I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda, you know the drill. Battle City has begun and Brian is quickly gaining victories. The real challenge comes in when one of Brian's childhood friends appears in the competition. It seems that there may have been something more between them at one time. Don't worry you'll see. Behold, in all it's glory, chapter 5! (I'm running out of intros)

Chapter 5: Let the Games Begin!

"Now, Dark Magician, finish him! Dark Magic Attack!" I ordered. My Dark Magician then wiped my opponents life points out once and for all. After the attack, the holograms shut down and I received his locater card and his rarest monster. His monster wasn't anything I could put to good use, so I simply slipped it into my pocket. So far, so good. The tournament had attracted a lot of duelists, but many of them I already saw leaving. It had only been an hour and I had already collected two more locater cards.

"This is way too easy," I said out loud. I was walking down the street with my hands clasped behind my head. I glanced over at other duels that were taking place, none of which held my interest very long. "Wonder how Yugi and Joey are holding up?" Just as that thought went through my head, my favorite voice in the world rang out.

"Brian! We finally found you!" I turned to see Téa closer than I expected with Tristan a good distance behind her. She threw her arms around me in a big hug that nearly knocked me over. "Sorry we missed the start of the tournament. We wouldn't have been so late if Tristan hadn't spent two hours combing his hair."

"Hey, a guy has to look his best," Tristan retorted. "So, how you doin' so far?"

"I already have half of what I need to go to the finals," I replied.

"Where's Yugi and Joey?" Téa asked. "You didn't knock them out already, did you?"

"What if I said I did?" I said with a devilish smile. A look of dread came over her face. I quickly tried to comfort her. "I'm kidding, Téa. Yugi and Joey thought it would be best to split up and meet again in the finals. I haven't seen them since it started."

We walked for a little while and eventually saw a couple duelists walk past us. I could hear part of their conversation when they got closer.

"I can't believe that girl!" one of them said.

"I know! She beat both of us in ten minutes!" the other one exclaimed.

"Wonder who they were talking about…" I wondered.

"Hey, you!" a voice called out. I turned to see a girl wearing a duel disk. She had short blonde hair and green eyes and was fiddling with a dark green gem that hung from a thin gold chain around her neck. "Strange, you look kinda familiar. And you're cute." Téa glared at her and grabbed my arm. The girl looked at Téa. "Oh? His girlfriend, are you? Well it doesn't matter. I'll still beat him."

"Kick her butt, Brian," Téa said to me as I pulled out my deck.

"Brian?" she said, confused. Then her eyes widened. "Brian Matthews? I knew you looked familiar."

Then it hit me. I knew who she was. "Alexis Luminari. Never expected to see you again," I said.

Alexis nodded. "I won't lose to you this time. I have three locater cards."

"As do I," I stated calmly. "All or nothing?"

"You bet," she replied. "The winner goes to the finals."

We placed our decks into the slot on our duel disks and began our match. If Alexis hadn't changed her deck too much, I knew what she'd do.

"Ladies first," I said sarcastically.

"My pleasure," she replied. "I summon Shining Angel in attack mode. Your move."

I drew and studied what I had. I had drawn a pretty good hand and, in a few turns, I could have my Dark Magician in play. "I summon Lord of Dragons, then activate The Flute of Summoning Dragon!" I declared. "With this magic card, I'll bring Twin-Headed Behemoth and Blackland Fire Dragon to the field. Now say goodbye to your Shining Angel, Twin-Headed Behemoth, attack!" My monster attacked and tore Alexis' monster to shreds.

"Still over confident I see," she said. "My monster has a special ability. When it is destroyed by an attack, I get to summon a monster with an attack of 1500 or less. The one I choose is…Mudora! Mudora also has a special ability. It gains 200 attack points for every Fairy-type monster in my graveyard. Shining Angel was a Fairy. Now Mudora has 1700 attack power."

I narrowed my eyes slightly. I had forgotten about that card's effect. It had been her opening move in the past. I still had the upper hand, or I would on my next turn. I ended my current turn and prepared for what she was going to throw at me next. She drew with a slight smile then it faded into disappointment. "Nothing I can use right now," she declared. "But I'll still summon Spirit of the Harp, in defense mode. Look at your little Lord of Dragons standing there. Not for long, though. Mudora, attack!"

I flinched as my monster was destroyed, taking with it 500 of my life points. Lord of Dragons had served it's purpose and now it was time to get a heavy hitter in there. "Kaiser Sea Horse. That'll really help later," I thought when I drew. Now it was time to put my plan into action. "I play Soul Exchange and I'll choose to use your Mudora along with Blackland Fire Dragon to summon Dark Magician. Dark Magician clear the field of Spirit of the Harp." Alexis let out a startled gasp and shielded her face with her arm as my monster's attack kicked up a cloud of dust. "And now Twin-Headed Behemoth will take a chunk of your life points!" 7500 to 6400. That felt a bit better, but I knew it wasn't over yet.

"Way to go Brian!" Téa cheered. "I knew you could do it!"

"Yeah, awesome move, man!" Tristan added.

"Not much has changed in your strategy," Alexis said calmly. "But it looks like I should kick it up a notch. I play Luminous Spark! It boosts the attack of all Light monsters by 500, but at the cost of 400 defense points. Then I'll summon Dunames Dark Witch and destroy your last dragon!" My monster fell and my life points dropped by 800 as well. She ended her turn after playing one more card. "Your Dark Magician poses a temporary threat, but I'll fix that. Go, Swords of Revealing Light!"

My next card was Luster Dragon and, along with Kaiser Sea Horse, it was useless at the moment. Or was it? I put it onto the field in defense mode and passed my turn. "I call forth Neo the Magic Swordsman!" Alexis said on her next turn. Her next assault was to destroy my two dragons. Twin-Headed Behemoth could only come back once in a duel so now it was gone for good.

My next turn gave me my own Swords of Revealing Light, but I decided to hold on to it for awhile. I only had one more turn to wait before my Dark Magician was free. "Nothing from me this time," Alexis said on her next turn. "Scratch that. I'll play Prohibition. This card prevents either of us from playing a card of my choosing. I know just what card I'll pick, too. Dark Paladin!"

"Oh, no. Now Brian can't play his best card," Téa said.

"She's right, but I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve," I thought. I drew another card and looked at it in desperation. "Another Blackland Fire Dragon?" I said in my head. I ended my turn without playing any cards and the magic that was holding my monsters in stasis vanished.

Alexis drew a card then giggled. "Here's one of my special cards. I need to remove two Light monsters from my graveyard in order to special summon Soul of Purity and Light!" she exclaimed. "She has the power to reduce your monsters' attack power by 300 when you attack." None of her monsters could take down my Dark Magician yet so she turned the duel back to me.

"First thing's first," I said. "I summon another Blackland Fire Dragon. Then I'll play Stamping Destruction to destroy your Luminous Spark magic card and inflict 500 damage to your life points!" Alexis wore an annoyed look after my move. "And I'll play my own Swords of Revealing Light. Dark Magician, attack Soul of Purity and Light!" My Magician's attack was dropped by 300 when it attacked, but it still won by 200.

"I switch my monsters to defense position and I'll pass this turn," Alexis said. It seemed like she had lost the will to go on.

"Good, a monster I can use," I thought after drawing. "I play Armed Dragon LV5 by sacrificing Blackland Fire Dragon." I finished off her last two monsters and ended my turn.

"I set two cards face down and end my turn," Alexis looked relieved. I knew this gambit all too well. Yugi used it on me awhile back. I was still going to bite, though. The entire tournament was riding on this match and I wasn't going to let up.

"I'll add Kaiser Sea Horse to my forces and attack your life points directly!" I called out.

"Not so fast," Alexis stopped me. "I play Scapegoat!" Four small monsters called Sheep Tokens appeared on her side of the field. I wiped out three of them with my monsters and ended my turn. The duel could still go either way. Alexis had 6200 life points left, but I was only 500 ahead of her. "I now summon Mystical Elf. And I'll play two magic cards called Dimensionhole. Each one removes one of my monsters from play until my next turn. And I'll activate my other face down card. It's a card called Raigeki Break. It allows me to destroy one card on the field, regardless of what it is. And I choose Dark Magician!" I looked on as my monster was removed from the field. Without monsters on the field, Alexis finished her turn.

"What is she doing?" Téa asked. "She's leaving herself wide open by taking her monsters out of play. It doesn't make sense."

"No, it makes perfect sense," I mentally corrected her. "She's protecting her monsters from being destroyed so she can summon a high level monster on her next turn." I drew my next card and my heart soared. I looked to my side, into Téa's eyes. Then I smiled and turned back to my opponent. "Now, Alexis, I hold here in my hand the card I used to register for this tournament. It's my newest card as well. With the sacrifice of my Kaiser Sea Horse, I summon my mighty Seiyariyu!" The pink dragon appeared on the field with a roar that sounded more like a hawk screech.

"Seiyariyu and Armed Dragon LV5, attack her life points directly!" I ordered my dragons. She was almost defeated, her life points sat at 1300.

"It's my turn now," Alexis said. I felt something different about her. She was more determined, as if her life depended on this duel. I could see a raging flame burning in her eyes, it was her warrior's spirit. I had never seen or felt anything like it. "Now that my two monsters are back on the field I'll sacrifice them to summon my own rare card, the one I used to register. I call upon my Wingweaver! And I'll use it to take down your Armed Dragon LV5!"

Now Alexis had the upper hand. Sure, I had much more life points than she did but her monster was stronger than mine. There were a couple cards in my deck that could win it for me, but could I draw them? I had one card in my hand. Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress. It was no good to me. I was surprised by the next card I drew. "I play the card you gave me, Alexis. I play Graceful Charity!" I noticed that her face softened a bit when I played the card, but it quickly went back to pure determination. I drew three cards from my deck and discarded two, just as the card instructed me to.

"Brian, I know you can do it!" Téa cheered. "I believe in you!"

That's all the inspiration I needed. I looked down at my hand. "Didn't get what you needed?" Alexis asked challengingly.

"Actually, I have just what need to defeat you right now," I replied. "I'll use the magic card Elf's Light to power up Seiyariyu to 3300. Then I'll play another magic card called Double Medium. It doubles the effect of cards that increase or decrease a monster's attack or defense rating for one turn. Seiyariyu now has an attack power of 4100, enough to destroy your Wingweaver and wipe out the rest of your life points. Seiyariyu, attack with Shining Plasma!"

A bright orb of light shot out of my dragon's mouth and enveloped Alexis' Wingweaver. The resulting explosion created a blinding cloud of smoke. When it finally cleared, I saw Alexis on her knees. The fire that had been in her eyes a few moments ago was gone. She looked almost the same way she did before we began the duel. I walked over to her and knelt down to her level.

"I suppose you want these," She stuttered. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her locater cards. Her hand was trembling and she dropped them on the ground. Her head hung and a few tears ran down her face. "I thought that if I worked hard enough, I could finally beat you."

"You did your best. That's what matters," I comforted her. She looked at me, her green eyes filled with tears. I stood up and changed my tone to be more serious. "Now, you call yourself a duelist, sitting there crying?" She then wiped her eyes and smiled. She gathered the locater cards she dropped and I helped her to her feet. "You put up a great fight."

"Here, these are yours," she said, handing me the locater cards. "Oh, and this too." She held out her Wingweaver card.

"I can't accept that," I told her. "It's your pride and joy. I just can't take it from you."

"Brian, you won!" Téa said, giving me a hug.

"I think we got off wrong," Alexis said. She stuck out her hand to Téa, who took it and shook hands with her. "I think you've found the one, Brian."

"What does that mean?" Téa asked me.

"It's a long story that I'll explain later," I replied.

"At any rate, it's good to see you finally made some friends," Alexis said. "If you're ever in the States again, look me up, okay? And thanks for that little kick in the butt just now."

"Sure thing," I responded. She turned and started to walk away. "Wait, you're not going to stay for the rest of the tournament?"

She stopped and looked over her shoulder at me. "No," she said. "I've got places to go, people to see, you know how it is with me."

"Well, you're always welcome here," Téa told her, much to my surprise. Alexis thanked us then continued on her way.

"Now, then," I started. "Let's see if we can't find Joey and Yugi." I closed my eyes and focused on Joey first. I had become quite adept at using my Millennium Bracelet over the past few days and I quickly located him a few blocks away.

"What's up, Joey?" Tristan said when we caught up to him.

"Hey, you guys!" Joey replied. "I already won my first Battle City duel. Check out the card I picked up." He searched his deck and pulled out the card, Jinzo. "I won it from a kid named Espa Roba."

"Wow, great monster. Powerful, too," I said to him.

"Huh? I thought this was everyone for himself and if we met up we'd duel," Joey said. "So, you want to go up against the brilliant mind of Joey Wheeler, don't you?"

"No that's okay. Besides I'm already qualified for the finals," I responded. Then I flashed my six locater cards.

"What? Already? That's not fair…" Joey said sadly.

"Don't worry about it," I assured him. "Most of these guys are pushovers."

"Well, I know a pushover I could take down," Joey said with a grin. "He's a little guy named Weevil."

"Weevil's here?" Tristan asked.

"Ugh. I can't stand that guy," Téa added.

And off we went to find Weevil, much to everyone's distaste. Eventually, we found the runt and Joey beat him. Tristan kept saying it was luck, but we all knew better. Joey had come from near defeat and crushed Weevil and his insects. Joey's new cards were Insect Queen and Weevil's two locater cards. We walked all over the city looking for Yugi. As we walked past the aquarium and saw a sign sitting outside.

I glanced at the sign quickly, without thinking. Then I noticed something. "Hey, Joey? Doesn't that look like that Mako guy we saw this morning?" I asked.

"It is Mako," Téa said. I gave her a funny look. She looked at me and explained. "We met him at Duelist Kingdom."

"So, what's he doing playing with fish? There's a tournament going on!" Joey exclaimed. He sounded really annoyed. Joey then stomped into the aquarium, hands balled into fists and teeth clenched.

"One of these days his temper is going to get himself in some major trouble," Tristan commented as we followed him.

"Yeah. And, knowing Joey, he'll drag the rest of us into it," Téa agreed.

Joey found Mako and challenged him to a duel, right next to the whale show. Tristan, Téa, and I took seats in the bleachers to watch. Everyone was more excited to see the duel than the regularly scheduled show. Once again, Joey won by the skin of his teeth. He had beat him using Panther Warrior in unison with Kunai with Chain and Lightning Blade. Joey received The Legendary Fisherman and Fortress Whale from Mako along with the last two locater cards he needed for the finals.

When we left the aquarium, Joey was ecstatic. He proudly marched out of the building singing the tune to some song we couldn't identify. Tristan suggested that it was something that played constantly in his head. As we laughed at the comment, Téa's phone rang. She answered it and quickly handed it to Joey.

"Yello?" he said into it. "Hey, Serenity. How's it going?…Aw, thanks sis…Really? Great! Now you can come watch me in the finals!…Uh-huh, see you later." He turned the phone off and gave it back to Téa then told us the good news. "Serenity can take off the bandages later tonight. I just need someone to go get her and bring her here. How 'bout you, Brian?"

I looked sadly at Téa. I wanted to stay with her, as my inspiration for dueling. Tristan, on the other hand, was practically jumping to go. After careful consideration, something we had never expected from Joey, he let him go. "What harm could he possibly do?" Joey asked after Tristan had raced off. "Now, off to find Yugi!"

I suddenly felt something, a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I stopped at looked up at the sky, which had suddenly been covered by dark, menacing storm clouds. "Looks like rain," Téa said. I didn't look away from the sky. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I don't know," I replied. "There's a lot of storm clouds, but the temperature hasn't changed. Something about it just doesn't feel right." I saw something else in the distance. It looked like a pillar of bright yellow light. "I think I know where Yugi is…" I said pointing in the direction of the light.

Téa and Joey looked at it for a second or two and took off running towards it. "I hope Yugi is alright," Téa commented.

"Me too, Téa," I thought as I followed them. "This can't be anything good."