Disclaimer: I don't own characters from Yu-gi-oh, Cardcaptors or Pokemon.
I'm simply borrowing them for my fanfic. These cartoons belong to 4 Kids
Entertainment, Kids Wb, and whoever else.
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Duelists of The Future- Season 1- Episode 07, 'The Cruise' (1/15/2003)
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It was around noon time in Domino City now. Solomon Moto was busy running the Turtle Game Shop, and it was beginning to get a little hectic. The shop was more crowded than usual because the tournament started tomorrow, and all the duelists were trying to refine their decks to the utmost perfection. Yugi was in his room looking through his deck of cards. He was wondering whether he should upgrade the deck, or to leave it alone and let it stay the way it was. The deck was already exemplary as is, and Yugi didn't want to destroy the hard work his grandfather put into it to make the way it is today. But on the other hand, the deck was getting old. It was high time to boost the deck with new cards to give it some more firepower and strategies, but Yugi still didn't want to ruin Solomon's deck. Yugi decided to debate this issue with Yami to see what he thought about it.
[But Yami, the deck is good like it is and I don't want to destroy it. Grandpa put a lot of time and effort into creating it.]
[Then don't bother it,] Yami said to his alternate self. [If you feel that improving the deck is gonna ruin it, then leave it alone. But, you know as well as I do that it's about time that deck get a serious upgrade.]
[I see your point, Yami. I know the deck is getting old, but I just don't wanna change it from the way Grandpa set it up. He'll probably be upset if he found out.]
[So be it, then. But, don't come crying to me when Joey crushes you in the championship.]
[Joey?! Joey can't beat me. He's tried hundreds of times, but he can never manage to outfox my deck,] Yugi said quite confidently.
[That plays right into my point! Because you've crushed Joey so many times, he just about know your deck by heart. And he's out there redoing his deck, right now, as we speak. When you two meet in the championship, he's probably gonna blow you away because he's gonna start playing strategies you've never seen him do before. Yet, he'll be able to counter just about anything you throw at him because he's played with you many times before, and I know he's memorized your deck. Now do you get my point?] Yami inquired.
[Totally. I see what you're saying Yami, and you may very well be right. It is probably time to boost this deck, but... for some reason, I don't wanna bother it. Once I think about the thought, effort, and determination Grandpa used while building this deck, it makes me want to leave it alone. I can't just tamper with something he's fixed up, you know? Like, let's say you're a music artist. You spend hours recording a song, and it's just perfect. But someone comes along, listens to it, and thinks it could use some work. So they just start rewriting lyrics, changing the beat, and fixing it to what they think is good. How do you think you would feel if you came in to listen to the song one more time before releasing it to the public, only to find that its been tampered with?]
[I have two answers to that question. One, if they did go behind my back and edit the song, but it turned out to be better than what I put together, I'd congratulate them. If they rearranged the song and messed it up, then I would be mad. Boosting the deck could go either way Yugi. If you boost it to a way that your grandfather thinks is superior to the previous version, you won't have anything to be ashamed of, and he won't be mad. And on the other hand... well, you know what I'm about to say, so I'll shut up.]
Yugi sighed deeply before continuing. [I don't think I am going to bother it, but then again... argh! I'll decided about it later,] he finished, and Yami switched to another subject because he was growing rather tired of this one.
[So, Yugi, are you still gonna go on that frivilous excursion for your parents?]
[It's not frivilous! And of course, I'm not going to back out now! I still believe that they might be stranded on that island, and I am not stopping until I get there and find them!]
[Whatever, Yugi. You know, I can't believe you think they'll be alive after over 14 years? The probability of them still on that island is very slim to none, none being the dominating category. I've never heard of anyone missing for that long, then being found again.]
[I know the odds, but I have to see them and meet them! If I've got a chance to search for them, I can't just claim that they are dead and move on. I mean, for all we know, they could still be alive and in desperate need of help.]
[Yugi, please! I'm positive that someone would've seen them or heard from them or something if they were alive. They would've found some kind of way to alert someone to their presence. Who knows, maybe they didn't even make it to the island. The boat might've sunk while they were making their way there, and their bodies could be floating somewhere under the surface of the ocean.]
[Possibly. But some boat wreckage would've been found if that had happened.]
[You know, maybe when they arrived there, they decided to go scuba diving until your father's match came and a giant shark devoured them or something. Or, a strong current could've pulled them underwater before they had time to put on their oxygen masks and they drowned...]
[Enough probability scenarios! My mind is made up,] Yugi thought and reorganized the deck of cards, storing them inside his device. Just as Yami was about to speak again, a knock came on the window. Yugi got up and raced over to the window to see who it was. To his surprise, it was Joey! Yugi opened the window to grant Joey passage.
"Joey? What are you doing? Why didn't you just come through the front door?" (Yami) [He's a lunatic.]
"Ah, I just wanted to do something exhilarating, you know, instead of just coming in through the front door as usual," he answered while climbing through the gap.
"But climbing windows can be dangerous."
"Dangerous? (laughs) Please! I climb trees all the time, so climbing a window is as easy as saying my ABC's."
[I doubt he even knows his ABC's,] Yami quipped, and Yugi frowned. [Yami, chill out. Why are you being so harsh?] Yugi asked, but Yami didn't respond. He then turned his attention back to Joey. "So, what brings you by my house, Joey?"
"Nothing, just wanted to see how my little buddy was doin', that's all. I'm wondering Yugi, are you participating in the Duel Monsters tournament? It's supposed to be some stiff competition this time around."
"Oh, yeah, I'm participating? Are you?"
Joey began to get excited. "Of course I am! So, you're in this thing too, hunh? It's your very first participation, you nervous?"
"Not really. I'm very good at this game, and my deck is good too, so I pretty sure I'll at least make it to the preliminaries of the real tournament," Yugi said. "Are you nervous?"
"Heck, no! I'm bold, bad, and I'm ready for this thing! Especially with that awesome deck Mr. Moto gave to me. That deck kicks serious butt!" Joey exclaimed, and Yugi chuckled. "Which brings me to 'da question, are you gonna boost and refine your deck before the start of the tournament?"
"Aw.. not this question again. I just got through debating with myself about this, literally! Anyway, I think I might keep it the same. I believe its good enough to win this tournament, and with the Heart of The Cards behind me, how can I lose?" Joey chuckled with Yugi for a moment, then Yugi brought up a question. "So, how about we have a little practice duel to prep ourselves for the tournament?"
"Nah... I can't, my stomach is saying otherwise," Joey clutched his grumbling stomach, making Yugi laugh. "Hey, what's so funny?! It's noon time, and I need my lunch!"
"I don't know if there's anything downstairs to eat. Grandpa is supposed to be going grocery shopping, but the store's really busy and he can't take a break to go get anything. He might've ordered out for something though; we can go check," Yugi suggested and Joey nodded in agreement.
"Let's do something, or else I'm gonna collapse. (stomach growls again) "Ohh... little tummy's saying it's time to eat, not to duel." Both of the young boys headed downstairs to see what they could put in their stomachs.
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Meanwhile, down at the Pegasus estate, Maximillion himself was preparing to board a airplane. (a small note: Pegasus had his launch pad built near the backyard instead of the roof, because he found it to be more efficient to access). His destination was the Central Palace at Crystal Kingdom, which was going to be his abode for quite a while. Pegasus brushed his hair out of his eye while stepping up into the plane, and numerous bodyguards began following him inside. He seated himself as the pilots in the cockpit began pressing touch screen panel buttons (much like Star Trek panels) Within seconds, the plane's engines fired in and the plane began ascending off the ground. Pegasus whipped out a cellphone and dialed in a number, then waited for a response. A few rings later, his trusty guard Kemo answered the call.
"This is Kemo speaking," he said.
"Kemo, this is your boss, Maximillion Pegasus. Last night, I ordered for a young man by the name of Morty Jenkins to be transferred to my palace. Has he arrived?" he requested, and the guard gave him a positive answer.
"Affirmative, master. The man has been taken here and locked away in the underground dungeon chambers as you requested."
"Goody, goody. I trust you also have the Millenium Key off his neck and in your possesion?"
This time Kemo did not answer right away, instead he began stammering nervously. "Uh, uh.. um... w- well... um-uh, I uh..."
"You uh.. what?"
"This isn't my fault, Master Pegasus. We tried to take the key, but it wouldn't come off his neck," Kemo told him.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Once we hauled him in, we immediately tried pulling the key off his neck, but for some strange reason, it wouldn't move. It's like it's... glued to his skin, or it is his skin, that's what it acts like."
"Oh, no. This is bad. This is really, really bad! Have you figured out any ideas on how to get that Millenium Key off his neck? Surely there must be something you can do, right?"
"I've got some people researching this mystical stuff right now, as we speak. So far, they haven't turned up anything," Kemo informed. Pegasus began to shake his head in disbelief.
"No, no. This can't be! No, this is bad!" he grabbed his hair in frustration.
"Uh, Master? Master Pegasus, is there anything wrong?" Kemo asked, getting a bit concerned. Pegasus shook it off.
"No, no, it isn't. Here is your orders: keep researching the texts and keep trying to pry the key off his neck. I'll be there shortly. In the meantime, I am about to get my massage treatments and I don't want to be disturbed, understood?!" he inquired firmly.
"Yes, Master Pegasus, I will not disturb you."
"Good. Remeber your orders," Pegasus finished and hung up the phone. He sighed in utter disgust. This was one twist he didn't expect. Things were not going the way he planned them.
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Meanwhile, Morty's girlfriend, Jasmine Cortez, was sitting on a bench outside of the spa treatment center. So far, she hadn't seen any sign of Morty. He told her he was going to be off work today, and that he was going to spend some quality with her getting pampered at the center, but he hadn't shown. Jasmine was getting a bit worried, mainly because she had been waiting for over two hours. As she sat on the bench, she wondered where he could be. Why hadn't he came yet? Has something bad happened to him? Maybe he had to go to work after all, or maybe something came up and he had to bail. But usually when something happens, he'd call her and tell her about it. A flame red powerbike with a young woman on it pulled up on the curb and stopped. The engine shut off and the young woman dismounted the bike. She then pulled off her helmet and approached Jasmine.
"Hey cuz, what's up?" she greeted her cheerfully.
Jasmine shrugged. "Nothing, really. Morty was supposed to come with me to this spa treatment center for a little R&R time with me, but he bailed on me. He hasn't shown," she responded.
"Oh," the woman sat down on the bench next to Jasmine. "Well, maybe you just need to give him time. If he's like five minutes late, don't get all gloomy. It happens sometimes. You know, traffic could be backed up, or..."
"I've been waiting on him for over two hours straight, but no sign of him as of yet," Jasmine told her, and the young woman's mouth dropped open.
"You're kiddin', right? (Jasmine does not deny this) Girl, (hits her playfully) you know better than that! I don't care who it is, I would never wait over two hours for someone to show on a date!" she exclaimed.
"Shut up, Whitney! (remeber the girl that whacked Tristan with her bike in Episode 02?) It's not like that. Once you're really truly in love with someone, you'll understand. Anyway, it's just not like him to stand me up. He's always been a prompt boyfriend, ever since day one. I just don't get it. You know, maybe he's still sleeping or something."
Whitney laughed. "Morty? Sleeping?! Heck, no! Morty's too active to be asleep at 12:10 hours. He's an earlybird, remeber? You told me so yourself."
"Yeah, but I don't have any other possible explanations. Where else could he be? What else could he be doing?"
"Perhaps he caught a bad cold or something. Maybe he's at the hospital because he injured himself, or he could be at the hospital because one of his family members got injured," Whitney thought aloud.
Jasmine shrugged and got up from the bench, sighing heavily. "Hey, Whitney, do you think you could run me by Morty's house so I can see if he's there?" she asked and Whitney nodded.
"Yeah, sure, c'mon," she replied and walked over to the bike. She grabbed two helmets and slipped one on. She gave the other one to Jasmine and she pulled it around her head. Both of them mounted onto the bike. Whitney cranked up the engine then sped off down the street.
"So, if he is at home, what are you going to do to him?" asked Whitney.
"If he is at home, I'm gonna slap him around for standing me up, then make him beg for my forgiveness. Then, I'll accept, we'll kiss, and then we'll head back down to the spa treatment center. If he's not at home, though... I'm gonna get even more worried," Jasmine said and held onto Whitney as she sped down the boulevard, driving rather recklessly. Once they arrived at the townhouse, Jasmine dismounted off the bike and gave the helmet to Whitney. She told Whitney to wait for her outside while she run in to see if he was there or not. After Whitney nodded, Jasmine ran up the stairs toward the front door. When she reached it, she knocked on the door and waited for Morty to answer. But no answer ever came. She sighed and knocked on the door again, this time louder than before. And still, no one came to answer the door. Jasmine bammed on the door in frustration.
"Morty, open the door now!!" she shouted, and her bamming caused the door to creep open. She thought it was him at first, but once the door stopped moving (because she stopped knocking) she realized it her bamming that made it start opening. Slightly cautious, Jasmine opened the door and crept into the living room of the townhouse. It was still very neat, because Kemo had sedated him instead of fighting him and messing up the house. Jasmine looked around the small living room while calling out Morty's name.
"Morty!! Hello?! Are you here, honey?!!" she yelled out, but she didn't get an answer. She walked off into the kitchen, and everything was neat there, too. No sign of Morty could be seen there. Jasmine began to get worried even more. Where was he? The only place she hadn't checked out was his bedroom/bathroom combo. She was scared to go upstairs and check. What if Morty's dead body would be awaiting her? Jasmine knew she had to go check, so she mustered all the courage she had and charged up the stairs.
"Morty!" she yelled again, but apparently to no one. She reached the top of the stairs and looked aournd the bedroom; it was very neat, as usual, and the sight of Morty remained to be seen. Jasmine noticed that the bathroom door was cracked open. She could hear some water running into a bathrub. That had to be Morty. Maybe he did just get up late like Whitney said. (the water stops running) She walked into the bathroom to find another man stepping into the tub with some headphones on his head. Jasmine stepped back out of distance and listened carefully to the sounds he made. There was faint music sounds coming from the headphones, but they stopped. The man sat the headphones down and rested his head back on the tub, letting the beam cleanse his body of all dirt. Jasmine crept back into the bathroom. The man had closed his eyes, so Jasmine tiptoed as quietly as possible toward the tub. Once she got there, she suddenly lashed out and dunked the man underwater. The man began struggling and thrashing about while screaming.
"(gurgled sounding) Please, stop! Stop this! Let me up, please, whoever you are!!" he screamed as loud as he could. Jasmine snatched him up out of the water and let him catch his breath.
"Allright, just what are you doing in my boyfriend's house, using his bathtub?!" she demanded to know.
"Uh.. this is your boyfriend's house? It's nice..." the man was cut off when Jasmine dunked his head back under the surface. He began to kick and thrash about again in a desperate attempt to get out of her grasp. Jasmine stared him in the eyes as she watched him flutter about in the tub, then she yanked him back up.
"Okay, I'll ask you again, what are you doing in my boyfriend's house, using his bathtub?!" she asked him again, and the man held up his hand in a gesture that told her to wait a minute.
"I didn't know this was your boyfriend's house. I was going to explain how I got in here but you threw me back underwater before I had the chance," he said.
"Well, talk."
"I'm a homeless man, young lady. I was walking down the street, asking people for money or food as I usually do. Then, I stumbled upon this house. The door was wide open, so I walked inside and looked around, and no one was here. It was all vacated, so I decided to move in. And I'm sure you can figure out why I got in this tub," he told her. Jasmine was good at detecting liars. She knew the signs to look for, and so far, the man hadn't shown her any signs of deception.
"You don't look dirty," she said.
"Oh, that's because I've been in this tub for awhile."
"But... it takes the tub longer than 5 seconds to cleanse your body of dirt. I heard you and saw you climbing inside the tub just a few moments ago."
"Don't forget, young lady, I've been sitting in this tub being dunked by you for a little while now. The beam has had multiple opportunities to clean me," he answered, and Jasmine looked over to see an expensive black suit lying on the floor. She reached out and grabbed it, and upon touching it, something fell out of the pants pocket. She grabbed the card, and it said: 'Simon Marsters, guard for Master Pegasus since 2027'. She threw Simon back underwater and held him there.
"(gurgled sounding) "No, wait! Please, what's wrong!! Why are you doing this?!!"
Jasmine snatched him out of the water and hit him across the face visciously. "Don't give me that homeless man crap! Tell me what you were doing here!" she yelled, and Simon didn't answer. She punched him in the face again, then hit him in the nose, and he still wouldn't say anything. Jasmine dunked his head back underwater and held him there. "Now, talk! I've picked up on the fact that you don't like being dunked, so answer my questions, and I'll let you go!"
"No, pull me up! Pull me up!!" he begged, but Jasmine ignored him. "What were you doing in this house?!!"
"I stayed behind after they took him away!"
"Who took him?! Where is he?!"
"You gotta let me up..." Simon motioned for her to pull him back up. Jasmine yanked him up to let him get a little air, then dunked him right back under the surface. "(fast talk) Maximillion Pegasus had your honey captured because he possessed a mystical artifact called a Millenium Key, something he wears around his neck! Pegasus claims that is has some kind of power to it, and he told us to get it. Me and my comrades broke into his house and sedated him no soon he stepped inside! Then, my comrades flew him over to the palace at the Crystal Kingdom! That's where he is, but I can't tell the exact location of the palace, because only Pegasus's closest associates knows where it is, and they are gone too! Now please..."
Jasmine reluctantly pulled him out of the water. The man coughed all the water out of his mouth and throat and started catchng his breath. Jasmine punched him in the face, then started walking away. Right when she got to the doorway, she turned around. "Get all your things, and get out of this house now, dick!" she ordered.
"Dick? Please... don't call me that. That's a direct insult to a man's privates, and that's far too special. You didn't know, but I'm really a woman!" Simon announced. "I love men so much that I decided to become one. I had my voice altered to sound like a man, got my tits deflated, and I had a fake penis, or dildo, stuck onto my areas. It's detachable, see," she said and pulled off the penis. Jasmine's face cringed in disgust as she darted out of the house screaming. "Hey, you should do it, too! Men are better than women! They are the superior sex, and we should all be like them!!" she shouted. Jasmine was utterly disgusted as she ran out of the house and jumped on the bike.
"Did you find Morty?" Whitney inquired, and Jasmine shook her head.
"Not in the house, but I know what happened to him."
"What's wrong?"
"(fast speech) The guy who created Duel Monsters, Maximillion Pegasus, had Morty abducted and took him to a palace at the Crystal Kingdom, where the Duel Monsters Championship playoffs are supposed to take place. He had him kidnapped because of that thing he's always wearing around his neck; it's called a Millenium Key and it's said to possess mystical powers."
Whitney just stared at her in confusement. "What?"
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Sakura's small plane gently touched down on the launch pad at the Pegasus estate. The butler which accompanied her slid open the door. Sakura elegantly stepped out of the plane, shaking her head to remove strands of hair from her eye. She began strutting through the backyard of the mansion, heading toward the mansion itself. Inside awaited her lover (or so she thought). Finally, after all this time, they would be reunited, their love for each other would be strengthened, and there wouldn't be anything powerful enough to split them apart. Sakura approached the door and tapped on it, then waited for an answer. None came, so she knocked again. This time, someone opened the door. Sakura shoved her way through him and started walking through the house, but the man quickly grabbed her and spun her around (the man is Croquet).
"Excuse me, young lady, but what do you think you're doing barging into Master Pegasus's mansion?"
"Uh..." Sakura thought hard about a story that would make sense as to why she was there.
"You had better tell me exactly why are you here, or else I'll be forced to throw you out," Croquet told her, and she began to talk.
"I'm here because I have a arranged meeting with Mr. Pegasus, sir, and I'd like to speak with him immediately," she spoke in an innocent, yet somewhat devious tone of voice. Croquet was a bit skeptical about this.
"But Master Pegasus has gone away to the Crystal Kingdom in order to take care of important business regarding the Duel Monsters tournament. I'm quite sure that he would've met up with you earlier this week if you actually needed to discuss something with him."
"I have been trying to reach him, but he keeps evading me. I have a proposition that would benefit the both of us, but for some odd reason he doesn't want to debate it."
"Then there must be something fishy about this 'deal', because Master Pegasus is never wrong," Croquet said.
Sakura cocked her head to the side. "Hmm... well, if I can't catch up with him, perhaps you can do me a favor and relay a message to him. Can you do that?" she inquired. Croquet responded by nodding, and she continued on. "Tell him this: I have some footage of Pegasus in my possession which depicts him doing some 'interesting' stuff. If I showed the public this footage, it would ruin his image and end his career indefinitely. Perhaps now he'd be more willing to talk, eh?" she smirked.
"Show me this.. footage."
"Oh, no! Why would I do that? That would be giving you an opportunity to destroy it. Tell Pegasus my message, or you can tell me where he is and I'll go deliver the message myself."
Croquet shook his head. "I'm afraid that isn't possible. I have no idea where Master Pegasus is exactly; only his closest associates know precisely where he's heading and they've accompanied him on the trip. But, I'll give Pegasus your little 'message'," he told her and started walking away.
"Thank you," Sakura gave Croquet an air kiss and strutted away, exiting the house. A few butlers had come outside to make sure Pegasus's yard was clean and in order .As she approached the plane, some of them wolf whilstled at her butt, bringing a smile onto her face. Her butler slid open the door to grant her a clean passageway through the plane. She stepped inside and seated herself. As the butler closed the door, the pilots asked her where she wanted to go next. Sakura ordered them to take her back to the mansion, and the pilots obeyed quickly. Sakura then accessed her Subspace Computer Terminal and transported a portable computer to her lap. After it materialized into reality, she turned it on and logged on to the virtual internet, heading straight for Pegasus's registration website.
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16:00 hours, Saturday afternoon had now come. All the contestants had entered into the tournament and it was now time to set sail to Emerald Island, home of the 'Sub-Competition' which was to be held. Everyone had their own reasons and agendas as to why there were entering. Some were playing for money, others were playing for exposure and popularity, others were playing to help someone else, some people were playing all for self. Brock entered the tournament in order to obtain the money necessary to pay for Flint's back and shoulder surgeries. Tristan entered for fun, but also to back Brock up, so if Brock lost, he could still try to win the tournament for him. Surge only entered the contest to keep an eye on Tristan Taylor until he could steal his cards back. Jasmine's goal was to get to the Crystal Kingdom and attempt to locate Pegasus's hidden palace in order to rescue Morty from Pegasus's clutches. Ash's only motive was to kill Pegasus, but to do that he had to make his way through the contest in order to get to Crystal Kingdom and find the palace. Misty knew she had to save her sisters (and John), and she entered to win the money and pay for Yelola's help. Li entered the contest for pure fun, and an added bonus will be surprising Brock and Tristan on the cruise ship (Meilin's tagging along). Greed motived Seto's objective. He wanted Pegasus's company to bring in more revenue, and he planned to get it. Yugi entered the tournament to began an excursion of Crystal Kingdom for his parents who hadn't been seen in over 14 years. Joey entered to kick some butt and have tons of fun, of course. Sakura's heart led her to entering the tournament. She was determined to find Pegasus and win back his love. Mai Valentine also entered, but for reasons that have not yet been revealed. Whatever the reason, there was tons of people awaiting the beginning of the championship. Transport boats brought all the duelists from other areas to the Domino City docks, where the cruise ship was. Guards watched as the duelists boarded the ship (not the exclusive duelist ship, either). Everyone stepped into the ship and was amazed at what they saw. The lobby itself was full of different aisles and corridors to walk through. The lobby's walls had water flowing down them, and the falls deposited into small canals which ran through the floor of the lobby. The floor was made of strong, durable glass, as was the roof of the lobby, and neon lights glowed through the seems of the glass. Stores were everywhere, and colorful lights and neon signs decked the huge place. It was absolutely gorgeous! People gasped in awe and astonishment as they walked through the beautiful place, taking in their surroundings. Brock and Tristan looked around in amazement.
"Tristan, this place is beautiful! I never expected it to look this good!" Brock exclaimed, still struck in awe at the sight. Tristan didn't respond because he was so busy looking at all the beautiful lights in the ceiling. "And the floor is made of glass.. Tristan, doesn't this ship kinda makes you feel like a prince?"
"Oh, yeah," Tristan agreed as they walked through the ship. Sakura wandered through the maze of corridors, completely lost. She too was amazed with how much details and beauty Pegasus had put into the ship.
"My Pegasus sure know how to put together a ship. It's just like him to build something like this," she said to herself as she walked along. Misty strolled through the various 'streets' of beauty. She was amazed at how much detail had been put into the cruise ship, but that was the least of her concerns. What she wanted was to get to Emerald Island and began fighting her way to the prize. (by the way, Aya came down with the flu so she couldn't come along with Misty) Misty was so busy trying to keep her bearings that she wasn't paying attention to where she going, and as a result, she bumped into someone.
"Oops, sorry..." her voice trailed off as she stared at the person who stood in front of her. "Joey, oh my goodness, what are you doing here?!" she exclaimed and threw her arms around Joey, obviously exuberant to see him.
"Misty! How's my favorite girl of all-time?!" Joey asked her as he hugged her tightly. Yugi looked on in confusement. "Wow, I can't believe it's been over 3 years since we last saw each other!" (a little background: When Misty moved from Cerulean City to Domino City, she ran into Joey in class [4th grade]. They became close friends and Misty moved away again when they reached 6th grade. Then, Misty came back to Domino City recently, but she lived far away from Joey's neighborhood, so they didn't see each other until now)
"Yeah, I know! It seems like the last time I saw you was yesterday, but at the same time it feels like I haven't seen you in ages! You know what mean?"
"Yep, I totally understand," Joey said, then hugged Misty agained, and she returned the hug. "Oh, I can't believe you're standing right here! It's so good to see you!" they released each other, and that's when Joey remebered to introduce her to Yugi. "Oh, in all the excitement, I forgot to introduce you to my best buddy, Yugi Moto. Yugi, this is Misty Chase, an old friend."
"Hello, nice to meet you," Yugi extended his hand for Misty to shake, and she shook it.
"Pleasure's mine," she replied.
"So, Misty, how's everything been?"
Misty wasn't quite ready to tell anyone about her sisters' condition, so she kept it to herself. "Things are great, thank you for asking. How about you? What's been happening in your life?"
"Not much. I haven't flunked anymore grades since the 4th, and that's a plus."
"Uh, mind if I cut in here?" Yugi chimed, making both of them turn their attention to him. "I'm gonna go find the food courts. I'm starting to get a little hungry, here," he told the two then walked off.
"What else has happened to you? I need some details about what's been going on since I moved away to Celadon City," Misty said.
"Are you sure? I could be going on for hours about what happened," Joey stated, but that made her want to know even more.
"So, start spilling! Please, I could use a little pick-me-up right now," she said, and Joey sighed. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Well..."
Surge, Jason, and Vicki had managed to avoid eye contact with Tristan and made it to their suite. Surge had been given a keycard downstairs, and he used it to open the doors to their guest suite. Walking inside, they took a look around. "Wow, man, this place looks so much more luxurious than that cottage of yours," Vicki quipped.
"That's great, I'm gonna go lay down," Surge walked off into his bedroom and closed the door behind him. He allowed himself to fall right onto the king-size waterbed and laid there. Surge never knew how good a waterbed could feel. He pulled his deck out of shirt pocket and looked through them. The deck was pretty good by itself, but it missed its key cards, the Gamma Dragons. Surge was determined to get the cards back from Tristan, no matter what it took. No one has ever humiliated him in the past and got away with it. Surge wasn't about to let Tristan be the first person to accomplish that, either. Once he got those dragons back, he was gonna blow Tristan away in a duel, then beat him down to let him know not to cross his path again. Surge smirked as he daydreamed about his goal. / Li and Meilin strolled through the massive lobby, looking for any sign of Tristan and Brock. So far, they hadn't had any luck in finding them in the large mass of people, but they scoured the boat in an attempt to find them. Meilin had been complaining about her hunger pains, but Li insisted on looking for them. And they hadn't seen as much as a hair from Brock or Tristan. Li sighed, slightly frustrated. "I don't see them anywhere, but they have to be around here somewhere."
"It's nearly impossible to find them in this crowd of people, and don't forget about the large, complex ship. They could be anywhere," said Meilin. They walked into the entrance of the food courts. Scents of delicious food filled the air, which made Meilin and Li grabbed their stomachs.
"Boy, that smells really good, doesn't it?" Li spoke, and Meilin nodded.
"Yep. I'm getting hungry, Li. Perhaps we could grab a bite to eat, then start trying to find Brock and Tristan later."
"Well, okay. I just want to see the look on their faces when their eyes rests on us. It's been over four years, Meilin. I can't even begin to fathom the shock that's going to flood on their faces."
"I can't wait to see them, either, but my stomach pains are killing me, Li. Let's eat!" Meilin begged.
Li gave in to her whining, and they began to debate about what they was going to consume. Out of the corner of his eye, Li spotted Tristan receiving some pizzas from a restaurant. Li's eyes popped open as he grabbed Meilin and turned her in the direction of Tristan. Meilin's eyes also bucked, then they ran down toward the pizza shop. Tristan put the pizzas into a bag and started walking away.
"Surprise, Tristan!!" they shouted and grabbed his attention. Tristan spun around and his eyes rested on the two teenagers. His eyes also widened as shock flooded onto his face, just as Li predicted.
"Li? Meilin?!" he sat the pizzas down and threw his arms around them. Li and Meilin hugged Tristan tightly and the three stood there squeezing each other. After ten seconds, they stopped hugging and Tristan spoke. "Whoa, I cannot believe it! After all these years! I didn't know you were entering the tournament!" he exclaimed in complete surprise and happiness.
"Yeah, I figured you were gonna be in this thing," Li responded. "It's been so long, how are you, man?!"
"I'm great, never been better!" Tristan answered and laughed. "What's been going on with you two?!"
"Me and Li are dating for one," Meilin chimed, and Tristan's mouth dropped.
"Really?! You're kidding, right? You two are involved?! (they nod) For how long?!"
"Almost three years! It'll be three in August," Meilin told him.
"Well, well, I never expected that."
Meilin then noticed his built body. "Hmm... well, look at whose been maturing over the years! You've got muscles everywhere! Remeber when you used to say building muscles was a waste of time? Whatever happened to that philosiphy?"
"It died over the years," Tristan replied.
"Oh. Well, I like them. Muscles suit your image. (glances over at Li) Too bad I can't say the same about Li Showron, here. He's sticking with the puny look," she said and poked his side.
"Stop it!"
Tristan chuckled at the two. "Anyway, you two sure have grown since the last time I saw you. Meilin, my.. my, you've turned out to be quite the hot girl. And you Li, well... you really just look like the Li we all used to know and love. A little bit older, but basically the same, little boy."
"Okay, okay, stop picking on me! First Meilin, and now you! There's nothing wrong with the way I look. I'm not puny, and I have grown and matured a lot. I don't just look like the 'same old Li', either. Why do you think that?" he asked.
"I don't know, the lack of muscles may have something to do with that," Tristan responded and giggled. Li rolled his eyes. "I bet Brock didn't waste any time lifting heavy weights and sweat profusely."
"On the contrary," Tristan began. "Brock has become quite the muscle man. Being skinny wasn't gonna help him become a 'lady's man', as he put it. The girls at school love him," he told Li, and Li scoffed. "And they love me too, by the way," he added.
"Hey, Tristan? Where's Brock? Is he here with you?" asked Meilin.
"Oh, he's over at a table waiting for me to come back with the pizzas..."
"Tristan, what's taking you so..." Brock happened to walk up on them. He stopped in his tracks and gasped, shock flooding onto his face. "Meilin?! Li?! You're here?! Oh, it's so wonderful to see you two again!" he said and hugged them both.
"He is built..." Li began to feel a little left out in the 'muscle' category.
"What's up, my man?!" Brock slapped hands with Li while asking him.
"Nothing much, except that me and Meilin are lovers now," Li announced to him, and of course, Brock was shocked.
"I can't believe it! For real?!" he exclaimed, and they nodded in response. "This ain't no joke, right?" They shook their heads in response. "Oh, that's so good! I knew you two were gonna start liking each other; I could see it when we were younger," he said.
"Hey, how about we go over a table and enjoy of fine meal of pizza?" Tristan suggested, and everyone agreed. They all headed over to the tables, talking and laughing along the way.
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Meanwhile, on the private cruise ship for specially selected duelists only, Ash stood on the balcony looking down at the constantly moving ocean. He was getting closer and closer to Emerald Island, which was the first stop in his mission of killing Pegasus. Once he won 15 stars there, he would be qualified to enter the Crystal Kingdom playoffs, and he was determined to either work his way through the opponents until he reached Pegasus, or to find the hidden palace and challenge Pegasus directly. Whatever he planned to do, Ash wasn't going to leave the island until Pegasus was dead. He decided to look through his deck to make sure it was in optimum perfection for the championship. While flipping through the cards, he ran across one called Hyozanryu (Dragon of Diamonds). He didn't like to see this card, because it was Delia's favorite monster out of all the ones in the deck she used to own. Seeing Hyozanryu further fueled his hatred for Pegasus, because Pegasus took his mother's life, someone that Ash loved with all his heart.
(Flashback 1)
The year was 2031. Ash was in the living room of the house dueling against his mother. Delia was trying to teach him how to play the game. They were having an 'old school' duel because Kaiba Corp. had yet to complete the first virtual arena. She was currently dominating the match, but Ash wouldn't go down without a fight. He slapped down a Curse of Dragon card, which was stronger than the Barrel Dragon she had in play. Barrel Dragon had been ensnared by the Spellbinding Circle, which brought its attack power down to 1900.
"And my move takes your life points down to 1600, mother. I feel a comeback in the works," he said.
Delia smiled, then drew a card from her deck and put it down onto the dueling mat. "Hyozanryu, with an attack power of 2100, takes down your Curse of Dragon."
Ash's Life Points- 600
"I give up, mom. I don't think I can beat you," Ash announced, and Delia laughed playfully.
"No, Ash, don't tell me you're giving up already. The duel could still be won."
"Nah, I'd rather just admit defeat and start over fresh," he told her. Delia agreed to this and reshuffled her deck. Ash reshuffled his and they began to duel again.
(Flashback 2)
"Sayanora, Delia," he said and pushed a button on a remote control and a force field formed around her. Then, 10,000 volts of electricity erupting on the chains, and shocked Delia severely. She screamed in pain.
"MOTHER!!!!" Ash yelled, but he could do nothing to help her. He stared with his eyes bucked opened and watched as his mother slipped away. Before she passed on she gave him one last, heartwarming smile, then her eyes closed and she passed on.
"Mother..." Ash's eyes began filling with tears as her lifeless body was only held up by the chains. "NO!!!!!" Ash screamed in pain. Tears began to rain down his face.
(End Flashbacks)
A small tear ran down Ash's face and dripped onto the card. Why did Pegasus have to kill her? Why couldn't he spare her? Why did he have to take such an innocent life? Delia had never done anything to him. Ash wiped the tear stain off his face and put the deck away. He walked into his suite and sat down on the bed. He missed his mother, and Ash was bent on making Pegasus pay for the murder. Without warning, the boat began to rock back and forth. It was gentle at first, but as seconds passed it grew more violent. Ash quickly darted outside. Although the sun was high in the sky, the ocean waters were shifting and surging quite violently, like a storm was there. Ash was in complete confusement as the waters tossed the boat around. The shaking made Ash lose his footing and he fell on the floor. Getting back up, another wave plastered against the ship. As the ship rocked, Ash began to realize how this was happening. It wasn't any storm in sight, yet the ocean waters were raucous. It had to be him doing it. Those mysterious powers must've kicked in again. Another wave hit the ship, and it was more violent than the last. The tipping of the boat made Ash fall to the floor and slide into the bedroom of the suite. Another wave ravaged the ship from the other side, causing the boat to tilt to the left, making Ash slide out onto the balcony. He quickly used the railing to regain his footing, then tried to concentrate on controlling the storm. Apparently, his powers were somewhat tied into his emotions, because whenever Ash began to get angry, something weird happened. Ash closed his eyes and continued his attempt to get rid of the raging waters. When he opened his eyes back up to see if any progress was being made, a huge tidal wave had formed and was charging relentlessly toward the cruise ship. Ash gasped in the surprise and closed his eyes, trying as hard as he could to control the powers within. He could hear the deep rumble of tidal wave getting ever closer to the ship, and that made him concentrate even harder. Ash opened his eyes to find the tidal wave still charging for the ship. He frowned and tried cooling himself down by forgetting about what happened. He began to think about pleasant thoughts, like the times he spent with Delia at the park, and others. The tsunami finally began to fizzle out as it began shrinking down into the ocean below. Ash sighed in relief as the tidal wave dissappeared and he waters returned back to normal. His power were beginning to become a problem. He had to find out how to control them, and soon.
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Evening time had settled in now. In honor and appreciation of the duelists and guests who tagged along with them, a special pool party was being held on the upper patio decks outside (this is the 'regular' cruise ship, by the way). Everyone on the ship had been invited to the shindig. People were diving into large pools, others were soaking in hot tubs, some people were playing party games, some people hit the dance floor, but one thing was for sure, there was a lot of commotion was going on. Meilin, Tristan, Li and Brock were all soaking in a warm jacuzzi, laughing and talking about stuff. Meilin was wearing a two-piece pink swimsuit, and she had put some aster flowers into her hair. Tristan sported some red and black swimtrunks. Brock had on some green swimtrunks with gold linings on them, and wore some gold chains around his neck to match the trunks. Li decided to wear some blue trunks. They were all playing truth or dare.
"It's Brock's turn now. Brock, truth or dare?" spoke Tristan.
"Um, I don't really wanna play this," Brock said, and everyone started laughing.
"Brock! Don't be a scaredy-cat! Now, truth or dare?" Tristan asked him again.
Brock sighed heavily and replied, "Truth."
"Okay," Tristan cleared his throat and continued. "Brock, is it true that your trunks fell down while you were on stage preparing to play a water polo match?"
Brock began to blush as Meilin and Li started laughing uncontrollably. "Tristan, why did you bring that up?! Couldn't you ask me something else?!" he yelled, and Tristan also started laughing.
"How did that happen?!" Li almost couldn't finish asking the question due to the fact that he was laughing so hard. Brock shook his head and put his hands over his face in embarrassment.
"Tell me the whole story," Meilin demanded while giggling.
"I refuse to say anything. As a matter of a fact, I'm through playing this game," he quipped. His hands were still covering his face.
"C'mon, Brock, don't be a spoilsport!" Tristan said, then reached over and tapped Brock's arm. "Tell Meilin and Li exactly how it happened."
"I said I'm not saying anything. They know it happened, and that's enough as it is," Brock told him, and his hands still covered his face. "Hey, I got an idea. Let's go hit the dance floor!"
"But I thought you were having fun playing this game," Li teased. "As long as you were making people do hideous things in this hot tub you were having the time of your life. Now it's your turn, and you're chickening."
"I'm not chickening! I just think it's time to do something else now, like dance. I'm getting tired of sitting in this hot tub, and I'm getting tired of playing this game. Enough is enough," Brock said while taking his hands off his face.
"Yeah, whatever," Meilin chimed.
"Don't any of you wanna get down to the jams?" Brock suggested. The other three eventually nodded and started climbing out of the hot tub. After getting down, they grabbed some nearby drying towels and dried themselves off, then headed down to the dance floor. Brock and Tristan started dancing by themselves, but Li and Meilin paired up./ Joey (who was wearing some yellow swimtrunks) and Misty (who was wearing a pearl, once-piece bathing suit) had just took a dip in the swimming pool, and now they were playing with a pinball machine. They were competing against each other to see who could score more points. Joey was currently at 2 million points.
"You're pretty good at this," Misty complimented. Joey pulled the small levers on the machine furiously as he attempted to keep the silver ball in the playing field, and at the same time, he racked up points by collecting powerups and other things. Eventually the ball slipped out of the field. Since it was Joey's last turn, his game was over.
"Ah, man! Well, at least I scored high. 2,311,390 points; let's see you outdue that," he challenged her. He stepped out of the way and allowed Misty to take his previous position. She cranked up the machine and starting bouncing the ball off walls, snagging powerups, and scoring bonuses. The points began to add up rather quickly. She started out with 0, but was now at 304,723 and hadn't been playing for a minute. Joey began to worry as she continued playing. Yugi (dressed in silver and black swimtrunks) strolled up next to Joey.
"Hey, what are you two doing?" he wondered.
"Me and Misty are competing against each other to see who can score the most points with their turns."
"Oh. Can I play, too? Or is it just a.. you vs. her, thing?" Yugi asked.
"No, no, of course you can play with us, man."After Misty finished her three turns, she came out with a score of 5,678,903. Joey's mouth dropped in surprise. "No way! Tell me you didn't just whup my high score!"
"I just did," she giggled in delight, and Joey frowned.
"Well, let me see if I can beat your score," Yugi said. Misty stepped out of the way and let Yugi take his place in front of the machine. He started it up and began playing the game. Misty watched closely, hoping that he couldn't out-score her score. As time went on, Yugi's score kept increasing and increasing. After he lost his first turn, his score was at 1,315,024 points.
"He might actually beat me, Joey. I didn't score that high in my first turn," Misty whispered into Joey's ear.
"Yeah, but you kicked some major butt in your last two turns, though. You even got a jackpot," Joey said back to her, and she shrugged.
"Well, we'll see," she muttered. Yugi pushed on the levers and managed to keep the ball in the playing field. He grabbed a powerup which multipled the points earned by 3. Then, he managed to hit the jackpot. His score was now at 4,794,813. He chuckled as he continued playing the frenzied pinball game, being careful not to lose. Yugi wanted to get as much as he could out of his turns.
"Um, Misty, I think Yugi just might've beat you," Joey whispered.
"It's not over yet, he still hasn't scored 5.6 million points, yet," she whispered back and they continued watching. By the time Yugi had lost all his turns, his total score was 9,773,839.
"Whoa, Yugi! I've never seen anyone score that high on this game before!" Joey exclaimed. Yugi laughed and turned to Misty.
"Well, looks like you've been beat."
"I thought Joey was good. Compared to you, he sucks," Misty said.
"Hey, be nice!"
"Congratulation," she told Yugi and he smiled. "I'm gonna go grab a drink, you guys want anything?" offered Misty. The two boys told Misty to get them some sodas, and she walked off to get them. She approached the drinks counter and asked the bartender for two sodas and a mocha. While she waited on the drinks, Ronnie was off in the distance watching her... /Sakura (wearing a baby blue srong and white top) waltzed her way across the deck, heading toward the dance floor. Although she was ready to get to the Crystal Kingdom to find her lover, she wasn't going to deny herself any fun. As she walked along, she accidentally bumped into someone and knocked a soda out of his hands.
"Oops, sorry," she spoke hastily.
"No, it's allright. You didn't do anything," the person (Li) replied, then bent over to pick up his soda. However, Sakura beat him to it. She picked it up and handed it to him. "I'm really sorry I spilled your soda. Can I get you another one?" she offered.
Li chuckled and answered, "No, you don't have to get me another soda. And it's nothing to be sorry about, accidents happen."
"I know, and I'm gonna get you another soda anyway," she said and walked off toward the counter. Li decided to follow her. "If I had just been watching where I was going this wouldn't have happened."
"I told you, it's totally okay." Sakura walked up to the counter and asked the bartender for another soda just like the one Li had. The bartender walked off to get it, and she sat down in a barstool beside the counter. Li took a seat in another one.
"So, are you a participant in the tournament? Or are you just coming along as a spectator or something?" she asked him.
"I'm a participant," Li replied.
"Really? Is this your first time competing in the contest or have you been in one before?"
"I'm a first-timer. What about you, are you a contestant?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm also a first-timer. I just started playing Duel Monsters a couple of weeks ago and I think I'm getting pretty good it."
"No, no, if you've just starting playing, I recommend you just throw in the towel. There's gonna be tons of duelists here with skills beyond anything you muster. You're a newbie.. uh, whatever your name is, and I don't think you're gonna be able to handle it," Li spoke.
"Hey, I believe I know more about Duel Monsters than you're giving me credit for, Mister..." her voice trailed off.
"Li. Li Showron, what's your name?"
"Sakura Avalon," she replied, and Li grinned.
"I like your name; it has a somewhat, I don't know.. elegant sound to it."
"Thank you." Sakura was about to speak again when the bartender returned to give her the soda. He held out the soda and she took it in her grasp. "Thank you, sir," she spoke softly and handed the drink to Li. "Back to the topic. I know a lot about Duel Monsters, and it's quite possible that I could kick your butt right now."
"You think so? Okay, then, to prove your claim tell me this. What's the strongest card in all of Duel Monsters?" Li inquired, and Sakura began to stammer.
"Uh, um... I think it's... no, that's not it. Um..."
"It's Exodia!" Li told her, and she began grinning sheepishly.
"Oh, yeah! I knew that; I just wanted to see if you knew it, too."
Li glanced at a watch on his arm and stood up. "Uh, I've gotta run. My friends are waiting on me. We're about to have a little chess competition between the four of us. Then afterwards, we're gonna play Blackjack," he said.
"Oh, allright. It was nice meeting you, Li."
"Same here, Sakura, and I hope we run into each other again sometime," he waved to Sakura and ran off to meet up with Brock, Meilin and Tristan. Sakura got up and started walking toward the dance floor, her intended destination before she bumped into Li. /Mai Valentine strutted across the deck wearing a very revealing two-piece violet swimsuit. She received a lot of looks from male passerbys. She grinned at the attention and approached a jacuzzi. She stepped into it and sighed, letting the warm flow of bubbles sooth her body.
"Ohh... there's nothing like a good soak in a jacuzzi to help you relax," she murmered to herself. As she relaxed in there, another person of male gender stepped over into the jacuzzi and sat down beside her. This took her by surprise at first, but she calmed down in realization of who it was.
"I've been looking all over for you," the man spoke. Mai rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Tori (Sakura Avalon's older brother who was dressed in blue and orange swimtrunks), do you have to follow me everywhere I go? You're acting a puppy dog, or something. You know, I can take care of myself," she said.
"I know that. I still need to talk to you, though," he responded to her and took a sip out of his plastic pouch filled with fruit punch.
"What?"
"I just wanted to tell you that you're handling your undercover mission great, especially for your first time. You haven't alerted Pegasus to your presence. (slight pause in speech) You're turning out to be quite the secret agent," he commented.
"Well, thanks for the compliment, but I know all this already. I still wish you had taken the task of dueling in the tournament instead of me. I don't duel well under pressure, or in front of crowds," she quipped.
"Oh, c'mon. You've been in many dangerous missions before, you've chased down criminal masterminds, you've even faced down death before, and you're telling me that you can't duel with wagers, or in front of an audience? You've gotta be kidding me," Tori began to giggle and Mai poked him in the side.
"Stop that! It's just... I get tense. I get afraid that I'm going to embarrass myself. This is my first time competing in the tournament, you know? I'm gonna be nervous."
"I'm sure after you win a few duels you'll get some confidence. And here I am thinking with all that pride of yours, that nervousness and the fear of losing would be obsolete feelings, but I guess I was wrong," he shrugged. "And you know that I don't know a thing about Duel Monsters, which was why you were ordered to compete. Now, don't forget, keep calm and stay cool, no matter what. When we get to Emerald Island, security is bound to be everywhere, so don't mutter anything about your mission. When you need to talk to me, use our special Neural Transmitters (a device installed into the mind of a person. It allows them to communicate telepathically with another person who's equipped with it). Understood?"
"Completely, now go away. I need to relax and think," Mai ordered. Tori scoffed and climbed out of the jacuzzi, leaving her in there by herself. He walked off to the pool to take a swim. Mai kicked her legs on top of each other and sighed. So far, the mission was going smoothly. She just hoped it stayed that way.
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Downstairs in one of the suites sat a lonely Jasmine Cortez (on a couch). She decided not to attend in the festivities because she didn't feel like it. What she wanted was Morty in her arms. Jasmine never knew how much she would miss Morty if she never saw him, mainly because they were always together. They often spent nights at each other's house; they hung together all the time. Ever since they fell in love with each other, they had never went longer than a day without seeing one another. Although it had only been three days, Jasmine felt as if she hadn't seen or heard from Morty in three years, or maybe even three decades. Whitney came through the door and asked Jasmine to come to the deck and have a little fun, but Jasmine rejected the offer. She knew she wasn't going to have any fun, not while Morty was missing. Now if Morty was on the upper deck partying, it'd be a different story. Whitney tried to get Jasmine off the couch but she couldn't remotely convince her. After she gave up and left, Jasmine began to cry softly as she curled up on the couch. What if she never saw Morty again? He had been gone for three days, which was more than enough time for Pegasus to steal the key from him, and she still hadn't heard from him. What if Pegasus killed Morty after he stole the Millenium Key? Jasmine continued to weep softly on the couch. There shouldn't be anything stopping Pegasus from getting the key...
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"So why I don't I have it yet?!!" Pegasus screamed at Kemo. They were inside Pegasus's lavish office discussing the dilemma regarding Morty's Millenium Key.
"Master, it won't come off," Kemo spoke. "We've been trying everything: pulling it off, shooting it off with a Plasma Blaster, sucking it off into a vacuum, everything! But the blasted key refuse to come off his neck."
Pegasus sighed heavily and stood from his chair. "Perhaps if we can't pull it off ourselves, someone else can pull it off for us."
"What are you saying, Master?" Kemo was puzzled. Pegasus flicked his hair out of his eyesight and approached Kemo.
"Take me to him," he ordered and Kemo bowed in obedience. He instructed Pegasus to follow him and began leading Pegasus down to the underground dungeon complex. Walking up to a teleporter pad, Kemo entered in the coordinates D3- SE12-B (Dungeon Level 3, Section 12 B.) Then, he and Pegasus stepped onto the tile. The tile activated and tranported them down into the aforementioned coordinates. Kemo and Pegasus strolled through numerous hallways until they reached Morty's cell. He was chained up onto the wall, and a special force field was put in place just in case Morty found a way to free himself from the chains. There wasn't any door.
"Lower the force field," Pegasus spoke, and Kemo walked over to a small touchscreen panel right next to the cell. He pushed a few buttons and the force field deactivated, allowing Pegasus to enter the cell. Pegasus did just that; he approached Morty and smirked. "Hello, there," he greeted.
Morty wasn't hardly in the mood for small talk. He had been deprived of food and water, and hadn't gotten much sleep. He slowly looked up at Pegasus and glared at him. "What do you want?"
"Hmm... not much for small talk, are we?" he said in his traditional type of speaking. "C'mon, Morty, don't be a anti-socialable type of man, okay? How are you?"
"What do you think?! I'm certainly not fine! I'm locked up in a cell, I've been deprived of food and water, for Pete's sake I can't even piss because I'm stuck on a wall! I am not fine," Morty spoke in an angry tone of voice. "Release me, at once."
"Ooh!" Pegasus quipped sarcastically. "We have a feisty one, don't we?" Pegasus asked while walking closer to Morty. "I don't think you're in any kind of position to be giving out orders around here, so shut your gob."
"Or what, you'll hit me? Oh, that's scary. I'm trembling before your sight, I'm shaking before the sound of your voice. If that's all you've got, I feel for you," Morty said and chuckled weakly.
"Trust me, after I get through with you, you won't be laughing," Pegasus stated sinsterly. "But, I'm not gonna resort to violence just yet. It's not too late to talk. We can still settle this in an reasonable fashion. My guard has told me that all attempts to take that Millenium Key of yours off your neck has failed. So, instead of trying to take it by force, I'll cut a deal with you. If you want to get released, all you have to do is give me your Millenium Key. If you don't give me the key, I'll be force to act upon you in a painful manner," Pegasus smirked evily.
"I'm not gonna give you anything. This Millenium Key has been passed down through my family for generations, and I'm not about to let you destroy our tradition and take our heritage," Morty announced boldly.
"Brilliantly spoken," Pegasus complimented, then turned serious. "But that kind of attitude is not going to get you out of here, or in my good graces."
"Who ever said I wanted to be in your 'good graces', you dick?" Morty retorted, and for that he was punched in the mouth.
"Shut your trap." Pegasus began to untie Morty's tennis shoes.
"What are you doing?" Morty wondered as Pegasus finished untying them and took them off. He pulled off Morty's socks and tossed them aside. Afterwards, he ripped open Morty's shirt and snatched off his pants, leaving his silk green boxers as the only article of clothing on Morty's body. "What are you about to do, have a stripping contest with me or something?"
"No, no, no, not at all. I think it's time you get taught a lesson and put back in your place. Kemo, bring me the grease!" Pegasus snapped, and Kemo rushed inside the cell holding a pot. Pegasus took the pot from Kemo and poured some hot cooking grease onto Morty's bare feet.
"AHH!!!!" Morty screeched at the top of his lungs, and Pegasus began to laugh maniacally.
"It's quite amazing how much a simple organ like the Larynx can bring your body so much pain, eh? And this is only the beginning! Believe me, pretty boy, there's hard times ahead," he chimed and poured the remaining amount of the grease onto Morty's bare chest.
"AHHH!!!!!" his ear-piecing scream echoed throughout the walls of the dungeon...
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Well, that's it! Again, I say this. I'm so, so sorry for the long wait. I intended to update much earlier, but my modem broke down and since my father got laid off, we couldn' afford to buy another one But, he got a new job, and now we're starting to get back on our feet. I really hope these two episodes were good, especially since I wasn't able to update sooner. I apologize again for the long wait, and I hope I won't have to deal with that anymore. Well, next time, the cruise ships finally reach Emerald Island and the tournament finally kicks off to the start. Don't miss Episode 08, 'Let The Duels Begin'! Bye! (Oh, and if you have any questions, you'll have to post them in a review and I'll answer them in the next update. I'm now using Charter Pipeline and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to e-mail or IM)
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Duelists of The Future- Season 1- Episode 07, 'The Cruise' (1/15/2003)
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It was around noon time in Domino City now. Solomon Moto was busy running the Turtle Game Shop, and it was beginning to get a little hectic. The shop was more crowded than usual because the tournament started tomorrow, and all the duelists were trying to refine their decks to the utmost perfection. Yugi was in his room looking through his deck of cards. He was wondering whether he should upgrade the deck, or to leave it alone and let it stay the way it was. The deck was already exemplary as is, and Yugi didn't want to destroy the hard work his grandfather put into it to make the way it is today. But on the other hand, the deck was getting old. It was high time to boost the deck with new cards to give it some more firepower and strategies, but Yugi still didn't want to ruin Solomon's deck. Yugi decided to debate this issue with Yami to see what he thought about it.
[But Yami, the deck is good like it is and I don't want to destroy it. Grandpa put a lot of time and effort into creating it.]
[Then don't bother it,] Yami said to his alternate self. [If you feel that improving the deck is gonna ruin it, then leave it alone. But, you know as well as I do that it's about time that deck get a serious upgrade.]
[I see your point, Yami. I know the deck is getting old, but I just don't wanna change it from the way Grandpa set it up. He'll probably be upset if he found out.]
[So be it, then. But, don't come crying to me when Joey crushes you in the championship.]
[Joey?! Joey can't beat me. He's tried hundreds of times, but he can never manage to outfox my deck,] Yugi said quite confidently.
[That plays right into my point! Because you've crushed Joey so many times, he just about know your deck by heart. And he's out there redoing his deck, right now, as we speak. When you two meet in the championship, he's probably gonna blow you away because he's gonna start playing strategies you've never seen him do before. Yet, he'll be able to counter just about anything you throw at him because he's played with you many times before, and I know he's memorized your deck. Now do you get my point?] Yami inquired.
[Totally. I see what you're saying Yami, and you may very well be right. It is probably time to boost this deck, but... for some reason, I don't wanna bother it. Once I think about the thought, effort, and determination Grandpa used while building this deck, it makes me want to leave it alone. I can't just tamper with something he's fixed up, you know? Like, let's say you're a music artist. You spend hours recording a song, and it's just perfect. But someone comes along, listens to it, and thinks it could use some work. So they just start rewriting lyrics, changing the beat, and fixing it to what they think is good. How do you think you would feel if you came in to listen to the song one more time before releasing it to the public, only to find that its been tampered with?]
[I have two answers to that question. One, if they did go behind my back and edit the song, but it turned out to be better than what I put together, I'd congratulate them. If they rearranged the song and messed it up, then I would be mad. Boosting the deck could go either way Yugi. If you boost it to a way that your grandfather thinks is superior to the previous version, you won't have anything to be ashamed of, and he won't be mad. And on the other hand... well, you know what I'm about to say, so I'll shut up.]
Yugi sighed deeply before continuing. [I don't think I am going to bother it, but then again... argh! I'll decided about it later,] he finished, and Yami switched to another subject because he was growing rather tired of this one.
[So, Yugi, are you still gonna go on that frivilous excursion for your parents?]
[It's not frivilous! And of course, I'm not going to back out now! I still believe that they might be stranded on that island, and I am not stopping until I get there and find them!]
[Whatever, Yugi. You know, I can't believe you think they'll be alive after over 14 years? The probability of them still on that island is very slim to none, none being the dominating category. I've never heard of anyone missing for that long, then being found again.]
[I know the odds, but I have to see them and meet them! If I've got a chance to search for them, I can't just claim that they are dead and move on. I mean, for all we know, they could still be alive and in desperate need of help.]
[Yugi, please! I'm positive that someone would've seen them or heard from them or something if they were alive. They would've found some kind of way to alert someone to their presence. Who knows, maybe they didn't even make it to the island. The boat might've sunk while they were making their way there, and their bodies could be floating somewhere under the surface of the ocean.]
[Possibly. But some boat wreckage would've been found if that had happened.]
[You know, maybe when they arrived there, they decided to go scuba diving until your father's match came and a giant shark devoured them or something. Or, a strong current could've pulled them underwater before they had time to put on their oxygen masks and they drowned...]
[Enough probability scenarios! My mind is made up,] Yugi thought and reorganized the deck of cards, storing them inside his device. Just as Yami was about to speak again, a knock came on the window. Yugi got up and raced over to the window to see who it was. To his surprise, it was Joey! Yugi opened the window to grant Joey passage.
"Joey? What are you doing? Why didn't you just come through the front door?" (Yami) [He's a lunatic.]
"Ah, I just wanted to do something exhilarating, you know, instead of just coming in through the front door as usual," he answered while climbing through the gap.
"But climbing windows can be dangerous."
"Dangerous? (laughs) Please! I climb trees all the time, so climbing a window is as easy as saying my ABC's."
[I doubt he even knows his ABC's,] Yami quipped, and Yugi frowned. [Yami, chill out. Why are you being so harsh?] Yugi asked, but Yami didn't respond. He then turned his attention back to Joey. "So, what brings you by my house, Joey?"
"Nothing, just wanted to see how my little buddy was doin', that's all. I'm wondering Yugi, are you participating in the Duel Monsters tournament? It's supposed to be some stiff competition this time around."
"Oh, yeah, I'm participating? Are you?"
Joey began to get excited. "Of course I am! So, you're in this thing too, hunh? It's your very first participation, you nervous?"
"Not really. I'm very good at this game, and my deck is good too, so I pretty sure I'll at least make it to the preliminaries of the real tournament," Yugi said. "Are you nervous?"
"Heck, no! I'm bold, bad, and I'm ready for this thing! Especially with that awesome deck Mr. Moto gave to me. That deck kicks serious butt!" Joey exclaimed, and Yugi chuckled. "Which brings me to 'da question, are you gonna boost and refine your deck before the start of the tournament?"
"Aw.. not this question again. I just got through debating with myself about this, literally! Anyway, I think I might keep it the same. I believe its good enough to win this tournament, and with the Heart of The Cards behind me, how can I lose?" Joey chuckled with Yugi for a moment, then Yugi brought up a question. "So, how about we have a little practice duel to prep ourselves for the tournament?"
"Nah... I can't, my stomach is saying otherwise," Joey clutched his grumbling stomach, making Yugi laugh. "Hey, what's so funny?! It's noon time, and I need my lunch!"
"I don't know if there's anything downstairs to eat. Grandpa is supposed to be going grocery shopping, but the store's really busy and he can't take a break to go get anything. He might've ordered out for something though; we can go check," Yugi suggested and Joey nodded in agreement.
"Let's do something, or else I'm gonna collapse. (stomach growls again) "Ohh... little tummy's saying it's time to eat, not to duel." Both of the young boys headed downstairs to see what they could put in their stomachs.
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Meanwhile, down at the Pegasus estate, Maximillion himself was preparing to board a airplane. (a small note: Pegasus had his launch pad built near the backyard instead of the roof, because he found it to be more efficient to access). His destination was the Central Palace at Crystal Kingdom, which was going to be his abode for quite a while. Pegasus brushed his hair out of his eye while stepping up into the plane, and numerous bodyguards began following him inside. He seated himself as the pilots in the cockpit began pressing touch screen panel buttons (much like Star Trek panels) Within seconds, the plane's engines fired in and the plane began ascending off the ground. Pegasus whipped out a cellphone and dialed in a number, then waited for a response. A few rings later, his trusty guard Kemo answered the call.
"This is Kemo speaking," he said.
"Kemo, this is your boss, Maximillion Pegasus. Last night, I ordered for a young man by the name of Morty Jenkins to be transferred to my palace. Has he arrived?" he requested, and the guard gave him a positive answer.
"Affirmative, master. The man has been taken here and locked away in the underground dungeon chambers as you requested."
"Goody, goody. I trust you also have the Millenium Key off his neck and in your possesion?"
This time Kemo did not answer right away, instead he began stammering nervously. "Uh, uh.. um... w- well... um-uh, I uh..."
"You uh.. what?"
"This isn't my fault, Master Pegasus. We tried to take the key, but it wouldn't come off his neck," Kemo told him.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Once we hauled him in, we immediately tried pulling the key off his neck, but for some strange reason, it wouldn't move. It's like it's... glued to his skin, or it is his skin, that's what it acts like."
"Oh, no. This is bad. This is really, really bad! Have you figured out any ideas on how to get that Millenium Key off his neck? Surely there must be something you can do, right?"
"I've got some people researching this mystical stuff right now, as we speak. So far, they haven't turned up anything," Kemo informed. Pegasus began to shake his head in disbelief.
"No, no. This can't be! No, this is bad!" he grabbed his hair in frustration.
"Uh, Master? Master Pegasus, is there anything wrong?" Kemo asked, getting a bit concerned. Pegasus shook it off.
"No, no, it isn't. Here is your orders: keep researching the texts and keep trying to pry the key off his neck. I'll be there shortly. In the meantime, I am about to get my massage treatments and I don't want to be disturbed, understood?!" he inquired firmly.
"Yes, Master Pegasus, I will not disturb you."
"Good. Remeber your orders," Pegasus finished and hung up the phone. He sighed in utter disgust. This was one twist he didn't expect. Things were not going the way he planned them.
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Meanwhile, Morty's girlfriend, Jasmine Cortez, was sitting on a bench outside of the spa treatment center. So far, she hadn't seen any sign of Morty. He told her he was going to be off work today, and that he was going to spend some quality with her getting pampered at the center, but he hadn't shown. Jasmine was getting a bit worried, mainly because she had been waiting for over two hours. As she sat on the bench, she wondered where he could be. Why hadn't he came yet? Has something bad happened to him? Maybe he had to go to work after all, or maybe something came up and he had to bail. But usually when something happens, he'd call her and tell her about it. A flame red powerbike with a young woman on it pulled up on the curb and stopped. The engine shut off and the young woman dismounted the bike. She then pulled off her helmet and approached Jasmine.
"Hey cuz, what's up?" she greeted her cheerfully.
Jasmine shrugged. "Nothing, really. Morty was supposed to come with me to this spa treatment center for a little R&R time with me, but he bailed on me. He hasn't shown," she responded.
"Oh," the woman sat down on the bench next to Jasmine. "Well, maybe you just need to give him time. If he's like five minutes late, don't get all gloomy. It happens sometimes. You know, traffic could be backed up, or..."
"I've been waiting on him for over two hours straight, but no sign of him as of yet," Jasmine told her, and the young woman's mouth dropped open.
"You're kiddin', right? (Jasmine does not deny this) Girl, (hits her playfully) you know better than that! I don't care who it is, I would never wait over two hours for someone to show on a date!" she exclaimed.
"Shut up, Whitney! (remeber the girl that whacked Tristan with her bike in Episode 02?) It's not like that. Once you're really truly in love with someone, you'll understand. Anyway, it's just not like him to stand me up. He's always been a prompt boyfriend, ever since day one. I just don't get it. You know, maybe he's still sleeping or something."
Whitney laughed. "Morty? Sleeping?! Heck, no! Morty's too active to be asleep at 12:10 hours. He's an earlybird, remeber? You told me so yourself."
"Yeah, but I don't have any other possible explanations. Where else could he be? What else could he be doing?"
"Perhaps he caught a bad cold or something. Maybe he's at the hospital because he injured himself, or he could be at the hospital because one of his family members got injured," Whitney thought aloud.
Jasmine shrugged and got up from the bench, sighing heavily. "Hey, Whitney, do you think you could run me by Morty's house so I can see if he's there?" she asked and Whitney nodded.
"Yeah, sure, c'mon," she replied and walked over to the bike. She grabbed two helmets and slipped one on. She gave the other one to Jasmine and she pulled it around her head. Both of them mounted onto the bike. Whitney cranked up the engine then sped off down the street.
"So, if he is at home, what are you going to do to him?" asked Whitney.
"If he is at home, I'm gonna slap him around for standing me up, then make him beg for my forgiveness. Then, I'll accept, we'll kiss, and then we'll head back down to the spa treatment center. If he's not at home, though... I'm gonna get even more worried," Jasmine said and held onto Whitney as she sped down the boulevard, driving rather recklessly. Once they arrived at the townhouse, Jasmine dismounted off the bike and gave the helmet to Whitney. She told Whitney to wait for her outside while she run in to see if he was there or not. After Whitney nodded, Jasmine ran up the stairs toward the front door. When she reached it, she knocked on the door and waited for Morty to answer. But no answer ever came. She sighed and knocked on the door again, this time louder than before. And still, no one came to answer the door. Jasmine bammed on the door in frustration.
"Morty, open the door now!!" she shouted, and her bamming caused the door to creep open. She thought it was him at first, but once the door stopped moving (because she stopped knocking) she realized it her bamming that made it start opening. Slightly cautious, Jasmine opened the door and crept into the living room of the townhouse. It was still very neat, because Kemo had sedated him instead of fighting him and messing up the house. Jasmine looked around the small living room while calling out Morty's name.
"Morty!! Hello?! Are you here, honey?!!" she yelled out, but she didn't get an answer. She walked off into the kitchen, and everything was neat there, too. No sign of Morty could be seen there. Jasmine began to get worried even more. Where was he? The only place she hadn't checked out was his bedroom/bathroom combo. She was scared to go upstairs and check. What if Morty's dead body would be awaiting her? Jasmine knew she had to go check, so she mustered all the courage she had and charged up the stairs.
"Morty!" she yelled again, but apparently to no one. She reached the top of the stairs and looked aournd the bedroom; it was very neat, as usual, and the sight of Morty remained to be seen. Jasmine noticed that the bathroom door was cracked open. She could hear some water running into a bathrub. That had to be Morty. Maybe he did just get up late like Whitney said. (the water stops running) She walked into the bathroom to find another man stepping into the tub with some headphones on his head. Jasmine stepped back out of distance and listened carefully to the sounds he made. There was faint music sounds coming from the headphones, but they stopped. The man sat the headphones down and rested his head back on the tub, letting the beam cleanse his body of all dirt. Jasmine crept back into the bathroom. The man had closed his eyes, so Jasmine tiptoed as quietly as possible toward the tub. Once she got there, she suddenly lashed out and dunked the man underwater. The man began struggling and thrashing about while screaming.
"(gurgled sounding) Please, stop! Stop this! Let me up, please, whoever you are!!" he screamed as loud as he could. Jasmine snatched him up out of the water and let him catch his breath.
"Allright, just what are you doing in my boyfriend's house, using his bathtub?!" she demanded to know.
"Uh.. this is your boyfriend's house? It's nice..." the man was cut off when Jasmine dunked his head back under the surface. He began to kick and thrash about again in a desperate attempt to get out of her grasp. Jasmine stared him in the eyes as she watched him flutter about in the tub, then she yanked him back up.
"Okay, I'll ask you again, what are you doing in my boyfriend's house, using his bathtub?!" she asked him again, and the man held up his hand in a gesture that told her to wait a minute.
"I didn't know this was your boyfriend's house. I was going to explain how I got in here but you threw me back underwater before I had the chance," he said.
"Well, talk."
"I'm a homeless man, young lady. I was walking down the street, asking people for money or food as I usually do. Then, I stumbled upon this house. The door was wide open, so I walked inside and looked around, and no one was here. It was all vacated, so I decided to move in. And I'm sure you can figure out why I got in this tub," he told her. Jasmine was good at detecting liars. She knew the signs to look for, and so far, the man hadn't shown her any signs of deception.
"You don't look dirty," she said.
"Oh, that's because I've been in this tub for awhile."
"But... it takes the tub longer than 5 seconds to cleanse your body of dirt. I heard you and saw you climbing inside the tub just a few moments ago."
"Don't forget, young lady, I've been sitting in this tub being dunked by you for a little while now. The beam has had multiple opportunities to clean me," he answered, and Jasmine looked over to see an expensive black suit lying on the floor. She reached out and grabbed it, and upon touching it, something fell out of the pants pocket. She grabbed the card, and it said: 'Simon Marsters, guard for Master Pegasus since 2027'. She threw Simon back underwater and held him there.
"(gurgled sounding) "No, wait! Please, what's wrong!! Why are you doing this?!!"
Jasmine snatched him out of the water and hit him across the face visciously. "Don't give me that homeless man crap! Tell me what you were doing here!" she yelled, and Simon didn't answer. She punched him in the face again, then hit him in the nose, and he still wouldn't say anything. Jasmine dunked his head back underwater and held him there. "Now, talk! I've picked up on the fact that you don't like being dunked, so answer my questions, and I'll let you go!"
"No, pull me up! Pull me up!!" he begged, but Jasmine ignored him. "What were you doing in this house?!!"
"I stayed behind after they took him away!"
"Who took him?! Where is he?!"
"You gotta let me up..." Simon motioned for her to pull him back up. Jasmine yanked him up to let him get a little air, then dunked him right back under the surface. "(fast talk) Maximillion Pegasus had your honey captured because he possessed a mystical artifact called a Millenium Key, something he wears around his neck! Pegasus claims that is has some kind of power to it, and he told us to get it. Me and my comrades broke into his house and sedated him no soon he stepped inside! Then, my comrades flew him over to the palace at the Crystal Kingdom! That's where he is, but I can't tell the exact location of the palace, because only Pegasus's closest associates knows where it is, and they are gone too! Now please..."
Jasmine reluctantly pulled him out of the water. The man coughed all the water out of his mouth and throat and started catchng his breath. Jasmine punched him in the face, then started walking away. Right when she got to the doorway, she turned around. "Get all your things, and get out of this house now, dick!" she ordered.
"Dick? Please... don't call me that. That's a direct insult to a man's privates, and that's far too special. You didn't know, but I'm really a woman!" Simon announced. "I love men so much that I decided to become one. I had my voice altered to sound like a man, got my tits deflated, and I had a fake penis, or dildo, stuck onto my areas. It's detachable, see," she said and pulled off the penis. Jasmine's face cringed in disgust as she darted out of the house screaming. "Hey, you should do it, too! Men are better than women! They are the superior sex, and we should all be like them!!" she shouted. Jasmine was utterly disgusted as she ran out of the house and jumped on the bike.
"Did you find Morty?" Whitney inquired, and Jasmine shook her head.
"Not in the house, but I know what happened to him."
"What's wrong?"
"(fast speech) The guy who created Duel Monsters, Maximillion Pegasus, had Morty abducted and took him to a palace at the Crystal Kingdom, where the Duel Monsters Championship playoffs are supposed to take place. He had him kidnapped because of that thing he's always wearing around his neck; it's called a Millenium Key and it's said to possess mystical powers."
Whitney just stared at her in confusement. "What?"
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Sakura's small plane gently touched down on the launch pad at the Pegasus estate. The butler which accompanied her slid open the door. Sakura elegantly stepped out of the plane, shaking her head to remove strands of hair from her eye. She began strutting through the backyard of the mansion, heading toward the mansion itself. Inside awaited her lover (or so she thought). Finally, after all this time, they would be reunited, their love for each other would be strengthened, and there wouldn't be anything powerful enough to split them apart. Sakura approached the door and tapped on it, then waited for an answer. None came, so she knocked again. This time, someone opened the door. Sakura shoved her way through him and started walking through the house, but the man quickly grabbed her and spun her around (the man is Croquet).
"Excuse me, young lady, but what do you think you're doing barging into Master Pegasus's mansion?"
"Uh..." Sakura thought hard about a story that would make sense as to why she was there.
"You had better tell me exactly why are you here, or else I'll be forced to throw you out," Croquet told her, and she began to talk.
"I'm here because I have a arranged meeting with Mr. Pegasus, sir, and I'd like to speak with him immediately," she spoke in an innocent, yet somewhat devious tone of voice. Croquet was a bit skeptical about this.
"But Master Pegasus has gone away to the Crystal Kingdom in order to take care of important business regarding the Duel Monsters tournament. I'm quite sure that he would've met up with you earlier this week if you actually needed to discuss something with him."
"I have been trying to reach him, but he keeps evading me. I have a proposition that would benefit the both of us, but for some odd reason he doesn't want to debate it."
"Then there must be something fishy about this 'deal', because Master Pegasus is never wrong," Croquet said.
Sakura cocked her head to the side. "Hmm... well, if I can't catch up with him, perhaps you can do me a favor and relay a message to him. Can you do that?" she inquired. Croquet responded by nodding, and she continued on. "Tell him this: I have some footage of Pegasus in my possession which depicts him doing some 'interesting' stuff. If I showed the public this footage, it would ruin his image and end his career indefinitely. Perhaps now he'd be more willing to talk, eh?" she smirked.
"Show me this.. footage."
"Oh, no! Why would I do that? That would be giving you an opportunity to destroy it. Tell Pegasus my message, or you can tell me where he is and I'll go deliver the message myself."
Croquet shook his head. "I'm afraid that isn't possible. I have no idea where Master Pegasus is exactly; only his closest associates know precisely where he's heading and they've accompanied him on the trip. But, I'll give Pegasus your little 'message'," he told her and started walking away.
"Thank you," Sakura gave Croquet an air kiss and strutted away, exiting the house. A few butlers had come outside to make sure Pegasus's yard was clean and in order .As she approached the plane, some of them wolf whilstled at her butt, bringing a smile onto her face. Her butler slid open the door to grant her a clean passageway through the plane. She stepped inside and seated herself. As the butler closed the door, the pilots asked her where she wanted to go next. Sakura ordered them to take her back to the mansion, and the pilots obeyed quickly. Sakura then accessed her Subspace Computer Terminal and transported a portable computer to her lap. After it materialized into reality, she turned it on and logged on to the virtual internet, heading straight for Pegasus's registration website.
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16:00 hours, Saturday afternoon had now come. All the contestants had entered into the tournament and it was now time to set sail to Emerald Island, home of the 'Sub-Competition' which was to be held. Everyone had their own reasons and agendas as to why there were entering. Some were playing for money, others were playing for exposure and popularity, others were playing to help someone else, some people were playing all for self. Brock entered the tournament in order to obtain the money necessary to pay for Flint's back and shoulder surgeries. Tristan entered for fun, but also to back Brock up, so if Brock lost, he could still try to win the tournament for him. Surge only entered the contest to keep an eye on Tristan Taylor until he could steal his cards back. Jasmine's goal was to get to the Crystal Kingdom and attempt to locate Pegasus's hidden palace in order to rescue Morty from Pegasus's clutches. Ash's only motive was to kill Pegasus, but to do that he had to make his way through the contest in order to get to Crystal Kingdom and find the palace. Misty knew she had to save her sisters (and John), and she entered to win the money and pay for Yelola's help. Li entered the contest for pure fun, and an added bonus will be surprising Brock and Tristan on the cruise ship (Meilin's tagging along). Greed motived Seto's objective. He wanted Pegasus's company to bring in more revenue, and he planned to get it. Yugi entered the tournament to began an excursion of Crystal Kingdom for his parents who hadn't been seen in over 14 years. Joey entered to kick some butt and have tons of fun, of course. Sakura's heart led her to entering the tournament. She was determined to find Pegasus and win back his love. Mai Valentine also entered, but for reasons that have not yet been revealed. Whatever the reason, there was tons of people awaiting the beginning of the championship. Transport boats brought all the duelists from other areas to the Domino City docks, where the cruise ship was. Guards watched as the duelists boarded the ship (not the exclusive duelist ship, either). Everyone stepped into the ship and was amazed at what they saw. The lobby itself was full of different aisles and corridors to walk through. The lobby's walls had water flowing down them, and the falls deposited into small canals which ran through the floor of the lobby. The floor was made of strong, durable glass, as was the roof of the lobby, and neon lights glowed through the seems of the glass. Stores were everywhere, and colorful lights and neon signs decked the huge place. It was absolutely gorgeous! People gasped in awe and astonishment as they walked through the beautiful place, taking in their surroundings. Brock and Tristan looked around in amazement.
"Tristan, this place is beautiful! I never expected it to look this good!" Brock exclaimed, still struck in awe at the sight. Tristan didn't respond because he was so busy looking at all the beautiful lights in the ceiling. "And the floor is made of glass.. Tristan, doesn't this ship kinda makes you feel like a prince?"
"Oh, yeah," Tristan agreed as they walked through the ship. Sakura wandered through the maze of corridors, completely lost. She too was amazed with how much details and beauty Pegasus had put into the ship.
"My Pegasus sure know how to put together a ship. It's just like him to build something like this," she said to herself as she walked along. Misty strolled through the various 'streets' of beauty. She was amazed at how much detail had been put into the cruise ship, but that was the least of her concerns. What she wanted was to get to Emerald Island and began fighting her way to the prize. (by the way, Aya came down with the flu so she couldn't come along with Misty) Misty was so busy trying to keep her bearings that she wasn't paying attention to where she going, and as a result, she bumped into someone.
"Oops, sorry..." her voice trailed off as she stared at the person who stood in front of her. "Joey, oh my goodness, what are you doing here?!" she exclaimed and threw her arms around Joey, obviously exuberant to see him.
"Misty! How's my favorite girl of all-time?!" Joey asked her as he hugged her tightly. Yugi looked on in confusement. "Wow, I can't believe it's been over 3 years since we last saw each other!" (a little background: When Misty moved from Cerulean City to Domino City, she ran into Joey in class [4th grade]. They became close friends and Misty moved away again when they reached 6th grade. Then, Misty came back to Domino City recently, but she lived far away from Joey's neighborhood, so they didn't see each other until now)
"Yeah, I know! It seems like the last time I saw you was yesterday, but at the same time it feels like I haven't seen you in ages! You know what mean?"
"Yep, I totally understand," Joey said, then hugged Misty agained, and she returned the hug. "Oh, I can't believe you're standing right here! It's so good to see you!" they released each other, and that's when Joey remebered to introduce her to Yugi. "Oh, in all the excitement, I forgot to introduce you to my best buddy, Yugi Moto. Yugi, this is Misty Chase, an old friend."
"Hello, nice to meet you," Yugi extended his hand for Misty to shake, and she shook it.
"Pleasure's mine," she replied.
"So, Misty, how's everything been?"
Misty wasn't quite ready to tell anyone about her sisters' condition, so she kept it to herself. "Things are great, thank you for asking. How about you? What's been happening in your life?"
"Not much. I haven't flunked anymore grades since the 4th, and that's a plus."
"Uh, mind if I cut in here?" Yugi chimed, making both of them turn their attention to him. "I'm gonna go find the food courts. I'm starting to get a little hungry, here," he told the two then walked off.
"What else has happened to you? I need some details about what's been going on since I moved away to Celadon City," Misty said.
"Are you sure? I could be going on for hours about what happened," Joey stated, but that made her want to know even more.
"So, start spilling! Please, I could use a little pick-me-up right now," she said, and Joey sighed. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Well..."
Surge, Jason, and Vicki had managed to avoid eye contact with Tristan and made it to their suite. Surge had been given a keycard downstairs, and he used it to open the doors to their guest suite. Walking inside, they took a look around. "Wow, man, this place looks so much more luxurious than that cottage of yours," Vicki quipped.
"That's great, I'm gonna go lay down," Surge walked off into his bedroom and closed the door behind him. He allowed himself to fall right onto the king-size waterbed and laid there. Surge never knew how good a waterbed could feel. He pulled his deck out of shirt pocket and looked through them. The deck was pretty good by itself, but it missed its key cards, the Gamma Dragons. Surge was determined to get the cards back from Tristan, no matter what it took. No one has ever humiliated him in the past and got away with it. Surge wasn't about to let Tristan be the first person to accomplish that, either. Once he got those dragons back, he was gonna blow Tristan away in a duel, then beat him down to let him know not to cross his path again. Surge smirked as he daydreamed about his goal. / Li and Meilin strolled through the massive lobby, looking for any sign of Tristan and Brock. So far, they hadn't had any luck in finding them in the large mass of people, but they scoured the boat in an attempt to find them. Meilin had been complaining about her hunger pains, but Li insisted on looking for them. And they hadn't seen as much as a hair from Brock or Tristan. Li sighed, slightly frustrated. "I don't see them anywhere, but they have to be around here somewhere."
"It's nearly impossible to find them in this crowd of people, and don't forget about the large, complex ship. They could be anywhere," said Meilin. They walked into the entrance of the food courts. Scents of delicious food filled the air, which made Meilin and Li grabbed their stomachs.
"Boy, that smells really good, doesn't it?" Li spoke, and Meilin nodded.
"Yep. I'm getting hungry, Li. Perhaps we could grab a bite to eat, then start trying to find Brock and Tristan later."
"Well, okay. I just want to see the look on their faces when their eyes rests on us. It's been over four years, Meilin. I can't even begin to fathom the shock that's going to flood on their faces."
"I can't wait to see them, either, but my stomach pains are killing me, Li. Let's eat!" Meilin begged.
Li gave in to her whining, and they began to debate about what they was going to consume. Out of the corner of his eye, Li spotted Tristan receiving some pizzas from a restaurant. Li's eyes popped open as he grabbed Meilin and turned her in the direction of Tristan. Meilin's eyes also bucked, then they ran down toward the pizza shop. Tristan put the pizzas into a bag and started walking away.
"Surprise, Tristan!!" they shouted and grabbed his attention. Tristan spun around and his eyes rested on the two teenagers. His eyes also widened as shock flooded onto his face, just as Li predicted.
"Li? Meilin?!" he sat the pizzas down and threw his arms around them. Li and Meilin hugged Tristan tightly and the three stood there squeezing each other. After ten seconds, they stopped hugging and Tristan spoke. "Whoa, I cannot believe it! After all these years! I didn't know you were entering the tournament!" he exclaimed in complete surprise and happiness.
"Yeah, I figured you were gonna be in this thing," Li responded. "It's been so long, how are you, man?!"
"I'm great, never been better!" Tristan answered and laughed. "What's been going on with you two?!"
"Me and Li are dating for one," Meilin chimed, and Tristan's mouth dropped.
"Really?! You're kidding, right? You two are involved?! (they nod) For how long?!"
"Almost three years! It'll be three in August," Meilin told him.
"Well, well, I never expected that."
Meilin then noticed his built body. "Hmm... well, look at whose been maturing over the years! You've got muscles everywhere! Remeber when you used to say building muscles was a waste of time? Whatever happened to that philosiphy?"
"It died over the years," Tristan replied.
"Oh. Well, I like them. Muscles suit your image. (glances over at Li) Too bad I can't say the same about Li Showron, here. He's sticking with the puny look," she said and poked his side.
"Stop it!"
Tristan chuckled at the two. "Anyway, you two sure have grown since the last time I saw you. Meilin, my.. my, you've turned out to be quite the hot girl. And you Li, well... you really just look like the Li we all used to know and love. A little bit older, but basically the same, little boy."
"Okay, okay, stop picking on me! First Meilin, and now you! There's nothing wrong with the way I look. I'm not puny, and I have grown and matured a lot. I don't just look like the 'same old Li', either. Why do you think that?" he asked.
"I don't know, the lack of muscles may have something to do with that," Tristan responded and giggled. Li rolled his eyes. "I bet Brock didn't waste any time lifting heavy weights and sweat profusely."
"On the contrary," Tristan began. "Brock has become quite the muscle man. Being skinny wasn't gonna help him become a 'lady's man', as he put it. The girls at school love him," he told Li, and Li scoffed. "And they love me too, by the way," he added.
"Hey, Tristan? Where's Brock? Is he here with you?" asked Meilin.
"Oh, he's over at a table waiting for me to come back with the pizzas..."
"Tristan, what's taking you so..." Brock happened to walk up on them. He stopped in his tracks and gasped, shock flooding onto his face. "Meilin?! Li?! You're here?! Oh, it's so wonderful to see you two again!" he said and hugged them both.
"He is built..." Li began to feel a little left out in the 'muscle' category.
"What's up, my man?!" Brock slapped hands with Li while asking him.
"Nothing much, except that me and Meilin are lovers now," Li announced to him, and of course, Brock was shocked.
"I can't believe it! For real?!" he exclaimed, and they nodded in response. "This ain't no joke, right?" They shook their heads in response. "Oh, that's so good! I knew you two were gonna start liking each other; I could see it when we were younger," he said.
"Hey, how about we go over a table and enjoy of fine meal of pizza?" Tristan suggested, and everyone agreed. They all headed over to the tables, talking and laughing along the way.
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Meanwhile, on the private cruise ship for specially selected duelists only, Ash stood on the balcony looking down at the constantly moving ocean. He was getting closer and closer to Emerald Island, which was the first stop in his mission of killing Pegasus. Once he won 15 stars there, he would be qualified to enter the Crystal Kingdom playoffs, and he was determined to either work his way through the opponents until he reached Pegasus, or to find the hidden palace and challenge Pegasus directly. Whatever he planned to do, Ash wasn't going to leave the island until Pegasus was dead. He decided to look through his deck to make sure it was in optimum perfection for the championship. While flipping through the cards, he ran across one called Hyozanryu (Dragon of Diamonds). He didn't like to see this card, because it was Delia's favorite monster out of all the ones in the deck she used to own. Seeing Hyozanryu further fueled his hatred for Pegasus, because Pegasus took his mother's life, someone that Ash loved with all his heart.
(Flashback 1)
The year was 2031. Ash was in the living room of the house dueling against his mother. Delia was trying to teach him how to play the game. They were having an 'old school' duel because Kaiba Corp. had yet to complete the first virtual arena. She was currently dominating the match, but Ash wouldn't go down without a fight. He slapped down a Curse of Dragon card, which was stronger than the Barrel Dragon she had in play. Barrel Dragon had been ensnared by the Spellbinding Circle, which brought its attack power down to 1900.
"And my move takes your life points down to 1600, mother. I feel a comeback in the works," he said.
Delia smiled, then drew a card from her deck and put it down onto the dueling mat. "Hyozanryu, with an attack power of 2100, takes down your Curse of Dragon."
Ash's Life Points- 600
"I give up, mom. I don't think I can beat you," Ash announced, and Delia laughed playfully.
"No, Ash, don't tell me you're giving up already. The duel could still be won."
"Nah, I'd rather just admit defeat and start over fresh," he told her. Delia agreed to this and reshuffled her deck. Ash reshuffled his and they began to duel again.
(Flashback 2)
"Sayanora, Delia," he said and pushed a button on a remote control and a force field formed around her. Then, 10,000 volts of electricity erupting on the chains, and shocked Delia severely. She screamed in pain.
"MOTHER!!!!" Ash yelled, but he could do nothing to help her. He stared with his eyes bucked opened and watched as his mother slipped away. Before she passed on she gave him one last, heartwarming smile, then her eyes closed and she passed on.
"Mother..." Ash's eyes began filling with tears as her lifeless body was only held up by the chains. "NO!!!!!" Ash screamed in pain. Tears began to rain down his face.
(End Flashbacks)
A small tear ran down Ash's face and dripped onto the card. Why did Pegasus have to kill her? Why couldn't he spare her? Why did he have to take such an innocent life? Delia had never done anything to him. Ash wiped the tear stain off his face and put the deck away. He walked into his suite and sat down on the bed. He missed his mother, and Ash was bent on making Pegasus pay for the murder. Without warning, the boat began to rock back and forth. It was gentle at first, but as seconds passed it grew more violent. Ash quickly darted outside. Although the sun was high in the sky, the ocean waters were shifting and surging quite violently, like a storm was there. Ash was in complete confusement as the waters tossed the boat around. The shaking made Ash lose his footing and he fell on the floor. Getting back up, another wave plastered against the ship. As the ship rocked, Ash began to realize how this was happening. It wasn't any storm in sight, yet the ocean waters were raucous. It had to be him doing it. Those mysterious powers must've kicked in again. Another wave hit the ship, and it was more violent than the last. The tipping of the boat made Ash fall to the floor and slide into the bedroom of the suite. Another wave ravaged the ship from the other side, causing the boat to tilt to the left, making Ash slide out onto the balcony. He quickly used the railing to regain his footing, then tried to concentrate on controlling the storm. Apparently, his powers were somewhat tied into his emotions, because whenever Ash began to get angry, something weird happened. Ash closed his eyes and continued his attempt to get rid of the raging waters. When he opened his eyes back up to see if any progress was being made, a huge tidal wave had formed and was charging relentlessly toward the cruise ship. Ash gasped in the surprise and closed his eyes, trying as hard as he could to control the powers within. He could hear the deep rumble of tidal wave getting ever closer to the ship, and that made him concentrate even harder. Ash opened his eyes to find the tidal wave still charging for the ship. He frowned and tried cooling himself down by forgetting about what happened. He began to think about pleasant thoughts, like the times he spent with Delia at the park, and others. The tsunami finally began to fizzle out as it began shrinking down into the ocean below. Ash sighed in relief as the tidal wave dissappeared and he waters returned back to normal. His power were beginning to become a problem. He had to find out how to control them, and soon.
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Evening time had settled in now. In honor and appreciation of the duelists and guests who tagged along with them, a special pool party was being held on the upper patio decks outside (this is the 'regular' cruise ship, by the way). Everyone on the ship had been invited to the shindig. People were diving into large pools, others were soaking in hot tubs, some people were playing party games, some people hit the dance floor, but one thing was for sure, there was a lot of commotion was going on. Meilin, Tristan, Li and Brock were all soaking in a warm jacuzzi, laughing and talking about stuff. Meilin was wearing a two-piece pink swimsuit, and she had put some aster flowers into her hair. Tristan sported some red and black swimtrunks. Brock had on some green swimtrunks with gold linings on them, and wore some gold chains around his neck to match the trunks. Li decided to wear some blue trunks. They were all playing truth or dare.
"It's Brock's turn now. Brock, truth or dare?" spoke Tristan.
"Um, I don't really wanna play this," Brock said, and everyone started laughing.
"Brock! Don't be a scaredy-cat! Now, truth or dare?" Tristan asked him again.
Brock sighed heavily and replied, "Truth."
"Okay," Tristan cleared his throat and continued. "Brock, is it true that your trunks fell down while you were on stage preparing to play a water polo match?"
Brock began to blush as Meilin and Li started laughing uncontrollably. "Tristan, why did you bring that up?! Couldn't you ask me something else?!" he yelled, and Tristan also started laughing.
"How did that happen?!" Li almost couldn't finish asking the question due to the fact that he was laughing so hard. Brock shook his head and put his hands over his face in embarrassment.
"Tell me the whole story," Meilin demanded while giggling.
"I refuse to say anything. As a matter of a fact, I'm through playing this game," he quipped. His hands were still covering his face.
"C'mon, Brock, don't be a spoilsport!" Tristan said, then reached over and tapped Brock's arm. "Tell Meilin and Li exactly how it happened."
"I said I'm not saying anything. They know it happened, and that's enough as it is," Brock told him, and his hands still covered his face. "Hey, I got an idea. Let's go hit the dance floor!"
"But I thought you were having fun playing this game," Li teased. "As long as you were making people do hideous things in this hot tub you were having the time of your life. Now it's your turn, and you're chickening."
"I'm not chickening! I just think it's time to do something else now, like dance. I'm getting tired of sitting in this hot tub, and I'm getting tired of playing this game. Enough is enough," Brock said while taking his hands off his face.
"Yeah, whatever," Meilin chimed.
"Don't any of you wanna get down to the jams?" Brock suggested. The other three eventually nodded and started climbing out of the hot tub. After getting down, they grabbed some nearby drying towels and dried themselves off, then headed down to the dance floor. Brock and Tristan started dancing by themselves, but Li and Meilin paired up./ Joey (who was wearing some yellow swimtrunks) and Misty (who was wearing a pearl, once-piece bathing suit) had just took a dip in the swimming pool, and now they were playing with a pinball machine. They were competing against each other to see who could score more points. Joey was currently at 2 million points.
"You're pretty good at this," Misty complimented. Joey pulled the small levers on the machine furiously as he attempted to keep the silver ball in the playing field, and at the same time, he racked up points by collecting powerups and other things. Eventually the ball slipped out of the field. Since it was Joey's last turn, his game was over.
"Ah, man! Well, at least I scored high. 2,311,390 points; let's see you outdue that," he challenged her. He stepped out of the way and allowed Misty to take his previous position. She cranked up the machine and starting bouncing the ball off walls, snagging powerups, and scoring bonuses. The points began to add up rather quickly. She started out with 0, but was now at 304,723 and hadn't been playing for a minute. Joey began to worry as she continued playing. Yugi (dressed in silver and black swimtrunks) strolled up next to Joey.
"Hey, what are you two doing?" he wondered.
"Me and Misty are competing against each other to see who can score the most points with their turns."
"Oh. Can I play, too? Or is it just a.. you vs. her, thing?" Yugi asked.
"No, no, of course you can play with us, man."After Misty finished her three turns, she came out with a score of 5,678,903. Joey's mouth dropped in surprise. "No way! Tell me you didn't just whup my high score!"
"I just did," she giggled in delight, and Joey frowned.
"Well, let me see if I can beat your score," Yugi said. Misty stepped out of the way and let Yugi take his place in front of the machine. He started it up and began playing the game. Misty watched closely, hoping that he couldn't out-score her score. As time went on, Yugi's score kept increasing and increasing. After he lost his first turn, his score was at 1,315,024 points.
"He might actually beat me, Joey. I didn't score that high in my first turn," Misty whispered into Joey's ear.
"Yeah, but you kicked some major butt in your last two turns, though. You even got a jackpot," Joey said back to her, and she shrugged.
"Well, we'll see," she muttered. Yugi pushed on the levers and managed to keep the ball in the playing field. He grabbed a powerup which multipled the points earned by 3. Then, he managed to hit the jackpot. His score was now at 4,794,813. He chuckled as he continued playing the frenzied pinball game, being careful not to lose. Yugi wanted to get as much as he could out of his turns.
"Um, Misty, I think Yugi just might've beat you," Joey whispered.
"It's not over yet, he still hasn't scored 5.6 million points, yet," she whispered back and they continued watching. By the time Yugi had lost all his turns, his total score was 9,773,839.
"Whoa, Yugi! I've never seen anyone score that high on this game before!" Joey exclaimed. Yugi laughed and turned to Misty.
"Well, looks like you've been beat."
"I thought Joey was good. Compared to you, he sucks," Misty said.
"Hey, be nice!"
"Congratulation," she told Yugi and he smiled. "I'm gonna go grab a drink, you guys want anything?" offered Misty. The two boys told Misty to get them some sodas, and she walked off to get them. She approached the drinks counter and asked the bartender for two sodas and a mocha. While she waited on the drinks, Ronnie was off in the distance watching her... /Sakura (wearing a baby blue srong and white top) waltzed her way across the deck, heading toward the dance floor. Although she was ready to get to the Crystal Kingdom to find her lover, she wasn't going to deny herself any fun. As she walked along, she accidentally bumped into someone and knocked a soda out of his hands.
"Oops, sorry," she spoke hastily.
"No, it's allright. You didn't do anything," the person (Li) replied, then bent over to pick up his soda. However, Sakura beat him to it. She picked it up and handed it to him. "I'm really sorry I spilled your soda. Can I get you another one?" she offered.
Li chuckled and answered, "No, you don't have to get me another soda. And it's nothing to be sorry about, accidents happen."
"I know, and I'm gonna get you another soda anyway," she said and walked off toward the counter. Li decided to follow her. "If I had just been watching where I was going this wouldn't have happened."
"I told you, it's totally okay." Sakura walked up to the counter and asked the bartender for another soda just like the one Li had. The bartender walked off to get it, and she sat down in a barstool beside the counter. Li took a seat in another one.
"So, are you a participant in the tournament? Or are you just coming along as a spectator or something?" she asked him.
"I'm a participant," Li replied.
"Really? Is this your first time competing in the contest or have you been in one before?"
"I'm a first-timer. What about you, are you a contestant?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm also a first-timer. I just started playing Duel Monsters a couple of weeks ago and I think I'm getting pretty good it."
"No, no, if you've just starting playing, I recommend you just throw in the towel. There's gonna be tons of duelists here with skills beyond anything you muster. You're a newbie.. uh, whatever your name is, and I don't think you're gonna be able to handle it," Li spoke.
"Hey, I believe I know more about Duel Monsters than you're giving me credit for, Mister..." her voice trailed off.
"Li. Li Showron, what's your name?"
"Sakura Avalon," she replied, and Li grinned.
"I like your name; it has a somewhat, I don't know.. elegant sound to it."
"Thank you." Sakura was about to speak again when the bartender returned to give her the soda. He held out the soda and she took it in her grasp. "Thank you, sir," she spoke softly and handed the drink to Li. "Back to the topic. I know a lot about Duel Monsters, and it's quite possible that I could kick your butt right now."
"You think so? Okay, then, to prove your claim tell me this. What's the strongest card in all of Duel Monsters?" Li inquired, and Sakura began to stammer.
"Uh, um... I think it's... no, that's not it. Um..."
"It's Exodia!" Li told her, and she began grinning sheepishly.
"Oh, yeah! I knew that; I just wanted to see if you knew it, too."
Li glanced at a watch on his arm and stood up. "Uh, I've gotta run. My friends are waiting on me. We're about to have a little chess competition between the four of us. Then afterwards, we're gonna play Blackjack," he said.
"Oh, allright. It was nice meeting you, Li."
"Same here, Sakura, and I hope we run into each other again sometime," he waved to Sakura and ran off to meet up with Brock, Meilin and Tristan. Sakura got up and started walking toward the dance floor, her intended destination before she bumped into Li. /Mai Valentine strutted across the deck wearing a very revealing two-piece violet swimsuit. She received a lot of looks from male passerbys. She grinned at the attention and approached a jacuzzi. She stepped into it and sighed, letting the warm flow of bubbles sooth her body.
"Ohh... there's nothing like a good soak in a jacuzzi to help you relax," she murmered to herself. As she relaxed in there, another person of male gender stepped over into the jacuzzi and sat down beside her. This took her by surprise at first, but she calmed down in realization of who it was.
"I've been looking all over for you," the man spoke. Mai rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Tori (Sakura Avalon's older brother who was dressed in blue and orange swimtrunks), do you have to follow me everywhere I go? You're acting a puppy dog, or something. You know, I can take care of myself," she said.
"I know that. I still need to talk to you, though," he responded to her and took a sip out of his plastic pouch filled with fruit punch.
"What?"
"I just wanted to tell you that you're handling your undercover mission great, especially for your first time. You haven't alerted Pegasus to your presence. (slight pause in speech) You're turning out to be quite the secret agent," he commented.
"Well, thanks for the compliment, but I know all this already. I still wish you had taken the task of dueling in the tournament instead of me. I don't duel well under pressure, or in front of crowds," she quipped.
"Oh, c'mon. You've been in many dangerous missions before, you've chased down criminal masterminds, you've even faced down death before, and you're telling me that you can't duel with wagers, or in front of an audience? You've gotta be kidding me," Tori began to giggle and Mai poked him in the side.
"Stop that! It's just... I get tense. I get afraid that I'm going to embarrass myself. This is my first time competing in the tournament, you know? I'm gonna be nervous."
"I'm sure after you win a few duels you'll get some confidence. And here I am thinking with all that pride of yours, that nervousness and the fear of losing would be obsolete feelings, but I guess I was wrong," he shrugged. "And you know that I don't know a thing about Duel Monsters, which was why you were ordered to compete. Now, don't forget, keep calm and stay cool, no matter what. When we get to Emerald Island, security is bound to be everywhere, so don't mutter anything about your mission. When you need to talk to me, use our special Neural Transmitters (a device installed into the mind of a person. It allows them to communicate telepathically with another person who's equipped with it). Understood?"
"Completely, now go away. I need to relax and think," Mai ordered. Tori scoffed and climbed out of the jacuzzi, leaving her in there by herself. He walked off to the pool to take a swim. Mai kicked her legs on top of each other and sighed. So far, the mission was going smoothly. She just hoped it stayed that way.
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Downstairs in one of the suites sat a lonely Jasmine Cortez (on a couch). She decided not to attend in the festivities because she didn't feel like it. What she wanted was Morty in her arms. Jasmine never knew how much she would miss Morty if she never saw him, mainly because they were always together. They often spent nights at each other's house; they hung together all the time. Ever since they fell in love with each other, they had never went longer than a day without seeing one another. Although it had only been three days, Jasmine felt as if she hadn't seen or heard from Morty in three years, or maybe even three decades. Whitney came through the door and asked Jasmine to come to the deck and have a little fun, but Jasmine rejected the offer. She knew she wasn't going to have any fun, not while Morty was missing. Now if Morty was on the upper deck partying, it'd be a different story. Whitney tried to get Jasmine off the couch but she couldn't remotely convince her. After she gave up and left, Jasmine began to cry softly as she curled up on the couch. What if she never saw Morty again? He had been gone for three days, which was more than enough time for Pegasus to steal the key from him, and she still hadn't heard from him. What if Pegasus killed Morty after he stole the Millenium Key? Jasmine continued to weep softly on the couch. There shouldn't be anything stopping Pegasus from getting the key...
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"So why I don't I have it yet?!!" Pegasus screamed at Kemo. They were inside Pegasus's lavish office discussing the dilemma regarding Morty's Millenium Key.
"Master, it won't come off," Kemo spoke. "We've been trying everything: pulling it off, shooting it off with a Plasma Blaster, sucking it off into a vacuum, everything! But the blasted key refuse to come off his neck."
Pegasus sighed heavily and stood from his chair. "Perhaps if we can't pull it off ourselves, someone else can pull it off for us."
"What are you saying, Master?" Kemo was puzzled. Pegasus flicked his hair out of his eyesight and approached Kemo.
"Take me to him," he ordered and Kemo bowed in obedience. He instructed Pegasus to follow him and began leading Pegasus down to the underground dungeon complex. Walking up to a teleporter pad, Kemo entered in the coordinates D3- SE12-B (Dungeon Level 3, Section 12 B.) Then, he and Pegasus stepped onto the tile. The tile activated and tranported them down into the aforementioned coordinates. Kemo and Pegasus strolled through numerous hallways until they reached Morty's cell. He was chained up onto the wall, and a special force field was put in place just in case Morty found a way to free himself from the chains. There wasn't any door.
"Lower the force field," Pegasus spoke, and Kemo walked over to a small touchscreen panel right next to the cell. He pushed a few buttons and the force field deactivated, allowing Pegasus to enter the cell. Pegasus did just that; he approached Morty and smirked. "Hello, there," he greeted.
Morty wasn't hardly in the mood for small talk. He had been deprived of food and water, and hadn't gotten much sleep. He slowly looked up at Pegasus and glared at him. "What do you want?"
"Hmm... not much for small talk, are we?" he said in his traditional type of speaking. "C'mon, Morty, don't be a anti-socialable type of man, okay? How are you?"
"What do you think?! I'm certainly not fine! I'm locked up in a cell, I've been deprived of food and water, for Pete's sake I can't even piss because I'm stuck on a wall! I am not fine," Morty spoke in an angry tone of voice. "Release me, at once."
"Ooh!" Pegasus quipped sarcastically. "We have a feisty one, don't we?" Pegasus asked while walking closer to Morty. "I don't think you're in any kind of position to be giving out orders around here, so shut your gob."
"Or what, you'll hit me? Oh, that's scary. I'm trembling before your sight, I'm shaking before the sound of your voice. If that's all you've got, I feel for you," Morty said and chuckled weakly.
"Trust me, after I get through with you, you won't be laughing," Pegasus stated sinsterly. "But, I'm not gonna resort to violence just yet. It's not too late to talk. We can still settle this in an reasonable fashion. My guard has told me that all attempts to take that Millenium Key of yours off your neck has failed. So, instead of trying to take it by force, I'll cut a deal with you. If you want to get released, all you have to do is give me your Millenium Key. If you don't give me the key, I'll be force to act upon you in a painful manner," Pegasus smirked evily.
"I'm not gonna give you anything. This Millenium Key has been passed down through my family for generations, and I'm not about to let you destroy our tradition and take our heritage," Morty announced boldly.
"Brilliantly spoken," Pegasus complimented, then turned serious. "But that kind of attitude is not going to get you out of here, or in my good graces."
"Who ever said I wanted to be in your 'good graces', you dick?" Morty retorted, and for that he was punched in the mouth.
"Shut your trap." Pegasus began to untie Morty's tennis shoes.
"What are you doing?" Morty wondered as Pegasus finished untying them and took them off. He pulled off Morty's socks and tossed them aside. Afterwards, he ripped open Morty's shirt and snatched off his pants, leaving his silk green boxers as the only article of clothing on Morty's body. "What are you about to do, have a stripping contest with me or something?"
"No, no, no, not at all. I think it's time you get taught a lesson and put back in your place. Kemo, bring me the grease!" Pegasus snapped, and Kemo rushed inside the cell holding a pot. Pegasus took the pot from Kemo and poured some hot cooking grease onto Morty's bare feet.
"AHH!!!!" Morty screeched at the top of his lungs, and Pegasus began to laugh maniacally.
"It's quite amazing how much a simple organ like the Larynx can bring your body so much pain, eh? And this is only the beginning! Believe me, pretty boy, there's hard times ahead," he chimed and poured the remaining amount of the grease onto Morty's bare chest.
"AHHH!!!!!" his ear-piecing scream echoed throughout the walls of the dungeon...
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Well, that's it! Again, I say this. I'm so, so sorry for the long wait. I intended to update much earlier, but my modem broke down and since my father got laid off, we couldn' afford to buy another one But, he got a new job, and now we're starting to get back on our feet. I really hope these two episodes were good, especially since I wasn't able to update sooner. I apologize again for the long wait, and I hope I won't have to deal with that anymore. Well, next time, the cruise ships finally reach Emerald Island and the tournament finally kicks off to the start. Don't miss Episode 08, 'Let The Duels Begin'! Bye! (Oh, and if you have any questions, you'll have to post them in a review and I'll answer them in the next update. I'm now using Charter Pipeline and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to e-mail or IM)