Disclaimer: If I owned YuGiOh, I'd laugh at you.

Tournament of the Century

Chapter 2 – It's All Beneficial

--

"Gah, I can't believe we didn't sign up for that tournament. I coulda won easily!" spat Joey, kicking at the ground a bit.

"C'mon, it's not that bad. It's just one tournament. Besides, we've already been in enough tournaments for a lifetime." replied Yugi softly.

"You know Joey, Yugi. Once he gets going... he just never shuts up." muttered Tristan.

"Not to mention the fat head..." whispered Tea.

"Excuse me! I'm right next to you! What's with all this.... hey, look over there!" Joey pointed towards the Kame game shop just as two kids opened the door and walked inside.

"What was it, Joey? I didn't see anything." asked Yugi, scratching the side of his head.

"C'mon Yugi. Let's go see if I just saw who I thought I saw. Tea, Tristan, you guys wait here. We'll be back as fast as we can."

Before Tea, Tristan, or Yugi could say any more, Joey grabbed his smaller friend by the wrist and sped off towards the game shop, leaving a tiny cloud of dust in his wake.

"There he goes again... probably going to get himself into trouble."

"Hey Tristan... let's go follow them. It's not like Joey cares, anyways."

--

"Hello, and welcome to my game shop. I am Solomon Motou, and how may I help you?" came the voice of Yugi's grandfather.

Grear smiled. "We're here to inquire about any angelic cards you might have. My friend Amadeus here could use some more monsters."

Amadeus winced and sighed, almost breaking into blush and covering his eyes by pressing his violet hair down in front of them.

"Angelic monsters, eh... let me see your deck, Amadeus."

Amadeus reached to his side and opened his deck holder, removing his deck from within it and handing it to the old man, who started shuffling through it.

"You... you're Amadeus Kelgi, correct? Second place winner of the recent tournament?"

"Yes... that would be me."

"Then... I'm amazed you even got that far. You barely have any monsters, and a lot of your cards don't even work together. Why... if anyone saw your deck, they'd have probably though you had cheated to get that far."

The boy froze in his spot, feeling an ominous shiver work it's way up his back. Grear blinked a few times and shook her head, then grinned and hung an arm over Amadeus' shoulder. "This deck just shows how talented he is!"

Solomon smirked a bit and moved back around the counter, opening a few boxes and sifting through the contents while Amadeus and Grear watched on.

"Hey, you two! Are you the ones who got first an' second place in the recent tournament?" came a voice with a ripe New York accent.

Grear removed her arm from Amadeus hastily and turned about, crossing her arms and nodding. "That's right. I'm Grear McGregor and he's Amadeus Kelgi. And you... you're Joey Wheeler! And Yugi Motou! You both took first and second place in the Duelist Kingdom tournament!"

Yugi moved from the door to Joey's side, nodding and offering a hand to shake. Grear took it in her vice-like grip and began to shake rapidly, not noticing the strange look she received from both Amadeus and Joey.

"It's.. nice.. to... meet.. you!" Grear said while shaking, then finally let go of Yugi's hand, and stepped back. Yugi then extended his hand to Amadeus, who shook it softly. A voice echoed inside of Yugi's mind. "Do you feel that, Yugi? That strange aura? Is it coming from Amadeus?"

"I'm not sure..." replied Yugi to Yami in the safety of his mind, "But I can kind of feel it..." Before he could say any more, the door to the shop rang as someone stepped inside. Everyone except Solomon, who was still digging through boxes, turned to the see the smug grin of Seto Kaiba staring back at them.

"Well well. Yugi, Joey, and the two winners of the recent tournament. It's an amateur gathering."

"I finally found... it." Solomon placed a box onto the counter only to look over and see Seto Kaiba, the one who had torn up his most prized possession, standing there in his shop. "What are you doing here, Seto?" he asked quietly.

"I've come looking for the tournament winners... and it seems I've found them. Anyways..." Seto turned his gaze back on the four in front of him, "The tournament will be held in two days from now. I have been given..." there was a slight pause, "instructions to give you passage to the tournament. All six of you. Yes, it seems as though both Yugi and Joey have already been added to the tournament roster. But... the other two aren't here... what were their names? Tea and Tristan? It seems as though the tournament host has a thing for complete amateurs..."

Yugi frowned a bit, and Joey grinned with delight. "You mean we got invited to the newest up-and-coming tournament? Well... they must have heard of my astounding victory at Duelist Kingdom!" gloated the blonde-haired teen.

"Kaiba, you're talking about the "Tournament of the Century", right? The one all the fliers around town show? If it's such a big tournament, why in the world would they invite Tea and Tristan?" inquired Yugi.

"We got invited to a tournament?" Tea asked. Seto turned around, and sure enough, there were Tea and Tristan, looking through the barely opened door for a second before, walking in themselves, another jingle passing through the shop.

"Why in the world would me and Tea be invited to a tournament?" asked Tristan, scratching the side of his head.

"I don't know. All I know is that all of you, excluding your grandfather, will be given passage from me to the tournament on an island eerily reminiscent of Duelist Kingdom. In fact... we should be leaving right now. We're taking a boat, and we'll arrive on the day of the tournament. So go home, gather your decks, whatever you need, then come to the docks in fifteen minutes. Miss the deadline, I'm leaving you here. Now, if you excuse me, I must be leaving."

Seto took a few steps back, then turned and opened the door, heading straight towards a limousine, which he got into, then was sped off.

"... That was... strange." Mumbled Amadeus.

"Leaving so soon?! We've got to get going, Amadeus!" Grear grabbed the violet-haired youth's arm, only to be tapped on the back. She turned about to come face to face with Solomon.

"These are for Amadeus. Take them and get going." He said.

Amadeus took the cards and nodded his thanks, and was about to say "Thank you." Before Grear tugged on his arm, wrenching him out of the game shop.

Tea sighed and held a hand to her forehead. "Well... I.. guess I should go home and pack." Almost immediately, there were three cries of "Me too." In unison from Joey, Yugi, and Tristan, after which, came an uncomfortable silence. Tea waved to the group and Tristan nodded as both of them left the shop.

"I wonder what the prize is... maybe it'll be another cool three million dollars, like in Duelist Kingdom! I gotta go pack! See ya later, Yugi!" Joey speedily exclaimed, and sped out the door, faster than the rest of them.

"... Grandpa..."

"It's okay, Yugi. You go to the tournament. It's nice to see you doing so well in Duel Monsters. But..."

"Yes, Grandpa?"

"What do you think of Amadeus? His deck... was shoddy, poorly made, and couldn't support itself."

"It was? Does that mean... he cheated?"

Solomon scratched at his chin a bit. "I'm not sure. He may have... but.. I don't know. Do me a favor, Yugi, and help Amadeus out."

"You got it, Grandpa!"

--

"Kaiba."

The video screen in Seto's limo lit up, showing nothing but static, which gave no noise, but an eerie quiet. The boy looked up and frowned. "What do you want now?" he asked, scowling. "I haven't got all day."

"They're all coming, correct? All of them?" asked the light voice.

"Yes. I made sure to tell them. They'll receive their Duel disk system and Duelist cards on the ship, along with the others you asked for. Hold up your end of the bargain, and I won't have to come after you. Now leave me be."

"... As you wish, Seto Kaiba."

The screen flickered off, and the CEO leaned back a bit, staring at the ceiling of the vehicle. "Hmm... this will turn out very beneficial."

--

End of Chapter 2.

No dueling? How boring. I know. That and it's not too good at all. There'll be dueling in the next chapter, though...

To be continued in... Chapter 3: Meeting up, Dueling around