A/N: Okay... this is a fic based on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, which is one of my co-favorite books. I hope you enjoy the first chappie!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or And Then There Were None. So sue me. Or rather, don't.
Ten Little Duel Monsters"Hey Sis! You got a lettah!" Joey yelled as he sorted through the mail. Serenity rused into the room and carefully began to open the envelope that Joey handed her. Joey, on the other hand, simply ripped open the envelope bearing his name and began to read it.
"Mr. Wheeler," it read, "There is to be a party commemorating all finalists in the Battle City tournament to be held in Duelist Kingdom. No RSVP is needed. The party will be held the weekend of the twenty-third." There was no signature.
"I'm so happy for you, Joey!" cried Serenity, hugging him.
"'Ey! Have you been readin' my lettah over my shoulder?" Joey asked indignantly, ignoring the fact that Serenity barely reached his shoulder, and could never look over it.
"No, big brother! Read this." Serenity handed him the letter she'd recieved.
It read, "Miss Wheeler, there is to be a party commemorating all finalists in the Battle City tournament in Duelist Kingdom. We understand that you are the sister of a finalist, Joey Wheeler, and are therefore invited to attend. No RSVP is needed. The party will be held the weekend of the twenty-third." Here, again, was no signature.
""Ey, that's great, Sis!" said Joey, pulling Serenity into a one-armed hug. "You're comin' too! What could be more fun dan partyin' all weekend wit you, da gang, and... well, I hope Kaiba isn't comin'!" (A/N: Aww... poor Joey. So unaware! hugs Joey notices Joey being wrenched from her grasp by Lady LeBeau (one of her friends) and Mai Valenine LLB: You're the one putting him through this! Mai: Yeah! hugs Joey LLB: Hey! hugs Joey (The two begin a tug-of-war with Joey) A/N: Oh well... I at least have my favorite bishie! hugs Ryou noticed Ryou being ripped out of her arms by Ribbon (the two start a tug-of-war over Ryou) Ryou and Joey: Get on with it!)
"Your mail, sir," said one of KaibaCorp's employees, handing Seto Kaiba his mail.
"Didn't I tell you not to disturb me?" said Kaiba, voice calm and low but dangerous. "I'm in the middle of something important here." Nonetheless, he took the mail. "Get out," he shot at he employee, who hastened to obey.
Kaiba read the mail until he reached one particular letter, and then he actually smiled.
Miho Nosaka, called Ribbon by her friends, was walking back to her house from the mailbox. She sorted through the mail, threw the bills and advertisements in the sink, did a double-take to make sure that there was no water in the sink this time, then continued to her room, flopped on her bed, and opened and read the one envelope she'd kept.
"Yay!" she cheered happily, then stuffed the letter back into the envelope and stuffed both into her purse, which was already overflowing with various papers (A/N: Know where I got the inspiration? My purse)
Ryou, sitting in his lonely apartment, heard the telltale CLANG that meant the mailbox outside his door had just been filled. He crossed the room, opened his door, and lifted up the cover to the mailbox. Inside was one envelope. He brought it inside, opened it, scanned the letter, then nearly fainted. He kissed the letter and began to laugh.
It was Marik and Ishizu's last day in Domino before they left to return to Egypt. Well, that was the plan, anyway. It was rather thrown for a loop when they received a letter. It lay on the table before them as they argued.
"Ishizu, we have to."
"No, Marik. We're going home."
"But Ishizu-"
"NO."
"But it will cause trouble if we go!"
"And more if we stay. We're needed back home."
"Ishizu-"
"Fine. We'll stay."
Even though his sister had finally agreed with him, Marik seemed to grow uneasy.
Tristan (no surprise) had also received a letter. He ripped it open, read it, yelled happily, and began to do a small jig.
"Yugi! You got a letter!" Mr. Mutou called up the stairs to Yugi's room. Yugi ran down the stairs, tripped, fell, got back up, and took the letter from his grandfather. He opened it, scanned its contents, and smiled.
"This should be fun."
Tea cheerily skipped to her mailbox, opened it, and pulled out a thick wad of letters. One by one, she opened, read, and answered the letters. Then she reached one with no return address or signature. However, she liked the letter's contents, and made a mental note to befriend the sender.
One week later...
"Hey Joey! Hey Serenity!' Yugi greeted his two friends on the boat to Duelist Kingdom.
"Hi!" they replied cheerily.
"Oh look. There's da resta da gang!" said Joey, pointing to where Tea and Tristan stood. They hurried over to greet them.
"Hi guys!" said Tea, giving them all a hug.
"Who else have you seen?" asked Yugi.
"Well, Kaiba's in a private cabin and doesn't show any signs of coming out," said Tristan. "Marik and Ishizu are boarding right now, and Ryou's unpacking."
"He didn't bring the Millennium Ring, did he?" Joey asked dryly.
"Actually, he didn't," said Tea. "He wasn't wearing it, and when I asked, he said he hadn't brought it."
"Yeah, well..." said Joey disbelievingly. (A/N: I could have sworn that disbelievingly was a word. You know what I mean, though, don't you?)
Serenity nudged Joey. "Shhhh! Here he comes."
"Hello," said Ryou. "I'm so excited!" Indeed, he was practically quivering. "I-" He was cut off by a purple-haired girl putting her hands over his eyes from behind.
"Guess who?" said the girl.
"Uhhh..." said Ryou.
Tristan blushed slightly. "H-hi, Ribbon." He used to like her. But now he liked Serenity. So WHY was he blushing?
"Ribbon!" Ryou guessed, looking quite proud of himself.
"Right! A+ for you!" Ribbon said, giving Ryou a hug.
"Greetings," said Ishizu as she and Marik approached.
"Hello," said Joey. He was thinking, "What the heck is Ribbon doing here?"
"We've arrived!" announced the navigator sometime later. "Please take your luggage and leave the boat promptly. Thank you for riding!" Everyone dragged/carried/rolled their luggage off of the boat, which wasted no time in leaving the island.
"Where do we stay?" asked Serenity.
"The castle. Where else would we stay?" Kaiba said in a superior manner.
"'Ey! Lay off my sistah!" Joey said angrily.
Nevertheless, no one argued with Kaiba's way of thinking, and they all trekked off. After about an hour, they reached the castle. They stood at the door and there was an awkward pause.
"What are we waiting for?" asked Ribbon cheerfully, pushing open the front door. "Let's go in!" She headed inside, the others trailing in after her.
The castle had been redecorated. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling. It looked as though it had been decorated for a fancy party. However, it was totally devoid of human life. Marik summed up everyone's thoughts.
"Where is everyone?"
"I don't know," said Serenity. "Mai and Odion should both be here!"
"Huh? Why?" asked Marik.
"For the party, bonehead!" said Joey.
Marik blinked. "What party?"
"The party!" said Ribbon. "I bet the other people are upstairs!"
"Other people? There are only two more people coming," Yugi frowned.
"I'm here for a court hearing!" Marik said, confused.
"What?" chorused Ribbon, Joey, Serenity, Yugi, Tea, Kaiba, Ryou, and Tristan.
"Read this." Ishizu handed Kaiba a note, which he read out loud.
"'Mr. Ishtar, due to your outrageous display during the Battle City finals, both your and your sister's presence is required at a court hearing to be held in Duelist Kingdom. This will be the weekend of the twenty-third.' It's signed Seto Kaiba." He looked up from the letter. "I didn't write this!"
"So why are we here?" asked Marik.
"For the party!" repeated Ribbon.
"What party?"
"Mai Valentine's surprise birthday party!" said Tea.
"Huh? I'm here for a party commemorating the Battle City finalists!" said Yugi.
"Me too!" chorused Joey and Serenity.
"I'm here for Mai's party too!" said Ribbon.
"I got a letter saying some technology I've been working on since I was twelve had finally been completed and was being tested here," said Kaiba.
"What, like a nuclear bomb?" Joey muttered.
"Heel, Mutt," said Kaiba.
Ryou pulled a letter out of his pocket. "I got this letter... it's signed Amane, saying she's still alive...and wanted to meet me and my friends here... but I guess it was all just a practical joke... of some sort..." his voice trailed off as a tear slid down his cheek (A/N: Awww... huggles Ryou). Ribbon hugged him.
There was a pause in which everyone turned to stare at Tristan.
"What?" asked Tristan.
"What's your story?" asked Kaiba.
Tristan appeared to squirm a bit. He looked from Serenity to Joey to Ribbon, paused longer, and finally said, "I stand on the fifth." (A/N's friend Mel: DON'T STAND ON THE FIFTH! PLEAD THE FIFTH! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF SOMEONE STOOD ON YOU!)
"You stand on the fifth," repeated Kaiba.
"I stand on the fifth," insisted Tristan.
Kaiba picked up his luggage. "Well, seeing as the boat won't be coming back until Monday, we might as well unpack and choose a room. This one's mine," he added, walking into the only room on the first floor.
"Sure! Mistah high an' mighty CEO gets da room on da first floor, so he doesn't hafta carry his luggage up a staircase an' pull a muscle!" Joey muttered as he picked up his luggage and headed up the stairs.
A few hours later, all of them (with the exception of Kaiba and the Ishtars) had regrouped in one of the many living rooms and were chatting lightly.
"I'm hungry!" Tristan complained.
"We're going to have to do something for dinner," said Tea.
"There's four kitchens in this mansion," said Joey. "One up the stairs directly on the right, one in the cellar, one on the top floor, and one across from Tea's room. And they're all huge!"
"How do you know?" asked Yugi.
"Oh... I passed 'em exploring the mansion."
"How do you know where Tea's room is?" asked Tristan, tone innocent but eyes teasing.
Both Joey and Tea narrowed their eyes as they blushed. "Yeah, right Tristan."
"What's he talking about, big brother?" Serenity asked.
"Nothin' Sis," Joey said. "Let's go eat. The kitchen up the stairs on the right is closest."
Some time later, Kaiba heard a knock on the door. "Yes?"
"Kaiba, we're preparing for dinner," came Tea's voice through the door.
"And I care?"
"Yes! Get your lazy tail out here and help!"
"I don't cook."
"On an abandoned island you do!"
Here Kaiba used very colorful language not appropriate for the current PG-13 setting.
"If you don't help, you don't eat!"
"Whatever. Fine. I'll come out and help. Just give me a minute."
Kaiba continued to read the stocks. He'd come down when it suited him.
Tea banged her fist on the door. "Kaiba, get out NOW!"
Kaiba idly turned a page of the newspaper. "I'm preparing for dinner. Go away."
There was another long pause. "Kaiba..."
"I'm almost done."
With a shriek of rage, Tea burst in.
About an hour later, the ten guests were seated at a dinner table, eating some of the plentiful supply of food in the mansion.
"R-ryou?" Ribbon asked tentatively, staring at the pile of four large steaks sitting in front of him. "I thought you were a vegetarian!"
"Well, ever since my yami got especially powerful, I've developed quite an appetite for steak," Ryou said, carefully cutting up the first steak.
"Oh, how cute!" Tea said, nodding towards china figures of Duel Monsters in the center of the table. "At least...most of them are cute!"
"I don't know if the Red Eyes Black Dragon would be called 'cute,'" said Joey, picking up the aforesaid dragon.
"I guess they're supposed to go with the poem," said Serenity.
"Poem?" Tristan asked.
"Yes. The one over there," Serenity said, gesturing towards a framed poem hanging on the wall. "There's a copy in my room, too."
"Mine too," said Ribbon.
"And mine," said Tea.
"Mine as well," added Ishizu.
They all looked at the boys.
The following few lines happened at about the same time:
"Don't look at me!" said Joey and Tristan.
"There's nothing in my room," Kaiba said.
"Why are you looking at me? I didn't do anything!" protested Marik.
"Why do only the girls have the poem?" wondered Yugi.
"Why? What does it say?" Ryou asked, getting up and walking over to read the poem aloud. " 'Ten little Duel Monsters looking so fine,
A mirror broke in one's face and then there were nine.
Nine little Duel Monsters pondering their fate,
The past killed one and then there were eight.
Eight little Duel Monsters looking at the heavens,
A star fell on one and then there were seven
Seven little Duel Monsters going after chicks,
Someone took offense and then there were six.
Six little Duel Monsters going for a dive
One drowned in the water and then there were five.
Five little Duel Monsters hiding from the gore,
One couldn't clear his mind and then there were four.
Four little Duel Monsters unable to see,
One tripped and fell and then there were three.
Three little Duel Monsters eating food brand new,
But one choked and died and then there were two.
Two little Duel Monsters: just a pair of nuns,
One left the abbey and then there was one
One little Duel Monster left all alone,
He disappeared and then there were none!' "
"That was... weird," said Marik.
"Well, I'm going to go get some more steak sauce," said Tea, walking towards the kitchen. Once she had disappeared into the adjoining room there was a loud crash and a brief tinkling sound.
"Tea?" Yugi asked. "Are you all right?"
Tristan stood up and walked into the kitchen, calling, "Tea?" Seconds later, he appeared in the doorway, stony-faced. "Don't let Serenity come in here."
"Why? What happened?" Serenity asked, standing up and heading towards the kitchen doorway.
Joey stood up as well and caught Serenity by the arm, a sense of foreboding filling him. "Don't go, Sis."
Kaiba also stood up. "Marik, Tristan, Mutt, come with me. All the rest of you weaklings, stay here." The four boys entered the kitchen, all others looking after them, either indignant, worried, or both.
Kaiba reentered the room. "Gardner's dead."
A/N: Wow, this is my longest chapter ever! Anyway, a clarification on why the poems are only in the girls' rooms when the rooms were chosen at random: every one of them left for a brief period of time, whereupon the killer (oh, come on, you know there's a killer; there's no way that was an accident) snuck into their room and put the poem up. Thank you very much. Oh, and a note to any and all reviewers: you are free to say who you think it is and the reasoning behind it, but I will not tell you if you are right are wrong.