Hullo again! I'm so sorry for the wait; my 3.5'' floppy got corrupted! I lost all my data and I had to rewrite this chapter! ;_;
Okay, and another thing…I know I said Ryou's name was the only one I was going to use from the Japanese version, but I lied. The name "Ishizu" is appalling to me, so I'm calling her Isis.
Misura: Thanks so much for the reviews, they meant a lot to me. Anzu gets bashed way too much for my taste, ya know? It's just too bad. If people would read the graphic novels, they'd realize that Anzu's pretty tough! ^-^
Chapter Three: The Judges Announced.
"Our first judge to be revealed is a lovely lady indeed…" Pegasus remarked and a spotlight above brightened. In the first seat, a pretty blonde in purple smiled. No mistaking her identity!
"Hey guys." Mai said, then turned her attention towards Joey. "Hi hun, how ya been?
"Eh…I've been good. You look great, as usual Mai." Joey scratched his head and tried to hide a blush that was creeping over his face.
Duke leaned close to Tristan and whispered, "How did I dork like Joey snag such a hot chick like her?"
"Man, I've been trying to figure that one out for a while." Tristan muttered.
"Ahem!" Pegasus interrupted, "Moving to our next judge…"
Another spotlight shined down, this time on a young brunette with soft brown eyes. Duke and Tristan both did a double take.
"SERENITY?!" they yelled when they realized that, yup, it was her.
"Uh…hi guys." Serenity waved, embarrassed by the attention. Duke and Tristan stopped drooling when Joey gave them a look that promised death to all who touched his sister.
"And next is a young man I just recently met…" Pegasus stated, "Our next judge!"
The next spotlight revealed…Marik Ishtar. He watched their reactions out of the corner of his eye. The reactions ranged from simple annoyance to shear animosity from Kaiba.
"Stop looking at me like that! It's rude to stare!" Marik growled.
"Now Marik, if you can't say something nice…" a very feminine voice from the still darkened seat beside Marik began.
"Don't say anything at all. Yeah, whatever you say sis." Marik mumbled, obviously not really giving his full attention to the person beside him.
"Thanks, Marik. You just ruined the surprise of announcing the next judge." Pegasus pouted, "It's my job…'
The forth and final spotlight was lighted. There was the pretty Egyptian woman they had met at the Battle City finals. "Hello everyone." She said politely. "I hope you do not object to having my brother and I as judges."
"Not at all Isis. It's nice to see you." Yugi said happily.
"You're just trying to suck up to my sister…" Marik mumbled.
Isis smacked him on the head, "That was rude. I will not be swayed so easily, little brother. Be nice."
Marik rubbed his head and almost pouted.
"How the mighty have fallen." Yami whispered to Téa and Ryou, who laughed with him.
"Shut up, stupid pharaoh."
"All right, shall we begin the contest?" Pegasus asked the gathered group.
"Yeah!!" they all cheered, except of course, Seto.
"Hold it. This seems a bit unfair to me. The mutt's girlfriend and sister will obviously pick whatever song he sings." Seto complained, "They can't be judges."
"Quit calling me a mutt, moneybags!" Joey snarled.
Mai walked down from the judge's stage and started to make her way towards the older of the two Kaiba brothers. Joey inched away from Seto, knowing the backlash from his girlfriend would be deadly.
"Oh dear." Maximillian mumbled, scooting out of Mai's reach like everyone else.
Mai stopped in front of Seto and huffed. "How dare you make such accusations about me and Serenity! We agreed to choose who ever was the best in the contest, no matter who that may be. I certainly can't see that being you, you jerk." Out of nowhere came Mai's purple purse. Where did it connect? Kaiba face.
"Interesting, those things can be used as weapons too? I always thought women went around without any protection from robbers and other such ilk." Marik winced seeing the redness on Kaiba's face. "I was sadly mistaken."
"Ooh, now that had to hurt." Duke surmised, "Kaiba's gonna be the last one singing, if at all. Yeowch."
Serenity leaned towards Mai as the blonde sat back down in her seat, "Could you teach me how to do that?"
"Sure thing kiddo. It's all in the gripping and swinging of the purse." Mai said sweetly, "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time."
Marik listened in on their little conversation and shuddered. Mental note: Never make a woman angry if she has a purse. Horrible consequences and utter embarrassment.
"Do you still have complaints, Kaiba-boy?" Pegasus asked, holding back a chuckle.
Kaiba growled, indicating he couldn't complain even if he wanted to. His jaw was a tad on the swollen side.
"Good. I will give you all time to think of songs. Let me know when you're ready."
A few hours past as the gang put together some song lyrics. Pegasus talked with Marik and the rest of the judges as they waited.
It would have been more organized if we had had more time to brainstorm, and where the heck were Ryou and Téa? Yugi asked himself, or so he thought.
I have no idea, aibou. Yami answered, half-startling Yugi. We'll have to make do with what we have.
You're right. Yugi replied.
"Okay, we're ready…how about you guys?" Yugi asked. Everyone had gotten their lyrics together, and they were ready.
Maximillian Pegasus produced a small box with a hole in the top. "Please put the name of your songs on paper and put them in here. As soon as you are done, I will draw the first contestant."
They complied and watched as Pegasus shook the box up. His hand disappeared into the box and he pulled out a piece of paper. "And the first song is…" he pause for dramatics, "Ahead of the Game. Okay Duke, you're up!"
A/N: All the songs the gang will sing are from the CD Yu-Gi-Oh!: Music to Duel By, which my mom graciously bought me for Christmas! And I know "Ahead of the Game" is supposed to be Seto's image song and all, but I wanted Duke to sing it. Besides, if the TV show can use the BGM from "Duel Madness" as Seto's theme I can use that one as Duke's song. By listening to "Duel Madness" it's obvious the song's about Yugi. ^-^'
P.S. Sorry if the last part is in Italics, it keeps uploading on FF.net that way!
