Part Two
Domino City
Mai Valentine arrived in her reserved parking spot with a screech, truly exemplifying bad driving. A long, booted leg stepped out of the car, and the girl carefully got out after she pulled the keys from the ignition. She frowned at the short tire marks on the pavement, and sighed. Her mother wouldn't be pleased, and it would be unlikely that the street would be torn up just to get those tire marks out. Inwardly she admitted it was her fault, and reminded herself that she wasn't supposed to speed into her parking spot. Mai adjusted the purple, French style painter hat so it sat at an angle while staring at herself in the side-view mirror. She winked at herself, You go girl! and opened up the trunk to take out six separate shopping bags. Mai had been busy that entire morning, using the money she had won at a recent Duel Monsters competition at the mall, or at least what was left of it after putting some in the bank. Her mother was happy Mai had a hobby, but with only a year or so away from college, the large pressure was there to save and take becoming an adult more seriously.
Humming a tune to herself, she went into the building, managing all six of the shopping bags. The butler tipped his hat and waved when she came in, and she winked back at him, her hands completely full. Mai walked to the elevator and pressed the "up" button, stepped in and hit directions for it to take her to floor seventeen. One of her favorite songs was playing, so the long ride went pretty quickly as she listened to it. Each floor it gained, the large elevator announced it triumphantly with a ring, enthusiastically running a never-ending marathon up and down the building. Mai was surprised it usually never lost the will for such strenuous exercise, except for that major break down four years ago. Then all the residents had been forced to use the stairs, and it had been a nightmare for those who lived on floor seventeen.
The elevator reached her floor, and Mai stepped out gratefully, her knee-high purple boots making noises on the floor as she walked to her mother's home, apartment number P5. She dug a small key from out of her pocket and stuck it into the door knob, and jingled it until the key caught and convinced the lock to open. Mai pushed the door open with a shove, and put her precious bags down one at a time on the day sofa near the door. The condo was large and had a high ceiling, and Mai walked into the living/dining room to see an entire glass wall. It stared out toward the commercialized ocean, but it was too cold for tourists to be on the waters at this time. Her mother was not home, but actually was out on a business trip as usual, forever busy designing clothes for her company's next line. She took off her boots and wiggled her toes happily, her feet happy to be free from the boots' confining space.
After a drink of water, Mai went to get the mail, and came back to the condo with a dozen letters, six bills and one small package addressed to her. Mai, a curious person by nature, dropped the rest of the mail somewhere and directly went after the mysterious, well-wrapped package. It wasn't her birthday, and it was too early to be receiving Christmas packages. When she read the sender's address, it fired her curiosity further. The package was from Maximillian Pegasus' corporation. Brown paper and tape were torn and thrown on the floor, curling insignificantly as Mai charged toward the heart of the package. She found a small, wooden box that could be used for storing jewelry, with her first name carved into it in small, fancy letters. This was no invitation to another Duelist Kingdom tournament, but another one wasn't scheduled to happen this year anyway. She desperately wanted to know what it
was all about, but the only way to find out was by opening the box.
Lifting the lid, she found a letter and a beautiful silver pin shaped like an angel. Mai opened the envelope and found a letter personally signed by Maximillian Pegasus in blue ink. The man was a master of calligraphy, and the signature was not photocopied or typed in a fancy font. The main part of the letter was typed, but the heading and ending were inscribed by hand. Gleefully she read the letter out loud, sitting back on her heels and not caring her toes were in pain as they dug into the floor at all.
"Here we go," Mai stood up and went on to the balcony, and held it up, pretending she was making a speech to her own country. Queen Mai...has a nice ring to it, she grinned and began reading it, but no so loudly that the entire population of her apartment building could hear, " Dear Miss Valentine...Two weeks from today, on the twentieth of December, a tournament will be held on my island. It is in honor of my heir, who will also be attending this gaming competition. The Heir will be informed of his position in an announcement at the end of the tournament. The last Duelist Kingdom tournament was such an interesting one I decided to invite many of those duelists who attended back to my island for this tournament and celebrations, which will last for three days (December 20-23). The Duelist Kingdom Party Tournament will provide facilities for holographic dueling, as well as entertainment and food for the celebrations and feasts that will take place throughout the event. Rules used at Seto Kaiba's recent tournament will govern all Duels, and surprises will be laid all throughout the grounds. There will be a cash prize of one hundred thousand dollars, but of course, the real winner will be the person who is the Heir.
"Rooms and services will be provided for all guests. Each person is required to bring only what they require to duel with: their deck, their will and their wit. Just arrive at Domino City Port 13 at 8:00 PM on December nineteenth, wearing the angel pen in a manner that is visible so the guards let you on. Hope to see you there, Maximillian Pegasus."
Mai's lips curved into a small smile, and she thought it over as she went back into the apartment, realizing it was warmer indoors than outdoors. She had attended the last Duelist Kingdom tournament herself, and made it all the way to the playoffs. This Duelist Kingdom Party Tournament sounded like a good deal to her, and it seemed to be designed so there wasn't a lot of pressure. It wasn't a real tournament where all the action was cut-throat and unforgiving, and it more sounded like a giant holiday party. It had free food and free entertainment. She would also get to see Yugi Motto and some of the other Duelists she had met at the tournament last year, and likely Joey Wheeler would be there too. She would have nothing to do during those days without school, and the Duel Party Tournament ended just in time for the days right before Christmas when her mother would be home. Maximillian Pegasus sounded like a much more light-hearted guy than he had been, spending thousands on a tournament that didn't mean much of anything.
Mai then thought of the Heir, whose identity Pegasus would announce at the end. It was amazing, but obviously whoever Pegasus had picked did not know he was the Heir. He must have also been a duelist, if he had attended the same tournament she had. Mai wondered immediately if she had met him, or even taken star chips away from him after she won a duel. He must have been pretty non-descript, maybe short, scrawny and wallowing in money he took for granted. It would be worth it just to see the kid's face when Pegasus announced his heir. She could see some person turning pale, his eyes rolling back into his head, and falling on the floor in a swoon when Pegasus said his name. Pegasus must have been rather quiet about the Heir's identity if he was running an entire tournament just to make a big deal out of it. It was likely the future Heir didn't even have a clue about the fact he was the most obvious choice.
The boat didn't leave for two weeks, but she decided to phone her mother about these new plans. Her mother supported Mai's dueling as long as it didn't cut into school work. It kept Mai busy and out of trouble, serious trouble anyway. Mai was a bit disappointed, and felt her heightened spirits sink a little when she got her mother's voice mail. She should have expected that her mother would busy at this time though. Mai waited for the beep and quickly left a message, "Mom, I got an invitation to a tournament being held on Duelist Kingdom. It is happening in two weeks, right before you get home. I'll give you the details later; love you, Mai."
Mai picked up the box and put everything in her room after cleaning up the mess of paper and tape. She opened the box and took out the silver angel. It was much more elegant than the glove Pegasus had given all the duelists to keep their star chips in. She liked the angel, as it was female and wild, and unlike a lot of representations of the holy beings she had commonly seen before. It seemed to be falling, the hair streaming up and around her face, the wings unfurled in a powerful sweep that uplifted the angel and gave her control. The angel's expression was one of confidence, assurance and anticipation of whatever it was staring at down below. She pinned it on to the leaf of her lilac jacket and stared at herself confidently in the mirror. This was the way Mai Valentine moved as she walked up the ramp and on to the boat the night of December nineteenth, her luggage rolling behind her. The guard looked at the angel and the matching young woman, both graceful and powerful, and he tipped his hat and let her on.
MAI was led to a room by a nicely dressed hostess. The boat was smaller than the last one she had been on while going to Duelist Kingdom. It was more elegant, and apparently every single guest was rooming by himself or with friends in private apartments. She had been worried that she was going to have duel someone rotten and then kick him out like last time when she had taken Rex Raptor's room. This time she would more likely have gotten her own rooms because she had reached the playoffs, or would have tried to bargain with an inhabitant of one of the personal rooms to let her stay too. It wasn't quite her style anymore to be so forceful, because it was rude and caused problems later on. Now there wasn't a need for any of her distasteful plans, so she relaxed and enjoyed herself by falling backward on the small bed. She wanted people to know that she really did have a good heart, but that Mai Valentine wasn't soft either. If Mai was soft, she wouldn't be worthy of the Harpy Ladies in her deck.
The door was open a crack, and she heard voices coming down the hallway. Mai had been there early, but it hadn't been a problem. With interest, she peeked out of the door and looked at the people in the hallway. They had very familiar voices, and her suspicions were confirmed as she peeked out the door. One was in green, had angular blond hair, and spoke with an interestingly accented voice. His partner was quite a bit shorter and still had his coat on, a gold pyramid hanging from a chain around his neck, hair growing to points high above his head in three bold colors. They were slowly walking toward her, staring at each door's number in confusion. She listened and was amused by the taller boy's complaints, and identified him as Joey Wheeler. He likely wasn't such an amateur anymore, but Mai was also a better duelist. It would be interesting to play him again.
Joey looked at room 32, and stared back the way he and Yugi had come. Their room was number 23, but it didn't seem to be anywhere down this hallway that the hostess had pointed them to. He stared at the ticket stub and scratched his nose, embarrassed as Yugi looked around dismally. Joey looked at his friend with sorry brown eyes. Yugi's eyes were a little higher than they had been recently, and it was obvious Yugi had reached the height of his grandfather, Solomon. Yugi didn't say so, but he was obviously pleased. Joey sighed and complained, "I don't know what to tell you, Yugi. This place is completely turned around, or maybe it is turning me around."
There were footsteps, and Joey looked up to see Mai Valentine. She smiled and leaned against the edge of her door. Yugi's eyes turned bright at the sight of the young woman in front of them, in a long sweater that tied around the waste and black pants. Mai had helped them out in tight spots before as they had done for her, and hers was a face they recognized right away. The boat was a maze, and she could possibly shed some light on how the rooms laid. They also hadn't seen her in months. Joey 's eyes widened at the sight of her, and it nearly could have been a ball of duelists-wearing-angel-pins if it weren't for polite etiquette that didn't suggest to swarm friends with hugs every time they met.
Yugi seems older, though I can't say that for Joey, Mai glanced at them both and smiled, "Hi! You got the invitations too, for the Duel Party?"
"We did Mai," Yugi glanced down at his silver angel with a look of confusion. Pegasus had not liked Yugi at all; he had just wanted that puzzle of his. Yugi had managed to beat Maximillian Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters, and restore Seto Kaiba's, Mokuba's and his grandfather's souls against all odds, even though Pegasus had been a cheating scoundrel by reading the mind of any player who went against him. It was rather strange that Pegasus would send an invitation to Yugi, but he was the champion of the last Duelist Kingdom tournament, so Pegasus would have been stupid if he had not invited Yugi of all people. There was less reason for Pegasus to invite Seto Kaiba though, as he had not been an official contestant. Pegasus had actually invited his corporate arch rival to a party in honor of his corporation's new heir! Pegasus was definitely trying to accomplish some major apologizing, even though stealing souls and kidnapping Mokuba were acts that did not deserve forgiveness.
"Mai, we are sort of lost," Joey showed her their assignment ticket, and she read it over, "We can't find our room."
The ticket was for a double room, while they had wandered to the area containing the single rooms. It was no wonder their room numbers didn't match up. Mai kept her amusement inside her throat and only her eyes gave her away. She handed it back to an anxious Joey, whose facial expression read: Help us please! The boat was leaving in a few minutes, and they obviously wanted to be in their room by the time the boat left for Duelist Kingdom, "The double rooms are down the hall way and to the right. Just turn back the way you came."
"Thanks Mai," Yugi replied, "We'll be seeing you at the Duel Party!"
"I'm sure we will Yugi Motto. See you two later!" Mai raised her voice as they disappeared down the hall. Joey and Yugi waved at her and turned around, and she went back to her own room. Mai found one of her bags and yanked it open, and found her snack food stash. It was always good to have some junk food handy, as there wasn't any kind of nourishment being provided on the trip to the tournament.
