Lu: Well, it's time yet again for another chapter of the New Tournament. I've decided on something. Whoever is the 200th reviewer gets the next chapter dedicated to them, as long as they are a regular reviewer. I don't really want to dedicate a chapter to someone who has only reviewed once. So if you are a regular reviewer, try to be 200th!

Yami Lu: This is just a cheap way of getting more reviews, isn't it?

Lu: Yup, but anyway. On Nickelodeon, they've finally reached the Semi-Finals! Joey's in the middle of the duel with Marik! It's so cool! Anyway, reviewers:

Lu: And here's for the next chapter! cheers Here we go!

The gang sat having breakfast in a small cafe the next morning. Yami, who had never seen a lot of the technology since he had only come out of the Puzzle for duels, was fascinated by all of the equipment.

"Wow, what's this?" he asked Tea, pointing to the jukebox in the cafe. Tea laughed, and got up, taking a coin from her pocket.

"I'll show you," she said, and slotted a coin into the machine. It lit up, and Tea chose a dance song. She offered Yami her hand, which he took sheepishly. The song started. There weren't many words to the song, but the beat was very light and jazzy.

"What are you doing, Tea?" questioned Yami nervously. Tea wrapped her arms around his neck, making his heart jump into his throat.

"Relax," she advised quietly. He did as she said, and found himself melting into her arms. She led him around the dance floor until the song ended, and she then walked back to the others. Yami followed doggedly, his face flushed, but not because of the dance.

Back at the table, Joey and Tristan were sniggering as they watched the couple dance. Yugi, Mai and Serenity were smiling, as they knew that Yami and Tea liked each other.

"And that's what a juke box does," laughed Tea, tugging Yami down beside her. Yami nodded limply, smiling feebly. All of the technology was a bit overwhelming for him, and the fact that he had found feelings for Tea just made him all the more confused.

"The stimulation begins in 10 minutes, so we better go," announced Seto, standing up. Joey, Yugi, Yami, Duke, Ryou and Mai followed suit. Seto kissed Serenity on the cheek hurriedly before walking away. Yami lingered in the cafe for a couple of seconds, trying to think of something meaningful to say to Tea. But he found his mouth dry, so he quickly brushed his lips against her cheek, blushing furiously. He then scurried off after the rest of the duelling group.

Tea touched her cheek, her mouth hanging open in shock. 'Did Yami just kiss me?' she thought, in a daze. She felt heat creeping into her cheeks. Tristan sniggered, but she ignored him.

-

Yami caught up with the rest of the group. Joey held up his hand for a high-five, but Yami simply looked confused.

"Hello? High-five!" said Joey, waving his hand in front of Yami's face. When Yami still looked lost, Joey demonstrated with Yugi. Then he repeated the action with Mai. Finally, he raised his hand again in front of Yami. Yami, feeling rather stupid, slapped Joey's hand slowly. Joey smiled.

"Dat's my man," he exclaimed, clapping Yami on the back. "Out of interest, you like Tea, right?"

"Wh-what?" stammered Yami, feeling his cheeks heat up again. "No! I d-don't like her like th-that!"

"Why did you just dance with her, and, more important, kiss her on the cheek?" queried Mai, folding her arms. Yami gulped, his cheeks burning at the memory of the kiss. He knew his cover was blown, not that there was much cover in the first place.

"Fine... I.. umm... I like Tea," he admitted in defeat. Joey smiled knowingly.

"De hardest part is admittin' it to yourself," he assured Yami. "Trust me, I know. I would never have admitted to myself or anyone else that I liked Mai." Seto cleared his throat impatiently.

"Can we please speed this up a little? The stimulation begins in 5 minutes," he grunted. They nodded boredly, and trudged along in silence.

They arrived just as Mokuba was announcing the beginning of a new virtual day. They all took their seats, this time next to Malik. Joey was glaring icily at Ishizu, as was Seto. Mokuba flicked the switch, and their minds were immediately transported to the virtual world.

-

Yami's eyes opened slowly. Above him was a dazzling blue sky blotched with dark rain clouds. There were low-hanging branches invading the edges of his vision. He raised himself onto his elbows, shaking his head slightly to clear his mind. Glancing around, he saw Joey, Seto and Mai waking up lazily. He couldn't see anyone else in the group.

"Where's Yugi and the others?" he questioned. The other three, who were still half-asleep, shrugged. Yami sighed. He was never going to get a straight answer out of them while they were still getting over the effects of the journey into the virtual world. He sat up, and a memory triggered in his mind. This clearing was the one they left yesterday, where they had discovered Ishizu's terrible secret.

"Oh man, I should probably cut down on de food before we come in," groaned Joey, clutching his stomach. Mai sweatdropped.

"We better find the others," suggested Yami. All three nodded, standing up on still-weak knees. Yami looked around impatiently, and noticed the three Egyptian God cards on the ground. They were slightly damp, as the virtual dew had caressed every surface in the clearing. Yami bent down and picked up the cards, wiping the water from the laminated cardboard. He approached Seto, and handed him Obelisk the Tormentor.

"Thank you Yugi," said Kaiba appreciatively.

"I am not Yugi. I am Yugi's darker half, and I am mainly called Yami. I used to reside in the Millennium Puzzle, only coming out to duel, until yesterday when Marik separated our souls into different bodies," explained Yami.

"I suppose I don't have any choice but to believe you, do I Yugi?" sighed Seto. "The Millennium items... they must be real..."

"Took ya long enough, Kaiba," smirked Joey. Seto threw a half-hearted punch at Joey, which was easily dodged.

"I never thought I'd see Seto Kaiba and Joey Wheeler sparring," laughed Mai. Yami was no longer paying attention. He was heading out of the forest, with the hope of finding his hikari.

/Yami, where are you/ said a voice, breaking through Yami's thoughts. He scanned the area for the source of the noise. He turned back to the others, but Joey and Seto were still play-fighting, and Mai was still watching them.

/Yami, you there/ questioned the voice. This time Yami recognised it.

Yugi?he replied, opening the mind link fully. We can still mind link?

/Yes, it seems. Me, Duke and Ryou turned up here and wondered where you guys were, so I decided to try and open the mind link. Are the others with you/

Yes,sighed Yami. Joey and Kaiba are mucking around and Mai's watching. Where are you guys?

/We're in the middle of the desert. Where are you/

We're in the clearing from yesterday,explained Yami. We'll come and find you. With that, he closed the mind link, and turned to the other three.

"I know where the others are. Let's go find them," he said. Joey, Seto and Mai nodded, and waited for Yami to lead the way. He did so, striding out of the trees confidently. They plunged straight into the vast sea of sand, where a sandstorm had been brewing. Gales carrying brittle grains of sand pelted the companions as they continued to force their way through the desert.

"We've gotta turn back!" yelled Joey above the roar of the storm. Yami ignored him, his head bent against the force of the wind.

"Ahh!" squealed Mai, as she tripped over. Joey caught her, and steadied her. He let go of her, but she stumbled again, so he took her arm and slung it around his shoulder.

"Yami, we can't keep on doing dis!" shouted Joey. "I don't think dat Mai can stand up on her own, and I don't think dat we're any closer to finding dem! We've gotta turn back!"

Yami glanced back despairingly. Joey seemed to be having a coughing fit, and Mai was hanging limply off his neck. Seto wasn't faring much better, as his trench coat was billowing out behind him and holding him back. Yami hung his head in defeat. He wanted to find Yugi, but it was not worth hurting his friends for. He spun around, his shoulders heavy.

I'm sorry hikari,he thought through the mind link. We can't find you.

/That's OK Yami, we'll come and find you. Meet you in the clearing/ said Yugi cheerfully. Yami sighed as he closed the mind link. In the last two days, he had been separated from his hikari, found strong feelings for Tea and had people attempt to kill him numerous times.

"Wait," grunted Seto. "We could fly on a Duel Monster!"

"Good idea," yelled Joey. "I summon de Red Eyes Black Dragon!" The dragon appeared in front of them. Joey picked Mai up, and placed her at the base of the dragon's neck. He jumped on behind her, and gestured for the other two to sit further down on the dragon's back. They did so, and the Red Eyes took off. Joey kept his arms tight around Mai to help her keep balance.

Yami's eyes scanned the landscape below, searching for any sign of Yugi, Ryou or Duke. Suddenly, he saw a bright glimmer from the center of the sandstorm. It lasted for a few seconds before fading again.

"Down there!" he shouted, pointing to the area where the light came from. The Red Eyes began to dive, but another monster burst out from the depth of the storm - the Curse of Dragon, carrying Yugi, Duke and Ryou. They waved cheerfully.

"Hey guys!" greeted Joey.

"We should find the next map piece!" yelled Duke. Everyone agreed. The two dragons hovered for a while, as Duke searched for the piece they found yesterday. He finally found it in his pocket. The X was right in the middle of an ocean.

"We'll summon another dragon, and fly to it from there," suggested Seto. Nobody had any objections, so Seto summoned his Blue Eyes. It was difficult work for Yami and Seto to move from the Red Eyes to the Blue Eyes. The two dragons would continually perform complicated flips and turns, always trying to do better than their opponents last. This was not good for Yami, Seto, Joey or Mai because it was hard to keep a hold on the dragon when they flipped over. Finally, when Seto and Yami had managed to scramble onto the Blue Eyes, the dragons began to soar and glide through the air.

After an hour of tumbling and stomach-turning dives, the dragons hovered above the approximate position of the next map. The water sparkled and glittered in the sun, and it looked very inviting. Joey took the invitation, plunging straight into the water. Unfortunately for him, the water had played a trick on him, and was actually as cold as an ice cube. He resurfaced, teeth chattering.

"Joey, you knucklehead, get your idiotic butt back here before it freezes off," ordered Mai. She held out her hand, which Joey took. His hand was as cold as a wooden floor on a clod morning. She tugged him up in front of her.

"Now that Wheeler's clarified that the water's cold, we can think about this logically," said Kaiba before he could stop himself. Joey scowled, but was too numb to move. Mai wrapped her arms around him to help him warm up again.

"We should get another Duel Monster to dive down for it!" suggested Yugi. Joey looked like an idea had hit him.

"I summon de Legendary Fisherman!" he yelled, holding the card high up above his head. The man riding a shark appeared in the water.

"Go and find de map piece!" commanded Joey. The Legendary Fisherman dove down into the deep. The gang waited several minutes with baited breath. Suddenly, the shark reamerged, and on the end of the man's spear sat the map.

"Yes!" cheered Mai, giving Joey a hug. Joey looked pleased with himself, and as soon as he removed the map, the Legendary Fisherman disappeared. The other dragons swooped closer, and everyone crowded around to look over Joey's shoulder. There was no X on this map, instead, a little drawing of a card was on the border of a forest.

"It's the last map," announced Seto. "That's why it was so difficult to find. The next thing we find will be the qualification cards. So we better start thinking about what to do if there aren't enough for all of us. Chances are that other duellists have already found them. So we've got to decide who gets the cards if there aren't enough for all of us."

"I don't mind not going in the finals," said Duke and Ryou simultaneously.

"There are going to be a lot of tough duellists in the finals, and I'm not a brilliant duellist," said Duke.

"And my chances of winning are slim to none," reasoned Ryou. "You guys are much better duellists, you take the cards."

"What about you two?" asked Seto, directing the question at Yami and Yugi. "Technically only one of you should be in the tournament, and both of you can definitely not be in the finals. So which one of you will take the card?" Yugi and Yami glanced at each other. Yami opened his mouth to offer it to Yugi, but Yugi was faster.

"Yami, you take it. You're the King of Games out of the two of us, and you're the one who has won all of the tournaments. So you take it," he demanded. Yami thought about it, opened his mouth to argue, but then thought better of it. He nodded instead.

"Thank you Yugi," he said, smiling.

"How many do we need then?" questioned Mai. Seto, without any hesitation, came up with 4.

"And if dere isn't enough den?" asked Joey.

"We'll duel whoever has them, and win them off them," answered Seto. Everyone nodded. It seemed like a fair enough agreement. The dragons began to flap their wings again, and they took off to find the qualification cards.

Lu: That's it for today. I didn't really like this chapter, and I made it up. I only liked the beginning. Anyway, next chapter will be the end of the qualification rounds. I promise. It was my b'day on the weekend, so as a b'day present, review!