A/n: Sorry, I can't do those accent thingys! My Spanish might be affected.

(transalations)

Joey walked along the curb, trying to think of a way to convince Mai to give him her ticket for the World Tours Tournament. Ok. remember, don't do anything to make her mad. If I havta, I-I'll beg. He grimaced. He hoped it wouldn't come to that. But for a chance to create your own legit DM card!

. . .Mebbe I shoulda called first to be polite, he mused staring up at her picturesque castle-like mansion. creeps Shaking it off, he started to climb the front stairs. Mai'd been acting differently lately . . .at first, in Duelist Kingdom, she'd been closed and guarded and finally started to make progress and be more friendly. Then . . . at Battle City Marik took her mind, but eventually it was restored. But she was back to square one; now even sarcastic and shut off. He couldn't help feel slightly responsible for it, even though it wasn't his fault. Now it seemed that she was more friendly with only some people, like Serenity and Yugi, and hostile with select others.

And which group do I belong to? No idea. Exhaling and making sure his breath wasn't death, he rang the bell. After a few minutes, she answered, dressed in light grey sweats.

"Oh." Definitely in da 'hostile' group. Geez, not even a hello . . .

"Yeah, nice to see ya too." Ack! Rememba, don't be sarcastic. " I mean, um, did I wake ya?"

"Whatever you want, the answer's no." she said sardonically. At his silence, she turned back and said, "You were going to ask for a favor, right?"

"Well . . . "

She scowled at her nails with a gloomy expression. "As usual. That's what everybody comes here for."

Apparently, he didn't see it. "Sence . . . you're not using yo World Tours invitation, can I?" he asked, cutting to the chase.

"Can you what?"

"Use it."

"NO."

"Oh, come on! " he pleaded. "I thought we were friends . . . I'll owe you."

She gave unladylike snort. "Even if you had it, do you know what country it's held?"

"Uhhhh .. .. " he scratched his mess of dirty blond hair, mussing it up even worse. "Wait . . . oh, yeah. Spain."

"And . . . do you know Spanish, Joseph?"

A look crossed his face. "No . . ."

"How do you expect to get around?"

"Well, Yuge-Yugi-took Tea, since she took some classes, so I was thinkin' she could help me, too."

A sudden grin of mischief crossed her face. "Yugi took Tea?"

"Yeah . . . why?"

"Ohhh . . . well, I wish I'd been there to see them off so I could tease them about it." she said with a knowing wink.

"You'd go ta see dem . . . . . just to embarrass dem?" he said incredulously.

"Tch. Of course!"

After a long silence, he said finally, "Okaaaaayyy . . . well, I guess your answer's still no."

"Definitely, absolutely, positively no." she emphasized..

"Well . . . there'll be other tournaments, I guess." He shuffled toward the door. "Hey," he said suddenly. "Why aren't YOU goin'?"

Her grin faded. "Don't feel like it." She turned away again. "You know the way out."

"What a waste," he muttered. "Did Serenity leave anything here last night?"

"Huh?"

"Afta yo party? Sometimes she does, and since I'm here . . . "

"Oh. No, no." The mention of his sister reminded Mai of her promise to distract Joey so he wouldn't snoop around. And what better way than to lead him out of the country? "Hey. Wait a minute. I, uh, changed my mind."

"You did!" He looked positively thrilled. Then, "Wait . . . what's wit da big turnaround?"

"Look, do you want to go or not?" she said peevishly. She certainly wasn't going to beg him, and if not, well, Serenity had to handle her own problem.

"Awright . . . but I still need a guide to get there . . . "

"I'll go. I know some Spanish." she said unenthusiastically. "Knowing you, you'll end up in Mexico."

"You do! You will!" Honestly, he looks like a kid who just made a super duper mud pie. "All right, tanks Mai! You're da best!" Impulsively, he gave her quick hug in gratefulness.

"Hey! No sappy stuff. You helped me out in Battle City, but this is too much."

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I won't do it again."

She sighed loudly. "I am so going to regret this. Get going to pack. Might as well catch a flight for today . . . "

Later

"This is so great!" Joey kept saying all the way to the cab trip to the airport. His cheerfulness only soured her mood. Why did I agree? Oh well, at least we'll see Yugi and Tea there and I can have my fun embarrassing them about being together, she thought. It was so amusing.

"Now remember, Joseph." She said bossily. "You have to do everything I tell you no questions asked. Otherwise, we can turn back right now. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah." He waved dimissively.

" . . . And is that how you dress for an airport? You could've least changed your clothes!" She handed him his boarding pass as they paid the cabbie and made their way to their gate.

Ignoring her reprimand, he glanced nervously out the big picture windows to the planes and jet on the runway. "A-are we goin' on one o' those?"

"No, we're going to flap our arms to Spain." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "Of course! What," she said disbelievingly as they walked down to sit, "you've never flown before?"

"W-w-whhhooo . . ." he stared bug-eyed as they found their seats in the aisle and sat down and she made herself comfortable, thinking Ugh, middle class, " .. . . .m-me?"

Mai gawked at him, never hearing someone dragging out a question so long. "First of all, don't clutch the armrest like a safety bar at Kings Dominion," she said dryly. "Don't be so scared, you baby!"

"W-Who's scared?" A loud roar. "WHAT's DAT?" People were starting to look.

"The engine. You know," she said with a wicked grin, "so . . .we can fly, only for it to turn off, causing us to plummet annnnd BOOM!"

She burst into helpless giggles at his expression and then he realized she was joking. "Ha. Ha. Ha." he commented, narrowing his eyes. And then, an even louder ROAR! sounded and it was her turn to jump.

What . . . was that!" she gasped in fright, looking about.

"Uhhh . . . .that was my stomach. Man, I'm hungry," he muttered, rubbing his flat belly. "I didn't eat for like, two hours-!" Joey looked around like he expected food to just pop out of nowhere because he said so. "They do serve food, r-"

"Attention. We will be taking off in five minutes. Please buckle your safety belts and clear the aisle. Thank you." The intercom switched off with a sharp click.

Later

Some hours later, Mai woke up with a start. She'd been dozing, after they'd shown a really boring Class C movie. She checked her fine gold watch: 6:34. With the time difference, it should be 8:30 pm in Spain. With a yawn, she stretched her arms over her head and glanced over at Joey, who was sleeping with his mouth open, snoring. The sight of airplane food had made her gag, but he'd eaten two helpings. Two. Of canned beef with something indescribable on the side. Probably liver, she thought. Yuck. He's an alien to have eaten that . . . . then again, he does go to high school cafeteria, then he must be immune.

Sighing loudly, she brushed off her light purple skirt and was fixing her jacket closed when she noticed a spot on it. Ew! Ew! That looks like . . . drool! Did that juvenile glutton drool on me! She shot his sleeping form a glare of hatred. This was a 500 DOLLAR original Louis Vitton!

"Hey! Hey!" she hissed, grabbing a thick black marker the attendant left and jabbing him with it. "Wake up!"

" . . . hee hee, so you want to go to the movies, my love . . .. ? . . .Zzzz . . ."

Wonder who's he dreaming of, she thought. Then, shaking it off, she slowly twisted off the marker's cap. If he asks, I'll say the brat over there did it, she thought. She drew a two horns on his forehead and a big black moustache and black beard to top if off on his face. Looking at her finished work, she snickered softly. The kid two seats over looked at him and grinned. "You did this, okay hun?" Mai whispered with a wink, and he nodded and turned back around.

Something was missing . . . .after a while, she wrote, "Diablo" (Devil) on Joey's cheek in block letters. He began to stir just as:

"We have arrived at our destination. Fold your seats in an upright position and prepare for landing."

"Huh . . . whazzat?" He sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"It's time to land," she whispered, trying not to laugh at the markings on his cheeks.

"Oh. What . . . time's it?" he mumbled, blinking hard.

"Late." They touched down on the runway, and rolled to a stop. "Glad you didn't freak out this time . . . boy, am I tired," she faked a yawn and got up.

They got out and Mai led the way to a cab, him following sleepily behind. "A la Casanova Hotel," she said expertly, and the driver nodded with an appreciative glance at the beautiful lady then at Joey.

"Se borrachado?"(Is he drunk?) She nodded vigorously in answer.

"What's he sayin', Mai?" Joey asked excitedly. "Somethin' about the Tournament?"

"Yeah. Oh that reminds me," she added, as they were cruising down one freeway after another, "I'll help you to get food and stuff, but you're gonna have to win this tournament alone, okay?"

"Sure," he said easily. "When we find them, me an' Yuge'll bust out da comptetition."

"Yes, while you and 'Yuge' can duel your heads off for all I care," she said grumpily. He looked at her in surprise, and she added hastily, "I mean, while I'm have more fun shopping and getting my groove on at the discotecas!" she said snapping her fingers.

His eyebrow tugged upwards in an O.o stare. It looked REALLY funny with the stuff on his face, and Mai struggled not to laugh. "Why dontcha like ta duel anymore?"

"I've . . . outgrown it. It's for babies!"

Seeing the scowl on her face, he said smirkingly, "What . . . me an' Yuge were too much da experts for ya?"

I am so enjoying this, she thought, staring at his marker covered expression.

Later

"Ay! Que guapismo!" (Oh! how handsome!) Giggles from a group of black haired girls, staring at Joey and whispering.

"Come on." She hissed leading him from the elevator. "Would you hurry, slowpoke?" "Well why's your makeup bag haveta weigh a ton for!"

"Yeah well you need to exercise." Mai muttered, as she opened the door to their suite they got, thanks to her. The hotel clerk wasn't looking at her face as she ordered the rooms. "It pays for boys to be pigs sometimes," she muttered to herself.

"Huh?" He was to busy staring around the well-kept room. "Wow . . . this is even betta than the room on dat Kaiba's blimp!"

"Hey this is my suite. Your room's downstairs! . . . I'm only joking. It's that door." Thinking of the blimp reminded Mai of why she was doing this. I have such a good heart. I'm such a good friend. Really, I'm a saint

"Oh. Where's the bathroom? I wanna check it out!"

"Uh, how about later? You better call Tea's cell-phone and find out where they are."

"Good idea." He went of towards the phone in the kitchenette. "Shoot . . .. uh, ya wouldn't happen to know what her numba is, do ya?"

Mai sighed.

A little Later

"Hey, that's great! We're staying in the same hotel!" Yugi said, excited to the core.

"Really? What room numba?"

"Uh . . . .what's is it again, Tea? . . . oh, 567."

"We're 933."

" 'We're?' "

"Yeah. Mai got us dis room. But it's so big, ya know? Mebbe I could stay with you an' have Tea up here wit Mai."

"Hey, yeah! That's a good idea!"

"Cool. I'll be right ova!" Joey hung up and waved. "Oh . . . do ya wanna come an' say hi?"

"Maybe later. I'm jet lagged. I think I'll turn in." It was 9:56. Mai suspected that Yugi would say something about her marker drawing still on his face so it was best she'd be safe in her bed. Though it would be funny if he didn't. Still, he probably would. They sure make a funny pair. "Good night . . ."

Suddnely, Joey stopped in mid stride. "Wait. I gotta go pee first . . ." he muttered, and hurried to the bathroom.

Uh, oh. Mai waited umtil he'd closed the door, then sprinted to her own bedroom and locked the door. There was a silence, and then:

"MAI!"

Don't get up. Don't go. She held her breath and lay down quietly, trying to muffle her laughter with a pillow, unsuccessfully.

"Get out. I c'n hear you laughin'!"

The door opened. "Did you want something, Joseph?" she asked, her eyes wide with innocence.

"What. Is. This!" He looked postively furious, pointing to his face. "Supposed to Mean?"

"What? Where?" She pretended to squint. "Ohhh. That." she said shrugging. "It must've been that kid on the plane."

"You made me walk around like this?" Now he sounded like she'd hurt his feelings.

"Uh. .. .well it wasn't my fault," she lied. "The kid did it, I tell you!"

He narrowed his eyes to slits. "Sleep with one eye open," he said omniously, turning and grabbing a paper towel; wiping his face clean.

a/n: told ya my Spanish is horrible . . .Review?