A/N: Chapter 6 is here! Expect updates to be much, much faster now, because I'm on a roll. Writer's block is gone!

Monica: Well, I hope you slept well on that thought. Here are some more for you!

Mira: Ouch, harsh. And whether Jade's the author or part of the club or not doesn't really matter at the moment; she's got her own agenda and that's all she's worried with.

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Three Days Later

1:39 a.m.

--

Kyle rubbed his bloodshot eyes and looked over his deck configuration once more. That article is right, to a certain extent, he thought, as he scanned over the individual cards. My deck is rather motley.

As I recall, Kyle, there is a reason your deck is so "motley". You perceive a weakness in themes, do you not?

A certain one, yes. There are cards that can stop and destroy monster types, not just individual monsters. I'd prefer to keep the risk to a minimum.

Are there not cards that would narrow the scope you would be able to hold your own with?

Fewer of those exist. My chances are better if I have a wide spread of types. Besides, I'm not using them because they're off-type from each other. I'm using them because they're good, solid defenders and attackers. He sat back on the couch. This tournament's got me all worked up. And no word from that magician guy... I thought they might be the type to respond right away.

As did I. This is troubling. In older times the magicians simply attacked without provocation, either with magic or daggers.

Think they might have adapted to modern technology? Guns and such?

This, I somehow doubt. The court of mages did not trust bow and arrow or other ranged weaponry – they considered these too unreliable. Always for them, close combat or magic.

And you think these magicians are the same?

Nebankh was among their ranks, as well as part of the court. I have little doubt the traditions of the magicians adapted to those of the court mages. If nothing else, then to understand their opposition, should they ever engage in battle.

Think they did?

Perhaps.

Kyle sighed, then laid down across the couch. What I need is some sleep.

Then do so. I shall keep watch.

But before Kyle even closed his eyes, his phone rang. He groaned, then forced himself to sit up and pick up the phone. "Hello?"

"Did I wake you?" It was Monica.

"Uh. No, not really."

"Well, sorry anyway. I can't sleep, need someone to talk to. No one else is online, either, so..."

Kyle grinned. "Yes, go ahead, we can talk. Actually..." He looked around his apartment. "Would it be a bad time for you to come over here? Make it more personal."

"You trying to come onto me, McCraine?"

"Not if that's a complaint, I'm not."

Monica made an amused sound. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I'll be over in a few minutes."

"Great. See you then."

--

Upon Monica's arrival, Kyle couldn't help but notice that there were large circles under her eyes. He frowned in concern as he beckoned her inside. "You look like you haven't slept since you got your invitation."

"I haven't," she admitted. "But you look about the same."

"You caught me."

She offered a wry smile, then looked to his couch. "Mm... that looks comfy right about now."

He chuckled. "You gonna make me sleep on the floor of my own home tonight, or what?"

"If you can't sleep, there's no point in trying to do it anywhere, floor or otherwise," she pointed out. Then she gestured towards it; Kyle got the hint, and they both sat down. Neither of them spoke for several moments, but instead just looked at each other for a long time.

Finally, she squirmed slightly. "I'm just a little worried, is all."

He blinked. "Worried? About the tournament?"

"Well... that, a little bit, and... other things too," she said, sounding distinctly uncomfortable.

"Other things? Like what?"

"Well, let me start with the tournament and we'll go from there." She wrung her hands. "I'm just worried that I've been invited because of that stupid article. Not because Kaiba or his associates think I have any true talent."

"From what I've seen of Kaiba, he doesn't seem to think any duelist in the world besides him has talent," Kyle noted. "Except possibly Yugi Moto. So now one mystery's been solved."

"Har har. He probably heard that I've got three of the four Blue-Eyes cards he used to have."

"So?"

"So he's going to want them back. And I think he'll want them back badly, at that. Which means I'm probably going to be first on his hit list."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "And this is something to be worried about? Monica Zocallos conquers all, doesn't she?"

"Kyle, I may be good at this game, but he's top-notch. The elite of the elite. The only one anyone's ever heard of beating him is Yugi Moto, and even then, it took Exodia to do it. If he beats me, I know he'll want the Blue-Eyes cards as his prize."

"So what?" Kyle grasped Monica's hand. "Listen... if he beats you, he beats you. There's life after a loss, even one that might cost you the cards you've come to enjoy. Trust me, I know. But you can't let yourself get lost in the 'what-ifs', or you'll never do anything worth doing."

"Don't tell me I'm getting all worked up for nothing, Kyle," she said. "I want to do well in this tournament."

"And you will. I know it. With or without your Blue-Eyes cards, you'll make it through."

"You're sure?"

He smiled. "Absolutely."

She smiled back at him, then gently leaned into him. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Mmm..." she sighed. "Are you running a fever?"

"No, why?"

"Because you're all warm." She leaned further into his embrace. "Not like the Kyle McCraine I know."

"Oh? And what's the Kyle McCraine you know like?"

"He's... a jerk, and... all cold and empty... and..."

Kyle smirked, then gently reached up and stroked her cheek. Her voice trailed off and she sighed. "Kyle... I'm... really confused..."

"Don't be." His fingers drifted idly across her cheek. "Just for once in your life, Monica, try not to think."

She giggled slightly. "Easier said than done."

"I know. Things will be okay. I promise."

--

The travel plans were relatively simple. Private jets all over the world were bringing duelists to Domino, Japan, much as the airliner for the Madison tournament had done. Kyle and Monica's jet arrived with seven other duelists aboard, all of them looking positively giddy about the upcoming tournament.

"They probably aren't looking forward to winning so much as to simply being there," Kyle muttered to Monica, as the plane prepped for takeoff. "They look like guppies."

"Those 'guppies' are fourth and fifth-tier duelists," she snickered. "So don't get too condescending. There's a reason they're here."

"Yeah, so people like Kaiba can take pleasure in whittling them down to nothing."

"Oh, now, don't you get started."

Chubs was also aboard the plane, in one of the front seats and he made sure to greet Kyle and Monica – who had boarded and were seated in the rear – after the plane had taken off. "Hey, there."

Kyle blinked at Chubs. "Man, you lost some serious weight, didn't you?" And it was true – Chubs' once-noticeable gut, able to exceed most belts, had now receded to just slightly beyond his belt line. His arms and legs showed signs of muscle buildup. Even his face had changed, to a more ovular definition.

"I've been exercising like crazy," Chubs grinned. "Just about any regimen I can pull off while at home, I've been doing. Push-ups, crunches, stretching exercises..."

"How often?" Monica inquired.

"I started it at half an hour every day. I've gotten up to an hour and a half now. I think I've sweated a lot of it off." Chubs scoffed, an amused sound. "But don't worry, I still pig out pretty much every chance I get. My metabolism can get to be pretty high if I'd just get off my butt every once in a while."

That is a novel concept. Kyle suppressed a snicker at the comment.

The trip to Japan took most of the night. Kyle found himself unable to sleep, between worrying about the tournament and when the magicians might show up next. On the other hand, Chubs was sawing logs with his snores, and Monica found a convenient pillow on Kyle's shoulder. Kyle couldn't help but roll his eyes. She gets comfort, I get the shaft.

Shaft of what?

Kyle shuddered. Let's not discuss that.

A goodly portion of the morning was spent on getting through customs and money exchange. Kyle, Chubs, and Monica weren't sure at first that they even wanted to leave the airport – there was enough here to keep them entertained for a good long while, and the tournament wouldn't be until the following week.

However, they did eventually leave the expansive port. If nothing else, Chubs noted, their hotel rooms were waiting for them. Kyle remained wary as they went about the huge city – it was nearly the size of Indianapolis – but nevertheless he had to stare at the huge buildings. Indiana and Oregon were not privy to many cities of this size, and the only other "big city" he'd been to was L.A., for the Madison tourney.

The first order of business on their agenda was to head to the hotels where they'd been given accommodations. Kyle and Monica had been placed in one hotel, but Chubs was in a different one – perhaps Kaiba wanted to make sure that nothing happened to all the duelists in one hotel, should some catastrophic occurrence take place – so they accompanied each other to the two locations, which were relatively near each other. Of course, Kyle and Monica had been placed on different floors and opposite sides of the building, so there was quite an amount of walking to be done just in the first hotel. Nevertheless, the accommodations were quite acceptable for all three of them.

The letters they'd received said there would be a gathering of the various duelists that evening for a preliminary message from Kaiba himself. In the meantime, they'd been instructed to pick up the latest technology for exclusive Duel Monsters use at any local shop, provided they bring their invitations along with them – on the bottom of the invitation was a barcode that allegedly could be scanned to verify their identities and rank on the duelist ladder.

Monica and Chubs were rather enthusiastic about the entire thing, which Kyle found amusing – and indeed, he was also eager to get the show on the road. He tried to suppress his worries and simply enjoy himself alongside his friends.

Whether by accident or design, the man behind the cash register at the store they ended up entering was fluent in English. He smiled politely and bowed to them, a gesture of respect. They did the same, though it was rather awkward for them.

"May I help you today?" the cashier asked.

Monica held out her invitation first. "We're here to get the Duel Monsters devices," she explained.

"Ah, yes. All three of you, you are all duelists?"

The three nodded collectively. The cashier's smile widened and he beckoned them toward the counter. "Come, come. May I have your letters?"

Chubs and Kyle already had theirs out, having taken their cue from Monica. They handed the sheets to the cashier, who then pulled out a scanner gun and processed each in turn. He inspected the displays he got on his computer, then glanced at each duelist and nodded in satisfaction. "Very good." He knelt down behind his counter, then pulled out three long boxes and placed them on the counter. Each one was decorated with a picture of the device inside.

Chubs blinked at the boxes, and half a smile lit his features. "This is called a 'duel disk'? The only disk-like part of it is that segment in the middle."

"That segment is important for the operation of the duel disk," said the cashier. "I also have instruction manuals in English." He distributed manuals to the three. "Since these duel disks are meant specifically for the Battle City tournament, they are free. But you may only acquire one for free. If you lose it, you must pay for another, and it is a high price."

"Don't worry," Monica responded. "Even if we do lose them, we've got the money for others."

"Speak for yourself," Chubs muttered.

"Man, you know I'd cover you," Kyle replied. He picked up one of the manuals and began to thumb through it. "Ah, here we go. Kaiba's original design for the duel disk was disk-shaped, but he's since adjusted it because its original design wasn't quite adapted to conventional play."

"Well, I'm not going to carry all three," Monica huffed, "so pick yours up already." The cashier offered three large bags in which they could put their boxes, which they gladly accepted.

"So now where to?" Chubs inquired.

"Back to our hotel," said Kyle. "My room's closer. We can check out the disks there."

Fifteen minutes later, Kyle and Monica were sitting on Kyle's bed while Chubs was stretched out on the couch. Each of them was opening the box that contained their respective duel disks; upon removing his, Kyle whistled. "When they say cutting edge, they're not kidding. Look at all the sharp edges on this thing... Ralph Nader would be horrified."

The central portion of the device was indeed disk-shaped, bearing a white deck slot on one side and a red graveyard slot positioned at a 90 degree angle from the deck. Atop the disk was a digital calculator, apparently the Life Point counter. Extending out from the graveyard side of the disk was the fun part, however; there were two wide trapezoidal plates attached to small servo arms on the underside of the disk. The longer one on the left bore three large blue-and-red indentations, while the shorter one on the right bore two.

"Must be where the field is," Kyle remarked. "How do you mount this thing, anyway?"

"There should be straps on the underside of the disk," Chubs answered, consulting the manual. "Put it on your left arm, and make sure to position it so the field plates are on the outside of your forearm. There's a button down there, it should activate the straps and automatically adjust them to fit you."

When Kyle turned the disk over, he noted that there was also a small handgrip with a red thumb stud. "It's a duel disk and a windshield wiper," he commented.

Chubs chuckled. "That button activates it. You just point the disk at your opponent and hit the button. The disk will eject a pair of hologram projectors and they'll land maybe three meters away from you on each side. Just don't launch them inside."

"Mm. And I assume the card readers work the same way as on dueling pedestals?"

"Yeah. Bar codes in invisible ink on each side of the card are read by specialized scanners in each slot. Each monster slot needs two scanners, one for attack mode and one for defense. Convenient for players with cards in different languages." Chubs continued to peruse the manual. "Magic and trap slots are along the inner edge of the field plates, you just insert them to place them on the field and then hit the corresponding button on the inside of your duel disk to activate them."

"Where do you put field cards?" Monica wondered, inspecting her own device.

"That's on the outer edge of the field plate on the right. You can just pull it open like a cabinet door and stick field cards inside. There's a button for that on the disk, too."

Kyle frowned at the field plates on his disk, which were swiveling slightly. "Mine don't seem to be locked in."

"That's because your disk isn't active yet. Pull the long field plate all the way around to the left, and the short one around to the right. They should lock into idle mode. Only activate it when you're planning to duel someone. Then they'll both swing around to the middle to lock into each other, and then over to the left side to lock the servo arms into place."

Kyle did as he was told; sure enough, he felt them click into place on opposite sides of the disk. "This thing's pretty complex."

"We'll get the hang of it," said Monica.

They spent the rest of the evening hanging around the immediate area. At one point, Kaiba addressed the duelists over the P.A. system – none of the three duelists was exactly fluent in Japanese, but Monica knew a few words. Enough to know that the man was entirely sure he was going to go all the way to the top.

The next week was spent pretty much on the town, seeing the sights and exploring mega-stores, as per Monica's prerogative. Chubs was more economic with his money than Kyle or Monica, although both of them offered to pay for something he'd like to get. He picked out a few simple souvenirs, whereas Kyle and Monica decided to be a bit more extravagant with their spending.

An Egyptian exhibit was on display in town, as it so happened. Theoris was rather insistent about seeing this, and Kyle felt he was in no position to argue, although he did ask Chubs and Monica to come along – which they were happy to do.

Kyle tried to sympathize with Theoris as much as possible while at the exhibit, but he couldn't help but feel Theoris' emotions almost as strongly as the soldier himself did. They'd both experienced his singularly unique memories... they knew all of these things here now. Kyle could have closed his eyes, traced his fingers over any one of these jars, and known exactly what it was for.

Look at this, Kyle... ours was once the mightiest empire this world has ever known, and now we are reduced to an extinct people with a intriguing past. They put our pottery on display as if they were ancient totems when they bear no value. They constantly attempt to discover the great mysteries of the Egyptian people when things were not nearly so mystical as they might believe.

I don't know about that, Theoris. Look at the Shadow Games.

The Shadow Games held no place in the life of a soldier, a farmer, an architect. Ours were relatively simple lives. It is in the royal blood that the mysteries are kept. And that blood has long turned to dust. As has the blood of the soldiers, the farmers, and the architects.

Kyle sighed. Nostalgia, anger, and sadness were all very strong with Theoris in this place.

Monica noted Kyle's look and sidled up to him. "What's wrong?"

"Hm? Oh. Nothing," he responded. "Just thinking."

"What about?"

"Well..." He gestured at the exhibit. "Just wondering if it's right to put a people and their household items on display, like there's some huge mystery behind their existence. I'm leaning heavily towards 'no'."

"Apparently that woman thinks differently." Monica nodded toward an Egyptian woman dressed in a simple white robe, smiling pleasantly at those who passed by. "She's a leading Egyptologist."

Kyle glanced at the woman Monica had indicated – and his brow was split by a sudden frown as he noticed the necklace she was wearing. That... that can't possibly be...

It is, Kyle... the Millennium Tauk.

How did she get her hands on it? I thought the Millennium items were under protection!

They were under mystical protection, Kyle. Whether they were under physical protection, I cannot say. Perhaps she is one of the guardians, as was Shadi.

You didn't tell me a Millennium item was nearby.

I was caught up in nostalgia. And its bearer has no hostile intentions.

At that moment, the woman glanced toward Kyle... and her expression changed. Kyle abruptly realized she'd spotted his pendant.

Let's not get into this now... Kyle reached out and took Monica's hand. "I don't know about you, but I think I've seen everything I want to, for now."

She shrugged. "Okay. Museum's gonna close soon anyway. Want to get something to eat?"

"Yeah, yeah, sounds good." Kyle looked over to Chubs, who was still ogling a stone tablet covered in figures. "Hey, Chubs, Monica and I are going to grab a bite. Want to stay here or come along?"

"Oh, I'll stick around here," he said. "This stuff's pretty cool. But don't worry, I'm not going back to my hotel on an empty stomach." He grinned. "Not possible with me."

Kyle and Monica snickered. "True enough," said Monica. "Well, then, I guess we'll see you tomorrow, in the tournament."

"Count on it."

--

Kyle and Monica spent their dinnertime at a fast food restaurant, rather than an Oriental-style one. They'd spent the last several days sampling Japanese cuisine and weren't entirely sure they found everything to their liking. Rice was good, Kyle conceded, but it was starting to give him a headache. Monica agreed.

"So. You're sure I'm going to do okay in this tournament?" Monica asked.

"Of course I'm sure. If you weren't capable of doing well, I don't think you'd be here, no matter if you had Blue-Eyes or not," Kyle answered. "You got your deck set up for it?"

"Yeah, I can even pull Ultimate out if I need to. I've got a substitute fusion material monster that can act as the third Blue-Eyes."

"That should make opponents think twice. That is, if they even have the chance to think once."

Monica grinned. "You know... I think you're going to do pretty well, yourself."

He shrugged. "Oh, I doubt I'll make it all the way. But I'd like to go pretty far, if I can."

"Never doubt yourself, Kyle. Always be confident in what you can do." Her smile widened. "Remember when you were facing Madison? You knew exactly what you were doing when you challenged her to put Suijin up for grabs. I could see it, the way you were looking at her and your cards. You were totally sure of yourself. Now the only trick is to make sure you stay that way, for all of your duels."

Well..." Kyle raised his cup of soda. "Here's to confidence."

"Indeed." She raised her own. They both chuckled at the toast.

--

The walk back to the hotel was thankfully uneventful... at least, from the perspectives of duelists about to engage in the biggest tournament of their careers. Of course, there were plenty of people bustling about the hotel, from other duelists to bellhops to room service... but considering how stuffed they were feeling from all the food, they weren't inclined to consult the hotel menu.

They smiled at each other as they approached the door to Monica's room. "Wish I could invite you in," she confessed, "but we both need to get ready for the tournament... get a good night's sleep..."

He nodded in complete agreement. "Yeah, we should." He scratched the back of his neck. "I had a good time tonight."

"So did I." She slowly reached up and looped her arms about his neck, staring up into his eyes. "So did I."

In response to her touch, he gently wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her loosely. She returned the gesture and placed her head against his chest for a moment. He reached up with one hand and stroked her cheek, even trailing his thumb into her hair for a certain length.

Look at the two of us, she thought, amused. Completely comfortable... yet completely awkward...

"Monica..."

She raised her head and looked up at him... and she could tell just by the look in his eyes what he was going to do next. His head was leaning down toward hers, very slowly – saying without saying that she didn't have to do anything she didn't want to.

But she did want to.

His lips touched hers. Simply touched. A request, perhaps... asking her if she wanted this.

And she answered with a yes.

They abruptly pulled closer to each other, and the touching of their lips became a true kiss.

It wasn't the first one either of them had had...

But it was the first one either of them truly wanted.