Joy: Happy Halloween! As a special treat, I am giving you chapter nine! A costume Halloween party in this chapter! Thanks to all that reviewed! Oh, and DMoS13,I'm afraid I haven't seen that music video, but I might check it out sometime if I can. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

The Dark Magician Girl?

The day went quite quietly. Ryou told everyone about a Halloween costume party that was going to be held at the Domino City Skating Rink at nine o'clock and they all agreed to attend. Soon, the group prepared to go back to the mortal realm.

"Are you sure you do not wish to stay here for a bit longer, Mistress Joy? We could offer you protection," Dark Magician Girl asked.

"I need to let my father know I am all right and I definitely don't want to miss the party tonight. Don't worry. I'll be okay."

"What about the Puzzle? We have to get it back right away?" Yugi asked.

"Worry not, Yugi. I have a plan that will insure the Puzzle's safe return," Katilli said with a wink. "But I'll need your clothes, hikari."

Joy blinked. "Um…okay," she agreed. "Do you want them now?" Katilli nodded. "Well, I guess I can change into my costume here. With Dark Magician Girl's help, of course."

"Of course, my lady. What do you wish to wear?"

"I want the same clothes you're wearing!" Joy said with a smile.

"You want to dress up in the Dark Magician Girl for the party, Joy?" Ryou asked. Joy nodded.

"Very well. Hold still, my lady." Dark Magician Girl tapped Joy lightly on the head and she glowed briefly before the blue and pink outfit appeared on her, fitting perfectly.

"Wow! You look just like her, Joy!" Yugi exclaimed. Another tap and Katilli was in the lavender dress Joy was previously wearing.

"Well, well, Neko. You look rather nice, though I think a black dress would be much better," Bakura commented.

"One problem," Seto said. "Joy's hair."

"Yes, you are quite similar except the hair. Can you fix it?" Reila asked the duel monster.

The monster nodded and pointed her staff at Joy, creating a soft breeze, blowing Joy's back and turning it from black to blonde. The only thing unchanged was the white strand. "That magic is too powerful for me to alter, mistress."

"It's okay. I'm actually quite used to it. We better get going guys."

"I will go save my brother. Yugi, you and Joy keep close to Bakura, Sorcerer, and Reila. And Kira, could you attend this party, too? Just to have safety in numbers?" Kira nodded.

"You trust me with your light?" Reila asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You helped us. I am willing to give you the benefit of a second chance. But I believe you will not betray us." Reila nodded in response and turned to the others.

"I will teleport us to the mortal realm," Reila offered.

"Hold on, my lady. You forgot a part of the costume. Here," Dark Magician Girl said. She held out her staff.

Joy blinked. "Really?"

"Take it. It might help. It will read your mind and obey your will."

Joy hugged the duel monster. "Thank you so much!"

The group reappeared at the Game Shop a few moments later. Yugi's grandfather had gone to run some errands. Joy went to use Yugi's phone to call her father, explaining what had happened. The others milled around, waiting for her to finish so they could talk.

Joy looks good, ne? Sorcerer asked with a mental smirk. Seto fought back a blush.

Shut up, Sorcerer… he snapped back.

Never seen her dressed so…little.

Shut it! Seto ordered, his blush finally breaking through. Must to his dismay, it was right before Joy got off the phone. She noticed the blush. "Why, Kaiba, is that a blush I detect?" she asked with a smirk.

"Of course not!" Seto snapped, frustrated with himself.

"Seto, you don't need to be so defensive. I need to make another phone call, but I can do it from my cell phone that's in my bag." She looked at Ryou.

"Oh! Gomen nasai, Joy. Here you go." He handed her the drawstring bag.

"Arigatou for keeping it safe, Ryou. Now, are we going to Kaiba Manor?"

"Yeah. Let me send for my limo and we'll get going."

When they got to Kaiba Corp, Joy went up to her room to make the call. Who did she call? A dear friend, Merina Lopez. It rang about three times before she answered.

"Hello?" Merina asked in English.

"Merina? It's Joy. I gotta talk, are you free right now?"

"Sure. I got a few minutes, what's up?"

"Seto said he loved me."

"Really?" she giggled. "It's about time!"

"Very funny, Merina. I need help!"

"Relax, girl. What did you say when he told you that?"

"I…I couldn't say anything really. I kind of got abducted by a madman bent on world domination or some other evil plot. But now that things are semi-normal, I need to figure things out and decide how to tell him how I feel."

"How do you feel? You love him back don't you?"

"Of course! I guess it was obvious, huh?"

"Only a lot." She laughed. "I guess you need a way to tell him that you love him back, right?"

"Yeah. I want it to be romantic and wonderful and spectacular and…"

"Okay. Just think of the perfect romantic setting and mimic it. That would be the best approach."

"That sounds great! I already have an idea for what I want…sort of." Joy laughed. "Thanks a lot Merina. I guess I just needed to be reassured a bit."

"Don't worry. I'm sure Kaiba will love it no matter what as long as he knows how you feel."

"Thanks a lot, Merina. You're one hell of a friend."

"Yeah, I know."

After getting off the phone with Merina, Joy thought for a moment about what to say to Seto when she told him. I know I can do this…it's just really out of my league.

There was a knock at the door and Yugi came in. "We're going to go get our costumes and get ready for the party. Kaiba said he was heading to Kaiba Corp. for a while and couldn't go to the party."

"Okay. I'm going to stay here for a moment. I don't want to turn heads. Listen, can you ask Bakura or Reila to stay here till you get back? I promised Katilli I wouldn't be alone, remember?" Yugi nodded.

…Later that evening…

Joy and the others arrived at the Domino Skating Rink for the costume party. Yugi had dressed up as a vampire. "Yugi, I must say that you are the cutest vampire I've ever seen," Joy joked, earning a playful glare from the duelist.

"I really wanted to be scary, but cute will have to do I guess. To bad Kaiba isn't here."

Joy sighed. "Yeah, I know."

Ryou and Kira were right behind them. Ryou was dressed as a pirate and Kira was dressed as a Grecian Goddess. "This is a cool party," Ryou commented, "though I really don't know how to skate."

"I can teach you," Kira offered. Ryou nodded in agreement.

Yugi and Joy already knew how to skate, so they took right to the ice. Kira helped Ryou and pretty soon he was showing that he was a fast learner and matching her in speed.

What if Akujin shows up here? Kira asked her dark side.

Relax, hikari. I will take care of it. Just keep an eye on those three.

All right. Whatever you say.

Joy had learned how to figure skate at an early age and it was one of the things she was good at. Ryou and Yugi got dizzy watching her do spins and turns. "That's pretty good, Joy!" Yugi called. Joy smiled back.

Just then the lights went out. There was screaming and talking as people rushed out of the rink. Someone knocked into Ryou and he fell into Yugi, causing them both to end up on the floor. Joy was doing her best to avoid other people and adjust her eyes to the dark. She held up the staff.

I need some light. The staff glowed, lighting up the whole rink. She saw Yugi and Ryou getting to their feet, helped up by Kira.

"There they are!" The group turned to see Akujin's henchmen heading their way.

"Shit!" Joy muttered. Then she came up with an idea. "I'm the Dark Magician Girl. Play along," she whispered to the others. Using the power of the staff, Joy caused herself to hover about a foot off of the ground and position herself in front of her friends.

Yugi blinked, then smiled, catching on. "Back off!" he yelled. "Or my Dark Magician Girl will attack!" He silently prayed the assailant would obey. He didn't know if Joy could attack.

"You better do as he says," Kira added, "or you'll be toast!"

"You're bluffing!" one of them said. "No way would you order an attack in here!" A few of them looked less than happy about the situation.

"There's no one else here but us, baka! No innocent people to worry about!" Kira countered, surprised by her boldness. She turned to Yugi. "Attack, Yugi. They're too stupid to be missed."

She felt Reila's surprise through their link. Wow, hikari. I didn't know you could be so aggressive.

Me neither.

"Dark Magician Girl – Dark –"

"Stop!" another henchmen called out worriedly. "We'll leave, but we'll get you someday soon! This isn't the last you've heard from us!" Then they fled the building.

Ryou and Yugi cheered as Joy and Kira exchanged smiles and high-fives. "We did it!" Joy exclaimed with a grin. "Wait till our darks hear about this! And you were so cool, Kira! And you too, Yugi!"

Kira blushed. "I wasn't that great."

"Oh, don't be so modest." Yugi insisted. "I bet Reila's impressed."

Sure am!

Reila! Stop making me embarrassed!

Standing up for others should not be embarrassing, hikari. It should fill you with pride, as it does for me when I see you do it.

Kira left out a soft cough. "I guess we should get back to Kaiba Manor as it looks like the party came to an abrupt end."

They headed out of the rink and started for Joy's car. "You sure you don't want to stay in that outfit, Joy?" Ryou asked with a smile. "It sure came in handy." Yugi and Kira laughed.

"Very funny, guys, but no. I'll leave being the Dark Magician Girl to the real thing."

Joy: There you go! Chapter 9! Remember to review and see you next time!