That evening, Yugi settled in front of the television. He yawned as his grandpa came in.

"Yugi, if you're bored, you can help me in the store," Solomon hinted.

"Oh, sure, Grandpa," Yugi agreed getting up and following the old man into the store that adjoined their house. The television channel landed in the middle of a news program.

"And in business news, the mega monopoly Kaiba Corporation is suffering from another series of thefts at their Domino City warehouses. Just like the previous break-ins, software components, circuitry, and this time, even a laser control system was stolen. President and CEO Seto Kaiba had this to say..."

The image cut to that of the multimillionaire and Yugi's #1 rival in his trademark blue coat and scowl.

"I don't know who is behind these strings of thefts of Kaiba Corp. technology, but rest assured I will not rest until they are stopped permanently. I take anything that happens to my company very seriously and very personally..."

"In a related story, Kaiba Corp., which has only since recovered from a hostile take over by Industrial Illusions as well as an overthrow by its board of directors, is in danger again of being bought out. This time, the buyer is Gamma Technologies, headed by teenage cyber genius Edric Masters. As of now, the takeover is only 35 complete but Kaiba Corp. stock is dropping every day due to the thefts. Stock experts suspect that exchange of company control will take place by the end of the week. A spokesperson for Edric Masters said that buying out Kaiba Corp. is just the way the business world works."

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In the store, Yugi restocked the shelves for the next day as Solomon emptied the cash register.

"Oh, Yugi, before I forget, you received some more mail today. It's over there behind the shelf." Yugi looked in that direction and saw a large drawstring bag that was literally overflowing with mail. He let out a moan of anguish. Ever since he won Battle City, it seemed like his popularity was skyrocketing uncontrollably. Every day he received praise mail, mail from amateur duelists asking for advice, due challenges, request for interviews. One time, someone even sent him a marriage proposal. For some reason, that got Tea really upset, so much so that she crumpled up the letter and threw it in the trash and said something along the lines of "he's too young for her." It wasn't like he was going to say yes anyway.

"What's wrong, Yugi?" Solomon asked as he placed the money into a safe underneath the cash register. "When I was your age, being popular was considered a great honor."

"I don't know, Grandpa. Before, I always dreamed about becoming popular. Now that I am..."

"You're wishing it was just you and Tea like the old days, huh?" Yugi became really embarrassed. "Yugi, you don't have to be embarrassed. You're growing up so of course you're going to become interested in girls. It was the same with me when I was your age. And Tea and you have been friends since the beginning."

"I don't know, Grandpa," Yugi said looking at a picture that was on the back shelf. It was of everyone just after they returned from Battle City. Yugi was proudly displaying the Egyptian God Cards: Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon, and the Winged Dragon of Ra. Joey was locked in a head lock by Mai. Tristan was giving Yugi and Bakura bunny ears. Tea was probably the only one acting semi-normal. She had her arm around Yugi's shoulder, facing him towards the camera. "Tea and I have been friends for a long time, but she treats me like her little brother than anything else."

"Yugi, unfortunately, I'm a lot better at dealing advice with Duel Monsters than women, but there was a proverb that I once heard while in Egypt. It is said that the heart and soul of one is often reflected in the other. I'm not perfectly sure, but I think it means that if Tea really cares about you the same way you care about her, she'll know it in her heart and the same goes vice-versa. You listen to your heart in dueling; you can listen to your heart in life."

"Grandpa, I'm still not sure what that proverb of yours means, but I will take what you said to heart."

"You can take it to bed. It's almost ten o'clock. Even top duelists need their shut-eye and so do old men."

"Awww, Grandpa!" Yugi whined.

"Now don't argue with me, young man. It's up to bed with you, now."

"Okay."

Yami heard Solomon's lecture and for some reason, it tugged at something in the deep recesses of his mind. His mind was still jumbled up in trying to decipher what happened to him in the past which caused him to be inserted into the Millennium Puzzle, but he had a feeling he knew what that saying meant. Was the saying Egyptian in origin? Yami filed that under a list of questions that needed to be answered (though it was way down on the list) and was retracted into the Millennium Puzzle.

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Tea found it hard to sleep that night, part of it was because of the warm weather, and part was because of the dream she had.

In the dream, she saw Yugi dueling. What was odd was that she couldn't see who Yugi was dueling. She also couldn't see Joey, Tristan, or Bakura. She started to run up to Yugi but Yugi was suddenly engulfed in flames. A large machine monster appeared over them which swung what looked like a sickle down on them. Tea screamed.

And sat up in her bed, for it was only a dream. But it felt so real. Tea's face actually felt warm from the flames. She got up and went to get a drink of water.

Yugi engulfed in flames, Tea thought as she drank. What does it mean? Is something bad going to happen to him? No, don't think like that, Tea. And even if something bad does happen, Yugi's a big boy, he can handle himself. I mean he saved the world enough times that there's nothing to worry about. But Tea wasn't so sure. She hoped it was just her overactive imagination. She decided to stick by Yugi like glue this summer, or at least get one of the others to watch him. She could never forgive herself if something bad happened to Yugi and she was helpless to do something.

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The next morning, Yugi dashed down the stairs and out the door bidding a good-bye to his grandfather (and missing his complaint about how kids are in such a hurry these days). He hurried to meet his friends downtown.

"Late again, Yug," Joey teased as Yugi ran up to them panting.

"Give me... a break... I... ran... all the way... from home," Yugi wheezed. He then noticed that Tea seemed disturbed about something. "Hey Tea, what's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing; I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"See, Joey, I told you your snoring was so loud that it kept people across of town from sleeping."

"Oh like you're one to talk," Joey came back.

"Oh brother," Yugi, Tea, and Bakura moaned.

"So what do you want to do first?" Joey asked Yugi.

"Let's check out that new movie theater."

"Hey, yeah, that's a good idea."

Yugi looked behind at Tea but she still seemed apprehensive about something. "Hey guys, go on ahead. Tea and I will catch up. There's something I need to show her."

"Oh, sure," Joey said like he understood the hidden meaning (if there was one). "You two have fun." As the guys pulled ahead, Yugi grabbed Tea's hand.

"Tea, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong."

"Come on, Tea, we've known each other for a long time, I can tell that you're upset at something."

"Well, it's just that... Yugi, did you bring your Duel Disk?"

"Yeah, I always keep it in my backpack. Being the winner of Duelist Kingdom and Battle City, I have to be prepared for anyone that might challenge me."

"Yugi, I... I think something bad is going to happen."

"What makes you say that?"

Before Tea could reply, the wind around them kept up and a loud whirling noise came from above. Yugi and Tea watched as an apache helicopter with a strange logo landed in front of them. It dropped someone off then took off into the sky again.

The person who was dropped off was a boy older than Yugi. His hair was shiny and black, slicked back from his head. His eyes had a beady look to them. He was dressed in a three-piece blue suit. He was wearing something that looked like a Duel Disk but it was a different color and the wings on each side seemed longer.

"Ah, the great Yugi Moto at last," he said in an accented voice. "Finally, I have you where I want you."

"Who are you?"

"Yugi, be careful," Yami warned. "There's something not right about him. I can feel it." Yugi nodded.

"My name is Edric Masters, head of Gamma Technologies. And I am going to duel you."