Tea's Time to Shine

Magicman: A reviewer (Azurite) asked some good questions about the history of this story. So, I'm going to spend the first part of this chapter answering them. Hopefully those answers will be satisfactory. First of all, it is my unshakeable belief that Pegasus is not dead. After Bakura stole his eye, he was hurt badly (I think he was in a coma) but they never actually said he died. Besides, if he had died who gave Yugi the Ties of Friendship card and who sent Duke Devlin that contract? I'm positive that it was Pegasus.

Pegasus: They were very unclear on the point of my disappearance.

Magicman: Second, Shadi separated the Yami's and the hikaris and gave them their own bodies, but they are still 5000-year-old spirits. Those spirits are infused in their light sides' Millennium Items so it makes sense to me that they would be able to go back in them. They still require the Items to exist, but now that they have their bodies back they will age normally.

Bakura: You mean I'm going to die???

Smokegirl: Not if I can help it! *Glomps Bakura*

Magicman: Finally, I'm not sure what you mean by not everyone getting their items back. Pegasus gets his, Yugi and Ryou keep theirs, Ishizu gets her necklace back, and Marik (he will appear eventually) gets his rod. Shadi still gets his two. So I hope that was helpful. Now on with the story! By the way, now is where I introduce the first character that reviewers sent me.

***

"Hey there! Wait up for me!"

Hearing the voice behind her, Tea turned in puzzlement. She, Yugi and Yami had all been walking from Pegasus' castle for about ten minutes. Mai and the Wheelers had taken off toward the mountainous zone and heaven alone knew what happened to Ryou and Bakura. After the opening match, the other duellists had scattered to the four corners of the island.

Except for one, apparently. A girl with a long brown ponytail was racing after the trio, waving her arms and yelling enthusiastically. "Hold on! I wanted to talk to you!"

That was as far as she got before she tripped over a jutting rock and went flying head over heels. Her backpack spilled all manner of contents out onto the field and she hit the dirt face first.

Surprised, Tea ran over to the girl who managed to get to her knees. "Jeez, are you alright?"

The girl looked up at Tea and smiled. "Oh I'm fine," she said cheerfully. "I'm sure I've been through worse." She paused to spit out some turf.

While she was recovering, Yugi and Yami busily gathered up her stuff and put them back in her backpack. Yami handed it to her when she regained her breath. She started to thank him before starting. Then she smiled up at him. "I know you!" she said a little breathlessly. "Remember me from the castle?"

Yami studied her. "Hey, didn't I bump into you?"

"Yep! I'm Akki. It's nice to meet you Yami Mutoh, the King of Games!"

Yugi snickered behind Yami's back as he sweat dropped. "I must admit that I feel slightly at a disadvantage."

Akki's smiled grew even wider. "Oh I'm a big fan! I've checked out all your stats and it's a real honour to finally meet you! Can I shake your hand?"

Yugi snickered even more as Akki pumped Yami's arm vigorously. Tea eyed her with a little jealousy. "So" she interrupted the excited girl, "What brings you over to this part of the island?"

Akki adjusted her square rimmed glasses as she regarded Tea. "As you could probably guess, I am also a duellist." She showed off her glove with two star chips. "So I want to duel, naturally. Besides, I saw your match with Mai Valentine. I want to see how good you are."

Tea smiled. "They say that curiosity killed the cat."

"They sure do" Akki said cheerfully.

Tea's smile turned into a grin. There was something about Akki that you couldn't help but like. "Alright Akki. I accept your challenge. It's time to duel."

No sooner had the words left Tea's mouth than another holo-duel arena rose up from the ground. Akki smiled at her opponent. "I'll just meet you on the playing field." She turned and started to run for her platform and promptly tripped over the rock again. "Ow!"

When both duellists were ensconced in their sides of the arena, they addressed the matter of the wager.

"Is one chip fine with you?" Akki said. "I try to be cautious in these big tournaments."

"Fair enough" Tea answered. "One chip it is." She removed one from her glove and set it down on the board in front of her.

"Go get her Tea!" Yugi encouraged from the sidelines.

"Don't worry Yugi!" Tea smiled at her diminutive friend. "It's in the bag!"

"Now, if that display of affection is finished, lets get down to business." Akki reached into her pocket and pulled out a quarter. "Coin toss!" she shouted jubilantly. She chucked it high into the air, yelling out "Heads!" Unfortunately, when she jumped to grab it, she missed and it fell a good twenty feet to the ground. Silence reigned for a moment as the coin bounced once. Akki turned red with embarrassment.

Yami saved her from any further situations by hurrying to where the coin had fallen and checking its status. "Heads" he reported.

"Yay!" Akki cheered. "I go first!"

Tea gestured. "Then be my guest."

"Alrighty then!" She performed a dorky little dance move nearly sending her off the edge of her platform. When she regained her balance, she smiled. "I'll play one monster in defence mode and one card face down. Your turn!"

Tea nodded and analysed Akki's field. She looked down at her hand and chewed her lip thoughtfully. "I guess I'll draw." She did so and smiled slightly. "I'll play a monster face down-"

She broke off as her Giant Germ was suddenly dragged into a vortex. "What happened?"

"You activated my Acid Trap Hole! It destroys your face down monster, if it has 2000 or less defence points. Yay!"

Tea shook her head. "Well that wasn't a good start. I'll finish with two cards face down."

"Okay!" Akki drew her next card and examined it. "Excellent! I'll play Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (1800/1500) in attack mode."

A masked man appeared on the field with a flash, his hands radiating with some strange energy. Suddenly there was a shudder on the field and Akki's facedown monster was forced into face up defence. Akki was understandably upset.

"What happened? I didn't flip my Vindictive Old Magician (450/600) yet!"

"Maybe not, but I did!" Tea showed her Ceasefire trap. "It flips all facedown monsters and deals 500 damage to my opponent for each effect monster on the field. That means you take 1000 damage."

Akki winced as her life points were cut in half. "Ouch! That wasn't fun! Okay then, I'll just attack you-"

"That won't be necessary." Tea flipped her Wobaku trap. "Are you done?"

Akki sighed. "Yeah."

"Okay then." She drew and analysed her hand. "I'll defend with the Banisher of the Light (100/2000)."

The imposing fairy stood tall upon the field, defending Tea's lifepoints.

"Now" Tea said, "I'll set one card and end my turn."

The next three turns were uneventful as neither player made a move. Akki didn't find any monsters strong enough to destroy Tea's Banisher, and Tea was formulating a plan.

When Akki drew her next card, she beamed. "Alright! A way to break through your defence! Meet my Cosmo Queen (2900/2400), the strongest monster in my deck!"

The holographic sky darkened and Akki's Cosmo Queen slowly materialised, as though transporting herself into the arena. Her gleaming robes shimmered in the early afternoon light. Tea stared in awe at the card. "Wow" she murmured. "She's beautiful."

Akki smiled. "Thank you! She's also strong enough to destroy your pesky fairy."

"Yep" Tea said cheerfully. "But that won't matter if she can't attack."

"Huh?"

"My Book of Moon magic card will flip her facedown. Now you can't break through my defence for another turn!"

Akki was looking extremely irritated. She slapped down a card and ended her turn.

Yugi sidled over to Yami as Tea considered her move. "She can win, can't she? She's been dominating this duel."

Yami eyed Akki suspiciously. "She may have the lead, but every card drawn changes the tide of the duel. Something may happen."

"I'll play Dark Hole and clear the field of both of our monsters."

Every monster on the field was suddenly sucked into a swirling abyss. Yami shielded his face from the blazing wind that was trying to blow his eyelids shut. Squinting, he peered through the wind and saw a form suddenly rise from the graveyard. His eyes narrowed, then suddenly burst open wide, despite the wind. "It can't be!"

When the devouring storm dissipated the Cosmo Queen was left standing. Tea's jaw dropped in shock. "What the-"

"My Call of the Haunted brought her back! Wheee!" Akki spun around for joy, nearly sending herself off the platform again. "We're seeing a comeback in the making!"

Still in shock, Tea played her Fire Princess (1300/1500) in defence mode. "Your move."

"Yay! I've got another plan! I play the Dark Designator to send a card from your deck to your hand! And I know just what card I want in your hand. Fairy Meteor Crush!" Akki laughed joyfully at Tea's stunned expression. She had watched the duel with Mai; she knew what Tea had in her deck. "Now I'll activate Exchange, so we each get a card from each other's hand, and I want that magic card. I'll equip Fairy Meteor Crush to Cosmo Queen and destroy your Fire Princess, putting a very serious hurt on your lifepoints. Attack with Galaxy blast!"

Cosmo Queen put her hands together and aimed right at the Fire Princess. There was no contest and the blast rocked the arena. Tea clung to her duel board as the platform threatened to spill HER over the side. When it was over, she watched helplessly as her lifepoints dropped steadily to a measly 600.

"Okay, Now I'm done. You can go now."

Tea paused to take a breath. "You know" she said aloud to Akki, "This is usually the part where I'd be encouraging my friends when they're in a big duel. Some ironic twist, huh?"

Akki just kind of looked at her. Then she adjusted her glasses. "I, uh, don't get it."

Tea waved a hand. "Never mind."

"You can take her Tea! You've got cards that can overcome her Cosmo Queen and finish her off" Yami was cheering. "You've seen it happen, now come back from the edge to win!"

Tea looked down at Yami and smiled. "Thanks" was all she said, but it made his cheeks flare up red. Yugi snickered again and Yami made a note to steal his socks.

"Okay" Tea said, returning to the duel. "Where were we? Oh yeah! I was about to draw." Tea drew and looked at her card. Then she looked at it again to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. It was the one card in her deck that would let her win. "I've got to hand it to you Akki, you're good but I've got you now."

Akki looked intently at the card Tea had just drawn, as if she could see through it. "You've got nothing."

"I've got exactly what I need. My Amazoness Swordswoman (1500/1600)!"

The woman appeared on the field. She watched the Cosmo Queen calmly, her drawn sword in front of her. She was strong, but next to the spellcaster she was nothing.

Akki stared. "What the heck are you talking about? That card is way to weak to threaten my Cosmo Queen. What could you possibly be thinking playing her? Unless..." Now Akki's stare contained some alarm. "Unless there's some ability to that card I don't know about!"

"Correct! If Amazonnes Swordswoman, the damage that would normally go to my lifepoints go to yours! And so, attack that Cosmo Queen, Amazoness Swordswoman!" Tea watched as her monster sprang to the attack and was smacked down contemptuously by the Cosmo Queen. Still, the life points were subtracted from Akki's already depleted supply and the holograms all disappeared. The spellcaster was the last to go, and she had the most priceless stunned expression on her face.

Yugi cheered ecstatically. "And it's Tea by a nose! The crowd goes wild! Just watch that crazy fan dance!" He started to moonwalk around, causing everyone to sweatdrop.

When they hopped down off the platform, Akki handed Tea her chip. Beaming, she congratulated her. "That was a good duel Tea! I guess I can see how you beat Mai!"

"You're good too. We should duel again sometime." Tea would have said more, but her stomach growled loudly. The other three laughed while she blushed. "Well, Yugi said it best but this duelling really takes it out of you."

Akki beamed again. "No problem! Since last Duellist Kingdom tournament, Mr. Pegasus had some food stands installed. They're all over the place!"

"Well it's better than Tristan's outdoor survival guide" Yami said. This drew a laugh from the gang. "Shall we go?"

With cheers, the group headed off to find a concession stand. As they went, Tea slipped her arm in Yami's. He didn't put her away.

***

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island Ishizu had just won her fifth star chip. Unruffled by her opponent's cursing, the Egyptian woman calmly stepped down from her platform and rejoined her grumbling brother at the edge of the forest clearing, her long dress flowing along behind her.

"I still don't see why you wanted to drag me along to this farce" Marik grumbled. "I could be back home with my Rare Hunters, watching TV!"

Ishizu gave a small sigh. "Marik, I don't know exactly what my necklace showed me, but I do know that something is going to happen in the Duellist Kingdom finals. Something dark and dangerous. I need to be there to learn what it is, and stop it if I can." She glared at her brother. "You're here because I don't trust you alone in the house."

Marik grumbled further but didn't answer. He just followed his sister into the forest, leaving the poor girl behind to gather her scattered deck.

***

Magicman: Ah yes. The slow process of the plot unfolding. It does me great joy.

Joey: You're one sick puppy, you know that?

Magicman: Yep.

Pegasus: What are you going to do to my tournament?! I don't need evil forces taking over!

Tea: Nuts to the tournament, I want to know which one of them likes me more!

Yami&Yugi: Yeah!

Magicman: All in good time! For now, just go back to doing whatever it is you do.

All: Okay. *All start doing random things*

Magicman: Until next time, colleagues.

NOTE: I re-uploaded this chapter because I saw a mistake in the duel. Please accept my apologies for this outrageous crime.