"No matter how well you plan, someone is always better at it."

-Geno Roads

The Morning After

Kelli rolled over, and grumbled as the light slowly bleed into the room from the blinds. She covered her head with the blanket and frowned, shifting. What is wrong with my pajamas? Why are they so constricting? She shifted around, trying to breath normal. Darn it, grandpa must have shrunk them in the wash!

Because Yugi and Rebecca had taken over at the card shop, that left her great grandfather with little to do. He had sat around the TV a lot, till Yugi finally demanded that he do some chores. After mumbling something about him being the "Sophia of the household", he had decided to simply do the laundry.

It had been…interesting.

Kelli knew there were boxes of pink bras and underwear, shrunk t-shirts and blue jeans that were now pure white. After about 50 failed attempts, she had thought her great grandfather had figured out how to operate that crazy machine called a "washing machine", but now…

"GRRR!"

She growled, clawing at her clothing, her hands finding the zipper. She breathed with relief as she unzipped, her belly freed from the tight dress.

Wait a minute… Kelli thought suddenly. Dress?

she opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling, her posters no longer there. She glanced over at the computer, a massive processing unit. "My computer evolved…"

She leapt up, looking around rapidly at a room she had never been in, a bed she had only just now slept in, and the dress she had been wearing alst night. She began to breath hard, trying to figure out what had happened. She remembered what had happened last night, the dinner, the ride, falling asleep on Owen's….

"OWEN!"

The door flew opena dn Owen burst in, wearing only a pair of jeans, his bare chest at her eye level. He walked up to her and gently rested his hands on her shoulders. "Kelli, wat is wrong?" he paused, and she merely breathed, her eyes glued to his rock hard pecs. "Kelli!"

"Huh?" Kelli asked, blining, tearing her eyes from his body. "Oh…where are we?"

"An apartment I own."

"You own an apartment in Domino?"

"I own an apartment building." He shrugged. "A gift from mom and dad for graduation." He ignored the look from Kelli, and went over to grab a shirt, pullign it on. "You going o get dressed or not?"

"My parents…" kelli said, a little pale.

"Sir." Owen turned to the bulter that had just entered. "I just called Mr. and Mrs. Moto, posing as a Hotel Desk, as you ask me too. Is that all, or is there any other lies you wish me to be involved in?"

Owen rolled his eyes and dismissed the man, then grabbed a bag slung over a chair. "Here, I had the maid go buy some clothing, I think they are your style..I know their your size. Your dress is being dry cleaned, I left the stub in yoru purse." He paused and looked over at her. "Pancakes or waffles?"

"Waffles…Owen…how did you..in such…"

Owen shrugged. "I don't sleep." Kelli looked at him and Owen didn't even smile, just looked at her straight. Kelli looked away, not wanting to find out if he was telling the truth. " When we got in, I had some of my staff begin working on a plan to explain all this. Right now, your parents, as well as the world, believe you are staying at one of the finest hotels in Domino. While that is true, they believe it is the Hilton, while youa re really at the Hotel Owen." He flashed a grin and looked in the mirror.

"You'll excuse me for being a little flustered here Owen…I'm just not use to waking up in a man's bed with him asking me what's for breakfast."

"You make it sound so filthy!" Owen said, putting on mock shock. He smiled again and walked over to her, kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry about all this. I ahd hoped to have this all done with before you waked up, but it seems you don't sleep heavy."

Kelli nodded, pulling the blankets around her. "Owen…uh…thanks for all this,but could you…"

"Get the hell out?"

"Ya." Kelli said, smiling gently. Owen nodded, and she let out a sign of relief. "Listen, it's nothing to do with you…"

"Yes it is. Neither of us is ready, nor do we want to be." Owen replied. "I wouldn't stay, evne if you wanted me too. We need to take this slow, not rush into something that could be harmful to both of us."

Kelli nodded. "Thank you owen." He smiled, and left, leaving Kelli to herself. She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, whistling as she took in the bathroom that was bigger then her parent's living room and dining room combined, filled with black marble, a massive jet Jacuzzi tub, a beautiful shower and soft music playing. She picke dup a card setting on the sink counter:

This room is tailored to meet any need you have. If you need anything, say it out loud. Want the lights a different color? Music? A tv? Food? Ask away.-The Staff at Hotel Owen

Kelli laughed. "I could get use to this."

"The following match will be between Kenji Kaiba and Curt Parker. There will be no time limit."

Kenji nodded and glanced at the figure in front of him. Curt Parker was part of a dueling team called The AV Club. While it would sound like something totally out of synch with duel monsters…that was the whole point. Curt's whole team weren't interested in winning tournaments. Infact, they never really did. They would sometimes get into the semi finals, but most of the time, their decks wouldn't even win once.

That wasn't the point.

The AV Club was all about having fun. They made decks that were totally out there and that had effects no one had ever seen. They were about putting on a show, and for Kenji, he didn't see anything wrong with that. It wasn't like they lost on purpose. They just followed their own beat.

Kenji had almost joined, before Owen had convinced him he could gather the Red Eyes more fame through The Bandits.

"Hello Kenji, long time no see."

Kenji nodded as he activated his disk. "Curt…how are things?"

Curt smiled. "Oh, I am just looking forward to some afternoon delight, if you know what I mean." He drew. "infact, I think I wills tart with something…vanilla. First, I willset this card, and then activate Two Man Cell Battle. This card will allow each of us to summon one extra level 4 normal monster each turn. Next, I will summon Mad Dog of Darkness!"

The crowd gasped as the twisted howl echoed in the arena, the demonic dog racing on the field, snarling at Kenji. Curt smiled as the Cell Battle card flashed, and he ended his turn, summoning Great Angus, the great red beast bursting form the earth, roaring as it glared at Kenji.

"I'm so scared." Kenji said, his voice taking on that dark tone his father's did. "I summon Spear Dragon to the field, and then activate Stamping destruction!"

Spear Dragon let out a cry, flying in low and grabbing the Two Man Cell Battle. It flew aroudnt eh filed, and then droppedthe card right on Curt, it shattering.

"And now, attack Great Angus!" The dragon then flew back from it's route to Kenji, slamming into the red beast, shattering it. (Curt-5400)

Curt merely smiled, looking at the crowd. "Nice aerial show Kenji…but these people would prefer a bit more fighting. I will start by summoning Nin-Ken Dog." On curt's side of the field, a robed dog leapt from the clouds, landing in front of the now defense position Spear Dragon. It removed it's sword and spun it. "People love the ninja movies…attack!"

The dog leapt up, running across the wall of the stadium, then flipped off, landing on the dragon's back. It let out a wail, only for it to get the sword plunged into it's beak, Nin Ken leaping away before the monster shattered.

"And now, it's time for a monster movie…Mad Dog?" The demonic beast raced forward, fangs dripping, but Kenji merely smirked.

"mmmm…I know how to dela with bad dogs…you chain them up. Reveal Shadow Spell!" Curt watched on as the chains flew out from behind Kenji, wrapping around Mad Dog. The monster let out a howled as it was pulled to the ground, wrapped in place. Kenji smiled and nodded. "Sorry, did the movie end already?"

"Nice move Kenji, but this game is only beginning."

Kenji nodded. "But which beginning?" he drew his next card. I will set this monster and end my turn."

Kelli smiled as she ran a towel through her hair, glancing around at the made up room. While she was in the shower, it seemed as if the maid had been through, cleaning up.

Her shower had made things seem a lot better then they had when she had first woken up. She was less shaken up, and felt calmer about the entire situation. Wel…as calm as she could with a man smart enough to send servants to lie to her family about where she was.

"Madam…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Kelli screamed, jumping back.

The bulter didn't even loss step, merely moving to open up the shades. "Master Owen requests that madam,if she is done showering and screaming in the help's face, would come and join him for some breakfast.

Kelli frowned. "As good as breakfast sounds, we both need to be getting to the arena. If they call our names out and we aren't there,w e loss the dueland our opponents get an instant 100. If I want to get in the finals, I can't afford not to have even 20 points."

The bulter sighed. "Perhaps madam should think more of Master Owen." With that, he marched over to the nightstand and clicked a few buttons, activating one of the TV screens in the room. Kelli watches as it lite up, and the scene began to play out.

On the screen, Curt smiled. "Time to see who si the star and who's the second banana. I will summon Sea Serpent of Darkness." The dark sea serpent appeared, spinning it's double ended ax. "Now, attack the down face monster….wait…no." Curt paused, and smiled, "First, I will activate Skill Drain!" Kenji's eyes went wide as the trap appeared, Curt's lp descreasing. "And now…attack Sea Serpent!"

The monster nodded, slashing the down face card. Kenji frowned as his Masked Dragon shattered, the trap card forcing it's effect to go unactivated. Curt nodded, and Kenji grunted as Nin Ken threw a ninja star at him, striking him in the gut. (Kenji- 4200, Curt-4400)

The butler shut it off right there.

"Wait…Owen has live feed to the duelist arena?"

The butler nodded. "Yes madam. Mistress Raia is Seto Kaiba's brother, and a head excutive in all things Kaiba Corp, so they are allowed perks. More so, who is Master Owen's father?"

Kelli sighed as it all hit her smack in the face. "Guy Roads, the current CEO of Roads INC, which would naturally have a contract to be the official communications company for duel monsters and Kaiba Corp. And since daddy is in charge, it wouldn't be hard to pull; a few strings and get this set up."

"Madam blinds me with her intelligence."

Kenji stod up and looked at his card. "time to finish this game. First, to get rid of yoru trap card, I will summon Troop Dragon, and then activate Stamping Destruction." Curt watched as the army of little winged dragons stormed the field, shattering his Skill Drain in he process. The three little monsters all blinked, watching him. "End my turn."

"I will enjoy destroying your dragons Kenji. Nin Ken, give the people a show worth the enterance fee!" The dog nodded, and disappeared, only to reappear behind one of the troop dragons, shattering it. The second stepped forward, raising it's spear as it went into defense. "and now, Sea Serpent?" The second normal monster swung his weapon, shattering the second member of the party, the third, bow wielding dragon appeared in defense. Curt smiled. "Ladies and gentlmen, the magic of Kenji Kaiba. Able to make one monster three!" the crowd clapped. (Kenji-3100)

Kenji smiled at Curt as he drew. "You know, you're right Curt…it's time for these people to see a show. And you know what?" Kenji leaned in. "I'm the man to do it."