Joey and Yugi were leaning against the railings on the side of the ship. They were on the top deck, where everyone else seemed to be.

As they both rested on the metal bars, watching the sea moving swiftly beneath them, and observing the faraway lights on the distant shore, they could hear duelists talking to each other, mentioning cards and strategies that Joey and Yugi had never even heard of.

"I'm glad they let you on board, Joey." Yugi said, turning to Joey.

"Only because you sacrificed one of your star chips for me." Joey smiled gratefully. "But if any of the other players find out we only have one star chip each, they could really try to take advantage of us."

"Then be quiet about it..." Yugi said, keeping his voice low.

It was silent for a couple of minutes before Joey said, "Kinda exciting, isn't it, Yugi?"

"Yeah." Yugi nodded.

"Well what do we have here?"

Joey and Yugi turned around and saw a girl about their age standing behind them.

Joey took one look at the girl and could have sworn he was dreaming. She was really pretty; long blonde hair, beautiful eyes and a sweet – but mischievous – smile on her face. "Wow..."

"So, you're the Yugi kid that everybody's been talking about, huh?" she smiled to Yugi and made her way closer to the two friends.

"Whoa-aoh! Check it out!" Joey said, completely forgetting to keep his thoughts to himself.

"But I'm amazed that a squirt like you could beat Kaiba." The girl said, leaning over to Yugi's height. "You're famous, you know."

Yugi backed away a little, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Th- Thanks very much, I...think."

"Hey, miss." Joey smiled. "I'm a really good friend of the famous Yugi the master duelist! In fact –"

"Look." She straightened up again. "You're either a champ or a chump. Cut this guy loose, he's fashion-challenged and deserves to be crushed in the games." She said, addressing Yugi. She then began to walk away, giving Joey a disapproving look as she passed him.

"Please...crush me..." Joey said, yet again not bothering to keep his thoughts silent, staring after the girl as she went.

She stopped walking but didn't turn around again. "I'll crush you all eventually. The name's Mai." She then carried on walking.

Yugi looked up at Joey, watching him for a few seconds, and then he turned his head to look behind him as he saw a big crowd of the other duelists moving to get inside the boat. Yugi then shivered as he realised how cold it was getting out on the top deck. "Hey, Joey? Joey?"

Joey finally heard Yugi calling his name and looked at his friend.

"Shall we go inside?" Yugi asked Joey, when Joey had come out of his trance.

"Err...Yeah." Joey nodded, and they both began to join the crowd that was going into the ship.