Chapter 6

The boat ride to Kaiba Corp. Island was a long one. The captain of the ship announced that the trip would take six hours. That meant it would be almost 10 P.M. when the ferry would pull into port.

Illidan didn't mind the wait usually, but still he hated to ride a boat for that long. Also, he wanted to hurry up and get to the island so he could get dueling. According to the tournament description, the Tournament of Power would last at least 2 weeks. That was ok with Illidan, seeing how the one person he longed to see was with him. Two weeks of intense dueling would be fun to him, not to mention he'd be able to see Marie daily still.

Well, it would have been more fun to him if not for the words that Shadi had spoken to him the night before. While waiting for the boat to arrive at the island, Illidan decided that Marie and he might as well meet some of the competition on the boat.

Hand in hand, Illidan and Marie walked hand into the main room of the ship. There, they saw several duelists that were famous through out the world.

First they saw Bandit Keith, the Intercontinental Champion. He had blonde hair that looked like it was in a pony tail and wore dark sunglasses, even though it was dark out, and an American flag bandanna. He'd been in Duelist Kingdom, but lost in the semi-finals to Joey Wheeler.

In the corner alone with his younger brother was Seto Kaiba. Seto had hardened dark blue eyes and brown bottom neck length hair. He wore a white trench coat with what looked like black leather pants and a black shirt underneath. Seto Kaiba was the current World Champion. Even though he'd lost to Yugi Moto in Battle City, Seto was still given that title. Seto was to duel in Duelist Kingdom, but backed out. In Battle City, Seto made it to the semi-finals, only to lose to Yugi. He was also rumored too that he had as well once owned one of the Egyptian God Cards. His card was said to be terribly powerful, but not as powerful as Marik's Egyptian God Card.

Then a group of people caught Illidan's eye. The first he identified was a duelist named Noa Kaiba, whom was mostly listening to the group and smiling. He seemed to be wearing a cream colored suit that had purple tracing around the middle of his shirt to the sleeves and his collar. Also, he had an odd green color to his bottom neck length hair and sad violet eyes. It was rumored that he had been dead, but he guessed not. Reason he wasn't sure was there had been a piece in the paper several years before on the death of a young man named Noa Kaiba, but that made little sense that he'd be alive and in a tournament.

Next one in the group that Illidan identified was Bakura Ryou. He had whitish-silver hair that was about shoulder length and what looked like sad, but deep brown eyes. Also, he wore a blue and white striped shirt with gray pants and tennis shoes. He was in the Battle City Tournament as well, but fell short in the quarter finals against Yugi Moto. Illidan had a strange feeling about Bakura also. It seemed like he could sense that Bakura had some kind of evil radiating from his body, but Illidan wasn't sure why it felt like that. He only could guess that maybe Bakura was just bad to the bone, or it could be he was getting sea sick.

The next person he recognized was Marik Ishtar, who was talking to Bakura. He had blonde hair that was bottom neck length and had piercing blue eyes, plus tan skin. He wore a white sleeveless shirt and had on a pair of tan khakis with black boots. He had made it all the way to the finals in Battle City, but was beaten by Yugi Moto. Illidan had heard rumors that Marik used a Millennium Item called the Millennium Rod. Those rumors also said that he'd used it for evil, but now was using it for good. The final rumor Illidan had heard about Marik was he had once owned one of three Egyptian God Cards. It was also rumored that his card was the most powerful of the three.

Illidan then recognized Mai Valentine. She was wearing a purple skirt and purple jacket with what looked like a white t-shirt underneath. Also, she wore purple gloves and purple high-heel boots. She had violet eyes and sandy blonde mid-back length hair. She also was in the Duelist Kingdom Tournament, but like Keith, lost in the semi-finals to Yugi Moto. She also participated in the Battle City Tournament, but again fell short in the tournament. She was defeated in the quarter finals by Marik Ishtar. From what Illidan had heard, when she lost, she was sent to what people called the Shadow Realm, which Illidan now knew all about.

He then identified Joey Wheeler, who was standing next to Mai. Joey had sandy blonde hair that seemed to go to the bottom of his neck, and he had brown eyes. He wore a white t-shirt with blue sleeves and a blue square in the middle. Also, he had on blue-jeans and regular tennis shoes. Illidan had heard that Joey was a good friend of Yugi Moto's. Also, Joey had dueled his way to the finals in Duelist Kingdom, only to be beaten by Yugi. Then in Battle City, Joey had reached the semi-finals, but lost to Marik. Joey was expected to be one of the tougher duelists in this tournament, and possibly one that could go all the way to the top.

Finally, Illidan saw Yugi Moto standing next to Joey. Yugi wore what looked like a school uniform almost. It was a blue jacket and he had on blue pants, but he had on a black t-shirt underneath his jacket. As well, he wore black boots and an odd thick belt. His hair was the true oddity though. He had spikes that had a pinkish-violet edge, with a black inner part, and then blonde bangs. His eyes were violet colored and seemed so full of innocence. Finally, and if not most noticeably other than Yugi's hair was an upside down pyramid that hung from a thick chain. It looked almost like it had cracks in it, but on closer examination, you could tell it was a puzzle. Yugi was said to be the best duelist in the world. He had won the Duelist Kingdom tournament, and then won the Battle City tournament. Finally, he was said to own all three Egyptian God Card's as well. Also, there a rumor that Yugi had won all three during the Battle City tournament. All Illidan knew though was he had to beat all three in order to win the tournament.

The last thing that truly caught Illidan's attention about Yugi was the golden upside down pyramid puzzle that hung from that thick chain. "It's the same upside down pyramid I saw last night in my vision! Could it be that he is the one that has the pharaoh's spirit?"

Illidan then heard Marie interrupt his thoughts with "Let's go talk to some of those people Illidan."

Shaking himself of his thoughts, he smiled and said "Alright Marie, let's go."

Slowly, the two of them walked on over to talk to the group that was surrounding Joey and Yugi. There was a girl with brown shoulder length hair and blue eyes, and she looked like she was about Joey and Yugi's age. Also, there was a guy that was taller and older looking than Joey that had an odd haircut and brown eyes. As well, there was another girl, a younger girl, which had brown mid-back length hair and brown eyes. She seemed to be standing closer to Joey, making him guess possibly it was Joey's sister, or possibly his girlfriend. Illidan just couldn't tell for sure though. Then there was one other guy with the group that had green eyes black shoulder length hair that was in a pony tail and a die as an earring, which looked kind of silly to Illidan, but decided not to poke fun at them. Next he saw a girl that was probably Illidan and Marie's age. She had long black hair and tan skin, and had blue eyes. Beside her was a guy that was probably much older. He had a weird set of symbols on his face, which Illidan took to be a tattoo. The guy also had a black pony tail and golden eyes, as well as tan skin.

As politely as he possibly could, Illidan then walked up to them and said "Hi. My name is Illidan Stormrage, and this is my girlfriend Marie O'Dell. How are you all?" "Gee, that sounded a little dorkie for even me."

The group looked at Illidan and Marie, and then each smiled at them.

Yugi first spoke to Illidan, saying "Hi, it's nice to meet you both. My name is Yugi Moto."

"My name is Joey Wheeler." spoke up Joey.

"My name is Tea," the girl with brown hair and blue eyes said.

"The name is Tristan." said the guy that had the odd haircut and brown eyes.

"Hello, my name is Serenity. I'm Joey's younger sister." the younger girl with brown hair and eyes said sweetly.

"They call me Duke Devlin." said the guy wearing the dice earring.

"My name is Mai Valentine. Don't forget it hun." Mai said, which sounded more like a flirt than a simple response.

Shyly, the older man with a black pony tail and a strange tattoo on his face said "My name is Odion Ishtar. I'm Marik's step brother."

"Hi, my name is Marik." Marik said with a smile.

"I'm Marik's sister, Ishizu." the girl with black hair and blue eyes said.

The kind but sad looking Noa then said "Hi, my name is Noa Kaiba."

Finally, the gray haired Bakura smiled and said "My name is Bakura Ryou. Nice to meet you chaps."

Smiling, Illidan said "It's nice to meet you all. We figured we'd come on over and try and get to know a few people since we only know each other."

"How long have you two known each other?" asked Joey.

"We've been going out for about three years now. We knew each other before then for a while too." Illidan responded kindly.

Yugi then asked "So, what brings you to the Tournament of Power?"

Smiling, Illidan said "Ah, mostly looking for some …"

Right in the middle of Illidan's sentence, Illidan seemed to sense someone else. It was like the presence of another person had become apparent, but he wasn't sure who. He didn't see anyone, but still felt a strange presence.

"Is something wrong Illidan?"

Illidan snapped out of his daze, and realized that Yugi was talking to him.

Stuttering slightly, Illidan finally said "No, I was just admiring the pendant you are wearing."

"Oh, that's my Millennium Puzzle. It was given to me by my grandfather. It was a present that he got for me a few years ago. I put it together, so this is what the final product looked like." Yugi said with a smile.

Suddenly, Illidan remembered Shadi had said possibly that the pharaoh was to save the world in this tournament. "Could that mean that this boy is the pharaoh reincarnated?"

"It looks pretty cool." Illidan finally said when he had his thoughts gathered back up.

Yugi then smiled and replied with "Thanks."

For about five hours, the group talked about things that were going on. Joey, Yugi, Mai, and many of the others then began telling Illidan and Marie about their experiences in Duelist Kingdom and Battle City.

In the middle of telling a story about how Joey nearly lost to a water duelist in Battle City, which Joey was quick to say he wasn't going to lose, the guards interrupted and called for their attention.

One guard then said "May I have your attention."

Everyone looked up from whatever they were doing. The guard then walked over to the center of the room and said "Currently we are on course for Kaiba Corp. Island. It will be at least one more hour before we arrive. At this time, I'd like for all duelists and guests to please return to your rooms and gather your things. As soon as we arrive at the island, we will leave this boat. Thank you."

With that, everyone stood and headed back for their rooms, knowing that they were about to arrive to the battle zone.