Lu: Everyone read my JoeyxMai songfic, My Beautiful Friend! OK, I'm high, I admit it.

Yami Lu: Please kill me. I'm stuck with her all day!

Chapter 19 – Another Virtual Reality

Two days later, Mai was fine, and Joey's face was beginning to close. His arm was fine again too. They were both up and walking, so the group decided to try and reach out to Kaiba again.

"Hey Kaiba," said Yugi as they approached him.

"I'm busy, Yugi, please leave me alone," said Kaiba.

"What are you doing?' asked Joey.

"Be a nice little puppy dog and shut up," said Kaiba impatiently. Joey restrained his anger. "I'm programming another virtual game," said Kaiba.

"Are you really sure that's a good idea?" asked Mai. "I'm sure you remember what happened last time."

"Yes, but this time there are no suits to interfere with the programming," said Kaiba.

"Is there anything we could do to help?" asked Joey.

"Well, if you really want to help, you can test it. Not actually going into the game yet, but playing the game just like a GameBoy," said Kaiba gratefully. Joey sat down picked up the controller.

"Howdya play dis one?" asked Joey.

"Well, insert your deck into this slot here, and then turn on the console," said Kaiba. Joey slipped his deck into the slot, and flipped the switch. A default character, which looked a lot like Kaiba, appeared on the screen.

"Do I just start walkin'?" asked Joey. Kaiba nodded, still looking at the screen. Joey pressed the left button, and the figure began to move. Another figure appeared on the screen. It was a monster, with an attack of 1600 and a defence of 1400.

"Is dis like de other game, where you can choose what monster you summon?" asked Joey. Kaiba nodded again.

"Howdya activate it?" asked Joey.

"Just say what monster you want to summon," said Kaiba.

"I summon de Flame Swordsman!" shouted Joey. A very sketchy picture of a Flame Swordsman appeared in front of Joey's character.

"Attack de monster with Flaming Sword of Battle!" shouted Joey. The Flame Swordsman moved forward, and swung his sword. The monster disappeared.

"Well, Kaiba, something can be said about de graphics," said Joey.

"Yeah, they suck," said Tristan sullenly.

"Shut up, Tristan," said Tea. Tristan had been the only one to complain about being nice to Kaiba. He seemed to have built up too many hostile feelings towards him to just throw them aside.

"Dey're like a lot of de computer games at home. I expected something new," said Joey.

"I'm working on that," said Kaiba. "And this is only what you see from the outside. When you go in, everything is real. And this time, all of my programmed safety precautions are perfected. As always, the options are voice activated. The commands are things like 'End Stimulation'." The fact that Kaiba was telling them all of these plans showed that he was reacting to their outreach. Or maybe he was just telling them to show off his 'superior intelligence and computer skills'.

'I feel so stupid,' Kaiba thought, as they all watched Joey play the virtual game. 'Telling these guys my plans. I mean, Tristan just said that the graphics suck. I am trying to be nice. I think Joey and Yugi are too. But Mai and Tea just stand there uncomfortably; Tristan stands there like he'd rather be anywhere else but here and Ryou...' At that moment Ryou ran up to them.

"Sorry I'm late, I was just finishing perfecting my deck for tomorrow," he panted. "I hope the spirit of my Millennium Ring doesn't take over, he really wants to finish that duel with Malik, but that could result in one or more of us being trapped in the Shadow Realm." Kaiba groaned inside, but tried to act like he hadn't heard the last comment. They all knew that he disapproved of all this Ancient Egyptian nonsense. The rest of the group greeted Ryou.

"Hello Kaiba," said Ryou cheerfully.

"Hello Ryou," said Kaiba in return.

"I apologize for the actions of my alter ego the other day. He really wants to get all of the Millennium items," said Ryou. Kaiba grunted and nodded. He didn't want to sound rude, but Ryou should have known that he thought that it was all ridiculous. Joey turned back to the game.

"Aw, man!" he sighed, as his life points dropped to zero. "That monster attacked me while I was saying hello to Ryou!" he exclaimed.

"You have to be quick-witted to play this game, Joey," smirked Kaiba. "A talent which you do not possess." Kaiba knew that Joey hated that, but a chance to insult him like that was too good to pass up. Joey scowled.

"Anyone else want a go?" asked Kaiba as Joey stood up. Yugi sat down in the seat and inserted his deck into the slot. He made the character start walking. A monster appeared on screen.

"I summon the Dark Magician!" shouted Yugi. The mini-Dark Magician attacked the monster on the screen. After about half an hour, Yugi had completed the game. He used a combination of monster cards and magic cards to get him past the tougher monsters.

"Well done, Yugi," said Kaiba. Mokuba came running up to them.

"Ishizu Ishtar and Duke Devlin are here!" he shouted happily. The whole group ran off to greet them. Kaiba walked behind.

"Hey Duke!" said Yugi cheerfully.

"Welcome to the tournament," said Kaiba. Duke looked from Yugi to Kaiba. Usually they'd be insulting each other by now. What was going on?

"Hey, Duke," said Joey.

"Hey, Joey," said Duke. They smiled, but the rest of the group knew that they both wanted a duel. They were friends and all, but they both enjoyed duelling each other.

"Hello, Yugi," said a familiar voice. Kaiba turned around. Ishizu was standing there.

"Hey, Ishizu!" said Yugi.

"I thought that all of our problems would be solved in the last tournament, but it seems to not be so. My brother's evil is still stronger than ever. There is still much for you to do, Yugi," said Ishizu. Kaiba snorted. "You too, Kaiba, will have to help save my brother and the world," added Ishizu.

"I sincerely doubt that, Ishizu," said Kaiba in an amused voice.

"You will have to face up to destiny sooner or later, and at that time you will realise your past and your future. Your future is strongly tied in with Yugi and your Blue Eyes," said Ishizu.

"How do you know that, Ishizu?" asked Yugi.

"My Millennium Necklace told me long before I gave it to you," replied Ishizu.

"I can't figure out how to read the future with it. It simply will not work for me," said Yugi in a frustrated voice.

"Tell me about it," said Joey. "Yugi spent half of his time at home trying to figure out how to get de necklace to work. We spent ages at his house just going through our decks while he tried to figure out how to use it. In de end we had to drag him to school." Yugi laughed.

"I remember that," he said through giggles. "We were so late that day."

"Yeah, you got us in detention, Yugi," laughed Tristan. Kaiba stood there uncomfortably. Mokuba, Duke Devlin, Ishizu, Tristan, Tea, Joey and Yugi were laughing.

"Anyway, how do you activate the necklace?" asked Yugi.

"It activates on its own," said Ishizu. "You just have to wear it all the time." Yugi smiled and took the necklace out of his pack.

"Tea, a little help?" said Yugi. Tea did up the necklace.

"How do I look?" asked Yugi.

"You look fine, little buddy," said Joey.

"Here you go, Yugi," said Tea, handing Yugi a mirror.

"It's not too bad, is it?" said Yugi, surveying himself in the mirror. For some reason, everyone looked at Kaiba.

'Maybe they reckon it's a good idea to get an opinion from a rival,' he thought.

"Err, you look, umm, OK, I guess," he said.

"Well, dat's praise enough from Kaiba," said Joey.

"Man, I'm starving," said Duke. "Can we get something to eat?"

"Sure, de fast food's over here," said Joey, starting to walk towards the food court. The rest of the group followed him, except for Ishizu.

"I am going to go and find my brother," she said, and walked off in the direction of the hotel. Kaiba didn't know where to go.

"Kaiba, are you coming?" shouted Ryou.

"Yeah, Seto, come on!" shouted Mokuba. Kaiba walked after them.

'Well, at least I'm being included,' he thought.

"Beat you to de food court, Kaiba!" said Joey, as Kaiba caught up to them. He ran in the direction of the food court. Kaiba shrugged and ran after him. Joey beat Kaiba to the food court by a couple of metres. He flopped onto the chair, laughing and panting. Kaiba did the same, then realised that he had just shown signs of friendship. He suddenly sat up straight.

"What is it, Kaiba?" said Joey.

"Err, nothing," said Kaiba blushing, although nobody saw because they had really red faces anyway. The others caught up with them and took their seats. Tristan hailed a waiter. They all ordered their food, and waited for it to come. Kaiba sunk back into a sullen silence. Yugi noticed that, and tried to turn the conversation to duel monsters, or something that Kaiba could participate in. But even when they started talking about duel monsters, Kaiba remained deep in thought. Kaiba did add a couple of sentences to their conversation, but he seemed very self-conscious. So, Yugi decided that maybe Kaiba had had enough for one day, and left him alone.

When their food came, Joey became a blur, stopping just enough to regain breath before digging in again. Kaiba stared at him in disgust.

"OK, everyone leave a metre radius around Joey when he's eating, for your own safety," laughed Mai. Joey had soon finished, while everyone else was only half way through their meals. So he sat there patiently, contributing to their discussion. Tristan was the second finished, followed closely by Ryou, Mokuba and Duke Devlin. Kaiba and Yugi finished next, then Tea and Mai. Then they paid, and started to head off towards the hotel. Kaiba noticed that Mai and Joey were holding hands.

"Err, we'll catch you guys up later," said Joey after a while. Mai was giggling and pulling at Joey's arm. Kaiba was intrigued by this, and decided to follow them.

"Hey, Seto, where are you going?" asked Mokuba as Kaiba steered off the path that everyone else was following.

"I'm going to go and see Ishizu about something. I don't want her using my tournament to get her brother back," said Kaiba.

"OK, Seto, I'll see you tomorrow," said Mokuba. The rest of the group waved goodbye to Kaiba, and he walked off in the direction of Ishizu's room. But before he got there, he walked off a side alley, and met up to the road which Joey and Mai had taken. He followed it slowly, keeping to the shadows. He heard laughter around the corner. He shrunk into the wall, and crept around the corner. What he saw surprised him beyond all reason. Joey and Mai were kissing passionately.

"Mai, in here," Joey whispered and they walked into a building. Kaiba followed them silently. He looked into a window, and saw them kissing again. Kaiba had seen enough. He doubted that anything would happen - or not if he could help it. Kaiba set himself up so that he looked like he was casually walking into the building. He then walked through the door. Kaiba cleared his throat.

"Go get a room," said Kaiba. The couple looked up.

"Err... hey Kaiba," said Joey blushing bright red.

"Please, save me the explanations," said Kaiba, with a talk-to-the-hand gesture. "I don't wish to believe that you're giving Mai mouth-to-mouth, Joey."

"But, how did you know?" asked Mai.

"It's blaringly obvious, you were both holding hands," said Kaiba. "But, anyway, I'm sorry I walked in on you, but can you try and find somewhere more private next time you want to... you know."

"Well, we'll try," she said. The couple got up.

"Err, shall we go?" asked Joey awkwardly. Kaiba nodded.

"I'll let you two go on ahead, I've got things I need to do here," he said. Joey and Mai walked quickly out of the building, maybe to go back to their rooms, or maybe to find somewhere more private.

'Well, I probably shouldn't have spoiled it for them, but it's better that I find out than Marik,' thought Kaiba. He was sure that Marik, if he obtained information like that, would use it against the rest of the group to his advantage.

Outside, Mai and Joey were running towards the hotel, blushing furiously.

"Never again," said Mai. "We shall never give signs that we like each other in front of people that don't know it already." Joey nodded in agreement.

"I'll see you tomorrow Mai," he said and disappeared into the boy's room.

"Hey, Yuge," said Joey, as he got into bed.

"Hey Joey. What went on there?" asked Yugi.

"Well, Mai and I wanted a little private time, but den Kaiba walked in on us, so we had to go. But he seemed cool about it, no teasin' or anythin'. And he did apologise. He's starting to be nicer to us," said Joey. "I mean, he did let me test de game, and he raced me to de food court."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if we have made a new friend," said Ryou.

"Well, goodnight, guys," said Joey, and he went to sleep.

The next morning, Kaiba was the first one up in the whole city. He decided to take a walk to clear his head.

"OK. Let's review my situation financially," he thought. "I am hosting a small tournament, which is costing a fair bit. I am developing a virtual reality game, which is also costing a fair bit. On the other hand, as more and more people become interested in duel monsters, sales of duel disks are going up. Next, review my situation personally. I care about my little brother as much as ever. I am gaining more friends because the others are trying to become one. I have a crush on Serenity, and she seems to like me too. Other than that, everything is normal, apart from the fact that Mai and Joey are together."

While he was thinking this, everyone else was getting up. Just as he was walking past the hotel, Yugi's group came out of there.

"Hey Kaiba!" shouted Yugi and Joey, running over to him.

"Hello, Yugi, Joey," said Kaiba.

"What are you doing up so early?" asked Ryou, coming up behind Joey and Yugi.

"I was just taking a walk," said Kaiba. "I needed to clear my head before the tournament today." Mai nodded.

"I know how you feel," she said. "There is just so much going on I feel my head is about to explode." Kaiba greeted the rest of the group, including Duke Devlin, who slotted into their group as usual.

"Let's hope this tournament turns out better than the last one," said Duke.

"You can say dat again," said Joey.

"Well, I'll see you guys later," said Kaiba. "I'm going to go and prepare for the tournament."

"See you later, Kaiba," said the rest of the group as Kaiba headed towards his hotel.

"Hey, Seto," said Mokuba as Kaiba walked into his hotel.

"Hello, Mokuba. How are you this morning?" asked Kaiba.

"I'm good. How about you?" asked Mokuba.

"Not too bad," said Kaiba.

"How are you getting along with Yugi and Ryou and all of them?" said Mokuba.

"Err... not too badly," said Kaiba, blushing.

"C'mon, Seto, they obviously want to make peace," said Mokuba.

"Well, if you must know, I'm not going too badly at all," said Kaiba. "They're all being really inclusive. But something's disturbing me..."

"What is it Seto?" said Mokuba.

"Well, it's just Mai and Joey," said Kaiba. "They're... well..."

"Yes?" asked Mokuba.

"I'll tell you later," said Kaiba quietly, as Ishizu walked up to him.

"Hello, Seto Kaiba," she said. "I trust you are ready for the tournament today?"

"Perfectly fine, thank you," said Kaiba. "If you'll excuse me, I have to prepare my deck." Ishizu nodded and continued on her way.

Back at the breakfast room, Joey said "Hey, has anyone seen Malik since we got here?"

"No, he must be staying in his room," said Yugi.

"Hello, Yugi," said Ishizu from behind them. They swung around.

"Hey, Ishizu," said Yugi, smiling. "Have you seen Malik around?"

"Yes. He is in his room. He will not allow me in. His darkness is taking everything," said Ishizu sadly.

"Well, we can start breaking that darkness today," said Yugi.

"Will all competitors please report to the duelling arena," said Kaiba's voice over a speaker system. "The tournament is about to begin." The group got up and walked to the duelling area.

"Good luck, guys," said Yugi.

"Right back at ya, Yuge," said Joey. They entered the duelling arena. Kaiba was standing on a podium. There was a small group of duellists surrounding the podium, talking quietly among themselves. They saw some familiar faces - Mako Tsunami, Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor. Malik was also standing there, looking like he'd rather be alone in his room.

"Greetings, duellists," said Kaiba. "This tournament is officially open. However, this tournament is slightly different from the last. You must collect the map once more, but I will be sending you inside my virtual reality game. Mokuba has gone in there personally and hidden enough maps for ten people to progress to the finals. While in there, you will be confronted by many duel monsters, as well as each other. As you can see, this tournament is slightly more complicated than the last. The maps are hidden everywhere in the virtual world. And," he said, pausing to look at Joey. "There are no helper fairies. Anything that seems like it might help you is probably an opponent. This part of the tournament will last maximum one week. Then the finals shall begin. Any questions?" Yugi thought of a very important question.

"What happens if your life points run out?" he shouted.

"You begin with 10 000 life points. This should last you for at least a day. In a duel between competitors, wager only 2000 life points at the most, for if your life points run out..." Kaiba paused. "Umm, I'm not absolutely sure. I think you might be stuck." Yugi gulped. In the last virtual reality game that Kaiba had invented, Joey, Mai and Mokuba had all been digitized. If it were not for the Mystical Elf, casting a spell to bring them back, they would have been dead.

"So use your life points sparingly," continued Kaiba. "At the beginning of each day, your life points will return to 10000. I will try and fix the problem about the life points as you play. Please, enter this building," said Kaiba, gesturing behind him. "Your pods await you inside." Yugi, Joey, Mai, Duke and Ryou said good bye to Tea and Tristan and entered the building. They all took seats in the pods that were lining each wall. Ishizu sat down next to Yugi. Malik sat in a corner. Rex and Weevil sat opposite Mai and Joey. Mako sat opposite Duke Devlin. Yugi's group sat in a row. Several other duellists that they didn't know took spots next to Malik. Malik didn't look too happy about that.

"Everyone ready?" shouted Mokuba. Everyone nodded. "Please insert your deck into the slot, and then I'll start the machine," said Mokuba.

"How old are you?" asked one of the duellists that Yugi didn't know.

"Twelve," answered Mokuba absent-mindedly as he prepared the machine.

"Kaiba, why are you letting this young boy operate your machine?" asked the duellist.

"This young boy is my brother," said Kaiba furiously. "I may mention that I am only sixteen." Yugi was surprised at this. He had always thought that Kaiba was older than them, maybe twenty. He had had no idea that they were the same age.

"Mokuba, start the machine," said Kaiba. Mokuba nodded, and pulled a lever. All of the chattering duellists suddenly fell silent, as their souls were taken to the virtual world.

Lu: That's it for now. Whoa, Kaiba's being nice. Eek... that's weird.

Yami Lu: Almost as weird as me being nice!

Lu: Yup. I would like to point out that there is a lot of exchanging between 'Marik' and 'Malik'. That's because Kaiba doesn't believe in Yamis. Now that that's cleared up… review!