaru said, getting up. "I'll be back. Come on, little guy."

"Aba!" Izuru cooed as Nekomaru scooped him up with one arm and carried him off to the bathroom with the diaper bag.

"And from their same class we also have Sonia Nevermind!" Mokuba exclaimed.

"All right, Miss Sonia!" Kazuichi cheered.

Sonia smiled and took a deep breath. It took a lot of courage for her to return to the stage. Hauntings from Marik still reached her mind, even after all Gundham had done, but the cheer of the crowd and the faith in her friends and her deck kept her standing strong.

"Next is a duelist you might also remember well from Battle City," Mokuba said with a crafty grin. "She's the winner of the Canadian Nationals and she's one of the craftiest duelists in Japan. She also cleans out casinos for a hobby. She's the type that'll clean out your wallet and show it to you. It's Celestia Ludenburg, Hope's Peak's Ultimate Gambler!"

Good, Frenchy's here, Joey thought. I'm not gonna lose to her this time.

"And speaking of gambling," Mokuba said. "Our next contestant is a former casino dealer with a love for the deadliest of winged creatures. She's competed, won, and placed top spots in multiple huge tournaments throughout the world. She's also a duelist with a pop culture legacy in magazines and news broadcasts. It's none other than Mai Valentine!"

"All right, Mai! Woohoo!" Serenity cheered.

"You go, Mai!" Téa cheered after her.

Mai too, huh? Joey thought. Good, even more reason to give it my all.

"Next, she's the Berlin Champion and a masterful duelist in tournaments across France, Italy, and Britain too. A well-traveled pop-culture referencing machine with a deck that'll leave you blown to smithereens. Please welcome Bianca Bismarck!"

Bianca was a young woman with dark brown hair, dressed all in white with a peaked cap, gloves and a cape. "Please, avert your envious gazes," she said, arms folded, smirking confidently. "I'm awesome. I know it. Gimme that mic!" She grabbed it from Mokuba. She turned towards Yami. "All right Mr. King of Games, I know I'm not the best duelist in this arena, but I'm gonna fight my way to the top and dethrone you with all of my might. And nothing is going to stop me. No Ultimates, no dueling maids, not even British Comedians."

"Wow, standing right here," London Kuriboh said.

"Oh shut up, four eyes, you're not even that funny. Your butt's not even that cute."

"Now see here, I take offense," London Kuriboh said, raising a finger, taking a moment to pause dramatically. "My bum is rather charming."

Mokuba grabbed the mic back. "Moving right along! Last, but certainly not least. You love him, we love him! Can't have a tournament like this without him. He's the master of beasts of this world and the next and one of the most entertaining duelists we've seen. Let's hear it for the Supreme Overlord of Ice himself Gundham Tanaka! Hope's Peak's Ultimate Animal Breeder!"

Gundham laughed as loudly and as wickedly as he possibly could. "Well done, minion of the white dragon! An introduction worthy of my praise and title!" Gundham and his 12 zodiac generals posed for the cameras. "Though the battlefield is rife with competition, it will soon be squashed by my ominous presence till only I and the Ancient Pharaoh himself remain to do battle in shadows bleaker than the darkest midnight!"

Most of the crowd had no idea what Gundham was on about, but he was saying it so loudly and with such conviction that it got them fired up anyway.

"Wow, maybe I should ask him to write some of my speeches," Kotomi said, rather impressed.

"All right, everyone! You've now met our 32 challengers for the throne of king!" Mokuba exclaimed. "But only one can go on to face the undefeated champion himself: YUGI MUTO!"

Confetti shot out of multiple cannons as Yami stood with all eyes on him from his challengers and from the audience. Chants of "Yugi! Yugi! Yugi!" echoed through the stadium.

"How about a shout out to all of these people, and all of your fans watching at home?" Mokuba asked.

Yugi was so thankful Yami was currently in control, he'd be frozen stiff if he had to speak. Yami, however, a Pharaoh that was used to giving commands and speeches, stole the show.

"My fellow duelists!" Yami exclaimed. "You have all worked splendidly to make it this far. If it were up to me, I'd duel each and every one of you to give you the duel you crave and fought so hard to achieve. However, this duel is sponsored by the Kaiba Corporation." Yami raised his finger to the sky. "And so there can be only one duelist that will challenge me for the title of King of Games!" He lowered his arm and made a fist. "And I will not give up that title so easily. I've earned my reputation through countless battles and though the words mean little to me, to lose without giving it my all would be spitting on my deck, my family, and my legacy. I've dueled quite a few of you in the past before," Yami said, looking to Joey, Rebecca, Makoto, Celeste, Mai, Rafael, Hajime and Junko. "And I see even more familiar faces," he said, looking to Bandit Keith, Sonia, Gundham, Yukizome, Byakuya, Chiaki, and Nagito. "Duel proudly. Duel well." He folded his arms. "And make your way to me, for I will be waiting for your challenge."

"As King of Games, Yugi has been authorized to be the judge of all the duels except his own. That honor will go to me and my big brother."

Yami nodded. "I promise to be impartial to all of you." He then added with a smile, "Even if I have a soft spot for my friends. No cheating will occur on my watch."

"Hey, no worries, here, Yug," Joey said. "When the smoke and dust clears, it's gonna be you and me just like old times."

"Please, if anyone should have a rematch with Yugi, it should be me," Celeste said with a smile.

"No way! That duel is mine!" Rebecca exclaimed.

"Looks like the duelists are fired up," Mokuba said. "How about the crowd? Are you here to see a tournament or are you here to see a tournament?!"

He lifted the microphone towards the audience amidst screams and cheers.

"Then let's get it started. I now proudly introduce to you our tournament's proud sponsor and my big brother: Seto Kaiba!"

Dressed in the same outfit he wore during Battle City, Kaiba descended from the same helicopter Mokuba had, but not via rope ladder. No. That would be too pedestrian. Instead, Kaiba descended using anti-gravity rocket technology that simulated the flames of an actual rocket ship using the same hard light holograms that were programmed into his duel monster battle system.

"Leave it to rich boy to overkill his entrance," Joey said aloud.

Kaiba switched off the rocket pack and spoke to his audience. "All right, listen up. As president of Kaiba Corp, it is my honor to announce the first duel of this tournament and to show off the capabilities of my brand new Kaiba Dome!" Kaiba showed the brackets up on screen where the words Kaiba Corp Grand Prix had previously been. The brackets were blank for the moment, but will fill up as duelists were announced.

"Let the first duel commence!"

The mystery duelists in brackets 1 and 2 were revealed: Hajime Hinata and Ramona Shibakura. Both duelists' gazes traveled towards the other.

"All other duelists are requested to march themselves to the competitor spectator zone," Kaiba indicated to a hallway exit on the ground level just past the normal spectator area.

All of the duelists left except for Hajime and Ramona, with Chiaki giving an obligatory "Good luck" to her husband as she hopped off the stage.

"You can't lose to someone like her," Nagito said with unusual conviction to Hajime. "Her hope levels aren't nearly as strong as yours."

"Don't worry. I don't plan on losing," Hajime said. "This is Izuru's first chance to see me duel. I know he won't remember it, but I'm not gonna let my son down."

Nagito smiled, and not in the creepy way. "That's the spirit. Take her down, Hajime."

Hajime stood on the western side of the arena, to Yugi's right, where the spectators were leaving, while Ramona stood on the eastern side of the arena, to Yugi's left.

"Normally I'd say no holding back, but against a duelist of your caliber, I don't think that will be necessary," Ramona said, activating her duel disk.

"I just have one question before we begin," Hajime said. "How did you get your reputation? No offense, but you don't look that threatening."

"Oh, it's quite simple really," Ramona said. "You see, this is just my normal behavior. When I duel…"

It was like the world glitched out for half a second. Hajime couldn't tell where reality ended and the sudden shift in mood began. Ramona now had a thick, dark violet aura around her. Her forehead was encased in shadow and her gentle brown eyes looked like they tried to go for the whole kaleidoscope thing, only to stop about halfway, giving off a creepy green and reddish orange aura.

"I am no longer Ramona Shibakura. I am Ramona, Goddess of the Underworld."

Hajime, while a little startled, was fortunately able to see past the smoke and mirrors as it were. Oh wow, another Gundham.

"Hajime Hinata," Ramona said, her voice at a chilling monotone, "I'm sorry that your son is here, because I apologize that I have to humiliate you in front of him."

"That's not going to happen," Hajime said, activating his duel disk. "Because I'm not going to lose, no matter what."

"Then I see the time for talk has passed," Ramona responded.

"Let's duel!" The two declared.

And like that, the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix had officially begun.

TO BE CONTINUED…

(A/N: That chapter ended up being longer than I thought it would, but to be fair, I did splice together half a Yu-gi-oh episode with some original scenes XD. Special thanks to 4EyesZeroSoul for helping write London Kuriboh's dialogue and Goshinzilla for his assistance with Bianca Bismarck. Bonus points if you know who those characters are based on. Double points if you can even guess who Ramona Shibakura is based on. I think the series her base character is from is pretty obscure XD.

As one tournament—the super bowl—ends, a new tournament begins. This one, the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix. Place your bets, buy your popcorn and get ready for some fun-filled duels. And I'll see you all next time. And, until then, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)