I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH!

Chapter 16 – D & D
Duke and Dan had involuntarily grabbed onto eachother after the crash behind them startled them both. They looked around for the source. Maybe there was people still here. It could be any number of things:

An evil, white haired phychopath carrying gold bling, or a biker band of spiky haired freaks with red glowing eyes and green rings with soul-sucking powers, mummies awakened from their graves bent on killing, a kid from their school whom they thought was seemingly ordinary but turned out to be an evil reincarnation of an Egyptian sorcerer, or even a crazed Cyclops with a funny voice and a flamboyant wardrobe...

After experiencing such people as mentioned before, Duke nearly fell to the ground when he saw the source of their anxiety.

A seagull hopped around from behind some consoles and pecked at it's wing and then squawked at them. Dan clapped his hands and the bird scurried out the room.

Duke walked up to the console where the bird had been and stared at the back. The wires were all chewed and disfigured. Duke then went to the screen where the mission screen was. He looked at the back, and saw that the wires were all mangled there too.

"It couldn't be that simple." Duke replied as he took a seat in an old, rusty office chair.

Dan scratched his head. "What?"

Duke turned the chair, with a loud creak, and looked at the main console. He tentatively pressed some buttons and then with a final press of the enter key –the console glowed green and the mission said it was completed and it was ready for the next one to be issued.

Duke blinked and just stared at the screen. Surely it would go into self-destruct mode or something. Surely it would ask for a passcode. Surely it wasn't so simple as this!

Duke gave a small chuckle, then slowly he worked up to a full-fledged hysterical laughing fit.

"Gee, boy, what's wrong with you?" Dan asked and Duke just laughed some more and waved his hand. "What is it? Did we do right?"

Duke managed a weak nod as he regained his composure. "Yeah. We did right." Duke replied, and then turned back to the computer to find the log sceen list. It listed all last known commands that it was given.

Duke saw a date of activation for the last mission filed. He recognized that date. It was during the end of Battle city, when they were all stuck inside the virtual world of Noa Kaiba.

This place must have beena weapons facility, and as a last resort, Gozaboro must have activated the 'ship' and gave it a new mission before he was destroyed forever.

But something had happened, and for a long while, the last command to officially start the mission had not been fully given. So the mission sat on stand-by for quite some time.

Then Duke saw a date, which had been just recently, when the attacks on Kaiba Corp. had begun during their tournament on the boat. There was a malfunction in several computers and consoles, and somewhere along the line a wire had been chewed that allowed the last activation code be bypassed, and the mission started where it had left off when Gozaboro first started it.

That was also why it hadn't asked him for an activation code or password when he turned it off. Obviously the security systems were shut down when those wires were damaged.

Duke let out a big sigh and closed his eyes for a moment. He did it. He actually did it. He must have been smirking, because Dan gave a small chuckle.

"I'll assume that this is a good thing. Will your friends be alright?"

Duke nodded. "Yeah. In some areas if not others." Duke replied a little more solemnly than he liked. Even though Kaiba Corp was now safe from attacks, as well as Mokuba... they were still missing some things that were very important...

Tea Gardner and Seto Kaiba himself.

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So far so good... kinda. It had been two days since they made their little 'bet'. She only had five more days. That'd be just fine. Sure.

Avoidance. It was easy, wasn't it? This was a big island for just two people.

She walked around the perimeter of the island, not really doing anything but collecting shells here and there. She found a real pretty white one with a little blue on the edges. That one was definitely a keeper.

She kept heading down the coastline, and got to a grove of coconut trees. There were several up the tree and she stared at it as her stomach growled. Without her human ladder around, she'd have to brave it alone.

She jumped over a mud hole and looked up. Maybe if she threw some sticks up at them. She reached down and found a thick stick and tossed it up at the coconuts.

She didn't throw hard enough. The branch came falling down back at her. She squealed and dodged out of the way, hugging the tree. That was close. Well, maybe she could try again, but this time be sure not to have the branch fall near her.

She reached down and absently fingered a large log. But it was wet and a little soft. Maybe it had been sitting in water too long. It wouldn't budge. It was heavy! Maybe it was too big of a log. She looked down and saw that it wasn't a log at all, but a snake!

"AHHH!"

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Kaiba was trying to get in an afternoon nap when he heard a loud scream in the distance. He sat up and looked towards the direction he thought he had heard it.

"Kaibaaa! Ahh!" He heard her scream from a little ways away.

He stood and walked quickly to where he heard her screaming. He went a long ways, following a scream here and there. Where was she and what was her problem this time?

He reached a cluster of trees near the beach and almost stepping in a large muddy puddle.

"Kaiba!" He heard her, but didn't see her. "Up here Kaiba!" She exclaimed, frustrated, and he finally looked over and up to see Tea up a coconut tree, barely hanging on to the thin trunk. "Kaiba! Kaiba! Snake!"

He frowned and looked down and saw a large snake wrapped partially around the trunk of the tree, but not paying her any mind. Kaiba saw that it didn't have the markings to be poisonous, but was still probably a constrictor, considering its size.

"You really have a way of attracting predators." He replied, almost hitting himself for the way he said it. She obviously didn't catch the hint of irony in his voice because she screamed again.

"Kaiba help me! It's a snake!"

"It's not poisonous." He replied.

"I don't care! Kaiba! Ah! I'm slipping!"

Kaiba looked around and picked up a large rock and flung it half heartedly at the snake. It worked, and the snake was spooked and began to slither away. When he was sure it was gone, he walked closer to the tree and looked up at Tea.

She looked so ridiculously cute the way she clung to the tree, her knees trembling, her bottom lip shaking as her teeth chattered, and the way her frantic breathing caused her cheeks to flush. Wait a minute... did he just say she looked cute? Surely not.

"Get down already." Kaiba replied, trying to shake his thoughts.

"I-I'm scared." She said softly.

"You're pathetic. Just climb down."

"I-I-I... will you catch me?" She asked in a sweet, but shaky voice.

"What kind of a question is that? You've been around me enough to know by now."

"You'll do it?" She asked hopefully.

"No!" He exclaimed and began to walk away.

"Wait! Kaiba! Hold on... ah!" She had tried to reach out involuntarily, but in the process, lost her grip on the tree and began to fall through the air down towards Kaiba.

He turned just in time to catch her. But the force was too strong, and they fell backwards and into the large puddle of mud together.

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Dan looked over at Duke again. "So, what now?"

"I suppose we need to contact the others as soon as possible. Let's go see if my cell phone will work. Or maybe you could call out on your radio." Duke said, and they both nodded in agreement.

As they stood to leave, there was another scuffling, and they turned and saw several seagulls hop around the floor, behind the consoles. One flapped its wings and stepped on a loose wire and pulled it from its place.

Suddenly a computer voice and a loud blazing alarm sounded. "Warning! Warning! Intruders! Unauthorized access! Self destruct activated! Warning!"

"I guess that means the security systems are back up!" Dan exclaimed as they both now ran towards the stairwell.

"Yeah I guessed that too!" Duke yelled behind him as they hauled ass down the stairs. "Hurry up old man!"

"Don't call me old man, Dukie!"

"And don't call me Dukie! Ah!" Duke screamed as they heard explosions from above.

They reached the hanger and were shot at by lasers, but they were so rusted, they were missing them, but barely. Mostly they were just making a lot of fires. They jumped on the boat and Dan went to start the engine as Duke untied the rope keeping them attatched.

The engine roared to life and Duke dodged a laser bolt as he hopped onto the boat as it began to speed out to open sea. There were more explosions, and Duke got to the captain's deck, when they finally cleared the skyscraper ship.

Duke looked back to see the old base exploding from the inside, and crumbling down into the dark waters below. Then there was a bright light and the entire structure went up in a giant explosion that sank the building within seconds.

Duke shook his head. "Damn seagulls." He growled as the ship was suddenly bombarded with heavy waves and strong winds with fluttering feathers from the once troublesome birds.

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Kaiba sat there for a moment, his arm aching slightly from where he landed on it wrong. He dared to open his eyes to see what mess he had ended up in this time.

He looked down and saw he was covered in mud and other various debris –including a squirming teenage girl named Tea Gardner. She was half on him, half in the mud herself.

"Ow, sorry." Tea apologized as she sat up from him. She glared up at him, and the look on his face was almost priceless.

He definitely looked mad, but there was something else there; like he wanted to smirk, but would dare do it in front of her and in this type of situation. A piece of a tree branch was sticking out from his head.

She giggled, even though her body was sore, she reached over and pulled it from his hair. She yanked hard on the stick, but it obviously caught on a knot and his head was jerked to the side.

"Gah! Stop it!" Kaiba exclaimed, and grabbed her hand to stop her from pulling.

"No, let me help." She said, trying to hold back her laughter. A thick piece of a mud cluster was dripping down his cheek.

"I can do-" He was cut off as he growled in pain as she simply pulled really hard on the stick and it ripped from his head, pulling along several hairs in the process.

He gripped his head and then glared over at her. He was trying to give her the most deadly glare he could ever produce, but she was only laughing.

She was cut off this time as he pushed her shoulder back so she landed back into the mud with a loud and hearty splash. She growled in annoyance and pushed filthy hair from her eyes and squinted at the now smirking Kaiba.

He tried to stand up, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Hold it mister! You're not getting away that easily!" She exclaimed and pulled him back in.

"Gardner! Cut it out!" He exclaimed, trying to sound as menacing as possible, but somehow that didn't have an effect on her anymore. He wondered for a brief second why that was.

"C'mon, at least call me Tea, you called me that on Kiyo's boat." She replied, struggling with his arms as they rolled around in the mud.

Kaiba frowned. Did he really call her by her first name? His mind made a flashback to that time they had been drugged on that bastard's boat. Crap... he really had called her that. He hadn't even thought twice about it before. Even though Kaiba wouldn't admit it, he was acting a lot differently on this island than he ever did before.

Kaiba pushed away from her a moment. "I'm surprised you even remember that. As a fact, I believe we were being drugged at the time. I was probably just delirious." He stated, trying to purposefully rile her up. If they would just argue, then his mind wouldn't betray him so much.

"Hm, really? Delirious? I see." She said simply, but her expression had a hint of teasing sarcasm.

His plan wasn't quite working. "Just what is that supposed to mean?" He asked as he watched her stand, mud dripping down those long thin legs of hers... dammit!

"It means just what it sounded like." She said, mocking and throwing his own words back at him. She turned and climbed the rest of the way out of the mud hole.

He got up right after her and they stood facing eachother in silence for a moment. He said nothing. She said nothing more. He tried not to look at her.

He turned his direction to further in the island.

She looked after him; she was thinking the same thing he was.

Then they both began to walk towards the water hole.

"Where are you headed? I'm going there first! Ladies first!" She huffed, trying to keep up with his quick stride.

"Hmm." He grumbled angrily as he tried to walk faster.

"Excuse me! I am a lady!" She replied and practically had to run to keep him in sight. When she finally did reach his side, they were already at the waterhole. Before she could retort again that she should go first, Kaiba had grabbed her by the waist and flung her in.

He followed close behind her. He swam a little ways away and began to scrub off the mud. He dunked his head in the water and bobbed back up to see that Tea was beginning to take off her shirt.

He felt his cheeks burn, and something in his gut ached. He turned around and focused his attention on the waterfall. Then he decided to take off his shirt as well.

Tea watched as he took off his shirt and began to clean and wring it out. He had wrung it for the third tiem before she caught herself staring blankly at him. She spun around and began to count the number of lines in a particular boulder in front of her.

Only when she was sure all the dirt was off her, did she dare to look back over her shoulder. Kaiba was scrubbing at his head, his arms high above the water's surface, dripping down his arms and muscles. His eyes were closed, and he had a determined look on his face, as if he were thinking too hard. He looked really good –much like that time she saw him bathing before.

She bit her lip. The anticipation was getting to her. It hadn't even began, and already she was considering destroying that bet; burning it to a crisp!

Wait a minute... was he doing this on purpose? Was he trying to make her think this way? Well, if he was, two could play at that game.

Tea huffed loudly, just enough to get his attention, as she splashed water at her torso and then shook her head to let the water fly from her hair. She played with her hair a bit, ruffling it and pushing it up, while purposely sticking out her body from the water.

She peeked sneakily over at him. He wasn't even looking over!

Kaiba saw his hands slightly shaking as he completely wrung out his shirt for the hundredth time. He didn't know why they were doing that, and it certainly was against his will. He had caught a glimpse of her toiling with her wet hair and it had almost made him lose his control.

But of course, he was always in control. All he had to do was simply not look at her.

He placed his shirt back on and proceeded to get out of the water.

Tea watched him as he went. He was a tough one to crack. Then again, so was she. She'd find a way. Oh, she would definitely find a way... because even with the satisfaction of winning, she was also craving his touch again, and the sooner the bet was over, the better.

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Mokuba woke up late in the day and didn't feel much better. He didn't have much sleep anyway, and even if he did, he would dream horrible nightmares over and over again. His body ached as he tried to sit up and reach for a glass of water.

He sipped on the cool liquid and it felt good going down his throat.

He was startled as there was a frantic knocking on his door. He set back down the water and frowned as the knocking continued. "Enter." He finally said, and Roland came bursting through the door and he ran up to Mokuba holding a cell phone.

"Master Mokuba, it's an urgent call from Mr. Devlin. He insisted to speak only to you directly, and that it's an emergency!" Roland handed him the phone.

Mokuba feared the worse, dreading the news of another attack headed their way. He spoke into the phone, trying to sound calm and collected. "Hello? This is Mokuba." He paused a moment and frowned. "Speak up, your reception is bad." Mokuba waited another few moments. "That's better. Oh, you're still at sea? How-" He was obviously cut off as he listened.

Roland was anxious. He hoped it was good news. He heard how frantic Mr. Devlin had sounded on the phone. He could even hear him now, loud on the phone, even across the room. but he couldn't make out what he was saying.

"What!" Mokuba exclaimed loudly. "I... I... when? Really? That's... wonderful! Duke! Are you alright? The whole thing exploded? Gozaboro? Seagulls? Are you sure? Wow... Duke, this is great news! I don't know what to say... Thankyou thankyou thankyou! I-I'll talk to you later. Bye!"

Mokuba smiled brightly, looking much more like the kid he was. He was in silence for a while, just staring ahead as he smiled, tears welling in his eyes.

"Master Mokuba? Good news?" Roland asked, even though it was obvious it was.

There was a pause and Mokuba closed his eyes and leaned back. "Yes. Good news." He opened his eyes and looked over to Roland. "Go tell my friends that Duke found and destroyed the place that was attacking us. Kaiba Corp doesn't need to worry anymore."

"Yes sir!" Roland took the phone and took off out of the room to make some phone calls.

Mokuba chuckled softly and then looked out the window. His smile faded slightly. There was still something that had yet to hear any good news from... and that was his brother's whereabouts. He was still lost; maybe dead... and Mokuba missed him dearly.

A/N: OMG! I'm back! Happy 4th of July 2005 everyone! Is this a nice present or what? Anyway, I would like to thank everyone out there who stuck with me and gave me lots of support over my little 'problems'. Work is going a little better (which was a lot of my stressfulness) and I have erased most of those who 'flamed' me. But even so... I acted a little immature I know, but I just needed a break, and I kinda lost it after a stressful time at work and at home -and then that just was the last straw, you know? Well, anyway, I'm back and I hope you all continue to review and keep me feeling good -b/c I consider all who support me as good friends and I hope you will bear with me through my issues. Oh yeah! And I updated my webpage, so check it out. there's a link in my profile to it. If you guys haven't noticed before, I did a picture for this story of Kaiba and Tea's first kiss! And also there is a pic of kaiba with no shirt on! full color! please check it out! they're all on my webpage. Also look for spoilers to my fanfics!anyway, I've talked too long. see you all hopefully soon. PLEASE REVIEW!