Joy: Okay, big mistake was made by me. Sorry. The next time you see Sakura, her darks will have opposite personalities. Caru is the hyper one, and Cala is the sensible one. Anyway, review responses and other stuff.

Silver Moon Phoenix: Awesome choice! I love your character! She will definitely be of help. (formulates ingenious plan…) Got it! Sweet! And her favorite card is the same as Joy's! Wow…ironically eerie. O-O

Sakura: No problem. Arigatou for liking the chapter. Gomen nasai about the mix-up. I read the wrong email. One of them had them the other way around. I'll get it right the next time.

Sapphire: Glad you like it so far. =D

Dark mage of the sea 13: Thanks for the info. (adds it to list) Hurry with the cookies! =D

Okay, now is the moment where I can talk about the chapter. This chapter introduces Dark mage of sea 13's OC into the story. Her name is Merina Lopez, and she is also an American, like Joy. So, obviously, Merina Lopez is Dark mage's character, not mine.

Now…on with the chapter!

The Creepy Old Mansion

Joy and her two friends ran as fast as they could towards the fountain in Tokyo Square. Joy glanced down at her watch as she ran. 12:10. WE ARE SO LATE! ARGH!

Stop yelling, baka. They always start these things late.

As they approached, they heard cheering and an amplified male voice. Oh, really?

Relax. You cannot have missed much.

They got as close as they could, Yami and Sorcerer had switched places right before they arrived. "I hope we didn't miss much," Yugi said. As Joy tried to get closer, she bumped into someone.

"Gomen nasai, I –" She stopped when she saw who it was. "Merina? Merina Lopez?"

The blonde teenager turned to her. When she saw who it was, her lavender eyes lit up with excitement. "Joy Houyoku! Oh my god! I am so glad to see you! It's been ages! I should have known you'd be here, you were always up for a good challenge." They exchanged smiles.

"Oh, Merina, you're not going to believe the summer I've had. I've been more than challenged over the last month."

"Joy? Who's she?" Yugi asked curiously.

"Sorry. Merina Lopez, this is Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba. Their friends of mine."

"Wow! You know some people in high places, I see. Moto-san, Kaiba-san, it's an honor to meet you." Merina gave them a bow.

"Just Yugi is fine with me," Yugi said with a small blush.

"Most people that don't work for me just call me Kaiba," Seto said. (AN: Except for me and some other authors. ;-) )

"So, Merina, what did we miss?" Joy asked her friend.

"Not much. He's about to go over the rules."

"Whew. Cool."

Just then the amplified male voice started to speak again. "Okay, folks. In my hand are the rules for this tournament. There will be four thousand (4000) life points for each at the start of each duel. As always, the duel is decided when a duelist is out of life points. Sacrifices are required to summon higher level monster of Level 5 and above. Another rule is that you cannot back down once you are challenged. In other words, when another duelist challenges you, you have to duel them."

There were some loud murmurs in the crowd at that rule. "No backing out, huh? That will make this tournament easier to win," Kaiba stated confidently.

"Now how to determine who goes to the finals. I am sure everyone in this tournament has received their duel disks. The duel disks are courtesy of Kaiba Corporations, and we thank them for their products. Now inside the duel disk field slot is a card. You can pull that card out now."

Everyone looked in their duel disk and sure enough, there was a card inside. The only thing on the card was a single star. "Kaiba, did you get a card? I mean, you really didn't need a duel disk…"

Seto pulled out his card. "I had them send me one when I entered," he said simply. Joy nodded, then turned her attention back to the man on the small stage.

"Now in order to reach the finals, you must collect seven of these cards."

"Nice," Seto said. "Reminds me of star chips." Yugi frowned at the memory.

"Okay folks, the tournament starts at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. Till then, prepare your decks and rest up. The kick-off is just around the corner."

The duelists around them started to disperse. Merina stuck with Joy, though, to talk. "So, Merina, how have you been? Sorry about not righting much. I'm staying with my grandmother here in Japan over the summer."

"No worries, girl. I've been okay. Came here to duel my heart out and sightsee."

Joy turned to Yugi and Seto. "Merina and I met in a tournament in California that my father had donated some money towards as a charity. I wasn't dueling in it, but I got a chance to see Merina duel. She's got a lot of skill. Undefeated."

Interesting…

To say the least. Looks like there will be some challenge in the tournament after all, Kaiba. Other than Yugi, that is.

"Anyway, since then we have kept in touch by phone and writing. Sometimes I go over and stay during summer break at her house."

Meanwhile, Merina had noticed the Millennium Ring. "Nice necklace, Joy."

Yeah…oh hey! Have you heard or seen a teenager named Ryou Bakura? He's got long, layered white hair and a British accent," Joy asked.

"Mmm…white hair…shorter than you by a little bit?" Joy nodded anxiously. "Yeah, I saw him as I was heading to the fountain."

"Really! Can you take us to where you last saw him? It's really important. He's been missing. He's one of my friends from Domino, and I'm really worried about him," Yugi said.

"Sure thing, but it's an old residential neighborhood. I was exploring it a bit. Come on." Merina started off, with her three companions close behind.

Finally. Someone with answers. Ryou better not be injured, and he better have a damn good explanation as to why he gave me to you.

I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation, Bakura.

…Fifteen minutes later…

The foursome came upon the neighborhood. "Not far now," Merina assured them. As the four passed an old abandoned mansion, the Ring glowed faintly.

Stop here.

Huh?

I sense Ryou is in that house.

Joy turned to look at the house, stopping in front of it. That creepy old mansion? Why would he be there?

How the hell should I know? Just get your ass in there before I am forced to take over and do it myself!
Geez, calm the fuck down, Bakura.

"Joy? What's up?" Merina asked.

"Everyone, I think we should explore that old house. Something inside me tells me that Ryou might be in there."

Might nothing. He IS in there.

Shut up, Bakura. Merina doesn't know about you, remember?

"In there? Why would he be in there?" Yugi asked, looking at the house with apprehension.

"I don't know, but I'm going to go in there and get him," Joy said with confidence.

"Well, then, my friend. I'm going, too. Besides, I want to help." Joy gave Merina a smile.

"Okay, Merina."

"Well, if you two are going, so am I," Yugi said. Seto took a deep breath and nodded in agreement that he was going, too. Joy nodded and the four headed through the rickety gate toward the ultra-spooky-looking old mansion. (AN: Heh, I always wanted to say that. ;-) )

They crept up the stairs and onto the porch. I can definitely sense Ryou is close. He is in there, I know it, Bakura said.

Let me know if you sense anything else.

Mmm…nothing so far, but I will keep on guard.

"Okay, I'm…I'm gonna go first," Joy said, haltingly, feeling a little unnerved. She reached for the doorknob with a shaky hand. Slowly she opened the door and everyone looked inside. The entire house was dark. They had noticed coming up that the windows were all boarded up. "This place must be abandoned," Joy surmised. The other nodded.

"Should we go in?" Merina asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah. Ryou is in this house. I can feel it. Let's go." Joy took a step inside, the others close behind her.

"I have a flashlight in my bag," Merina said, pulling off her small backpack and taking out her flashlight, turning on when she did so.

"Great! Now we can see a little better. Okay guys and gal. This is a huge ass mansion, so we're gonna have to split up. Now there are four of us, so I suggest we split into pairs. Merina and I will search the second floor. Yugi, you and Kaiba search this floor. We'll meet up here in about an hour. If you find Ryou, you guys, Kaiba can call my cell phone. He has the number. I'll do the same, okay?"

"Okay," Seto and Yugi said simultaneously.

"Be careful, and make sure certain spirits stay under control," Seto whispered in her ear as they parted. Joy nodded and told him that she would be fine.

The four started the search of the creepy old house.

Joy: Okay, that was an unusual chappie, wasn't it? =D Will they find Ryou in the house? Mmm… BTW: 'Gomen nasai' means 'I'm sorry'.

Major rant time…ready? Okay!

The next chapter introduces yet another wonderful OC by the name of Moon Shadow, who was created by Silver Moon Phoenix. I have figured out the perfect – or so I hope – opening scene for her.

Dark mage of sea 13 – did I get Merina down right? Did I make her too nice or too lame? I hope not. She will be around for the next chapter, then will make another few appearances during the story. Keep that in mind, everyone! Just because a character goes off on his/her own, doesn't mean I won't put them back in the story. We will see Sakura, Merina, Moon Shadow, and Mugen (when she appears) many times in this story.

Sapphire, your character is going to appear in a few chapters. I gotta work out some details. I haven't forgotten, just contemplating the perfect entrance. :-)

Oh! Oh! Got a funny little FYI for everyone – do you realize how hard it is for me to write Bakura's name without typing Barkura? Hehehe… Had to add that in there as it has haunted me since the last story.

The next chapter deals with the group's search of the house… Hey! Is anyone else reminded of that movie Clue? I know I am…but I don't own that movie or the game. The next chapter is called… "Weird Stuff Going On". I wanted to say – Weird Shit Going On, but thought against it. Okay, till then…review!