WARNING: Minor Seto Kaiba bashing. I have nothing against him; he's just a little too arrogant sometimes. Sorry Seto fans and/or fangirls.
Chapter Two: The Arrival
The next morning, Duelist Island was in sight. The breeze was balmy and the sun was bright. Téa walked over to the railing; it was definitely going to be a beautiful day. Ryou moved next to her and leaned forward on the railing.
"Good morning, Téa." Ryou greeted her.
"G'morning Ryou. How'd you sleep last night?" Téa asked, stifling a yawn.
"Frankly, I never knew a human being could possibly snore as loud as Joey does." He tried to fight back the urge to yawn as well. "Remind me to get a room farther away from him on the return trip, say…on the other side of the ship."
Téa giggled, "Believe me you'll still hear it."
Behind them, Yugi and Yami made their way to the deck. Yami was bleary-eyed and his hair was sticking out at odd intervals, even for him. Yugi on the other hand was cheerful as ever.
Ryou turned to greet them. "Good morning."
"What's so good about it?" Yami grumbled.
Yugi laughed, "Don't mind him…he didn't sleep well last night."
"Yugi, none of us did." Téa corrected, "Joey snored too loud."
"Joey snores?" Yugi blinked, "I didn't know that."
"Aibou, only you could sleep through that. Now I know why your mom says you can sleep through a tornado." Yami chuckled.
Yugi's brows furrowed together, albeit cutely. "Mom said that?"
"Yes, and she also told me not to let you play Concentration with your socks anymore. She said that the markers weren't washable." This time Yami's brows furrowed, "Aibou, what's this "concentration"?"
"Uuh…it's a game I like to play. Usually people use cards, but I uh…use socks." Yugi replied, flushing from embarrassment.
"So that's why your mom was yelling at the top of her lungs that day…" Téa thought out loud. "You remember that day, right Yugi?"
"Uh…" Yugi began sheepishly, "Which day exactly are we talking about?"
"It was the day I gave you that portable Love Tester!" Téa held aloft her house keys, including her many key-chains and an old, heart-shaped Love Tester. [A/N #1: See bottom of page] "Remember now?"
Yami leaned closer to inspect the Love Tester. "I've seen that before. Yugi slee-grrrffff!! Mrrrffff!!!" He would have finished his sentence if a very flustered Yugi hadn't clapped his hand over Yami's mouth.
"Eh..heheh. Don't mind Yami, he doesn't know what he talking about." Yugi said, offhandedly. "Forget he ever said anything."
"Oh…kay." Téa said, obviously confused.
"Hey guys, how goes it?" Tristan asked, yawning as he and Joey finally made it out of their room.
Yugi released Yami from his grasp and smiled, "Great! How're you guys?"
"Not good, Tristan kept waking me up." Joey grumbled, "He nearly strangled me! Gah, Tristan you can be such a jerk sometimes."
"Oh really? Look who's talking Mr. Snores-louder-then-a-buzz saw! You kept me awake for hours last night!" Tristan argued, putting Joey into a headlock. Joey flailed his arms, and succeeded in whacking Tristan in the face.
"Idiots." Seto muttered, seemingly appearing next to them, but had actually been there for five minutes while the gang had been watching Joey and Tristan's antics.
"Aw, c'mon Seto. They're funny to watch." Mokuba said cheerfully.
Minutes passed in silence. Glares were traded between Seto and Joey. Then the cruise ship pulled into the harbor, after what had seemed like an eternity, and the gangplank was extended. The crewmen unloaded their luggage before they were allowed to disembark. They found a plush limousine waiting for their arrival after the gangplank had been retracted.
"Wow, I've never ridden in a limo before." Joey said, surprised that Pegasus was going through all this trouble just for them.
"That's because mutts aren't allowed in limousines." Seto chuckled, "You'll just have to walk."
Duke shook his head, "I can't believe Yugi and Yami went through all that trouble to save you when Noah turned you to stone in that virtual world."
"Hey! Get in the limo, I don't have all day, ya know." The chauffeur yelled, "C'mon, Mr. Pegasus isn't paying me for just sitting here."
The group filed into the limo with a communal sigh. It was going to be a long ride.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
At the Duelist Castle, Maximillian Pegasus grinned at the decorations. He sincerely hoped everything would go well.
"Croquette!" Pegasus yelled, and the head of security came running to answer the call.
"Yes sir?" the mustachioed man asked.
"Have they arrived on the island yet?"
"Yes sir, they are en route as we speak."
"Good, have them taken here immediately."
"Right away sir."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
To say that the ride was boring was an understatement. Yugi barely kept busy by counting the hedges lining the roadway. By the time he reached 300 the limo stopped, thankfully.
"We're here; so get your arses outta the limo, people." The chauffeur said boredly, tipping his hat low over his eyes. "I assume most of you know the way from here."
Téa was the last out of the limo and she glared at the chauffeur. "You're a real jerk, you know that? I'm sure Maximillian Pegasus would find it interesting to hear his chauffeur treated his honored guests like dirt."
The chauffeur wilted under Téa's gaze and gulped, "P-please don't tell 'im! I'm really sorry!"
Téa made a big show of thinking it over, "I guess I could keep my mouth shut…but I can't promise anything from my friends. See ya." She waved at the chauffeur as she joined the rest of their group.
"Téa, what did you say to him?" Ryou asked, "He got awfully pale."
"I told him that I was going to tell Pegasus that he was a jerk." Téa's eyes took on a mischievous glint, "After he pleaded with me, I said I wouldn't say anything, but promised nothing from you guys."
Joey and the others laughed. Téa could be pretty convincing if she wanted to be. That's why none of them worried about wannabe tough guys who were all bark and no bite around Téa. Trash-talkers had nothing on that girl. They let the conversation wander, with the exception of a brooding Seto Kaiba, as they meandered their way up to the castle doors.
The doors swung open wide at the group's approach. Standing there was Croquette, waiting patiently.
"Greetings, I assume your ride was enjoyable?" Croquette asked.
Kaiba was about to say something, but a glare from Téa shut him up. For all she had said, Téa really didn't want anyone to loose their job over a little thing such as that.
"Yes." Ryou, Joey, Tristan, Duke, Yugi, Yami, Téa and Mokuba said in unison.
"Good. Mr. Pegasus has instructed me to take you to see him as soon as you arrived." With that, they were led through winding halls and short corridors. When they came upon a set of double doors with a Pegasus emblazoned on them, they knew this was their destination. The two guards opened the doors to reveal a large, richly furnished room. An upraised stage was darkened and Yami swore he saw figures up there.
"Welcome, everyone. It is so good to see you." Everyone's attention was drawn towards a familiar figure dressed in black casual wear. "My, my. I didn't really expect you to show up, Kaiba-boy." He let out a small chuckle.
Seto growled and looked away. Mokuba smiled happily and walked up to Maximillian. "Don't mind him, he's just grumpy."
That sent everyone in the room into a laughing fit. Mokuba didn't hold anything back!
"Now, now. Thank you all for coming, for whatever reasons that may be." He sent Mokuba a knowing smile, which the young Kaiba readily returned. "First things first, I'd like you to meet the judges of the Karaoke contest." Pegasus motioned towards the upraised stage.
A/N #1: It's from Duel 41: Let's Find "Love"! (It was in Shonen Jump APR 2004)
