all general disclaimers apply
Author's Note: In the chapter below, I am NOT going to write the duel with specific play-for-play. I do understand the game, but I do not know ALL the cards exact from Yugi's or Tea's deck so therefore, I cannot write the exact cards used. I will, however, guess a few that would work well for my plot. They may or may not actually exist in the character's deck.
Tea handed Yami her deck. Quickly, Yami looked through it. He wanted to be as familiar with every card as possible. Tea's deck was quite weak in monsters, magic, and traps. But what she did have was a balanced deck that could pull off some decent and deadly combos. He had to know every card though if he was going to set up his opponent for a combo attack.
Tea also handed Yugi's deck to Joey. On a piece of paper, Mai jotted down 4000 points for each duelist.
"Well Black Maggie, looks like you're workin' for me." Joey snickered as he looked at the Black Magician card.
Yami twitched slightly. The Dark Magician was one of his soul cards. The other was the fuzzy and lifesaving Kuriboh. He didn't like them being used against him. But, he had a plan. They may not be used against him if Tea's magic and trap cards worked properly. Actually, if Tea's cards worked properly, Yami could beat his own deck in less than five turns.He knew all the weak points of his deck. Joey didn't since both Yugi and Yami covered those weak points when dueling. Tea's deck had definite potential. It merely needed a bit more tweaking, but as is, the Game King still stood a chance.
"DUEL!" both duelists announced simultaneously.
"You may have the honor of going first Joey." Yami replied as he drew his initial five cards.
"Oh thanks...I think." Joey remarked as he looked over his first five cards and drew his next card. As Yami guessed, Joey laid a monster in face-down defense while also placing a facedown card in the magic/trap zone. It was the standard move for a duelist having to go first.
Yami looked over his cards carefully. Joey wasn't to be taken lightly despite his goofy, unorthodox methods of dueling. Joey could act as if he made a stupid beginner's mistake and then burn you once the other duelist became overconfident of victory. Yami eyed Joey as he matched Joey's move exactly. Two face-down cards were placed, one a monster, the other a magic or trap. "Joey, I WILL best you in just a few turns."
"Ah, you're just trying to psyche me out. I'm not fallin' for it. I know you as well as you know me."
"Do you? You know YUGI--not me."
"Na-well, hey, you're just messin' with my head now! Shush. It's my move."
The ancient ruler of Egypt regarded his opponent with amusement. He WAS messing with Joey's head. He had to. If he threw Joey off his train of thought, Joey would make a mistake. Mistakes never went unpunished whenever Yami was dueling and usually led to Yami's victory.
Joey looked at Yami's cards on the table. Joey was right back to having to make the first move. He drew a card, getting a strong four-star monster. He'd have to entice the pharaoh into attacking. Joey knew one thing for certain about the once-king and it was the fact that Yami rarely played conservatively for long. Joey placed the recently acquired monster face-up in attack mode but did NOT attack Yami's face down monster. He also added another face-down card in the magic/trap zone. But the question that haunted the firey teen was that by not attacking, was he committing a mistake and falling into the pharaoh's tactical trap? He'd know soon enough.
Mai wanted to thwap the teen in the back of the head! To her, it seemed like Joey commited a classic mistake. Against the King of Games, this was unpardonable! But, she respected Joey and the game play of duelists so she only thwapped in his head mentally.
It was Yami's turn once again. Yami drew a card and mentally winced. Tea's deck was indeed weak on the monster side and the combos he wanted weren't quite ready yet. The monsters in his hand weren't strong enough to beat Joey's face-up monster. Joey was playing very conservatively and this was the open door Yami needed if only he could draw the right cards at the right time. He thought briefly about one of his powers, the ability to shuffle cards unnoticeably with just his mind, but Joey was a true duelist, using extra powers wouldn't be honorable. With a brief scowl, Yami placed another monster in face-down defensive position as well as another card in the magic/trap zone and awaited Joey's next turn.
Now Joey was worried. Yami rarely resisted an open attack. But then again, Yami wasn't playing with his own deck. He was playing against it. Joey was somewhat familiar with Tea's deck, but hadn't played against it since his second place win at Duelist Kingdom. Only Tristan and perhaps Yugi had played Tea's deck recently. But one thing Joey was confident in was the abilities of Yugi's deck and this time that deck was in his control.
With two monsters on his field, Joey was ready to play Yugi's own cards against him. For some reason, Lady Luck liked Joey even with Yugi's deck! But, Joey wanted to see the pharaoh squirm, if that was possible. After completing his draw phase, Joey placed yet another monster face down and ended his turn. He did not attack.
Now Yami was baffled! Without saying a word, Yami grabbed Joey's drinking glass and sniffed it. Nope, no alcohol. He returned the drinking glass to the table and continued with the game. He drew a card, glanced at it and placed it in his hand. Yami looked at Joey again, trying to decipher the teen's thought patterns by reading his facial expressions. But, Joey retained his ever present goofy grin. In his eyes, however, was the determination of a gamer. Yami had to be cautious. Joey apparently had something up his sleeve and Yami had a feeling that he wasn't going to be nice to him. "I'm sacrificing this monster in place of this and end my turn." Yami said as he traded a face down defensive monster for a new, obviously stronger one.
"Is that all you got?" Joey taunted. For some really odd reason, the mighty pharaoh was down on his luck. Joey had never seen the ancient ruler have so much difficulty in anything, especially in a single day! Perhaps Vegas' gaming atmosphere was negating the Game King's usual good fortune. Joey drew a card and looked over his hand. "Well, pharaoh, hmm, time to do some damage to that royal butt of yours. Let's see, I'll sack these two monsters here for the Dark Magician and uh, well, get rid of that other face down card of yours."
Yami smirked and flipped a trap card over. It negated Joey's attack.
"Okay, maybe not." Joey muttered. "I end my turn."
Yami drew a card and smirked. He had a good combo, but it would mean he would have to destroy his own Dark Magician-his loyal servant. As he looked at his hand again, he suddenly realized, he could turn the tide with just one card. He didn't know Tea had it in her deck! It was a very powerful and very rare card! He'd ask her about it later. Again, it would destroy his favorite card, but at this point, it was necessary. He had a plan and it would set forth a greater combo yet.
"I play this magic card first." Yami replied as he placed the rare magic card face up onto the field.
"Wha, no way--where'd she get THAT card!?" Joey exclaimed.
"Follow through Joey." Yami replied. Joey groaned and wiped the monsters from his side of the playing field into the graveyard. The card was Rageki.
Once Joey had performed the card's effects, Yami prepared his next play. "Now, I play this magic card and reborn my Dark Magician to MY side of the field in attack mode." Yami said as he flipped Monster Reborn.
Joey groaned again and handed Yami the Dark Magician.
"And I'm not through yet Joey. To complete this in one single turn, the Dark Magician attacks you directly as well as this monster." Yami replied as he flipped one of his defensive monsters to offensive. The defensive monster he flipped had an attack of 1500. The total was 4000. "You are out of life points Joey."
"WHA! Aw man no way! By Tea's deck, how in the!?" Joey whined as Tristan turned his head away and the girls giggled.
"Did you think I was bluffing? I said I'd best you in just a few turns."
"Yeah, well, I guess that shows that THIS deck needs more work." Joey teased as he mock pouted and returned Yugi's deck to Yami.
Yami stacked Tea's deck and returned it to her. But as she reached for it, he held it firm and flipped up the top card. It was the Rageki. "So Tea, how did you come by this card?" Yami asked, while a small smile and amused eyes gave him a dashing charm that humbled even the strongest of ladies.
Tea blushed. She had forgotten about that card. "Uh, I well, uh, you don't really want to know." she stumbled as the red in her face darkend. It attracted the attention of the others now.
"Do tell." Mai prodded.
Tea sent her a death stare, but it was useless. Yami's own stare was breaking her down. He nodded slightly as his way of asking her to continue as well. She couldn't resist a request from a king could she?
"It was at the dance camp I attended last summer. There was a boys baseball camp nearby. Most of the boys were just a couple of years younger than us."
"You didn't--" Tristan said as he tried to guess ahead of Tea's story.
"No I didn't Tristan." Tea remarked, getting the hint of where Tristan was trying to take it. "Well, not exactly."
Yami tilted his head slightly out of amused curiousity. Yugi would be lost in the vague word play his friends were conversing in, but Yami understood it well and it was getting juicy. Innocent little Tea caught in a juicy story was intriguing to say the least.
"Well, as we were hiking one day, we spotted a group of boys playing Duel Monsters. I watched this one boy play a magic card that changed the course of the duel. I was curious so I waved off the other girls and approached the group of boys. Naturally, the younger boys were drooling as I approached. I asked the one boy if he'd like to go for a walk with me alone beside the lake. He nodded like a zombie. We talked about Duel Monsters and I asked him about that magic card he'd just used. He showed me it and told me how rare it was. I asked if he was willing to trade for it. He hesitated, but I had noticed a bargaining point. His eyes were continuously locked on my, well uh--"
"HOOTERS!" Joey and Tristan filled in simultaneously as they both seemed more attentive to Tea's story than any lesson even given in a class.
"Yes Joey. Anyway, I asked him if he'd like to get a peek at them in exchange for that card. He eagerly agreed. And that's how I got this card. I hid it from you all because I didn't want to tell that story. I was a embarrassed by what I did." Tea finished with a complete blush. Her eyes locked on Yami's. She was curious about his reaction to her story.
"Ah, I see." Yami replied quietly with very little reaction at all.
*Is he disappointed in me?* Tea thought in response to Yami's reaction.
"Hey Tea, I'll trade you a card for a look." Joey joked.
"Yeah me too!" Tristan added.
Mai slid up beside Joey. "Oh, is that how it is? You'd rather see Tea's than say, mine?" she whispered seductively in Joey's ear.
Joey's face was enveloped in a heated flush. "No, it's not like that. I mean, hey wait, are you offerin?"
"Don't press your luck bowser boy." Mai teased as she tapped him on the nose and opted to change the subject. "So, your Highness, whom will the lucky lady be?"
Yami regarded both ladies without a hint of expression. In a brief moment, Yami spoke. "I have a request instead. Tea, may I speak with you alone?"
Tea nodded and followed Yami to the front porch. "What is it Yami?"
"If it is okay with you, I wish Yugi to accompany you this time. He hasn't had much use of his own body since we've been here and he'd really appreciate it. And I myself, could use a little rest."
Inwardly, Yugi was screaming at Yami. He coudln't believe that a trick he once played on the pharaoh was now being played upon himself. Yami was setting HIM up on a date this time!
"Sure. I think that would be a wonderful idea." Tea replied. To herself, she was a little disappointed that Yami wasn't going to accompany her, but his reasons made plenty of sense. Besides, she missed Yugi a little anyway. Yugi had indeed been overshadowed since they had landed in Vegas.
"Then it's settled. He'll accompany you for the rest of the day. Lets return to the others and inform them." Yami replied as he led Tea back inside. As he pushed the door inward, it thumped against something and stuck. Yami signalled for Tea to step back as he lunged forward at the door, using his weight and forward motion to pry the door open.
"OWWWW!"
"Well now, I guess we don't have to tell them afterall." Yami replied as he entered and found Tristan, Joey, and Mai on the floor below him. They had been leaning against the door evesdropping on the conversation occuring on the porch.
"I'm ashamed of you all." Tea remarked as she stepped over them.
Before the two young men could regain their footing, Yami held them each in place by grabbing their necks. Mai and Tea looked on with worry. It was not wise to piss off a king, especially one with devestating magical abilities.
"And for you two, a game." Yami replied with a smirk.
"WH-what're you gonna do to us?" Tristan stammered.
"A simple game." Yami replied as he grabbed both of them by their shirts and tugged them to their feet. "Follow me."
"Do we have a choice?" Joey remarked sarcastically as he and his buddy were dragged into the kitchen.
Yami found a ring of sausage links, snapped it in half and tied one half around each of the boy's necks. The links couldn't be broken by merely tugging on them.
"What the--"
"The game is simple. Avoid the teeth and don't fall down. Get to the back door, and you will be allowed back inside."
Yami then dragged the two out to the street and whistled. He then darted back onto the porch and locked the door.
The two ladies and Yami watched from the safety of the house as a group of dogs from nowhere came running down the road.
"OH CRAP!" Joey yelled as Tristan began to mutter "Big doggies" over and over.
Yami stepped out onto the porch. For some reason, he felt the dogs had an unfair advantage. "Joey, Tristan--don't look them in the eye and don't run." Yami called out to them.
"Don't run? Are you crazy!? That's a rott and pit bull comin' down the road!" Joey yelled.
"I'm not worried about those Jo. Check out the two dogs coming from behind. A hotdog dog and chihuahua!"
"They're little doggies Tris. They're harmless."
"But Joey...they can't reach the sausages on our necks. But they CAN reach our other sausage."
"YAMI, you get us out of this right now!" Joey yelled.
"You have everything you need to get out of it yourself Joey." Yami called back.
Mai joined Yami on the porch. "Pharaoh, isn't this a little harsh? I mean, they're teenagers, snooping is a habit for them."
"It's more than that Mai. That was the third infraction those two have caused that have either upset Tea, myself, or both of us. This little game will teach them the importance of friendship and teamwork and perhaps to not bother others when they are uninvited."
"How?"
"The sausage links around their necks can be removed, but only if one unties the other. Throw one ring to the front dogs and the other to the rear dogs. It's a simple concept."
"Simple for you perhaps, but this is Joey and Tristan you are talking about. The dogs probably have more combined brain power then those two."
"Awww crap Joey, they're gettin' closer! Think Joey!"
"Me?! What about you?!"
Tristan growled and tried to clear his brain of the fear he was feeling.
The lightbulbs over Joey and Tristan's heads lit at the same time. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin?" Joey asked his best friend.
"Turn around. Hurry!" Tristan said as he sought to untie Joey's sausage necklace. Once he'd freed Joey's, he turned and Joey returned the favor.
"You throw back. I'll throw front." Joey said as they lobbed their sausages. "NOW RUN!"
Joey and Tristan made it safely to the porch and ran inside. Mai and Yami followed behind them.
"That was cruel pharaoh." Joey muttered.
"So was you evesdropping on a private conversation."
Joey sputtered but could not find the right words of retaliation. Yami was right too.
"Look, I will treat you two boys to dinner. Yami (and Yugi...heheh) and Tea will likely want to return to their rooms to prepare for their nice date together." Mai said as food always tempered the heated souls of this bunch.
So, the group split and went their separate ways.
A little later, Yami was in the hotel room preparing Yugi for the upcoming date.
/"I can dress myself Yami. Let me take over."/
"Not yet. I know how you dress yourself. I want you to wear the proper attire for this special occasion partner."
/"I can't believe you're setting me up! How do you know Tea really wants to do this with me. She'd rather be with you."/
"You sell yourself short."
/"I AM short!"/
Yami chuckled despite himself. "That you are, but it is irrelevant. It's not how I meant it Yugi. You doubt yourself far too often. Tea's in a dilemma. I can sense it. Her heart is uncertain. Much like your own."
/"Okay Mr. Psychiatrist, so how do YOU feel about this? About Tea?"/
Yami remained silent. He didn't want to think about himself.
/"Oh so I see. There IS something you feel about Tea. I'll leave it alone for now since you seem so unwilling to talk, but I now know it's as I suspected."/
"I do not know the destiny of you, Tea, or myself, partner. But, it feels right whenever you and Tea are together. You two might be fated to each other. I do not feel the same when I am with her." Yami replied as he worked with a tie in front of the mirror. Everything was a little short, since it was Yugi's attire, but Yami wanted to make sure that when they changed forms, Yugi would look like a dashing and charming young man.
/"Yami, I HATE ties! Use a bowtie."/
"The tie is more masculine. The bowtie is what a child would wear."
A moment later Yami added a few more accessories to Yugi's ensamble.
/"Earcuffs?! Yami, those are as bad as earrings!"/
"A nice touch. Even Marik wears earrings."
/"Marik is a girly-boy!"/
"Marik attracts girls. He has good fashion sense, like myself."
/"Doesn't mean I will with the same attire."/
"No it doesn't. You need only attract ONE girl and I know how she ticks. She will find you attractive with these additions. It takes a real man to wear jewelry such as this. That's why females are attracted to them. Besides, before we departed from Domino City, you promised me you would wear one outfit of my choosing. Remember?"
Yugi moaned. He was not going to win this one. So, he allowed Yami to prepare him for this unexpected date. Yami dressed his younger partner in a casual black slacks with a royal blue silk shirt. A black dinner jacket and grey tie were added. Yugi looked like he was dressed for a night out at some ritzy nightclub. He would cetainly turn some heads.
In the neighboring room, Tea was busy choosing her own attire. She decided to go a little more conservative than she would with Yami. Yugi was hormonally charged like any teenage boy whereas Yami seemed more mature and in control of such biological behaviors. If she chose the wrong attire, it could be a distraction for Yugi. She chose attire that slightly resembled a tennis outfit--a sky blue sleeveless shirt with a pleated white skirt that was short, but not too short. Earrings and a necklace acentuated the outfit.
Moments later Yami switched places with Yugi and retreated within the Millenium Puzzle for some much needed rest. Yugi looked at himself in the mirror and shrugged. He and his ancient royal partner dueled alike, but they sure didn't have the same fashion sense. But, Yugi did promise Yami that he'd wear something of the pharaoh's choosing. So, this was it. With a heavy sigh, he left the room to meet Tea and go on this 'date' the pharaoh had so generously set up for him.
to be continued...
