Chapter 3
"The Plane Ride"
"It won't work."
"It will so!"
"They're not gonna buy it."
"Of course they will!"
"It's not gonna work."
"Will you stop worrying? It will work!"
Rex and Weevil were arguing as they stood in the airport, waiting to board the plane that would take them to Egypt. Each held a counterfeit ticket in his hand. Weevil was getting annoyed at Rex's doubtfulness. There was no reason why their tickets shouldn't get them on the plane – they were perfect duplicates of the originals – except for the fact that they had been free.
They reached the entrance to the ramp and handed the tickets to the steward. The poor man had a very hard time ripping them and Rex and Weevil both realized at the same time that the tickets weren't perforated! They cast each other nervous glances.
At last, the man succeeded in tearing the tickets sloppily in half. He shoved one half back at both boys and they scurried up the ramp as quickly as they could.
Further along in the line, Mai was tapping her foot on the tile floor impatiently, her duffle bag slung over her shoulder. A few loose children ran past and bumped her. She stumbled forward into the man in front of her. "Oh! Sorry!" she said, quickly regaining her composure.
The man turned around, "It's quite alright – oh! I know you!" It was Mako Tsunami.
"Yes, and I think I've seen you before," Mai said, smiling, "I was wondering if I'd see you here. How are you?"
"Looking forward to this competition," he said, grinning broadly, "I have greatly improved my deck since Battle City."
"I'll believe that when we finally duel," Mai said.
"Yes, I have never had that honor," Mako nodded, "Perhaps this time I will be so lucky."
"I'd look forward to it," Mai said. By this time, they had reached the gate before the ramp.
Mako gestured for Mai to go on ahead of him, "Ladies first."
"Thank you," she said, "I guess chivalry isn't dead after all." She handed the steward her ticket and then started up the ramp. Mako did the same and followed after her.
Further behind them, Yugi and his friends were saying goodbye to Grandpa. "You kids have fun – and be careful," he said.
"We will," Yugi said, giving his grandfather a quick hug, "And we'll call as soon as we get settled into our hotel."
"Hey! The line's moving!" Joey said, and the group started moving up towards the gate.
"Bye, Grandpa!" Yugi waved as he handed in his ticket.
Solomon Moto watched with a sad smile as his grandson disappeared into the plane. He prayed that this tournament was as innocent as it seemed, and that if it wasn't, that Yugi would be kept safe. He had no doubt that the boy was skilled, but he felt bad that he'd been put through so many fate-of-the-world situations so early in life. The poor boy had barely begun puberty!
He shook his head, and turned to go. In seconds, the old man had vanished into the crowd.
* * *
"Sorry, Joey. You get the odd seat," Tristan said. Each person of the Yugioh gang was looking at the different size straw that they now held in their hands. Joey sighed; why did he always get the odd straw? Why did he always finish last?
Yugi smiled at his friend, "It'll be ok. We're only going to be a few rows away, after all!" Yugi and the others kept walking down the aisle of the cramped 747, and found their seats. Tristan sat next to Tea and Yugi was next to Bakura.
"I just hope I don't get seated next to anyone I can't stand!" Joey waved his friends off and then sat down in the aisle seat he had been standing next to. As he was adjusting his backpack (which contained the few essential things that the needed. You know, like dirty magazines, a toothbrush, etc.), he bumped into the person next to him.
"Hey watch it!" A familiar, high and squeaky voice reached Joey's ears, making him look over quickly. His eyes locked with the beady eyes of a short, blue-haired boy.
"WEEVIL!!!!"
"WHEELER!"
True to anime style, the two duelists faced off, with sparks of electricity shooting between their eyes and fire blazing all around them. In the background, the other passengers looked around nervously, searching for the source of the fire.
As quickly as it had come, the emotional fire vanished, and the two began to bicker.
"What are your doing here?" Weevil shouted, standing up, but still only getting up to about two-thirds of Joey's height.
"I should be asking you that question! Only I'd have said 'what's a loser like you doin' here!" Joey leaned over slightly, using his size to try and intimidate the insect duelist.
Weevil was about to retort, when both of the teens got whacked on the head with a pointer stick. With a yelp, they both looked over and saw the flight attendant shaking a finger at him, her pointer stick in her opposite hand. "Now we won't have any fighting on the flight!" she scolded, "You'll be a fire hazard! Take your seats so I can finish going over safety procedures."
Both boys grudgingly sat down, and refused to look at each other again.
Soon they were airborne, and the nine hour trip began. In his seat, three rows behind Weevil, Rex glanced over at the person he was seated next to for the first time, and nearly fell out of his seat in surprise.
Though her face was hidden behind a fashion magazine, Rex would've recognized that silky blonde hair and gorgeous figure anywhere. "Mai!?!" he cried.
Mai lowered her magazine and stared at Rex with narrowed eyes, "Well, well, well…" she said, crossing one leg over the other, "If it isn't the junior dino dork himself."
Rex growled, "You think you're so hot. But I'll shut you up once and for all as soon as the tournament starts!"
"Dream on, punk," Mai scoffed, "I keep flattening you, but you don't seem to ever shut up." Rex flushed with anger, but couldn't find the words he wanted. "Look – let's make this simple," Mai said, "You don't talk anymore, I won't talk anymore. Problem solved. Simple as that. Okay?"
Rex folded his arms and slumped down into his seat, scowling. Of all the rotten luck! Why'd he have to get stuck sitting next to Mai of all people! Well, he might be stuck next to her, but he wasn't going to like it – and he wasn't going to let her enjoy it either!
* * *
It had been two hours since they took off, and Mai was ready to combust! Rex hadn't given her a moment's peace since they'd taken off! She was pulling at her hair, and her right eye was twitching. Rex hadn't said a word – in accordance with their agreement, but he'd done every other annoying thing humanly possible!
She had tried to listen to music, but Rex had begun to fiddle with the volume control, making it either impossible for her to hear the music or making her ears ring. He pressed the call button precisely once every 3 minutes, and then blamed it on Mai. Sneezing, coughing, sighing heavily, adjusting his hat, and releasing bodily gases had all become common.
He cleared his throat and Mai almost snapped. "THAT'S IT!!!" she cried, standing up and leaning over the front of her seat, calling out, "Underwood!"
Weevil's buggy head popped up from behind his seat, "What?"
"Get over here – we're switching seats," she said, jerking her thumb towards her seat.
"Sure," Weevil agreed, "Anything's gotta be better than sitting next to Wheeler." The boy then proceeded to climb over Joey, being sure to step on him at least once. Mai pushed past Rex and out into the isle.
Joey was brushing shoe-prints off of his pants when he heard Mai's footsteps stop next to him. He looked up at her, and felt himself go slightly red. He hadn't seen her since Battle City, and he'd almost forgotten how beautiful she was. Quickly, he composed himself and asked, "Can I help you?"
"Move in," she said.
"No," he stuck his nose in the air, "I don't want bug-boy germs on me. You can have his seat."
"Fine, whatever," she shrugged, and moved to slide into the seat.
But Joey was bigger than Rex had been and squeezing past him proved more difficult than she had expected. Joey tried to lean back as far as he could, but he still ended up with her ass in his face. His face went an even deeper shade of maroon, and sweat began to bead on his forehead.
Mai, on her part, was very glad Joey couldn't see her face, because she was blushing nearly as much as he was. Hurriedly, she pushed all the way past him and waited a few seconds for the burning in her cheeks to go down before turning around. She pulled a handkerchief out of her bag and began wiping off the seat that had been Weevil's.
"HEY!!!" yelled Weevil from three rows down, leaning over the seat, "What's THAT supposed to mean??"
"It means she doesn't want yer cooties!" Joey said, standing up.
Weevil fumed and was then whacked on the head by the flight attendant, "I thought I said stay seated!" she scolded. Weevil shrank back into his seat, vowing revenge on Joey.
Mai and Joey sat back down and Mai breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm surprised you lasted two hours next to that little creep," Joey said.
"Me neither," she shook her head, "If I had to stay there one more second, I think my head would've exploded."
There was an awkward moment of silence and then Mai grinned slyly and asked, "So…how'd you manage to afford this, anyway?"
"Hey…" Joey said, looking hurt, "What's with the nasty attitude? I hope you haven't forgotten what happened at Battle City."
Mai winced. She hadn't forgotten. When she'd been trapped by Marik in an hourglass full of scorpions, it was Joey who'd come to her rescue. She gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry…no – I didn't forget…" She put a hand on his arm and he felt his stomach give a funny lurch.
"You're okay, right?" he asked.
She nodded, "Thanks to you."
"Yeah…well…" he gulped. She was squeezing his arm now, brushing her thumb against the bare skin. His stomach was doing summersaults. "What else could I have done?" He brushed a finger under his nose nervously, "Just try and stay outta trouble this time, okay?"
He turned towards her just in time to see her smile and his heartbeat quickened. "I'll try," she said, "But if I do get in trouble, will you be there to save me again?"
"Y-yeah, sure," he said, "What're friends for, right?"
"Right," she said. Then she released her grip on his arm and turned to stare out the window at the sky.
Joey put a hand on his chest, to slow his heartbeat. Why was he getting so nervous? All she'd done was touch his arm. Why was that making his feel so tense? He shook his head and closed his eyes. He couldn't afford to get all worked up like this. He needed to keep focused – keep his mind on the upcoming tournament. Surely Yugi wasn't as distracted as this!
A few rows down and across the isle, Yugi had fallen asleep on Bakura's shoulder. Bakura had tried to do the same, but something kept nagging at him. He knew why he couldn't rest: Yugi's Millennium Puzzle was dangling so close to Bakura that he knew that if he simply raised a hand, he could remove the Puzzle from Yugi's neck without the younger boy ever knowing about it. Not that Bakura wanted Yugi's Puzzle. It was the… other presence. Bakura shivered and his mind grew cold for a moment. His Spirit was obsessed with owning all of the items, obsessed with-
Bakura.
Bakura froze and sat stiffly in his chair. It was happening again.
The Puzzle. take it!
'I won't!' That Puzzle belongs to Yugi!'
You have no choice. I control you.
'That's not true! I am my own person! It's my body!'
You cannot resist me. Your mind is weak. TAKE THE PUZZLE!
'NO! Stop it! Get out of my head!'
TAKE THAT PUZZLE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Ring began to glow and Bakura realized, for the first time, that his Spirit was forcing him to relinquish control over his body. His mind began to go numb, weak. Bakura knew that he had grown in strength. His mind was no longer just a thing to be toyed with by an ancient Spirit.
Bakura's face was now two images, badly fused into one. The left side was that of Yami Bakura now, eye flashing and hair wild. The right side was still Bakura, a look of fear and determination on his face. The dividing point was a bright line of light emitted from the Millennium Ring. The left hand made a grab for the Puzzle, while the right grabbed hold of its counterpart and struggled to stop it. The line of light slowly moved to the right, as Yami Bakura's much more powerful mind began to overwhelm Bakura.
"Hey Bakura!"
The light vanished and Yami Bakura retreated. Bakura, now exhausted and breathing heavily, looked behind him to see the quizzical face of Tristan, "Yes… Tristan?"
Tristan started again, "Are you alright? You were moving around a lot and-"
"Yes, I'm fine! Just a bad dream, that's all…" Bakura slumped back down into his seat. That was the longest he had ever lasted against his counterpart. The experience had completely drained him.
Tristan watched as Bakura disappeared from view again, then muttered (more to himself than Bakura), "If you say so…"