CHAPTER 4: NEW BEGINNINGS
"I told you," Mr. Esplin said to a businessman who was a close friend of his. "There simply is no time to continue the tournament. I need to save the money up for something else." The two of them were in Mr. Esplin's office.
"But sir -" the businessman began, but was interrupted as Mr. Esplin's phone rang.
"Excuse me," Mr. Esplin said, picking up the phone. "Hello? Oh, Mr. Pegasus! How are you, sir? Yes - well, the convention center burned down and we had to cancel it. No - well, we haven't had the time to find a place to continue - What? But - yes, sir. I understand. Good day to you too." Mr. Esplin hung up.
"What did Mr. Pegasus say?" the businessman asked.
"He's relieving the Esplin Association of all Duel Monsters matters," Mr. Esplin said.
"Oh," the businessman said. "Well, call me sometime. Have a good day." The businessman left. Mr. Esplin knew what the businessman thought. That the Esplin Association was falling apart and that he would have to cancel his partnerships to it.
"One more bad thing that's happened today," Mr. Esplin said to himself. "But I don't understand. I sent two men to look for those pendants in the dumpster, but they couldn't find anything. It's like they just disappeared." He thought for a moment and then the thought struck. "They couldn't have just.gone back to the kids?"
* * * Portland Middle School, the day after the Makaro events.
"It's over," Ivan said. "There won't be a tournament."
"Why would you think that?" Ken asked.
"The Esplin Association is small," Ken said. Really, really small. It will take a lot of money to pay for a building as big as that convention center.
"Well, it wasn't that big of a tournament anyway," Stefan said. "Going to a tournament like the one at Duelist Kingdom, now that'd be cool."
"Or the Duel Monsters American Games," Ivan said.
"What's that?" Stefan and Ken asked.
"Well, it's a private tournament held in Hawaii where expert duelists come and form teams competing for victory," Ivan said.
"Expert duelists?" Ken said. "As in Holly, you, and I?"
"Yeah, basically," Ivan said.
Before Stefan could completely get thrown out of the conversation he said," Oh, I almost forgot to tell you guys. Just before the building burned down, the Golden Eyes card was stolen."
"Obviously," Ivan said. "There are many who would do vicious things to get it."
Ken couldn't help but say, "Like Seto Kaiba."
Ivan glared at Ken, trying to hide his shock, "You know?"
"That he sent you here? Yes."
"We hacked into Seto's journal," Stefan explained. "We knew he was sending someone to claim the Golden Eyes Supreme Dragon for him, but we didn't know who."
"And when I saw you giving me that grin on the first night of the tournament, I could tell you were that guy," Ken said.
"Uh.well.yeah," Ivan said nervously.
"So why'd you do it?" Ken asked, in a very serious tone of voice.
This got Ivan motivated. "Just stay out of my business." He walked away mad.
"Guess it takes a while for people to change," Stefan said.
After school, Ivan went to a nearby card shop and bought a pack of Duel Monsters cards.
"Have a nice day," the old man at the counter who runs the store said.
"Thanks," Ivan said and he left the store. When he got outside, he saw three boys near the stores who looked like street punks.
"I'm serious," the tallest one said. "I just came out five minutes ago and I saw it. The old geezer must have made a big mess-up because I saw a Red Eyes Black Dragon in there for only a quarter."
"Then lets go get it," the shortest boy said with a squeaky voice. They went into the store.
"Hmm.," Ivan said and he followed them.
When he got into the store, he saw the three boys talking to the owner over a counter with single cards. "We'll take that Red Eyes Black Dragon," the tall one said, smiling.
The old man took the card out of the counter and looked at it. "That'll be 25 cents." The tall boy gave the old man a quarter and he got the card in exchange. The boys left the store and Ivan followed them out.
"Hey!" Ivan said to the boys and they turned around and faced him. "You know you just ripped that old man off!"
"So?" the tall boy said and Ivan suddenly recognized him.
"Drake Romero?" Ivan said. "The guy I dueled in the tournament?"
"Hello Ivan," Drake said, smiling. "How's life for an expert?"
"Busy," Ivan said. "Now I want you to go in there and tell the man that he put up the wrong price for that card."
"You can't tell us what to do," Drake said. "We put all cards together in one deck and duel as one."
"We are the Skull Hunters Gang!" they all said together.
Ivan laughed and said, "Do you how pathetic that is?"
"I'd watch it if I were you," Drake said. "You may be good with cards, but it doesn't look like you're good with fists."
"They lets play my way, then!" Ivan said. "A duel."
Drake checked his watch. "Great idea, but we'll have to postpone it until some other time. We've got another duel to get to. But when we meet, I'll be sure to play nice."
"When it comes to duels, playing nice will get you nowhere!" Ivan said.
"Good," Drake said. "When we duel, winner gets possession of the Red Eyes." He grinned. "Have a nice day." He and the two other boys walked away.
"I will," Ivan said. "And I'll have an even better one when I humiliate you a second time."
* * * Stefan's house, after school.
"I'm feeling pretty down," Stefan said.
"Why?" Ken asked, surfing the Internet on Stefan's computer.
"You heard what Ivan said," Stefan answered. "There isn't a likely chance that the city tournament is going to continue, and I'm not an expert-title duelist, so I can't go compete in those Duel Monsters American Games."
"Hey, did Ivan and I say we were going?" Ken asked.
"Hey, look!" Stefan said, rushing over to the window. "It's Ivan!" Ken and Stefan looked out the window and saw Ivan talking to three men, two of them the tall, quiet type wearing suits and expensive sunglasses, and the third a man who seemed really happy, and was talking to Ivan. "Who are they?"
The two boys ran outside toward Ivan and the three men. When they got there, the talking man said, "Are these the boys who will be on your team?"
"Yeah, that's them," Ivan said.
"What's going on?" Ken asked.
"Well, Ivan has been invited to the Duel Monsters American Games," the man said. "I'm Mr. Presley, one of the scouts for the competition. And Ivan has been chosen to create and lead his own team in the competition." He turned to Ivan. "Are these the boys who are going to be competing with you?"
"Yeah, that's them," Ivan said, grinning.
"Do you boys accept the invitation?" Mr. Presley asked.
"Yeah, if it's okay with our parents," Ken said.
"Yeah," Stefan said. "My dad's telling me as soon as I get invited to a tournament in a great place, to accept it."
"Yeah, of course," Ivan said.
"Great!" Mr. Presley said. "Now, the tournament will take place on the weekend of the 19th, so we'll be leaving the day before, and we should get you back on Monday afternoon."
"This is going to be great," Stefan said.
"Yes, but there is one more important matter you must discuss," Mr. Presley said. "You must choose a fourth team member. I recommend someone you saw at the city tournament. The leader of your team, the one who has the greatest dueling history, Ivan, gets to make the decision."
"Umm.let's see," Ivan said, stalling while having already made up his mind. "Holly Smith. She was in the city tournament."
"Yeah, she's a good duelist," Ken said.
"Okay, then!" Mr. Presley said. "We'll contact her. Meanwhile, you three make up a team name, then. Have a nice day!" Mr. Presley and the other two men walked away.
"Um.Ivan?" Ken said. "Sorry about criticizing you about working for Kaiba."
"Yeah, that's alright," Ivan said. "Anyway, you guys come up with a team name. Try not to make it too corny. And I'll see you later."
"Alright," Stefan said. "See you later." Then he turned to Ken and mocked, "Did I say we were going?"
* * * Portland Central Park, one week later.
"Gaia, attack!" Drake said. He won the duel. "That brings your Life Points to zero! You're just not good enough for me."
"I can't believe I lost," the boy said. "You got crushed in the tournament and I did the crushing on my opponent."
"Things change," Drake said. Drake's opponent ran away. "Loser."
"I believe we have some unfinished business."
Drake turned around and saw Ivan Griffin standing there with his deck in his hand. "A duel?" Drake asked. "Lets do it."
In the next minute, they were both sitting down on one of the park tables, shuffling their decks. "If I win, you go back there to that card store and tell the old man that he made mistake putting up the price on the Red Eyes Black Dragon," Ivan said.
"If you win, I'll just give it to you," Drake said. "And you do whatever you want with it. But if I win.I get one of your Launcher Spiders."
"Deal," Ivan said. He drew five cards into his hand, as did Drake.
"You go first," Drake said. Ivan drew a card and looked at his hand. He had drawn a Launcher Spider (ATK 2200 DEF/2500 on his first turn. Lucky draw. The rest were weak monster he normally used for stalling. No magic or trap cards. "I summon the Launcher Spider!" He placed the Launcher Spider card face-up in attack mode.
Drake laughed. "That's the best you can do?"
"I doubt you'll send out anything stronger!" Ivan said.
Drake had a violent smile on his face. It almost looked pathetic. "First, I'll place this card face-down." He placed a face-down card in his magic/trap card zone. "Then, I summon, in attack mode, the Golden Eyes Supreme Dragon!" He placed down the Golden Eyes monster, with an indestructible attack of 3800 and defense of 2800.
"You thief!" Ivan exclaimed. "You're the one who stole the card! You are the most dishonorable duelist there ever was!"
"And soon to be the best," Drake said. "Golden Eyes Supreme Dragon attacks and destroys your Launcher Spider, bringing your Life Points down to 700!"
"I can't believe you!" Ivan said. "How could you do something like this? As far as I know, this duel is over."
"You're not going to quit," Drake said, grinning evilly. "If you do, you can't get that Red Eyes."
"I can't believe I'm going to play by your rules," Ivan said. He drew a card. Another Launcher Spider. I wish I had some magic cards to boost the Launcher Spider's defense. Then I could survive Ivan thought. He picked a random monster and placed it in face-down defense position. "I'll put his monster face-down in defense," Ivan said.
"That activates my trap!" Drake said. He revealed his face-down card to be the Defense Paralysis. "This will flip all your monsters into attack mode. And the monster you just faced can't be super-strong. So my Golden Eyes will blow it away and you lose!"
Ivan couldn't speak. With the exception of when he was a beginner duelist, Ivan had never lost a duel.
"You say I'm not honorable," Drake asked. "Then listen to this: Even though I won, I don't want your Launcher Spider. Keep that crummy monster in your deck." Drake left.
Ivan just stood there, looking at the ground. This loss was the worst thing that ever happened to him. He closed his eyes. When he opened them, he saw it. His pendant. He didn't even take a moment to think. He put it around his deck. "I need you once more." * * * Friday, October 18th (8 days later) at the Portland Airport.
Holly had agreed to join Ivan, Stefan, and Ivan at the American Games. Their team name was the Spirit Breakers (Stefan thought of it) and they had boarded their flight that was completely paid by the company that hosted the competition. The best part was they got to sit in first class.
"I can't believe we're actually going," Stefan said. "I mean, one week ago Ivan told us about this competition, and now, here we are!"
"Yeah, lets win this one," Ivan said. He kept his pendant away from view. He hadn't told any of the others about his duel with Drake.
"I just want to say I'm so thankful that you guys let me come along," Holly said.
"That's the 23rd time you said that," Ken said, keeping count. "And besides, we need you on our team."
"Yeah, now we've got a total of 4 expert duelists!" Stefan said.
"Oh really?" Ken said. "And who's the fourth one?" Everyone laughed.
Soon the flight took off and they were flying over the Pacific Ocean.
Honolulu, Hawaii. Paradise. And a group of duelists called the Spirit Breakers were now there. At the airport in Honolulu, a man in an expensive held a sign that said: Duelists for Duel Monsters American Games.
"That's us!" Stefan said, as the group ran toward the man.
"Welcome to Hawaii," the man said. "You would be the Spirit Breakers, correct?"
"Yep, that's us," Ken said.
"Okay," the man said. "Follow me toward your limo."
"Follow me toward your limo." Ken thought. Sweet.
During the ride in the limo, the Spirit Breakers enjoyed themselves by playing video games.
"You lose," Holly said. "The reason my name can't be Kit Kat is because I'll never give you a break."
"Whatever," Ivan said, putting down his controller. "My thing is dueling, not video games."
When the limo arrived at the hotel and the kids got out, they saw other duelists gathered outside.
"This must be where all the duelists are staying," Holly said.
"Well, lets meet some of these hotshots," Ivan said.
"Tomorrow," Stefan said. "I forgot how these time zone things work, but I'm tired."
"Here it's 6 o'clock," Ken said. "Back home it's 7.
"Oh," Stefan said. "Then I'm as fresh as a Man-Eating Plant."
But Ivan had already walked off toward a trio of duelists.
"Well, well, look who it is," one of the boys in the team said. He had hair dyed silver and wore silver clothes that resembled Ivan's, besides the color. He also had disturbingly large eyes. He was a bit taller than Ivan; probably Holly's age. "Ivan Griffin."
"Nice to see you, Eric," Ivan said. "I'm surprised you're here. This are amazing duelists and you can barely beat me."
"I've improved," Eric said. "And you won't believe what my cousin up in Portland sent me for the tournament." He pulled a card out of his left pocket that Ivan recognized at once.
"The Golden Eyes Supreme Dragon?!" Stefan said, running over along with Holly and Ken.
"Which cousin would that be?" Ken asked, in a strict voice, knowing that when he finds out he could tell the Esplin Organization who committed the crime of stealing that card.
"Drake," Eric said.
It suddenly hit Ivan! Eric's last name is Romero! He thought. But he said nothing.
"In fact, he's here dueling on my team," Eric said. "He's just gone up to his room."
"I've had enough of this," Ivan said. "See you in the tournament." And the Spirit Breakers walked off.
Holly got her own room in the hotel while the three boys shared a larger room with three beds.
"Who was this Eric guy?" Holly asked. They all met at the guys room.
"He was my rival back in California," Ivan said. "Not to brag, but it was clear that I was better than him. But he just couldn't face the facts."
"And now he'll want revenge," Ken said.
"Forget about that," Stefan said. "We've got to tell the Esplin Organization that Drake-"
"Let it go," Ivan said. "Who cares?"
"The Golden Eyes is a terribly powerful card," Holly said. "You don't seem surprise at all that he has it. Wait! Did you already know?"
"Yes," Ivan said firmly.
"Why didn't you tell any of us?" Ken demanded.
"Not important," Ivan said.
"Ivan!" Holly exclaimed. "As captain of this team, you've got to stop keeping secrets from us!"
Ivan didn't say anything.
"Can we count on you?" Ken asked.
"Yes," Ivan said.
"Is there anything else we should know?" Holly asked.
Ivan quickly thought about it. His loss against Drake. If they found out, they'd understand. The Pendant. How he was planning to use it again. They'd be enraged if they found out.
"No," Ivan said. "There's nothing else."
"I told you," Mr. Esplin said to a businessman who was a close friend of his. "There simply is no time to continue the tournament. I need to save the money up for something else." The two of them were in Mr. Esplin's office.
"But sir -" the businessman began, but was interrupted as Mr. Esplin's phone rang.
"Excuse me," Mr. Esplin said, picking up the phone. "Hello? Oh, Mr. Pegasus! How are you, sir? Yes - well, the convention center burned down and we had to cancel it. No - well, we haven't had the time to find a place to continue - What? But - yes, sir. I understand. Good day to you too." Mr. Esplin hung up.
"What did Mr. Pegasus say?" the businessman asked.
"He's relieving the Esplin Association of all Duel Monsters matters," Mr. Esplin said.
"Oh," the businessman said. "Well, call me sometime. Have a good day." The businessman left. Mr. Esplin knew what the businessman thought. That the Esplin Association was falling apart and that he would have to cancel his partnerships to it.
"One more bad thing that's happened today," Mr. Esplin said to himself. "But I don't understand. I sent two men to look for those pendants in the dumpster, but they couldn't find anything. It's like they just disappeared." He thought for a moment and then the thought struck. "They couldn't have just.gone back to the kids?"
* * * Portland Middle School, the day after the Makaro events.
"It's over," Ivan said. "There won't be a tournament."
"Why would you think that?" Ken asked.
"The Esplin Association is small," Ken said. Really, really small. It will take a lot of money to pay for a building as big as that convention center.
"Well, it wasn't that big of a tournament anyway," Stefan said. "Going to a tournament like the one at Duelist Kingdom, now that'd be cool."
"Or the Duel Monsters American Games," Ivan said.
"What's that?" Stefan and Ken asked.
"Well, it's a private tournament held in Hawaii where expert duelists come and form teams competing for victory," Ivan said.
"Expert duelists?" Ken said. "As in Holly, you, and I?"
"Yeah, basically," Ivan said.
Before Stefan could completely get thrown out of the conversation he said," Oh, I almost forgot to tell you guys. Just before the building burned down, the Golden Eyes card was stolen."
"Obviously," Ivan said. "There are many who would do vicious things to get it."
Ken couldn't help but say, "Like Seto Kaiba."
Ivan glared at Ken, trying to hide his shock, "You know?"
"That he sent you here? Yes."
"We hacked into Seto's journal," Stefan explained. "We knew he was sending someone to claim the Golden Eyes Supreme Dragon for him, but we didn't know who."
"And when I saw you giving me that grin on the first night of the tournament, I could tell you were that guy," Ken said.
"Uh.well.yeah," Ivan said nervously.
"So why'd you do it?" Ken asked, in a very serious tone of voice.
This got Ivan motivated. "Just stay out of my business." He walked away mad.
"Guess it takes a while for people to change," Stefan said.
After school, Ivan went to a nearby card shop and bought a pack of Duel Monsters cards.
"Have a nice day," the old man at the counter who runs the store said.
"Thanks," Ivan said and he left the store. When he got outside, he saw three boys near the stores who looked like street punks.
"I'm serious," the tallest one said. "I just came out five minutes ago and I saw it. The old geezer must have made a big mess-up because I saw a Red Eyes Black Dragon in there for only a quarter."
"Then lets go get it," the shortest boy said with a squeaky voice. They went into the store.
"Hmm.," Ivan said and he followed them.
When he got into the store, he saw the three boys talking to the owner over a counter with single cards. "We'll take that Red Eyes Black Dragon," the tall one said, smiling.
The old man took the card out of the counter and looked at it. "That'll be 25 cents." The tall boy gave the old man a quarter and he got the card in exchange. The boys left the store and Ivan followed them out.
"Hey!" Ivan said to the boys and they turned around and faced him. "You know you just ripped that old man off!"
"So?" the tall boy said and Ivan suddenly recognized him.
"Drake Romero?" Ivan said. "The guy I dueled in the tournament?"
"Hello Ivan," Drake said, smiling. "How's life for an expert?"
"Busy," Ivan said. "Now I want you to go in there and tell the man that he put up the wrong price for that card."
"You can't tell us what to do," Drake said. "We put all cards together in one deck and duel as one."
"We are the Skull Hunters Gang!" they all said together.
Ivan laughed and said, "Do you how pathetic that is?"
"I'd watch it if I were you," Drake said. "You may be good with cards, but it doesn't look like you're good with fists."
"They lets play my way, then!" Ivan said. "A duel."
Drake checked his watch. "Great idea, but we'll have to postpone it until some other time. We've got another duel to get to. But when we meet, I'll be sure to play nice."
"When it comes to duels, playing nice will get you nowhere!" Ivan said.
"Good," Drake said. "When we duel, winner gets possession of the Red Eyes." He grinned. "Have a nice day." He and the two other boys walked away.
"I will," Ivan said. "And I'll have an even better one when I humiliate you a second time."
* * * Stefan's house, after school.
"I'm feeling pretty down," Stefan said.
"Why?" Ken asked, surfing the Internet on Stefan's computer.
"You heard what Ivan said," Stefan answered. "There isn't a likely chance that the city tournament is going to continue, and I'm not an expert-title duelist, so I can't go compete in those Duel Monsters American Games."
"Hey, did Ivan and I say we were going?" Ken asked.
"Hey, look!" Stefan said, rushing over to the window. "It's Ivan!" Ken and Stefan looked out the window and saw Ivan talking to three men, two of them the tall, quiet type wearing suits and expensive sunglasses, and the third a man who seemed really happy, and was talking to Ivan. "Who are they?"
The two boys ran outside toward Ivan and the three men. When they got there, the talking man said, "Are these the boys who will be on your team?"
"Yeah, that's them," Ivan said.
"What's going on?" Ken asked.
"Well, Ivan has been invited to the Duel Monsters American Games," the man said. "I'm Mr. Presley, one of the scouts for the competition. And Ivan has been chosen to create and lead his own team in the competition." He turned to Ivan. "Are these the boys who are going to be competing with you?"
"Yeah, that's them," Ivan said, grinning.
"Do you boys accept the invitation?" Mr. Presley asked.
"Yeah, if it's okay with our parents," Ken said.
"Yeah," Stefan said. "My dad's telling me as soon as I get invited to a tournament in a great place, to accept it."
"Yeah, of course," Ivan said.
"Great!" Mr. Presley said. "Now, the tournament will take place on the weekend of the 19th, so we'll be leaving the day before, and we should get you back on Monday afternoon."
"This is going to be great," Stefan said.
"Yes, but there is one more important matter you must discuss," Mr. Presley said. "You must choose a fourth team member. I recommend someone you saw at the city tournament. The leader of your team, the one who has the greatest dueling history, Ivan, gets to make the decision."
"Umm.let's see," Ivan said, stalling while having already made up his mind. "Holly Smith. She was in the city tournament."
"Yeah, she's a good duelist," Ken said.
"Okay, then!" Mr. Presley said. "We'll contact her. Meanwhile, you three make up a team name, then. Have a nice day!" Mr. Presley and the other two men walked away.
"Um.Ivan?" Ken said. "Sorry about criticizing you about working for Kaiba."
"Yeah, that's alright," Ivan said. "Anyway, you guys come up with a team name. Try not to make it too corny. And I'll see you later."
"Alright," Stefan said. "See you later." Then he turned to Ken and mocked, "Did I say we were going?"
* * * Portland Central Park, one week later.
"Gaia, attack!" Drake said. He won the duel. "That brings your Life Points to zero! You're just not good enough for me."
"I can't believe I lost," the boy said. "You got crushed in the tournament and I did the crushing on my opponent."
"Things change," Drake said. Drake's opponent ran away. "Loser."
"I believe we have some unfinished business."
Drake turned around and saw Ivan Griffin standing there with his deck in his hand. "A duel?" Drake asked. "Lets do it."
In the next minute, they were both sitting down on one of the park tables, shuffling their decks. "If I win, you go back there to that card store and tell the old man that he made mistake putting up the price on the Red Eyes Black Dragon," Ivan said.
"If you win, I'll just give it to you," Drake said. "And you do whatever you want with it. But if I win.I get one of your Launcher Spiders."
"Deal," Ivan said. He drew five cards into his hand, as did Drake.
"You go first," Drake said. Ivan drew a card and looked at his hand. He had drawn a Launcher Spider (ATK 2200 DEF/2500 on his first turn. Lucky draw. The rest were weak monster he normally used for stalling. No magic or trap cards. "I summon the Launcher Spider!" He placed the Launcher Spider card face-up in attack mode.
Drake laughed. "That's the best you can do?"
"I doubt you'll send out anything stronger!" Ivan said.
Drake had a violent smile on his face. It almost looked pathetic. "First, I'll place this card face-down." He placed a face-down card in his magic/trap card zone. "Then, I summon, in attack mode, the Golden Eyes Supreme Dragon!" He placed down the Golden Eyes monster, with an indestructible attack of 3800 and defense of 2800.
"You thief!" Ivan exclaimed. "You're the one who stole the card! You are the most dishonorable duelist there ever was!"
"And soon to be the best," Drake said. "Golden Eyes Supreme Dragon attacks and destroys your Launcher Spider, bringing your Life Points down to 700!"
"I can't believe you!" Ivan said. "How could you do something like this? As far as I know, this duel is over."
"You're not going to quit," Drake said, grinning evilly. "If you do, you can't get that Red Eyes."
"I can't believe I'm going to play by your rules," Ivan said. He drew a card. Another Launcher Spider. I wish I had some magic cards to boost the Launcher Spider's defense. Then I could survive Ivan thought. He picked a random monster and placed it in face-down defense position. "I'll put his monster face-down in defense," Ivan said.
"That activates my trap!" Drake said. He revealed his face-down card to be the Defense Paralysis. "This will flip all your monsters into attack mode. And the monster you just faced can't be super-strong. So my Golden Eyes will blow it away and you lose!"
Ivan couldn't speak. With the exception of when he was a beginner duelist, Ivan had never lost a duel.
"You say I'm not honorable," Drake asked. "Then listen to this: Even though I won, I don't want your Launcher Spider. Keep that crummy monster in your deck." Drake left.
Ivan just stood there, looking at the ground. This loss was the worst thing that ever happened to him. He closed his eyes. When he opened them, he saw it. His pendant. He didn't even take a moment to think. He put it around his deck. "I need you once more." * * * Friday, October 18th (8 days later) at the Portland Airport.
Holly had agreed to join Ivan, Stefan, and Ivan at the American Games. Their team name was the Spirit Breakers (Stefan thought of it) and they had boarded their flight that was completely paid by the company that hosted the competition. The best part was they got to sit in first class.
"I can't believe we're actually going," Stefan said. "I mean, one week ago Ivan told us about this competition, and now, here we are!"
"Yeah, lets win this one," Ivan said. He kept his pendant away from view. He hadn't told any of the others about his duel with Drake.
"I just want to say I'm so thankful that you guys let me come along," Holly said.
"That's the 23rd time you said that," Ken said, keeping count. "And besides, we need you on our team."
"Yeah, now we've got a total of 4 expert duelists!" Stefan said.
"Oh really?" Ken said. "And who's the fourth one?" Everyone laughed.
Soon the flight took off and they were flying over the Pacific Ocean.
Honolulu, Hawaii. Paradise. And a group of duelists called the Spirit Breakers were now there. At the airport in Honolulu, a man in an expensive held a sign that said: Duelists for Duel Monsters American Games.
"That's us!" Stefan said, as the group ran toward the man.
"Welcome to Hawaii," the man said. "You would be the Spirit Breakers, correct?"
"Yep, that's us," Ken said.
"Okay," the man said. "Follow me toward your limo."
"Follow me toward your limo." Ken thought. Sweet.
During the ride in the limo, the Spirit Breakers enjoyed themselves by playing video games.
"You lose," Holly said. "The reason my name can't be Kit Kat is because I'll never give you a break."
"Whatever," Ivan said, putting down his controller. "My thing is dueling, not video games."
When the limo arrived at the hotel and the kids got out, they saw other duelists gathered outside.
"This must be where all the duelists are staying," Holly said.
"Well, lets meet some of these hotshots," Ivan said.
"Tomorrow," Stefan said. "I forgot how these time zone things work, but I'm tired."
"Here it's 6 o'clock," Ken said. "Back home it's 7.
"Oh," Stefan said. "Then I'm as fresh as a Man-Eating Plant."
But Ivan had already walked off toward a trio of duelists.
"Well, well, look who it is," one of the boys in the team said. He had hair dyed silver and wore silver clothes that resembled Ivan's, besides the color. He also had disturbingly large eyes. He was a bit taller than Ivan; probably Holly's age. "Ivan Griffin."
"Nice to see you, Eric," Ivan said. "I'm surprised you're here. This are amazing duelists and you can barely beat me."
"I've improved," Eric said. "And you won't believe what my cousin up in Portland sent me for the tournament." He pulled a card out of his left pocket that Ivan recognized at once.
"The Golden Eyes Supreme Dragon?!" Stefan said, running over along with Holly and Ken.
"Which cousin would that be?" Ken asked, in a strict voice, knowing that when he finds out he could tell the Esplin Organization who committed the crime of stealing that card.
"Drake," Eric said.
It suddenly hit Ivan! Eric's last name is Romero! He thought. But he said nothing.
"In fact, he's here dueling on my team," Eric said. "He's just gone up to his room."
"I've had enough of this," Ivan said. "See you in the tournament." And the Spirit Breakers walked off.
Holly got her own room in the hotel while the three boys shared a larger room with three beds.
"Who was this Eric guy?" Holly asked. They all met at the guys room.
"He was my rival back in California," Ivan said. "Not to brag, but it was clear that I was better than him. But he just couldn't face the facts."
"And now he'll want revenge," Ken said.
"Forget about that," Stefan said. "We've got to tell the Esplin Organization that Drake-"
"Let it go," Ivan said. "Who cares?"
"The Golden Eyes is a terribly powerful card," Holly said. "You don't seem surprise at all that he has it. Wait! Did you already know?"
"Yes," Ivan said firmly.
"Why didn't you tell any of us?" Ken demanded.
"Not important," Ivan said.
"Ivan!" Holly exclaimed. "As captain of this team, you've got to stop keeping secrets from us!"
Ivan didn't say anything.
"Can we count on you?" Ken asked.
"Yes," Ivan said.
"Is there anything else we should know?" Holly asked.
Ivan quickly thought about it. His loss against Drake. If they found out, they'd understand. The Pendant. How he was planning to use it again. They'd be enraged if they found out.
"No," Ivan said. "There's nothing else."