The Yu-Gi-Oh Dance Competition
By: Fire Maiden Kiya
2004/06/20

Genre: Humour/Romance
Part two: How are we gonna tell the Yamis and Kaiba?


The group was obviously quite enthused with the idea of competing in a dancing contest. Question was, do they even know how to dance? Easy to see that Tea was a gifted natural, but what about the rest of them? With Tristan's left feet, Yugi's size clearly presenting a partnering problem, and everyone else's lack of ability, there could be some serious issues preventing them from competing, let alone winning.

"Um, Tea?" Ryou, always remaining the shy, logical one, began, "I don;t know, and I don't think anyone else does either, how to do ballet."
The group paled. Battle of the Ballerinas was kind of a dead giveaway that there would be ballet involved.

Duke was sputtering, "Ballet?! As in, like, pirouettes ans pliés? And those crazy-hard grand jetés?! I can't do those man!"

"Hey, uh, dice-boy? How come you know so much about this stuff dude? You're not, like, a ballerina are ya?" At that moment when Joey spoke, Mai burst out laughing, along with Tristan and Malik who were rolling on the floor, clutching at their sides. The idea of Duke Devlin in a cute, frilly, little pink tutu was just too much. The mental image alone was priceless.

"Duke," Serenity started, "I never thought of you as the ballet type, but now that I think about it, I can definitely see the connection."

"Wh-What?! Serenity, guys! I SWEAR! It's not what you think! I-it was a dare! They made me do it! I NEVER wanted to perform in Swan Lake, but the forced me! Oh Gawd, now everyone's gonna know... and I'll lose all hopes of getting a girlfriend... and Dungeon Dice MOnsters will never make it to market! I'm ruined!" And that's where the whimpering came in. Poor Duke was in a fetal position huddled in the corner, rocking back and forth, traumatized. Truly a depressing scene.

"Ooooookay... let's say we forget about the insane asylum reject lying on the floor there, and talk about what the hell we're gonna do about this whole dancing thing. Tea?"

"Well, you guys don't actually have to be worried. Since I'm the one representing Domino City in the contest, I'm the only one who actually has to dance ballet."

"Yeah! Whoohoo! Alright! Rock on man!" everyone seemed really excited that they didn't have to make fools of themselves. At least, not complete fools.

"Y-you man I don't have to relive t-that th-th that --"

"No, uh, Duke. It's fine. You don't have to dance ballet again. For the group category, we can use free-style, jazz, step, tap, any kind of dace style we can thinkof. So long as we register before the first day of competition starts, we'll be fine," Tea reassured the group.

"Phew. I was worried there for a bit Tea. We all know nothing about dance, especially ballet. You're the expert, not us, " Yami said.

Although none of them could see it, a faint tint of pink graced Tea's cheeks, "Thanks Yami." Even though she no longer harboured a crush on the ancient spirit, a compliment from a great and powerful former ruler of the world was still something to blush about.

"Hey guys?"

"Ya Tea?" Yugi answered for them all.
"I just thought about something. I haven't heard a peep out of Bakura or Yami Malik or Kaiba."

"Well," Malik began to inform his love interest, "Not hearing anthing out of stone-face is always understandable, but he's not here today. Said something about work and how we weren't worth his time."

"You mean Seto doesn't like being around me-- I mean, us?" Serenity looked really heartbroken.

"Hon, you know, and we all know Kaiba has a serious thing for you. So, don't start think he's avoiding you or anything. The selfish snob's just avoiding the rest of us," Mai consoled, although I really wouldn't call the jab she took at Kaiba's personality really helpful to the younger girl's cause.

"Mai's right sis, Kaiba's a selfish jerk who thinks he's better than the rest od da world. That's why I won't let him anywhere near you," Joey commented with complete authority.

"Joey, perhaps you should let your sister decide who she would like to see?" Ryou tried to reason on Serenity's behalf. He considered her a good friend, and didn't really think Kaiba would be too much of a bad influence in her life.

"No way, man. Me and Serenity here," Duke put his arm around her shoulder, "are gonna be together forever."

"Uh..."

"In your dreams pal," Joey was livid. Ya, Duke was a better choice than Kaiba (At least he thought so), but still, dice-boy and his sister? Not gonna happen.

"Whatever you say, doggy." Duke scoffed. Joey lunged, but was held back. Someone needed to attempt some damage control before things got totally out of hand.

"Anyway, as I asked before, where are the yamis?" Tea's question regained everyone's attention.

Tristan was the one to reply this time, "Oh, those two went of to harass street kids."

"Figures. Well, when they get back, tell them to call me so I can tell them about the competitioin. Same goes for Kaiba too."

"You can't be serious," Malik said. "First of all, Kaiba's not one to do anything involving a group, and he won't agree to embarass himself in front of millions trying to dance. As for the other two, what makes you think they'd help with anything that didn't involve killing?" Everyone nodded in silent agreement.

"Well, I am serious. You guys said you wanted to join in on this competition, and for us to do that, we need those three for the team. Don't worry, I'll find a way to get them to agree." Tea didn't exactly have a solid plan in mind, but it would all work out.

"I hope you're right, Tea," Yugi sighed.

"Well," Mai spoke up, "It's getting kind of late. We should all head on home."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ryou replied.

"Ok. See ya! Bye, dude. Ciao!" Everyone muttered their goodbyes before exiting the game shop, leaving Yugi, Yami, and Tea as the only ones still talking.

"I wish you luck convincing those three to cooperate with us, Tea," Yami said t oher.

She replied her thanks before Yugi asked, "Are you sure you don't want some help?"

"No. It's alright guys. I'll take care of them, no sweat. Come Monday morning, we'll be boarding that plane ready to win!" And that was the last thing the holder of the millenium puzzle and his dark half heard before the distinctive click of a phone call ending.

Gardener residence -- 10:17 p.m. -- Friday

The house was quiet as Tea sat happily on her couch, sipping her mug of hot chocolate. Again, her parents were off on a business trip. Then aain, was having the house to herself such a bad thing? Naw, it gave the girl some much-needed time to think about things. At the time, one thing in particular was running though her mind:

Those three are never going to call me.

She sighed. The girl had been patiently waiting by the phone since 8:20 when her call to the game shop finished. All she had gotten up to do was make herself some cocoa to keep her sweet tooth happy. But in all that time, had the phone even rang? Not once. Just as she was about to give up and call it a night, that long-awaited ring sounded thoughout the house.

"Hello?" Tea greated.

"Yes, I'd like to order three medium-sized pizzas. One topped with anchovies and pepperoni, the other with cheese only, and make the last one Canadian[1] style."

"Yami Malik? Is that you?"

"Why yes... What the-- Malik! Why isn't this the number for Billy's Pizza Shack? I told you..." Yami Malik's voice yelling at his light continued off in the background.

"No kidding idiot!" Tea could hear Malik retort. "It's Tea. Now just hurry up and talk to her."

Yami Malik was ticked. Why in the seven circles of hell would he wasnt to speak to that girl? "What do you want?" he finally grumbled.

"Nice to talk to you too. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that the whole grop, including you, will be entering a dance competition."

Silence. All she heard through the receiver was silence. Yami Malik didn't speak; didn't breath; didn't even blink.

Hell no!

Now, Yami Malik would do some pretty crazy things, but this was going way overboard. He couldn't take it. This was rididculous. His eyes widened with a look of insanity.

"Alright friendship girl," he said just a bit too sweetly and calmly, "I'll enter this thing. Not a problem at all."

Tea was in shock. She couldn't believe he caved so easily. "You're serious? You'll do it?"

"Yes, of course... The day you get me to say 'the Pharaoh is my hero!" She knew it was too good to be true. Yami Malik had made his point and passed the phone off to Malik.

"See Malik. I told you he would say no."

"Oh Tea. You must have heard wrong. He meant, 'I'll be there'." Yami Malik growled in the background. "And that means he'll even do a solo..." Malik was now no longer talkinf to his love, "Uh, Yami Malik? What're you doing with that knife.. Crap!"

Click. The phone line went dead.

"Aw well," Tea said to herself, "I'm sure he'll be fine." She hoped what Malik had said had been right and that he would, in the end, get Yami Malik to come along. All she could do for the moment was go back to the couch, maybe watch some T.V. and get more cocoa, and wait. If Yami Malik had called, though it be under false pretenses, then there was always a chance the other two would call as well.

Maybe about fifteen minutes or so after Tea sat back down, which would make the time 10:30, she received another phone call, this time from Kaiba. Things seemed to be looking up.

"Gardener?" Came Seto's rough voice.

"Hello, Kaiba. I suppose the guys told you to give me a shout."

"Yes," he replied, "but they never said why. Spit it out Gardener."

"The thing is, I was chosen as the Queen of Dance, and will be representing Domino City in the Battle of the Ballerinas dace competition."

"And what, pretell does that have anything to do with me?"

"Well, you see, there's a group ccategory consisting of 10 to 14-member[2] teams. I've invited everyone to come along and participate, and I was hoping you'd join us."

Was the girl mad? No way would the great Seto Kaiba subject himself to such humiliation. No way was he gonna be part of that thing...

...

...

I bet that's how you all thought this storyline would go wasn't it? Wasn't it? Come on, admit that's what you all thought... Well, that's not exactly how the whole situation played out.

Kaiba's response: "Will Serenity be there?"

"Huh? Oh, um, yes. She was very excited to go there," Tea answered.

"Fine," and he hung up.

"Well," Tea said to herself, "that was fairly simple. Now, if only I ccan convince Bakura, then we'll be all set for the contest. Hmm..."

The phone started to ring again, and guess who the caller ID displayed? "Speak of the devil," Tea answered, picking up.

"No, not the devil," came Bakura's deep, raspy voice, "only a humble grave robber, mortal."

"Oh yeah. And that makes a whole lot of difference," was Tea's sarcastic repply.

"Of course." Bakura offered an explanation, "Devils are doomed to eternal darkness in hell; tomb robbers are capable of love and relationships," he said with an almost hint of seductiveness.

Holy crap! Is he flirting with me?!

"Um... ya, ok, whatever you say. Haha," she laughed quite nervously. "So, uh, why'd you call?"

"Idiot albino said you had something important to say. Out with it girl."

I guess he wasn't flirting. Too bad... What?! Oh, I did NOT just think that. It's just because I need sleep. Yeah, that's it. Sleep after a long, tiring day... Wait a minute? Albino? Doesn't he realize he and Ryou look exactly alike?

"Oh, ya, about that. You see, there's this contest. A dance contest actually--"

Bakura cut her off, "Mortal, if you're planning to ask me to join in on this little thing of yours, here's my answer: no freaking way."

"Jeez Bakura, can't you just get over your stupid 'lone wolf, I won't help anyone but me' act? We need you for this!" she was on the verge of yelling now. What was his problem?

"No." Simple enough.

"Bakura, please. The group needs 10-14 people. If you're not there, we can't enter. Please agree to come along. It would mean so much," Tea pleaded with the 'emotionless' theif.

"Once again, no chance."

Tea's anger flared. Now, this girl didn't get mad often, but when she did... "Bakura you insensitive jerk! This is one little thing we're asking for, and you're too scared to help! You think you have no obligationi? Well, if your psycho pal Yami Malik doesn't get out of this thing, neither do you! Now you better say 'yes'!"

There's the Tea I like to see. So long miss friendship and sunshine.

"Alright, but only on one condition."

Tea was calming down, "And what condition would that be?"

Bakura smirked on the other end of the telephone line, "All you have to do is one thing. Dance for me."

"Excuse me?"

"Show me one of your stupid little dance routines and I'll go."

That actually seemed like a fairly painless request, but coming from Bakura, something had to be up.

What are you planning Bakura...

Although she was weary of the deal, Tea had no other choice if they were going to enter the competition. "Fine," she replied.

"Agreed then. Goodbye," and he was gone.

What have I gotten myself into?

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Sorry it took me so long to update. This last month of school's been crazy. With our drama club's production of "Too Many Doctors", end of year stuff and grad coming up tomorrow, my schedule's been packed. I hope to update more frequently now that summer's here.
I hope this chapter has proven to you that Malik will have a little competition winning Tea's heart. I don't want to tell you who I'm putting her with just yet though.
On another note, one of my friends said that I use too many big words and that the dialogue is too complex. What do you guys think? Please tell me. Constructive critisism like that is really helpful.
[1]--- Canadian pizza is sooooo good! It has cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, and bacon.
[2]--- I changed the whole '14-member team' thing to 10-14 beacuse when I first checked, I thought I had 14 YGO characters in this thing, turns out I only had 13 though. So, now that's what I've changed it to.
Please review. Ciao
-Kiya