The World Tournament Adventure.
Chapter One: Friendship Divided
It was just another normal day at the Sunset Shrine. Kagome's mother was fixing dinner, Souta was napping in his room, and Kagome was bashing Inu-yasha over the head with his broom again.
"How dare you say that I'm fat!" She cried, pounding him profusely.
"I didn't say that you were fat!" Inu-yasha retorted, "I said that you looked like your clothes were getting a little small for you, and that you could stand to loose some weight. That's all!" Kagome bashed him again.
"Now you get one thing straight Inu-yasha, just because we're dating now doesn't give you the right to call me fat, I'm a growing girl, I'm blossoming, understand!?!" Her shrieks were loud enough to deafen all everyone else who was gathered at the shrine that day. Namely, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kirara, Yugi Mouto, Joey & Serenity Wheeler, Tea, Tristan, Mai Valentine, Seto & Mokuba Kaiba, Duke, and Ryou Bakura.
"So tell me again, how do these cards work?" Miroku asked looking at some of Yugi and the other's cards. They were becoming very disinterested in the goings on at the shrine these days. Ever since their return from Egypt, the gang had been restless. Their climactic battle with the last of the old Rare Hunters' Vanguard had ignited a wander lust in many of them. They ached in their bones to see the wide world beyond and to see the great wonders man had achieved.
"You summon or set them on the field," Yugi explained, "And then you attack. If your monster is stronger, it wins, if not, it's destroyed. You use Magic and Trap cards to build up strength and strategy, and the first player to reach 0 life points loses."
"It's really simple," Shippo said to the monk, "How can you not understand it?"
"Forgive me," Miroku said, "I've only been playing myself for a few days now."
"And I've finally been able to create my own deck," Sango said, "Thanks to my darling Ryou," said, looking at Bakura with total adoration. Miroku groaned and fell over.
"Why must you break my heart every day?" Miroku implored. "I shower you with affection, yet you run to another man's arms!"
"If what you call 'affection' means grabbing me every chance you get, then yes," Sango replied.
"Is it me, or are we in a rut?" Mokuba asked as he hung from a limb in the sacred tree.
"Everything here seems so boring," Tea agreed. "I wanna go on an adventure."
"I'm not going down that well," Kaiba protested. "I've had enough of demons and sex crazed witches."
"Watch it," Inu-yasha snarled at him.
"No," Tea said, "I mean like in Egypt. I wanna get on a plane and fly somewhere! Somewhere far away."
"Like where?" Yugi asked her.
"Anywhere! I wanna touch the sky!" Tea said, lifting her face to the sun. Then, a flyer suddenly came floating down and covered her face. "Huh? What's this?" She took the flyer off her face as more rained down around them.
"It's raining propaganda," Joey observed.
"Looks more like someone's having a litter big day parade," Mai said.
"It's neither!" Tea squealed with delight. "It's opportunity!"
"I thought opportunity always knocked," Shippo said, "Not fall from the sky."
"It's that blimp," Kagome said, pointing up.
"These are flyers for a tournament," Duke said, reading one.
"About time!" Mai said, grabbing one. "Who's sponsoring, and what's the prize?"
"It says here that an American, named Reginald P. Wildflower, is holding a the 'World Tournament Adventure'. Sixteen cities, in sixteen days." Duke read. "Beginning here in Tokyo, and ending in New York City."
"NEW YORK CITY!?!" all but Miroku, Shippo, Sango, and Inu-yasha cried. Mai started to going about her shopping list, Tea was jumping and down with delight, and Joey and Tristan were suddenly singing 'New York, New York."
"HOLD IT!" Inu-yasha cried, "What's this New York place?"
"Only the capital city of the whole wide world!" Joey said. "You ain't lived till you've been to New York!"
"Remember the Bronx, Joey?" Serenity asked him as she mused.
"I thought you guys were little when you moved here," Tristan said.
"You never forget New York," Joey said. "The hotdog venders on every corner, fresh pretzels smothered in cheese, single pizza slices as big as your head!"
"Remember when Mom took us to Broadway, Joey?" Serenity asked him.
"Uh, sorry Sis, I was asleep durin that," Joey said, scratching his head.
"Figures," Serenity said. "You would have loved it, Tea. It was filled with dancing, lights, music!" Serenity started spinning around in a pirouette, singing, "Tonight, Tonight, won't be just any night!"
"Food and the arts are nice, but think of the shopping! Prada, Tiffany's, Sax 5th Avenue!" Mai gushed.
" Chanel, Gucci, and DNKY!" Kagome added. She and Mai clasped hands and started jumping up and down. "Oh, I'm so gonna max out my credit cards!" Mai said.
"And I'm gonna go to school in style!" Kagome cheered.
"I could go down to the Wall Street and personally kick the asses of everyone whos' lost me money over the last few months," Kaiba said.
"What happened to my kinder, gentler brother?" Mokuba asked.
"Sorry Mokuba," Kaiba said, "But business is business."
Inu-yasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo looked at each other, and gathered in a huddle. "They're all going nuts over this 'New York' place," Inu-yasha whispered.
"Should we sign up for this excursion with them?" Sango asked.
"Wait until we learn more about this foreign city," Miroku said.
"As long as there's candy, I'm in," Shippo said. "I got these great new cards from that nice Ishizu lady when we were in Egypt." he said taking the deck out.
"Hey," Inu-yasha said grabbing the cards from Shippo's hands. "Wait a sec."
"STOP! Give it back, Inu-yasha, those are mine!" Shippo cried, jumping up to retrieve his cards, but Inu-yasha was holding him back with one hand as examined the new deck with the other.
"These were cards that Vash guy used," Inu-yasha said, "Where'd you get them?" he demanded.
"I told you, Ishizu gave them to me," Shippo said, grabbing the cards back and holding them close, "She said they'd come in handy."
"That's funny," Sango said, "She gave me cards too."
"And me," Miroku said. They both took out they're decks and held them up for Inu-yasha to see. Inu-yasha didn't recognize Miroku's cards, but as he looked at Sango's he choked then screamed, falling down, and backing away quickly.
"Those are Amazons!" Inu-yasha shouted, pointing, "That crazy Viola had those! Get those things away from me!"
"Huh?" all the others suddenly noticed what was going on.
"What's wrong, Inu-yasha?" Kagome asked.
"They have Rare Hunter cards!" the han-you cried, pointing at their three bewildered friends.
"WHAT!?!" they all cried. They swarmed around the other three, and inspected the decks.
"I recognize this card," Yugi said, "This one belonged to Marik!"
"Oh man! That creepy Bowganian," Tristan said.
"This was Viola's," Joey said looking at Sango's Cosmo Queen, "When Inu-yasha went bonkers. Kagome nearly got clobbered by this card."
"Now hold on, guys," Yugi said. "These carda aren't exactly the same. These look more like starter decks. Where'd you get these?"
"From Ishizu," they said for the umpteenth time. "She gave them to us." Shippo said.
"She said they might come in handy. I wonder if she meant for this?" Miroku said.
"She wasn't kidding when she said she could still se the future," Serenity said. "Say, wait a minute. I still have the Millennium Necklace." she clutched the necklace, and silently called upon the ancient item to let her see into the near future. Suddenly, she saw waves crashing against rocks, and fire burning on the land. In the midst of the great tempest, stood two boys, grinning as they struck down duelist after duelist with the might of the Elements themselves. She gasped, and felt herself being thrown back, and felt the jolt of hitting solid rock.
"Serenity!" Tea cried.
"Sis!" Joey yelled, picling her up.
"Wh- what happened?" she groaned. She was suddenly in great pain.
"You blanked out and then fell down," Mokuba said.
"Serenity, what did you see?" Kaiba asked her gently.
"I- I saw-" she gasped, the image of the brothers appeared and vanished. "I saw two brothers who controlled the Elements. They were destroying everything and everyone in their way." The necklace began to glow again, and suddenly, she was back in the throng of the vision. She saw the boys on a great rock in the middle of a turbulent sea, the land before them burning so brightly, the night sky was as bright as day. And around their necks -
"They have Jewel shards around their necks!" Serenity gasped.
"Jewel Shards?!" Inu-yasha cried.
"Are you sure, Serneity?" Kagome asked.
"They're very small," Serenity said, "But yes."
"That does it," Inu-yasha said, "I'm in on this tournament thing."
"Right," Yugi agreed, "We've got to get those Shards away form these two brothers, whoever they are."
"Hold on," Kaiba said, "You don't even know if they're going to be in the tournament."
"They will be," Serenity said. "Their not using fire and water to destroy things. They're defeating duelists, one by, one, falling into darkness."
"D-----," Inu-yasha said, "They must be trapping their souls in the crystals to make themselves stronger."
"Duke, when's the tournament start?" Yugi asked.
"Says it starts in two weeks," Duke said. "Around the world. 16 cities in 16 days; can we do that?"
"We have to," Yugi said.
"One minute," Kaiba said, "To quote Miss Valentine, what's the prize for the winner?"
"The winner of each duel gets his opponent's two rarest cards," Duke read on, 'And a million dollar shopping spree at participating New York City stores."
"Now that's a prize!" Mai said.
"Does that include candy stores?" Shippo asked.
"It' lists the Jelly Belly Jelly Bean store as a sponsor," Duke said.
"I'm in!" the kitsune announced.
"Hold the phone!" Joey said, looking at the flyer, "It's says we gotta be in teams of 1-5 people, and transportation to and from the city has to be provided by the contestants."
"You mean we have to get there anyway and every way we can?" Kagome asked.
"Give that back, you idiot," Duke said to Joey.
"Guys, there' more than one flyer," Tea said, waving one in her hand. Then, she read, saying, "Yup, any way we can get there, and by certain dates and times."
"Says each team will be given a schedule," Duke continued, "And if each team doesn't make it in time, they're disqualified."
"And there are checkpoints along the ways." Tea read. "Each team has to clock in at every checkpoint. If they miss even one when they get to the dueling arena, they're disqualified."
"And team with the least Dueling points has to eliminate a member, until one member or none are left."
"How many dueling points do you have to have?" Mokuba asked.
"It varies form country to country," Duke read on, "And the tow teams left at the London Semi-Finals go on to New York for the Finals."
"After that," Tea read, "The teams break back up into individual duelists. Last one left is the winner, and they get the option of spitting the prize with their teammates, or keeping it all for themselves."
"Sounds tough," Bakura said, "I couldn't imagine being in a team against any of my friends."
"I'm with you, Bakura," Yugi said.
"Well get used to it," Kaiba said, "Cause I'm forming my team right now."
"Huh?" they all asked.
"This tournament starts in 2 weeks, so we have to get training. I want my teammates in top physical and mental condition when we win the prize."
"I'm with Kaiba," Mai said. "I'll be on your team."
"Mai! What are you doin?!" Joey exclaimed.
"Sorry hun,' Mai said to her boyfriend, "But Kaiba's got the cash tog et us there. And I want that shopping spree."
"Then count me in too," Inu-yasha suddenly said, "It's about time for the Masked Duelist ot make a comeback. Come on Kagome," he said over his shoulder.
"I'm not going with you," she said, her hands on her hips.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, "You always follow me."
"Not this time," she said, "You called me fat, remember? I'm forming my own team, and I'm gonna have Shippo, Yugi, and Joey." The three she called looked at her and each other in very confused expressions.
"Why not us?" Sango and Miroku asked, hurt.
"Sorry, guys," Kagome said, "But you're first timers."
"That's not fair!" Sango said.
"I thought we stuck together," Miroku added.
"It's okay, guys," Bakura said to them. He put his hands on their shoulders, and said, "You can be on my team."
"You're forming you own team Bakura?" Yugi exclaimed.
"Why not?" Bakura asked. "I'm always left on the sidelines, rooting for the champion. It's time I took a shot at the title. 'I wanna be a contender'. And it's been a long time since I've seen my native Britain."
"O Ryou, you're so assertive!" Sango said, hugging her captain.
"If I'm on this team, must I listen to this all the time?" Miroku asked.
"Well, I'm with Seto," Mokuba said, "Blood's thicker than water."
"What about you guys?" Yugi asked Tristan, Serenity, and Duke.
"I'm sittin this one out," Duke said. "Too much drama."
"Me too," Serenity said, "I don't want to be a part of this if it divides our circle of friendship."
"I'm with you, Serenity," Tea said. "I can already tell this is tearing us apart."
"I'm sick of being the groupie," Tristan said, "I think I'll join Bakura."
"Then it's settled," Kagome said. "And my team's gonna be triumphant!" she said, lifting her hands in a V for victory.
"In your dreams, Higurashi," Kaiba said, "You'll probably be disqualified in the first round."
"You'll eat those words!" she said, getting in his face. Meanwhile, Bakura and his teammates had grabbed a flyer from the ground, and were sneaking down the stairs of the shrine to sign up. Inu-yasha's ears twitched. He looked, got everyone's attention, and pointed like a good dog. The others scrambled to grab flyers, and raced down the steps after their opponents. Tristan ushered Bakura, Sango, and Miroku into his car, and they sped off, on their way to the sign up station: Tokyo Tower! Behind them, Kaiba and his team had flown into the limo, and shot off, while Joey commandeered Duke's car to chauffer Kagome and the rest of her team. As he stomped on the gas pedal, Duke, Tea, and Serenity came running down.
"HEY!" Duke cried, "That's my car!! Come back here you thief!"
"Quick, to Joey's bike and side car," Tea said. She got in the seat, Serenity hopped on behind her, and Duke got in the side car.
"Serves them right if we join the tournament as a team and whipped their buts," Serenity said, strapping on a helmate.
"Yeah! Let's get those car thieving bandits!" Duke said.
"Yeah!" Tea said, revving up the bike, and shooting off.
-------------Scene Break-------------
At Tokyo Tower, the four teams converged on a huge crowd of people signing up to duel.
"Out of my way!" screeched Weevel Underwood as he scurried underneath the arms and legs of many duelist to get to the sign up tables.
"Scram!" roared Rex Raptor as he pushed people aside, "Team Juggernaut's on it's way!"
"Team Juggernaut?" Yugi asked.
Joey walked up to the two half sized troublemakers, and grabbed them by their shirt collars. "What are you two creeps up to this time?" he asked.
"We're signing for the Tournament," Rex said, kicking the air as he dangled.
"Put me down you behemoth buffoon!" Weevel yelled. "I must duel! I must!"
Behind them, Kaiba nd his team, not getting anywhere in the crowd, resorted to drastic measures.
"I've always wanted to do this," Kaiba said, opening his wallet. He cupped his hand around his mouth, and shouted, "My! Someone has dropped this HUGE wad of 100000000 yen bills!" and he threw a wad of cash into the throng.
"$100000000 Yen!?!" someone screamed. People began converging and fighting for the money as Kaiba and his team calmly sauntered over to a table and signed up.
"That creep!" Kagome yelled.
"Joey dropped Rex and Weevel, who both scrambled to get to a table, and he said, "Two can p-lay that game." he cupped his hand around his mouth, and yelled, "Hey, ain't that the UV Rays?!"
"THE UV RAYS!!!!!" some girl screeched in excitement, and the whole crowd shuffled to the right, including one guy in particular wearing Sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt.
"That's playin dirty, aint it, Joey?" asked the guy in Sunglasses.
"Hey, you're that guy," Yugi said.
"Yup, The Blindman." he replied.
"You're Mai's ex, from Kyoto." Joey said.
"That's right," the Blindman said, "Seems like you guys are off on another whirlwind adventure."
"You don't know the half of it," Kagome said.
"Well, be careful," he said, walking away, "You guys are in for a long sea of troubles. By the way, better sign while there's no one here, and before they start crying for your heads."
"Good idea," Joey said. He grabbed his team captain, and they raced to the tables, just as Tea, Serenity, and Duke pulled up. The adventure had begun.