Tea's Time to Shine
Magicman: Okay, back into gear now. Tea finally reaches Pegasus' castle-
Pegasus: Airship! Bah! I keep my finalists in luxury!
Magicman: Where the other contestant are having fun-
Ami: runs by screaming DEMONS!
Magicman: And are eagerly awaiting the start of the finals-
Smokegirl: Eager to lose, are they?
Magicman: -And the plot twist I've been working on. Anyone else? No? Good. Lets begin.
{}{}{}{}
In their wanderings around Duellist Kingdom, Tea and the pharaoh twins had gone quite astray. After Tea's duel with Ami, they turned and headed right for Pegasus' castle. Unfortunately several hills, a field, and a part of the forest zone stood between them and the location of the finals. As a consequence it was quite late by the time they arrived.
Tea looked up at the castle, silhouetted against the waning light. "Just a few hundred stairs to go and we're in guys! Let's go!" She threw herself at the stairs and started to race up them. The boys, somewhat winded from the long run, followed rather more slowly.
"Where on Earth does she get the energy?" Yugi grumbled, half yawning as he stumbled along like a zombie with a leg defect.
Yami grinned. "Come on Yugi. We don't want to let her get too far ahead. They might not let us in without her, and you have to sleep on these cold stone steps."
"At least I'd be asleep" Yugi yawned, but increased his rate of stumbling nonetheless.
They caught up to Tea at the top. The dancer was chatting amicably with Rex Raptor, who was apparently stuck doing guard duty.
"It's not the hours I mind" he confessed to Tea, "It's the fact that I'm stuck out here all day with no one to talk to. This used to be Kimo's job, but he has the flu."
"Who else has arrived already?"
Rex frowned, recollecting the faces. "Mai came in this morning" he said, "And Julia Nesbitt was just after her. Keiko Toshiro and Ishizu Ishtar both arrived at about noon. Akumu Kino came by at one thirty. I remember because I was eating lunch then. And just ten minutes ago Ami Ryuta ran by. Nearly plowed me over." His frown turned puzzled. "She was screaming something like 'the demons re coming'."
Tea took a strand of her hair and twisted it thoughtfully. These were some tough customers. Ami had nearly done her in and Akumu had forced her into a draw. Ishizu had shown her duelling skills in Battle City and Mai was always a nasty opponent no matter what tournament you fought her in. Tea had heard Mai talk about Julia Nesbitt before. Her father had once been the tech expert of Kaiba Corp and she specialised in a vicious machine deck. From what she'd heard about Keiko Toshiro, she was as new to tournament play as Tea was.
But one thing was still bugging Tea. "Hasn't Zev shown up yet?" Rex shook his head emphatically.
"No way. She has a flair for the dramatic and won't show up until it's totally dark. She's saving the last spot for herself and taking out anyone else who comes to the castle."
"Why'd she let me by then?"
Rex shrugged. "Who knows? She creeps me out, that one. Maybe she wants you in the finals."
Tea almost shivered at that when Yugi and Yami finally showed up. Rex sighed. "Alright you guys, go on in. When Zev comes in then I'll join you. Until then enjoy the party."
Rex used a key around his neck to unlock the door. Tea, Yugi and Yami were admitted to the court room of Pegasus' castle.
The room was extremely big. But she had seen it last time. Tea was more interested in the competition. The seven duellists each had brought a person or so and the whole gang was mingling in the hall conversationally. A band in the back corner played requests and a table along the side was loaded with food stuffs. That was all Tea could absorb before Pegasus swept up.
"Ah Tea-girl!" The multi-millionaire grinned happily through his silvery bangs. "Welcome to the finals! I must admit that I've tracked your progress through my tournament with great interest and pleasure."
This surprised Tea somewhat. Pegasus was seriously watching her duels? "Really?"
"Of course! I always keep track of new talent and you are quit new. Please, enjoy yourself here for a while. The first rounds of the finals begin tomorrow." Pegasus seemed about to say something else but he caught sight of Yugi and Yami. His smile turned slightly sinister. "Ah little Yugi and his spiritual friend. Enjoying yourselves?"
Yugi nodded, not answering. Yami looked straight into Pegasus' eyes. "Well enough" he answered coldly. His gaze trailed to the Millennium Eye, hidden behind a lock of hair. Pegasus' grin widened slightly.
"Perhaps one day we could have a rematch" Pegasus said. "I still think I should have won our first duel, but what can you do? Do enjoy yourselves. Mingle and commune. The fun begins tomorrow." With a slight bow, Pegasus strolled off through the room.
Yami glared after him. "I just don't like that man" he muttered. Tea smiled.
"Ah relax and enjoy yourself. When do you get the chance to be pampered by the Bill Gates of cards?" She grabbed his arm and dragged him off. "Come on. You're going to be sociable if I have to make you be sociable."
As Yugi waved goodbye to Yami, he heard someone behind him squeal. "CUBLING!" He was then promptly tackled to the floor by an insanely happy Ami, who proceeded to hug him like a stuffed alligator. His eyes bugged out and his face started turning blue. "Can't...breathe" he gasped.
Fortunately Ami either heard him or decided to let go to pick him up and dance around with him just for fun. "Ami happy! The game is fun, lots of good gamers here! But they're all so suspicious of each other. Ami can't start a conversation without other people staring!"
Regaining his feet, Yugi shook his head woozily. "Are you sure that's because they're all suspicious?"
Ami blinked for a moment then laughed, swinging Yugi around in a circle.
Meanwhile Tea and Yami were making their making their way through the random people to the snack table. Wandering across the island all day took a lot of energy it seemed, and Tea was eager to recharge on something, sugar preferably. "Sorry" she muttered as she brushed against another girl. Then she blinked and looked up and smiled at who she saw. "Mai! How are you girl?"
Mai turned her head and grinned. "Tea! You made it after all!" She caught the younger girl in a headlock and mussed her hair up. "You really did it! You've made it to the best of the girls here. I was sure Crawford or Nesbitt would have taken you out by now, but here you are, alive and kicking!" She waved to Yami while Tea flailed. "How are you doing? This place bringing back some old memories?"
Yami nodded solemnly while Tea yanked her head out from under Mai's arm. "A few, yes. I'm surprised Pegasus doesn't have eliminators running around the island, actually."
"He stopped employing them after his last tournament", a strange girl said as she walked up to the little group with a strangely fluid gait. "I believe they are part of his security details now."
Tea smiled politely and extended a hand. "Tea Gardner."
"Julia Nesbitt." Ignoring Tea's hand, the strange girl walked off.
Tea blinked. "The heck?" she muttered. Mai grinned.
"That's Julia for you" she said. "More like a robot than any person has a right to be. Good duellist though. Creeps me out sometimes."
Tea 'hmm'ed to herself a bit, the competition on her mind. "So seven of the finalists are here already? What about Zev?"
Mai's expression soured with the speed of someone who's just bitten into an overripe lemon. "I was having a nice day until you mentioned her. She'll show up when it's dark out. She thinks it's cool." The blonde rolled her eyes, indicating exactly what she thought.
"What the heck went on between you two?" Yami asked, somewhat incredulously. He had never seen such mutual animosity!
Mai tossed her hair back. "That's between me and the psycho" she said coldly. Clearly the topic was going to change. Not wanting a drink thrown in his face, Yami just shrugged and didn't press the subject.
Fixing her ruffled hair, Tea snagged a glass of punch from a passing waiter. Eyeing it, she casually asked, "So what's this I hear about you and Joey?"
Once again Mai's expression changed, to a mixture of embarrassment and smugness. "Jealous?" she taunted.
"Curious". Tea deflected the verbal arrow with shrug. Taking a sip of her drink, she winked a blue eye at the older girl and smiled. Mai smiled back and cocked an eyebrow at Yami. Yami had no idea what was going on but was getting a little creeped out and excused himself to the bathroom.
The two girls exchanged glances and laughed.
"Something funny?"
Tea knew that voice. Her laughter cut out and her blue eyes turned frosty. Turning, she found herself looking at a certain reincarnated slave who had a grudge against Yami. "Rex Raptor said you'd survived" she said by way of greeting. "I guess I'll have to beat you myself."
Akumu shrugged, the shoulders of her dark cloak lifting slightly. "You might, but you probably won't. What makes you think we'll even be matched in the finals?"
"Call it an intuition."
"There is that. Of course, I've made certain modifications to my deck." Akumu leaned against the snack table and allowed a slow smile to spread across her face. With a certain smugness saturating her smile, she continued. "Have you changed your deck around? I thought not. Now I know what you have and you don't know what I do."
Tea rolled her eyes and glanced over at Mai. "It's sad, isn't it, how some people enjoy the bluster so much. It's a sign of no real skill."
Mai laughed scornfully. "Boy Akumu, I always thought you preferred the duel to the taunting!"
Akumu casually flipped Mai the finger. "Butt out Valentine, this is personal" she casually told the blonde girl. "Get in my way and I'll take care of you too."
"Do you enjoy insulting my friends or are you just bored?" Tea demanded.
"Use that intuition of yours. And in the meantime, prepare. You've already lost." Akumu bowed ironically. "You just don't know it yet, but if you think you can stand against a five thousand year old grudge then be my guest. It's just one more point against Yami." She turned and stalked away with a mocking flip of her wrist.
Tea seethed. "I don't like her" she growled.
Mai looked over, somewhat amused. "What'd you do to tick off Akumu Kino? She never hangs around one place long enough for people to bug her."
Tea turned her glare to Mai. "That's entirely between me and Akumu, isn't it?"
Mai looked innocent. Tea was about to snap at her again when a Brooklyn accent rang out. "Sweet! Brownies! Hi girls."
Mai sighed gustily and watched her boyfriend guzzle chocolate with a kind of annoyed fondness. "It's reassuring to know that I take second place to food" she said, sounding only slightly sarcastic. "I wouldn't want to think that there's something wrong in the world."
Joey swallowed and smiled. "You can't ignore your body's needs Mai-mai. You know I love you."
Mai rolled her eyes and hugged him. "You're lucky I understand the way you think, you big lug." Joey hugged her back, a smug grin on his face.
Tea blinked a couple of times. "'Mai-mai?' Um, right. I'm going to go talk to Serenity."
This time it was Joey's turn to roll his eyes. "She's probably hanging with Rex Raptor. She thinks he's 'cute'. He is not." The last part was grumbled under his breath and obviously not meant to be heard, so Tea did the polite thing and ignored it.
It turned out that Serenity WAS standing by the castle doors, making cute eyes at Rex Raptor, who was enjoying the whole thing. At the time of Tea's arrival, he was telling her why he loved dinosaurs.
"I think it dates back to my first trip to a museum" he explained learnedly. "I was three at the time, and I was in preschool. The teacher had decided to take us to the museum so she could make it look like she was teaching us something without actually doing any work." Rex made a face. "I just hate people who try to duck their responsibilities."
Serenity nodded. "Yeah! If you're supposed to do something then just do it. Trying to avoid it just makes you look like an ass."
Rex nodded. "Anyway, while I was checking out the museum I was in the dinosaur wing and some bully had been following me. I guess he wanted my milk money or something. The creep was about to hurt me when, I swear this is true, something big grabbed him and lifted him right over my head! He screamed, but by then I fainted, and when I woke up I was alone in the dinosaur wing."
A newly arrived Tea shared Serenity's skepticism. "Are you sure?" she asked. "Maybe a security guard or someone caught him and dragged him off."
Rex's expression turned solemn. "It couldn't have been a security guard. The kid's half-eaten corpse was lying next to me when I woke up."
"Say what?!"
"Are you serious?!"
Rex let the silence linger for a moment before releasing a snicker. "No, I'm just fooling with you. I woke up when the teacher found me lying on the floor. But I never did see that bully again. Since then dinosaurs were a lot cooler to me."
Tea, whose spine had been twitching at the story, scowled. "You were saved as a child by a dinosaur?"
"Cool!" Tea turned her scowl on Serenity, and then sighed at the look on her friend's face. It was that of a girl who had fallen hard. 'Girls' she thought ironically. 'Go figure.'
"So", said Tea, eager to turn the conversation away from dinosaurs and their probable existence in this day and age, "How did you get this job anyway? Last I saw, you were duelling in Pagasus' last tournament."
Serenity decided to field that question. "Rex got sick of the fame and asked Pegasus for a job."
Rex nodded, smiling at Serenity. "Not a lot of reporters make it to the island. Croquet sees to that."
"How?"
The dinosaur duellist pointed to the coastal cliffs. "Croquet is in charge of the island defences. He's got mortars and shells posted all along the cliffs. You have to be pretty lucky to fly or sail through that stuff. Why, once I even saw him blow up a passenger liner for getting too close!"
"The heck?!" Tea turned swiftly and stared at the middle-aged man standing in a corner of the ball, talking on a cell phone. Then her eyes narrowed and she glared at Rex. "You're joking again, aren't you?"
Rex's serious expression held up until Serenity poked him in the ribs. He twisted away jerkily. "Careful! I'm ticklish there." At Serenity's sudden grin, he covered his mouth hurriedly. But it was far too late. The younger girl had jumped on him and began tickling his ribs with an unholy light in her eyes.
"Confess!" she cackled as she reduced Rex to a giggling mess with her powers of tickling. "You were joking about the mortars, weren't you?"
"Sere" Rex laughed, barely able to get two syllables out. "Can't breathe... Stop...tickling..."
"Confess!"
"Agh!" Rex gasped. "Can't...breathe!"
Tea was getting really freaked out now. "And I thought Mai and Joey were bad", she muttered as Rex finally relented and confessed that he had made up the part about shooting down approaching ships, tears streaming down his face. Finally the tough little guy collapsed on the ground and just laughed while Serenity hugged him. The younger girl looked up at Tea, grinning.
"Isn't he so cute?" she asked sweetly, fiddling with his unruly black hair. Rex regained breath enough to mutter, "I gotta ask Pegasus for a transfer. This job is too dangerous."
Tea rolled her eyes as Serenity giggled. "Are you aware of how insane you sound?" She tossed her hands up in exasperation at the younger girl's nod. "I give up! I'm going back inside before whatever's got you two gets me. Yeesh! I hope I don't ever act like that." Tea muttered the last part as she stalked back inside. She would have thought more, but the lights suddenly went out.
Typical girly girls would probably have screamed in terror or clung to someone, but these weren't ordinary girls. Ami did shriek out 'Demons!' but that probably had nothing to do with the actual dark. Instead, they simply muttered amongst themselves. "Hey!" one of them yelled out. It sounded like Akki. "Someone hit the lights, will ya?"
"Nobody panic" Pegasus' voice sounded out. "We're just experiencing a little technical difficulty. Remain calm. We'll get the power turned back on in a mere moment."
By the door, Tea thought she saw something but knew she couldn't have. Three ghostly figures had flitted through the darkness and into the room. Wraiths and ghosts weren't real, she knew that. Or she thought she did. But she was pretty sure that Pegasus would have said or done something by now. His Millennium Eye would let him read their minds. But if they weren't ghosts, then what were they?
Recognition slammed into Tea half a heartbeat before a dainty snort from Mai's location reached her ears. "Nice try Crawford" the blond snapped. "Having fun?"
"Very much so!" Tea ground her teeth at Zev's bone chilling laugh. The lights flicked back on, revealing the self-proclaimed Dark Destroyer standing in the middle of the room, grinning like a demon who'd just destroyed several elven villages in an orgy of blood, guts, and death in general.
Now that she thought of it, Tea wasn't surprised Zev would try this. This was just like the time she scared the bejeezus out of her at the campfire.
What was surprising was that she had company. A gleeful looking Bakura and a harassed looking Ryou were accompanying Zev. The female Darth Vader waved to the crowd, participants or otherwise.
"Hello girls! Nice to see you all! Don't mind me. Just continue doing what you were doing. DO IT! That's better." The status quo restored, Zev and her entourage walked about the room, chatting at the other duellists in passing. "Looking good Julia. Ishizu! Any new prophecies recently? Still kicking around Akumu? How've you been Mai-mai? This your new boyfriend?"
Mai grinned oddly. She answered Zev's question with a flippant answer, knowing her. But unlike Zev she kept her voice down. The other girl didn't like the answer. She glared at Joey hatefully. The blonde just snaked an arm around and said something carelessly.
Even from across the room, Tea could see Zev's eyes blaze with unholy fire and she flinched. Even Bakura stepped back a bit. Joey's eyes widened but he didn't have time to do anything else. Zev was on him in an instant, an unearthly shriek tearing from her throat. Bakura and Ryou jumped on her back, forcing her down, but not before she'd torn open Joey's face with her nails.
Tea found herself running to the scene, along with Yugi and Yami. Most of the other girls stayed away; THEY knew better than to get involved with one of Zev's tantrums. By the time she got there, she was furious and Zev had calmed down. "What the fucking Hell is wrong with you?!" she screamed at the grey-haired girl.
Zev smiled pleasantly. "It's good to see you again too, Tea. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm quite famished. Bakura, Ryou, we're going to the dining room."
Bakura nodded and grinned a 'She is SO better than your girlfriend' at Yami before following her. Ryou heaved a sigh from the tips of his toes. "Sorry about that, mates" he apologised. "It was good to see you again though." Then he scurried after her too.
Silence reigned in the courtroom for several seconds, during which Mai tended to Joey's face. Then Pegasus smiled brightly. "Well my friends, if you'll just follow my niece then we can all sit down for supper."
{}{}{}
Joey: MY FACE! MY VALUABLE FACE!
Magicman: Uh huh. Well, this chapter's up. So sorry for the wait.
