Yu-Gi-Oh! Avatar

Fanfic Chapter 53: Prelude to Battle Pt 2: The Date
Episode Basis: Steppin' Out

Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! A mysterious Egyptian woman named Ishizu invited Seto Kaiba to a private showing of her new exhibit (did I just write that?). Once there, he discovered that Duel Monsters was actually based on a game played by Egyptian nobility centuries ago. Through some sort of magic necklace, Kaiba witnessed a priest barge into a throne room and challenged the Pharaoh. Ishizu revealed that an underground group of Duelists called the Rare Hunters are after the Egyptian God Cards, three cards so powerful, that even Pegasus feared it. Together, Kaiba and Ishizu hatched a plan to host a Duel Monsters tournament in order to lure the Rare Hunters and the Egyptian God Cards out of hiding. Ishizu gave Kaiba Obelisk the Tormentor, the only Egyptian God Card she was managed to retrieve. Do you think that was wise knowing Kaiba?


The sky was just beginning to cloud over. As Tea left the school, she moaned, "Oh great, rain, and I haven't got an umbrella."


The only students left inside the school was Joey and Tristan who literally got mop-up duty.

"You seem awfully cheerful," Tristan said noticing Joey had a spring in his step as he mopped. "You glad you got mop duty?"

"My sister Serenity's finally going to have her operation," Joey said excitedly. "And it's all thanks to the three million dollars Yugi won at Duelist Kingdom."

"That's great, so when do we get to see her?" Tristan asked excitedly.

Joey mood suddenly darkened as he dunked the mop in the bucket. "It's not that easy."

"What do you mean?"

"My Mom will also be there and ever since Serenity and I got separated, we never really saw eye-to-eye, not that we saw eye-to-eye before the divorce."

Tristan got his friend into a headlock. "So, I'll go in your place, I only hope Serenity likes me."

"Don't get any ideas," Joey warned pushing against Tristan.

"Oh, you mean like this?" The two started a wrestling match which only ended up with them twisted up in each other like pretzels.

Harold observed all of this. "Oh brother," he groaned. "They should be cleaning up, not getting down and dirty."


Taking several deep breaths, Yugi went up to Tea. "Hey Tea, wait a sec!"

"What's wrong?" Tea asked noticing the slight blush on Yugi's cheeks.

"Well... I was wondering if you were free tomorrow."

"Well tomorrow's not a school day so yeah, I'm free."

"Well… the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle told me that he knows nothing about our world, being kept inside the Millennium Puzzle for so long, so I felt that I should show him around some of our world. I was wondering if you could help." Yugi shrugged, "and who knows, maybe he'll discover something about himself as well."

"Well I don't know what I can do, but I'll certainly try."

"Great, it's a date, meet ya' tomorrow at Domino Station at 10, bye."

"Bye," Tea called as Yugi ran off. She was about to head off herself when she realized what Yugi just said. A date? I'm going on a DATE with the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle? Gee, I wonder what you wear for a date with a something-thousand year old spirit who inhabits an upside-down pyramid. And Tea left herself.

Harold observed all of this too. "Man, everyone's acting so bizarre today, must be the weather."


The next day, Yugi laid out his clothes for his… excuse me, Yami's date with Tea.

"You seem to be in a good mood today," Yami said appearing at Yugi's bedside.

"I got a surprise for you."

"A surprise, what kind of surprise?"

"Well if I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?"

"No offense, Yugi, but lately all our surprises have been nothing but bad news."

"Trust me, you'll like this."


Tea, dressed in a yellow tube top over a pink jacket and skirt, waited by Domino Station. Why am I nervous? I'm just going to show the Spirit around.

Yugi spotted her from a distance. "There she is. Okay, Yami, this is where you take over."

"Huh? Wait, Yugi, this isn't a duel!" Yami protested as they switched places.

"Hey," Tea greeted. By the look in his eyes, she could tell that this wasn't really Yugi, but the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle. "Ready to go?"

"Uh… yeah," Yami replied. As the two started to walk down the street, not a word was exchanged, both not knowing what to say. Finally, Yami said, "I'm sorry about this, Tea, I was unprepared for this. When Yugi told me he had a surprise, this was the last thing I was expecting."

"Oh, it's all right, although I must say that something like this is really out of Yugi's character."

"You'd be surprised," Yami muttered.

"So, have any ideas what to do first?" Tea asked.

Yami paused in an electronic store window; the same store that Tea viewed Ishizu's broadcast a few days earlier. Now the TV was showing a surprising event.

"It's me," Yami gasped. "When I fought Duke Devlin at Dungeon Dice Monsters!" Sure enough, the screen was showing clips from their game, more specifically when Yugi summoned the Dark Magician.

"They must be re-broadcasting it to promote Dungeon Dice Monsters," Tea figured. "I just loved the look on Duke's face when you summoned the Dark Magician; it was like he wasn't even expecting it."

"I knew it," Yami said smiling knowingly. "The Dark Magician had never failed me before, and I knew he wouldn't fail me in that case as well."

"Come on."

Tea took Yami to a coffee shop. Everything, all the details, all the different people, it was almost overwhelming for the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle.

"I'm surprised," Tea mused. "You seem to be so interested in our world yet I know nothing about you."

"That makes two of us," Yami said. "I'm afraid that my past is nothing but shadows."

"Is there anything you do know?"

"Well, Bakura told me… I mean Yugi… that the Millennium Items come from Egypt. So in life I was probably an Egyptian."

"And now you inhabit the Millennium Puzzle."

Yami nodded, "Don't get me wrong, Tea, I'm glad that destiny brought me and Yugi together. But… deep down, I would like to know what my past was. Your past is confirmation that you exist. And I don't know my past, so I don't even know if I exist at all."

Amazing, Tea thought. At first, I thought that this was Yugi's suppressed feelings and desires that he kept inside, but now it seems like this Dark Yugi is a whole different entity. "I know how you feel," she said cheerfully. "I often wondered if I existed too. But then I realized that I had two choices, either sit back like a lump or go out and make a future for myself. I decided to do something to prove to myself, if no one else, that I exist. That's why I'm trying to become a dancer."

"Was becoming a dancer your dream? Is it what you want to do with your life?"

Tea nodded. "I'm sure of it."

"Perhaps that's what I should do, find my own dream."

"Well what do you want to do?"

Yami looked up, "I want to know more about myself, I want to know who I was, how I ended up in the Millennium Puzzle, how am I such an expert at playing Duel Monsters?"

"Then let's do it."

"Huh?"

"Let's see if we can find your dream."

Yami nodded and took her hand, "All right."

As they left, Avatar saw them from a fire escape in an alley across the street. I wonder where they're heading.


Tea continued to show Yami around town. They checked out a music store where Yami had the unfortunate mishap of listening to a heavy metal sample. They went for a walk in the park and fed the pigeons (Yami jumped as they started landing near him in droves). They even checked out a B-rated sci-fi movie.

"So what do you think of our world so far?" Tea asked.

"It's amazing. Normally, I only emerge during duels or when Yugi is in trouble. To do all this makes me feel alive again. But I still don't know what…" Yami paused at a poster to a toy store. "Duel Monsters!"

"Huh?" Tea noticed a poster featuring the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and the Dark Magician squaring off like they were arch-rivals. In between them was a series of cards, some of them Yami has never seen before.

"The new booster packs are here," Yami said as he ran inside. As he flipped through a stack of booster packs, Tea thought, it seems that he's only happy when he's dueling. I wonder… could his dream be intertwined with the card game?

Yami brought two booster packs and then they continued on their way. Tea suddenly stopped and squealed. "Yami, look!" Yami saw a building with the word 'Arcade' on it.

"That building looks kind of familiar," he thought out loud.

"It should, or rather Yugi should recognize it it's the arcade where you first met Harold."

"That's right; I had to battle that game hog Victor Bassett after he humiliated Yugi, Harold, and you."

"Come on, let's go see if Harold's there." She took his hand and ran inside.

The inside was really noisy. Beeps and bloops occurred every three seconds. And some people cheered as a plush Blue-Eyes White Dragon came out of a hole in a crane machine.

"Looks like he's not here," Tea said looking around. She then squealed again. She and Yami turned and saw a video dance game. Two people were on it. One of them, a tall dark-skinned guy with dreads shoved his opponent off the stage.

"Hey, are you okay?" Tea asked the kid.

"I was doing fine until he knocked me off," the kid said glumly.

"He knocked you off?" Tea asked. "That's rude."

"People cheat when they know they can't win."

"Man, none of you got what it takes to beat Johnny Step," the man boasted. He then eyed Tea, up and down. "Hey, how about you in the pink?"

Tea looked around and finally pointed at herself. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yeah, care to try your luck. Come on, you've got nothing to lose except your pride."

"Tea, maybe you should just ignore him," Yami suggested.

"No way!" Tea said firmly. "This guy's giving real dancers a bad name." A smile appeared on her lips. "But he's about to get more than he bargained for." Tea flung off her jacket which Yami instinctively caught. She leapt up on to the dance machine.

"So, you're going to risk humiliation just to be close to me?" Johnny asked.

"Talk is cheap, Big Mouth," Tea came back. "And I'm a professional."

"A professional," Johnny snickered. "Yeah, right, you don't have the legs for it."

Boy, will he be surprised, Tea thought.

The game got ready as a computerized DJ asked, "Are you ready to dance? Then let's hit it!"

Yami observed as Johnny and Tea started dancing. He analyzed that as the arrows appeared on the screen, the players were suppose to place their feet on the corresponding arrow on the stage. It was quite ingenious.

The tempo started out slow, but it slowly picked up the pace. Tea was matching Johnny move for move.

"Man, she's almost as good as Johnny," Johnny's former opponent commented.

"Forget almost, she's better," another witness said.

I can't believe it; this girl's making a monkey out of me! I guess I'm going to have to pull out some of my 'secret moves.' Johnny shifted his weight to his right foot (which was currently on a lighted arrow) and extended his other foot tripping Tea.

But Tea was prepared for it. She used to trip herself back when she first started dancing. So she worked out an extra that would help get her back on track. As luck would have it, the step corresponded to the lighted arrows.

That's it, no more Mister Nice Guy. Johnny threw out an elbow intending to knock Tea from the stage one way or another.

But Tea saw it coming and leaned back so far that she saw Yami upside down. She smiled and winked at him.

"That girl wasn't joking," Johnny's former opponent gasped. "She really is a professional."

"That's right," Yami confirmed. "And professionals don't need to cheat."

Johnny tried several more of his "secret moves" but Tea didn't fall victim to any of them. When Tea got a difficult three step combination, Johnny was so shocked that he tripped over his own feet and fell down.

Sweat glistening off her skin, Tea continued, lost in the music.

"Incredible," Yami muttered.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm dancing! I saw the servant girl doing it and thought it might be fun."

"What am I going to do with you?"

Yami gasped as two voices entered his head. It wasn't Yugi's voice, nor was it any voice he recognized. Actually, that wasn't entirely true, one of the voices did sound like him but he didn't recall saying those sentences or (if that voice really was him) who he was saying it to. Was this a memory? If it was a memory, whose was it, Yugi's or…

"Perfect score!" The computerized DJ announced bringing Yami back to reality.

The crowd cheered. Tea turned towards Yami and gave him a thumb up. Yami returned it.

"That was impressive, Tea," Yami commented as she jumped down and took her jacket from him. "How did you get so good at dancing?"

"How else, I practiced. Hey, even Yugi had to practice playing Duel Monsters."

"True, true," Yami agreed as they left. The crowd dispersed leaving Johnny Step the one humiliated.

"I'll get that upstart," Johnny said gritting his teeth. Yami and Tea had already left the arcade. Johnny ran to catch up to them. But he slammed his head against a wall, a wall that wasn't there. Once again, Johnny fell to the ground.

"Hey, what happened?" A bystander asked.

"What does it look like, I ran into something."

The bystander held his hands out but felt only air. "But there's nothing there."

Outside the arcade, Avatar chuckled as he deactivated his gold-colored wrist band. He then disappeared.


Yami and Tea stood on a pier watching as the sun started to descend lighting the ocean up with orange hues.

"That was exhilarating," Tea commented. "I almost forgot why I wanted to be a dancer in the first place."

"You were great, today, Tea," Yami commented. "And you've inspired me."

"I did?"

"Yes, I finally know what my dream is. My dream is to stand beside Yugi, and you, and the others, not just in spirit, but in flesh as well. It's like when I'm with all of you, I feel like I'm alive again, just like when I duel. I want to stand with all of you, knowing who I am, what I did, and what I wanted to do."

"I see, well no matter what, you have my complete and total support and confidence."

"Thanks, Tea."

"There you are!" It was Johnny Step who stormed up to them rubbing a red mark on his forehead.

"What happened, did you run into a brick wall or something?" Tea asked.

"Forget about it," Johnny dismissed. "I demand a rematch!"

"You're kidding!"

"I would've won today if my… uh… foot hadn't cramped up."

"You want to challenge me to another dance-off?"

Johnny smirked, "No, not that, I've learned my lesson from last time. I'll challenge you to a game that we both have no experience at… Duel Monsters!"

"Why can't you take your beatings like a man?" Tea scowled.

"I would… if I was facing a man."

"If that was an insult, why don't I feel insulted?" Tea asked Yami rhetorically.

"If I win the duel, you have to spend an evening alone with me."

"You're off your rocker!"

"Come on, I can show you some moves that dance school will never teach you." He wiggled his eye brows at her.

Tea gasped horrified, "I don't know what you mean and by that look, I don't want to know. Don't you know I…"

Yami stepped up between them. "If you wish to challenge someone to a duel, challenge me!"

"Oh, and what are you, her bodyguard?"

"If necessary."

"Fine, it doesn't matter who I challenge, I'll win just the same."

Johnny doesn't know how many of my opponents have said things like that before I beat them.


They went to Kaiba Land (whose business had dropped just enough that the arenas don't have to be booked three months in advance).

"If I win this duel, you have to stop bothering us and leave us in peace," Yami said as the platforms moved out onto the field.

"Fine, but if I win, Tea has to spend an evening alone with me, no questions or protests."

The Spirit will win, Tea assured herself.

"You won't win," Johnny insisted. "Not after you see my powerhouse deck."

"We'll see," Yami simply replied.

"Let's duel!" They both shouted.

(Y: 2000)
(J: 2000)

Unknown to the two Duelists and Tea, Avatar had snuck in and took a seat in the far corner. This could be interesting.

"I'll kick things off by summoning Sonic Maid (1) in attack mode!" A red-haired woman wearing a pink dress carrying a scythe appeared.

Sonic Maid? He didn't even summon it in defense mode! Not even Joey would blunder up that much. "I summon Celtic Guardian in attack mode!" Yugi's elf bared his sword. "Celtic Guardian, attack!" The two monsters clashed their weapons before Celtic Guardian flipped over Sonic Maid and sliced her in two.

(Y: 2000)
(J: 1800)

"You just got lucky," Johnny said. "I summon Water Omotics (2) in attack mode!" A purple-haired naked woman with fish tails for ears and carrying an urn of water. Because their attack points and defense points were the same, attacking would be pointless.

"You won't win by just throwing out cards."

"Maybe, or maybe my supreme plan is too great for your puny brain to comprehend."

He's holding out for some special card that he can use, Yami deduced. He could read it on Johnny's face. He drew a card, "I choose to pass this turn."

"Then I'll summon Spirit of the Harp (3) in defense mode!" A gold-colored lady playing a harp appeared. "Along with a magic card called Chorus of Sanctuary." A tiny angel appeared. "My little cherub friend can raise the defense points of all my monsters by 500!"

(SotH: 2000-2500)

Johnny's cards got no purpose, Yami thought. They're just fan cards. His deck is a dance-theme, but he doesn't have anything that can help him. "I summon Curse of Dragon! Attack Water Omotics with Dragon Flame!" The naked woman was char-broiled.

(Y: 2000)
(J: 1200)

"Oh shoot, I screwed up," Johnny complained. "I forgot to switch her into defense mode."

"Your deck has no purpose, Johnny; a fan deck will lose every time."

"Time for a surprise appearance: Witch of the Black Forest (4) in attack mode!"

Maybe Johnny is a better Duelist than I gave him credit for.

"Next, I'll the use the magic card Polymerization to fuse Witch of the Black Forest and Lady of Faith (5) together to form a new music sensation known as… the Musician King (6)!"

Then again…

The Musician King was a direct contrast to the two monsters that formed it. It was a guy with spiky blond hair and blue jeans carrying a red electric guitar. Let's hit it!" The Musician King strummed his guitar and produced sonic waves that destroyed the Celtic Guardian. "I guess the Celtic Guardian couldn't take the music," Johnny joked.

(Y: 1750)
(J: 1200)

"Finally, I'll place one card face-down and end my turn."

I think I underestimated Johnny. "Curse of Dragon, attack Musician King!"

"Not so fast, I activate my trap card: Metalmorph, it'll transform my Musician King into a Heavy Metal King (7)." The Heavy Metal King strummed his double guitar which blew back the Curse of Dragon and destroyed it.

(Y: 1700)
(J: 1200)

"I play Giant Soldier of Stone in defense mode!"

"Heavy Metal King, blow that stone into rubble!" No sooner had the monster appeared then it was destroyed. "Gives a new meaning to the term rock and roll, doesn't it?"

Could the Spirit actually lose? Tea wondered.

"Just give up, loser, you're only going to make a fool out of yourself and humiliate your friend as well."

"Like how you humiliated yourself at the arcade?"

"What?" Johnny growled.

"Whether it's at a duel dance game or Duel Monsters, whenever you cheat, you always end up humiliating nobody but yourself."

"What do you know about playing games?" Johnny questioned.

Yami just looked at the card he drew and chuckled at Johnny. "I summon the Dark Magician!"

I'm not worried, Johnny thought. Metalmorph will just raise the Heavy Metal King's attack power higher than the Dark Magician's.

"Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!" To Johnny's shock and horror, the Dark Magician succeeded in his attack.

(Y: 1700)
(J: 750)

"What, how could you do that?"

"You obviously don't know the rules very well. Metalmorph does raise the attack power of a monster, but only when the equipped monster attacks. Since it was the Dark Magician that was attacking, Metalmorph's effect doesn't activate."

How can this kid know so much about Duel Monsters? "Just who are you anyway?"

"You can just call me… Yugi."

"Hold on, that name rings a bell," Johnny said, he then gasped. "No way, not the same Yugi who defeated Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom!"

"I see my name strikes a tone with you."

"No way, I'm outta here," Johnny said retracting his platform. "I'm a dancer, not a Duelist!" He turned to leave.

And ran smack dab into Tea.

"You cheat at video games, humiliate others, and generally act like a pain-in-the-you-know-what, and when the going gets tough, you high-tail it?" She asked, her voice rising with each word. "You hypocrite!"

"Nobody likes a loser," Johnny argued. "Forfeiting is much better!"

"That just proves you're a coward! Instead of running away, you should spend your time doing something productive, like practicing your dancing, if you like it so much!"

Johnny looked away from her instead scanning the now empty bleachers. "That's not possible," he said solemnly.

"If you're as good as you claim, how come I haven't seen you at any tryouts?"

"Well, I… uh…"

"How many tryouts have you been to?"

"One," he replied quietly.

"You've been to only one tryout?"

"The judge said I didn't have the skill."

"So you just gave up? Man, you're more pathetic than some of the animals I've seen. I've been to dozens of tryouts and I haven't made it yet either, yet I still continue. Because dancing is something I love, and it's worth all the failures I've endured."

"Tea, I… I'm sorry," Johnny said. "You're right, if I really love dancing, then I have to practice and keep trying." He turned and left the arena.

"Nicely said, Tea," Yami commented as they too began to leave Kaiba Land.

Tea just stuck her tongue out a little, "Sorry about that, I can talk too much sometime."

"But what you said was just the right thing to say. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Spirit."

A newspaper was carried by the wind and flew right into Yami's face. Tea quickly pulled it off of him and looked at it. She gasped, "Spirit, look." Tea showed him an article about an Ancient Egyptian exhibit at the Domino Museum.

"An Ancient Egyptian exhibit?" Yami questioned.

"You said that you believe your roots were in Ancient Egypt, if anything can help you figure out who you are, this is it. Let's go!"

Yami and Tea ran off unaware that someone had been watching them the whole time.


Yami and Tea stood at the bottom of the steps to the Domino Museum.

"Nervous?" Tea asked.

"A little," Yami admitted. "But I know I have to go through with this, it is my destiny."

"Then let's do it." And the two started to walk up the steps.

The End


Duel Monster Database

(1)
Name: Sonic Maid
Level: 3
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1200
DEF: 800

(2)
Name: Water Omotics
Level: 4
Type: Aqua
Attribute: Water
ATK: 1400
DEF: 1200

(3)
Name: Spirit of the Harp
Level: 4
Type: Fairy
Attribute: Light
ATK: 800
DEF: 2000

(4)
Name: Witch of the Black Forest
Level: 4
Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1100
DEF: 1200

(5)
Name: Lady of Faith
Level: 3
Type: Spellcaster
Attribute: Light
ATK: 1100
DEF: 800

(6)
Name: Musician King
Level: 5
Type: Spellcaster/Fusion
Attribute: Light
ATK: 1750
DEF: 1500

(7)
Name: Heavy Metal King
Level: 6
Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 2050
DEF: 1750