A Dragon's Destiny

by Magi Mana

Talesverse. Kisara is a new student at Domino, returning after years of being away. She sees her childhood friend Seto has become cold and distant while she quickly makes friends with his soon-to-be rivals Yugi Muto and Joey Wheeler. While facing the return of the Shadow Games, Kisara will have to face both her past with Seto and the truth about the Millennium Items.

7. Dueling in Caves

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! If I did, I would be a very happy person with all the different artworks of my favorite cards.

Chapter Seven: Dueling in Caves

"Everybody wake up!" Kisara woke to the sound of Joey yelling. She groaned from inside her sleeping bag. This would have been one of the rare times she could sleep in. After her talk with Seto, she opted to sleep outside and watch the sky. Kisara could see Yugi, Tristan, and Bakura were groggy as well. It had been a late night. Tea and Mai were nowhere in sight; they must have gotten up early and packed up the tent.

"What is it, Joey?" they asked their over-enthusiastic friend.

"Nothing's wrong," he answered. "It's just a brand-new day of the tournament, and I'm hot to find us a duel!"

"Well you don't have to yell about it," Tristan commented.

"Hey, guys," Tea chose that moment to return to the group, carrying Mai's knapsack. "What's all the commotion?"

"Joey decided to yell at us first thing in the morning," Kisara answered.

"Good morning, Tea," Yugi greeted her.

"Where's Mai? Isn't she with you?" Joey noticed their missing companion.

"She said she had to go," Tea handed Yugi a slip of paper. Kisara and the other guys read it over his shoulder. Yugi, I owe you eight star chips. See you around. Mai. "She also said we could have the rest of the food," she held up the knapsack.

"Well that was really nice of her," Kisara said.

"But we can probably kiss those chips good-bye," Tristan countered.

"I don't know," Yugi said. "Maybe we can trust Mai."

"And if not, we're still the team supreme!" Joey cheered for them.

They started wandering through the forest looking for any remaining duelists. The herd was thinning, and by this point only a few of the best would remain. After a while, they came across a girl their age with blue eyes and long brown hair with blue ribbons tied in it. She wore a blue pleated skirt and a blue jacket with a white sailor collar. Kisara suspected the girl, like Yugi, had opted to where her school uniform to the tournament. "Hi!" the girl greeted them. "Are all of you still in the tournament? If you are that'd be great! I'm running out of people to face, and I'm back down to only two star chips."

Kisara looked between Joey and Yugi before answering. "The three of us are in," she told the girl. "Would you like to duel?"

"If you don't mind, I would love you!" The girl shook Kisara's hand. "I'm Tohru by the way."

Kisara smiled at the brunette. "I'm Kisara. Is there an arena nearby?"

"I think I saw one a little while ago," Tohru answered. "Now which way was it?" She spun in a circle as she looked around the area. "I know I saw it."

"There's one," Tea pointed to a clearing nearby.

Kisara and Tohru led the way to the arena, and each took their place on a platform. "How many star chips do you want to wager?" Kisara asked.

"I guess I'll wager both of mine," the brunette answered. "I don't want to lose them all, but I can't play it safe all the time. There aren't many people left, so I have to give it my all."

"Two it is," Kisara removed her star chips from her glove. If she won, she'd gain entrance to the castle. "Would you like to go first?"

"Sure," Tohru said. "Let me see. I'll start with my Fairy Archer in attack mode." A fairy dressed in purple with a green leaf skirt and bright yellow wings appeared on her field. "Fairy Archer lets me deal 400 points of damage for every light monster on my field." The fairy fired her golden bow at Kisara, knocking her LifePoints to 1600. "Then I'll equip her with Elf's Light, increasing her attack points my 400. I'll end my turn with a face-down."

"Nice start," Kisara complimented her opponent. "I summon Hyozanryu in attack mode, and then I'll play one card face-down. Hyozanryu, destroy her Archer with Diamond Devastator!"

"Ah," Tohru panicked before activating her face-down. "I play Sakuretsu Armor! It destroys your monster while protecting mine!" Hyozanryu was destroyed, and Kisara's LifePoints fell to 550.

"Come on, Kisara! You can take her!" Joey cheered for the dragon duelist.

She nodded as Tohru took her turn. "Umm, I'll have Fairy Archer deal you another 400 points of damage." Kisara was down to 150 LifePoints. "And then I'll play a card face-down."

Okay, I have to be careful about this. Kisara weighed her options as she drew. I can't let her face-down wipe me out, and I have to get that Fairy Archer off the field. If I don't, I'm finished. "I summon Seiyaryu in attack mode!" The pink dragon materialized on her field. "Seiyaryu, take out that Archer with Razor Fire Blast!"

"I have another trap! Mirror Force!" Tohru revealed her face-down card. "It redirects your attack back to you!"

"Not today!" Kisara chained her own face-down. "Negate Attack stops any attack aimed at me, so try again. But first," she activated a magic card from her hand, "I play Fissure. It destroys your monster with the lowest attack points." Tohru's LifePoints fell to 1100. "I'll end my turn with a face-down card."

"Please, let me get something good," Tohru begged her deck as she drew. "Yes! Wingweaver, help me win this!" A purple-haired angle with six wings appeared on her field, clad in a bright yellow dress. "Wingweaver, attack Seiyaryu!"

"I have a trap too!" Kisara played her face-down card. "Shadow Spell! It ensnares your monster and drains it attack points by 700!" Chains rose from the face-down and bound the angel.

"No!" Tohru yelled, her blue eyes wide at her trapped angel.

"Now I'll equip Seiyaryu with two copies of Dragon's Treasure," Kisara played her two magic cards. "Each Dragon's Treasure gives Seiyaryu 300 attack points. Go! Destroy Wingweaver with Razor Fire Blast!" The pink dragon's blue flames incinerated the angel and wiped out Tohru's LifePoints.

"I lost," the girl said sadly as she exited the arena. "Here are your star chips. That was a fun duel though."

"Yes, it was," Kisara smiled as she accepted her winnings. "It was close though; you almost had me a couple times."

"Really?"

"Really."

"So how many more star chips do you need to get to the finals?" Tohru asked.

"Actually, these were the last two I needed," Kisara added the star chips to her glove. It was full, and now she had her ticket to get into the castle and find Mokuba. She just hoped Seto was safe if he had already made it there.

"Wow," Tohru stared in awe at Kisara's glove. "I hope you win. If I had to lose, I'm glad it was to you."

"Thanks," Kisara shook Tohru's hand. "And I wish you luck in whatever you do next."

"Well, first it's back home; I'm on the next boat out. Then it's on to the next tournament, I guess. I just want to make it out of preliminaries at least once."

"Keep trying; I'm sure you'll get there," Yugi encouraged Tohru.

"Thanks, I will," Tohru waved to them as she left. "It was nice meeting all of you! Maybe we'll see each other at the next tournament!"

Kisara waved back. "I'm sure we will! I'll look forward to it!"

"She sure was nice," Tea commented when Tohru was out of sight.

"Yeah," Bakura said. Kisara thought she saw a hint of a blush on his face. Did he like her?

"By the way, where did Joey go?" Kisara asked.

"He said something about needing to find a bathroom," Tristan said. "Apparently he couldn't wait for your duel to finish."

"That's fine," she answered. "I just hope he doesn't get into any trouble.

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"Wake up, dweeb," Joey heard a voice. He opened his eyes to see a large guy with black hair tied in a ponytail laughing at him.

"What? Where am I?" he looked around. This was definitely not the waterfall he stopped at. It was a dark cave, and Joey was sitting on a blue platform and leaning against a railing.

"The boss wants you up!" the guy laughed, and the platform Joey was sitting on rose.

A graveyard surrounded him, and in the center was a tombstone adorned with a large cross. A shadowy figure rose from the tombstone; the lowlight illuminated his pale and gaunt face and spikey gray hair. "Welcome, duelist, to the arena of lost souls," the demon boy said. Joey screamed at the sight. "Abandon all hope, for no duelist gets out of here alive!"

"Help! A Ghost!" Joey yelled for help, his voice echoing through the cave. He closed his eyes against the sight. It's just a dream. It's just a dream. Just like this morning with Kaiba. I wasn't really a dog. It was just a dream I just gotta wake up.

Something slammed into his head. His eyes flew open to see the same black-haired guy snickering at him. "The ghosts of the dead are all around you, Joey! There's no way to escape from your fear!"

How did this guy know his name? "Who says I'm scared?" he challenged the little creep.

"You can't hide the truth from the spirits, Joey. They see you frozen in fear."

Once Joey calmed down, he could see the graveyard was the hologram generated from a dueling arena. These punks must try to scare their opponents into giving up their star chips. Well they weren't going to get any from him. "Okay, I was scared," he admitted, "but not 'cause of the graveyard or your ooga booga rap. It's your creepy face that gave me the willies!" The guy across from him grimaced as his friends laughed at him.

"If you're on my side, then stop laughing at me!" the guy answered. Joey thought he heard the others call him Bonz. He turned back to Joey. "So are we going to duel or just stand around talking?" Bonz pointed to his glove. "Lay down your star chips now."

"Hey, I never even agreed to this duel," Joey argued. He glanced around the area. There had to be a way out.

"Tough luck," one of the audience members yelled at him. Joey could just make out his sunglasses and United States flag bandana. "You haven't got any choice, dweeb. Unless you want to just leave your star chips at the door and crawl out like a scared little puppy dog." The others mocked with the dog metaphors.

"That's it!" Joey slammed down his star chips. No one got away with calling him a puppy dog and got away with. Not Tristan, not Kaiba, and definitely not these bozos. "If I gotta beat you to get outta here, I'll beat you right here, right now! Four star chips!"

"Put him away quick with a Zombie card!" the black-haired guy yelled to Bonz.

"Zombie card?" Joey had a bad feeling about what he was up against.

"You don't stand a chance," Bonz sneered at him. "This arena is one big graveyard field, and all my zombie cards get a field power bonus here." He drew his cards.

Bonz went to summon his first card, but the sunglasses guy stopped him. The other bozos agreed with Sunglasses, and they debated the move as a group. "What is this? Dueling by Committee? You going to play the card or aren't you?" Joey yelled from his spot. The sooner Bonz made his move, the sooner Joey could win and get the heck out of the creepy graveyard.

"Right, boss, whatever you say," Bonz frowned at the sunglasses guy. "Zanki, attack mode." A red-armored samurai appeared on his field.

"This'll put a dent in Zanki's armor," Joey summoned his Axe Raider. It sliced through the samurai, destroying it and dropping Bonz's LifePoints to 1800. "Bonz! Where's all your spooky chatter now, you little creep? Play your next card! Whatever it is, I'm ready!" This was easy. Bonz was all talk, especially if he had to rely on blondie to make his moves. The guy in the sunglasses told him what card to play next, and Bonz summoned a monster in defense mode. Axe Raider quickly destroyed that monster as well; Joey barely glimpsed the dragon before it was destroyed. Better not tell Kisara I destroyed a dragon. She'll at least be disappointed she didn't get to see it. Bonz's next monster was a freaky fat clown in attack mode, but again it was no match for Joey the awesome. He summoned his Flame Swordsman, and his warrior roasted the creepy clown. Bonz's LifePoints fell to 1350. "Too bad. One Crass Clown going down." Joey grinned at his opponent's unhappy expression. Freakshow's scared. I've got him on the run, and I plan on keeping it that way. There's way too much riding on this duel for me to blow it. Serenity's face flashed before his eyes.

"You're finished!" Bonz yelled as he played his next card. "This magic card's unstoppable! The Call of the Haunted!"

Call of the Haunted?

"It brings all the monsters you destroyed back from the grave," Sunglasses grinned at him.

"But they come back as zombies with the power of immortality," Bonz grinned also.

Rotting, decayed versions of the monsters Joey destroyed rose from the earth of the graveyard field. And since they were now zombies, the graveyard field boosted their strength. The Dragon Zombie destroyed Axe Raider with its noxious breath and knocked Joey's LifePoints down to 1620.

"Aw, man, nothing can kill those monsters," Joey realized as Axe Raider was destroyed. "What am I going to do?"

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"Joey has been gone a long time," Tea said after they'd waited for him to return.

"I hope nothing bad happened," Kisara added. She was starting to get worried.

"You think he got lost?" Bakura asked.

"No way," Yugi answered, "but he could have been challenged to a duel."

"I'll bet that's it," Tristan said. "I gave him a hard time about being so wound this morning, so he probably decided to go fight a duel on his own."

"He wouldn't be that reckless," Kisara said. "At least not without telling us."

"Let's split up and look for him," Bakura suggested.

Kisara went with Tristan and Bakura while Yugi and Tea went in a different direction. They ran through the forest calling his name with no luck. "There's no sign of him anywhere," Tristan said after a while.

"I know it was hard to find an arena for Tohru and me, but we should have seen it by now if Joey was dueling," Kisara said. "I'm starting to get really worried about him."

"We'll find him," Tristan assured her. "He can't have gone too far."

They continued their search and eventually met up with Yugi and Tea. "Any luck?" Kisara asked.

Yugi shook his head. "Look at this!" Tea called from a few feet away. She held up a wallet. "It's Joey's wallet, with a picture of Serenity in it."

"Joey would never be careless enough to lose that," Tristan said as he took the wallet. "His sister means more to him than anything. This is starting to smell more like foul play."

Kisara spotted a cave just outside the forest. "Look at that," she pointed to it.

"I don't like the look of this," Tristan said as he led the way to the cave. The others agreed with him, but they had no choice but to go in. They had to find Joey.

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"I'll try this," Joey summoned Garoozis and sent him to attack the Clown Zombie. It was initially successful, but because of Bonz's Call of the Haunted, it healed itself and received another bonus from the Graveyard.

"I tried to tell you, Joey," Bonz sneered at him. "Each and every time a zombie monster is killed, it will come back to life even stronger and more deadly than before. So now Clown Zombie is stronger than Garoozis!" The clown counter threw its daggers at Garoozis and destroyed it. Joey's LifePoints fell to 1530.

This is a catastrophe. Joey stared down Bonz's zombies. I don't know how I can win this.

"Had enough yet, dweeb?" Sunglasses asked. "I told you there's no way to beat Bandit Keith."

"That's right, Bandit Keith's the best there is," black-hair said.

"You can leave your star chips at the door," the redhead with the Australian accent finished.

Joey glanced at his star chips. If I lose these, I get axed from the tournament. He remembered his last duel against Kaiba. Yeah, Kaiba did beat him. The only card that stood a chance then washis Red-Eyes, and even that was no match for Blue-Eyes. An image of him in a dog suit flashed before his eyes, and Joey shook his head to get rid of it. "No way man!" he said. "I'm not a scared little puppy. And for Serenity's sake, I've gotta stay in the game." Joey drew his card. Time Wizard! The card from Yugi saved him in both of his previous victories; it even fossilized Rex's dragon. If any card would be able to help him, it had to be this one. "I play Time Wizard!" he summoned the little clock magician. "Spin, Time Roulette!"

He held his breath as the spinner went around and around. Come on. Come on. You can do it. Joey prayed for a clock tower. The spinner slowed… and landed on a skull. "What? No way!" His Time Wizard failed him. A time warp opened above his field, and Time Wizard and Flame Swordsman were sucked into it, knocking Joey's LifePoints down to 630. "Don't go!" he reached for his departing monsters. Bonz mocked him as he passed. With no other options, Joey set a monster face-down.

Bonz started to attack, but Sunglasses held him off and told him to summon another monster. "Pumpking, rise from the grave!" A giant orange pumpkin with long green vines and a ghoulish grin materialized on Bonz's field.

"What is that thing?" Joey stared at it in disbelief.

"It's Pumpking, the King of Ghosts," Bonz answered. "He has a very special ability called Ectoplasmic Fortification." The green vines pierced the other zombies, and they grew in size. Bonz explained Pumpking could boost the other zombies' attack points by ten percent every turn. The boosted strength of the Dragon Zombie was more than enough to destroy Joey's monster. Joey could do nothing but play his monsters in defense mode as the zombies grew stronger and stronger. What could he do to win?

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"What is this place?" Tristan asked as they came across a pair of coffins. It was already dark in the cave; Kisara's flashlight didn't do much to help ease the creepiness of the cave. She shivered at the sight. No more scary movies for a while.

"What's with the coffins?" Tea asked.

"Beats me," Bakura said. "Who would leave them just standing here?"

"Guys, don't touch them," Kisara backed away as her two curious friends examined each coffin.

"Don't be silly," Tea said. "It's just a wooden bo—" She screamed as the coffins opened and a skeleton fell forward on top of each of them. Kisara screamed from her scream and ducked behind Yugi. The skeletons chased Tea and Bakura around until Tristan and Yugi grabbed and smashed them.

"That Pegasus sure has a sick sense of humor," Tristan said once the skeletons were taken care of.

"Can we agree not to touch anything else while we're here?" Kisara asked. "I do want to be able to sleep in my apartment when we get home."

"Agreed," Yugi said.

They took off running down cavern, hoping to find Joey somewhere along the way. Kisara was grateful when Tristan and the others stopped to catch their breath. She couldn't remember the last time she did so much running.

"Wait where's Bakura?" Tristan asked. They looked around for their now second missing friend.

"We didn't take any turns," Tea said.

Bakura came running towards them with a skeleton on his back. Kisara and the others screamed and ran as Bakura chased after them begging for help. Tristan finally swung around and yanked the skeleton off him, crushing the skull with his foot.

"I thought we agreed not to touch anything," Kisara panted.

"Yeah, from now on, don't go picking up any hitchhikers," Tristan said.

"Is it safe to open my eyes now?" Tea asked.

"You gave us quite a scare with that skeleton," Yugi said.

"I'm sorry," Bakura apologized.

"Well now we've got another problem," Tristan said, shining Kisara's flashlight down the way. Kisara was grateful someone was taking charge of the situation. She didn't know how many more scares she could take. She groaned inwardly at the fork in the tunnels. "Anyone got any ideas?"

"Gee, both ways look so inviting," Tea narrowed her eyes at the two paths.

Bakura got to his feet and stepped on some kind of mechanism. Oh, what now? Kisara tensed as she looked around. "What did you step on?" she asked.

"Some kind of switch," he looked at the ground.

"What is that sound?" Tristan asked, hushing everyone. Faintly, Kisara could hear a rumbling. It got louder—or closer—to the five friends. They screamed when they saw a giant boulder rolling towards them and ran away from it. The boulder followed them, slowing gaining on the group.

"Why is that boulder chasing us?" Tea asked.

"Because we're downhill," Tristan answered.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Bakura repeated over and over as he ran. He tripped and fell; the boulder rolled over him a minute later.

"Bakura!"

"Don't look back!" Tristan yelled to the others. "Just keep running!" He looked ahead of them. "Oh no! It's a dead end!" He spun around to face the boulder. "Since there's nowhere to run, I'm going to fight!"

"Tristan, are you crazy?" Kisara asked him.

"You can't punch out a boulder!" Tea yelled at him.

"I'm going to try!" Tristan slammed his fist into the boulder, and it popped. Every stared at the balloon remains in disbelief. "A balloon?"

"Seriously?" Kisara sank to her knees in exhaustion. She'd had enough surprises for one day.

"And that's a speaker," Yugi pointed to the round piece of equipment among the pieces of rubber. "Someone wired that thing for sound, and I'm betting it was Pegasus!"

Getting past their near-death experience, the four walked back up the tunnel until they found Bakura. He was huddled on the ground, still terror-stricken from their ordeal. "Bakura, it's okay," Kisara offered him a hand up. "It was just a balloon."

Bakura finally shook off his shock and accepted her hand. "I promise I'll try not to set anything else off," he said.

"That's a good idea," Kisara smiled at him.

They returned to the fork in the road and took the other tunnel. After a while, they came to a duel arena, and on the side facing them was their missing blond friend. "Joey!" they called to him.

He turned around to face them. "Guys! You're really here!" He explained he was forced to duel by the guys on the opposite of the arena. Tristan tried to end the duel, but two of the guys blocked him. Tristan charged at the one with black hair, but Kisara saw the redhead toss a marble at his head, stunning him so the black-haired one could punch him in the stomach. Tristan fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. Kisara ran to help him. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he gasped, catching his breath.

Joey tried to leave the arena, but he was stopped by the leader of the thugs. "Hold it. Remember if you leave the arena you forfeit the duel, and all your star chips belong to me." He insisted that since Joey threw down his star chips, he accepted the duel, so no one could interfere.

"In that case," Tristan staggered to his feet, "you're just going to have to beat these punks. And if you're going to need a little added motivation, try this!" He tossed Joey the wallet with the picture of Serenity. "Your sister's counting on you."

"Thanks, man," Joey smiled at his friends.

"So what's it going to be, dweeb?" the leader asked. "You going to cut and run or part with your star chips the hard way?"

"I've had it up to here with your smart remarks," Joey faced the leader with a scowl. "Spill, who are you anyway?"

"Don't you know?" the guy smirked. "They call me Bandit Keith."

Bandit Keith? Wasn't that the guy Seto brought up last night? Kisara had a bad feeling about the leader of these guys as Yugi explained Bandit Keith was the Intercontinental Champion. His only loss was to Pegasus in the match Seto told them about.

Joey kept his resolve and set another monster. Keith mocked the blond about his strategy and promised Bonz had a card to end it: Stop Defense. Bonz set the card, and the next monster Joey put in defense mode would activate it, switching it into attack mode. Pumpking boosted the other zombies, and the dragon blasted away Joey's monster.

"Don't let him scare you, Joey!" Tea yelled to him.

"Whatever he says, don't quit!" Tristan added.

"Quit? No way," Joey answered them. "Not while Serenity's counting on me." Kisara could see the confidence in his stance as he drew his card. I'm glad his duel with Seto didn't keep him down. If anything, it's pushed him to do better. She prayed he could turn the duel around.

"Go! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Joey pulled out his best monster. Its black scales glittered in the low light. The Dragon's Inferno Fire Blast roasted Pumpking, and it couldn't be resurrected by Call of Haunted. Bonz's LifePoints dropped to 855. The zombie duelist didn't take the move lying down and destroyed Red-Eyes with his Dragon Zombie, knocking Joey's LifePoints to 150.

"Don't give up, Joey!" Yugi yelled. "There's a magic card in your deck that can turn this whole duel around!"

Joey understood what Yugi meant and summoned his Battle Warrior. Then he played his magic card Shield and Sword, switching the attack and defense points of every monster on the field. Since the zombies had zero defense points, they were easy pickings for Battle Warrior's boosted strength. Battle Warrior slammed his fist into the Dragon Zombie, destroying it and wiping out Bonz's LifePoints.

"See you later, loser," Keith said as started to walk off.

"Bandit Keith," Joey addressed the ringleader. "Maybe next time you'll have the nerve to duel me face to face instead of hiding behind your creepy flunkies."

"Duel you face-to-face?" Keith sneered at him. "You're hopeless, dweeb. The game of Duel Monsters is all about keeping your opponents off-balance. Winning the duel's all that matters, not how you go about it."

"We'll just see about that, Bandit Keith," Joey refused to back down, but Keith just walked away laughing, his three allies trailing behind him. Once they were gone, Joey turned to the rest of his friends. "I'm sorry for dragging you all into this mess."

"It's fine, Joey; it wasn't your fault," Yugi told him.

"Yeah, as long as he won the duel," Tristan added. Everyone joined in on congratulating him.

"By the way, Kisara, sorry I missed the end of your duel," Joey turned to her. "How'd it go?"

"I got all the star chips I need to get inside and rescue Mokuba," Kisara held up her glove as proof. "Assuming Seto hasn't beaten me to it."

"Then I gotta up my game and catch up," Joey grinned. "Let's get out of here."

They walked backed to the entrance of the cave, their excitement growing when the daylight at the end of the tunnel came into sight. They picked up the pace, running as they got closer. Their excitement turned to panic as the light dimmed, a boulder blocking it out. As they reached it, the light was completely extinguished. They pushed on the boulder to no avail. It wasn't going anywhere.

Finally they had to give up. "There has to be another way out of this place," Tristan said.

"But these tunnels run everywhere," Tea pointed out. "We could be lost down here forever!"

Bakura's Millennium Ring started to glow and point, and he followed it back down the tunnel. He explained to the others that it honed in on other Millennium Items, in this case Pegasus's Millennium Eye. Following the Ring, the gang ventured farther into the tunnels. After a while, the rough, naturally curved walls became smooth with several evenly spaced corridors. It was like some bizarre labyrinth. Bakura picked up the pace, leading the way through the maze of tunnels. Kisara and the others ran to keep up.

Finally, Bakura came to a stop. He stood at an entrance to a dojo with two Chinese symbols written through the place and a strange duel arena in the center. It had a grid field in the center, and it had four platforms—two blue and two red. They were greeted by two acrobats who—when they stopped moving—looked exactly alive. The only differences Kisara could tell were the color of their outfits and the Chinese symbols on their forehead. The two introduced themselves as the Paradox Brothers and spoke in rhymes, saying they were Pegasus's Eliminators. Para was the one in orange and Dox was the one in green, if Kisara understood them correctly.

The rhyming brothers continued to explain that once they were defeated in a duel, the group must choose one of the doors on the other side of the room to travel through. One door would lead out of the tunnels, and the other would lead to an endless maze the group couldn't hope to escape. The duel was also a two-on-two duel, which explained the arena.

The Millennium Puzzle flashed, and Yugi changed into his other self. He accepted the Paradox Brothers' challenged and invited Joey duel alongside him. "I'll throw down three star chips," Joey put down his wager.

"But you only need two," Yugi looked surprised.

"This way I can pay you back for the one you gave me," Joey said. "So only bet four of yours; I got your back."

"Very well, I bet four," Yugi placed all but one of his star chips on the console, "for a total of seven. If we win, we'll make it into Pegasus's castle."

"Okay, guys, teamwork from here on out," Tea told them.

"Yeah," Tristan agreed. "We'll be the team; you do the work."

Dox started the duel by playing Labyrinth Wall. A maze rose from the grid on the arena, adding to the terrain. Dox continued to explain the rules for the tag duel. Each duelist started with 2000 LifePoints, but if one person lost, their partner would lose too. The players on opposing teams would alternate turns—Dox, Yugi, Para, Joey, and back to Dox. For the Labyrinth, the monsters would be like game board pieces. The level of the monster determined how many spaces it could move. Combat would occur when opposing monsters were next to each other. And once the duel was complete, there was the challenge of choosing the right door.

Joey called the Brothers out on being unfair with the door challenge—they had no way of knowing which door led where. Para and Dox offered a clue—they promised that one would only speak the truth while the other only spoke lies. There's more to it than that. There always is. Kisara suspected there was something the Brothers weren't telling them. Joey thought he figured it out: he compared their situation to a riddle he once heard about a traveler trying to get to a village of truth tellers, but next to it is a village of liars. Since the traveler doesn't know which way to go, he asks a nearby local, but doesn't know which village he's from. So he asks the local to take him to his own village, because either way he'd end up at the truthful village. Following that riddle, Joey asks each brother to point to their door.

Both Brothers pointed to Dox's door. That was too easy. The suspicious part of Kisara's mind was going into overdrive. Yugi agreed with her silent deduction, pointing out the differences between Joey's riddle and their current situation. They had two locals to deal with instead of one, and the liar could never admit to lying. Yugi deduced they could trust neither the Brothers nor their riddle. For the moment, they had to focus on the duel.

Yugi summoned his Beaver Warrior in attack mode and sent it four squares into the maze. Para activated Polymerization to fuse his Shadow Ghoul with the Labyrinth Wall and created Wall Shadow. The Wall Shadow circulated the labyrinth, emerging next to Beaver Warrior. The green creature slashed the beaver to pieces, knocking Yugi's LifePoints down to 1600. Since the Wall Shadow was part of the labyrinth itself, it didn't need to count spaces to attack, unlike Yugi and Joey's monsters. When the attack was over, the creature disappeared back into the wall.

Joey took precautions against the new threat when he summoned Axe Raider. Axe Raider stayed away from the wall and out of the Shadow's range, and Joey placed a face-down for extra insurance. Dox set Jirai Gumo face-down and summoned Labyrinth Tank, advancing it seven spaces. Yugi set things in motion with his Celtic Guardian and sent it into the maze. Para sent Wall Shadow to attack Celtic Guardian, but Joey's Kunai with Chain ensnared it, holding it in place and boosting the guardian's attack strength past Wall Shadow's, destroying it. Para's LifePoints fell to 1700.

"Way to go, guys!" Tea cheered for them.

"Keep it and we'll get out of here in no time!" Tristan added.

Joey gave them a thumbs-up and took his turn. He summoned his Flame Swordsman, moving it four squares to be on the same space as Yugi's Celtic Guardian. Then he moved his Axe Raider, still boosted by Kunai with Chain, to the same space as well. Dox advanced his Labyrinth take seven more spaces. Yugi summoned Dark Magician and moved him five spaces to protect the other three monsters.

The Brothers grinned at Para's next card: Magical Labyrinth. The magic card shifted the walls of the labyrinth, separating Yugi and Joey's monsters. Joey was rattled as he started his turn, but Yugi helped keep him calm. Their trust in each other was key to winning the duel. Joey sent his monsters through the maze to regroup with Yugi's, but Axe Raider stepped on Dox's Jirai Gumo. The giant spider negated Kunai with Chain and destroyed the warrior. Joey's LifePoints dropped to 1600.

Dox advanced his Labyrinth Tank seven more spaces, two spaces away from Flame Swordsman, who still had Jirai Gumo to deal with. He ended his turn by setting a monster face-down. Yugi activated his Mystic Box magic card, combining it with Dark Magician. The first box materialized around Dark Magician and was skewered with swords. A second box materialized around Jirai Gumo. When the boxes opened, Dark Magician was unharmed in front of Flame Swordsman, and the giant spider had been destroyed by the swords. Now that Dark Magician faced Labyrinth Tank, he could destroy with an attack. Dox's LifePoints fell to 1900.

Para grinned at his next draw, giving Kisara and the others a bad feeling about it. He set the card, and a Chinese box appeared on his field with a golden symbol on the top. Joey ordered Flame Swordsman to advance five more squares, closer to making it out of the labyrinth. Dox set a card, and another Chinese box appeared on the field—this one with a blue symbol. Then he flipped up his Dungeon Worm and boosted its attack strength by 400 points with the magic card Invigoration. The Worm burrowed underneath the maze, avoiding having to count squares just like the Wall Shadow. It surfaced below Celtic Guardian, trapping the warrior in its powerful mouth and dragging it below the surface. Yugi's LifePoints fell to 800.

Yugi pulled a trick out his hat: Magical Hats. Dark Magician and Flame Swordsman were hidden in the hats, hiding them from the Dungeon Worm. Para called on his Monster Tamer, which boosted Dungeon Worm's attack points and let him control it as if it were his own monster. Para sent the Worm to attack one of the hats. Fortunately, it was empty. The Worm burrowed back underground.

Joey removed his Swordsman from the safety of the Hat, positioning it right next to the Dungeon Worm's hole. Then he activated the magic card Salamandra, boosting Flame Swordsman's attack points, and since the worm was weak against fire, he had more than enough power to roast it. Flame Swordsman sent his fired down the hole. Dungeon Worm emerged ablaze and turned to ash, knocking Dox's LifePoints to 1600.

Dox drew his card, and the two Brothers performed another round of acrobatic feats in their joy at the card, calling it the third piece before playing it on the field. Another Chinese box materialized; this one had a green symbol. The three boxes began to shake, the power sealed inside desperate to get out. The boxes opened, and three colored lights emerged and swirled together.

"What is it?" Tristan asked.

"I don't know," Tea answered.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Kisara said.

A giant monster appeared on the Brothers' field. The top third of it was golden brown, the middle was green, and the bottom was blue. They called it the Gate Guardian, claiming no one had ever gotten past it and its three elemental forces.

Yugi sets two cards face-down and ends his turn. Para ordered Gate Guardian to attack Flame Swordsman, but the attack was stopped with Yugi's Mirror Force. The redirected blast threatened to destroy the giant, but Gate Guardian's ability let it deflect the attack away from it. Unfortunately for the Brothers, the attack was redirected to Monster Tamer, destroying it and dropping Para's LifePoints to 900.

"Keep it up, guys!" Tea cheered for them.

Joey sent Flame Swordsman into to attack the green section of Gate Guardian, but the blue section blocked it. Dismantling the Guardian would be easier said than done. Dox counter attacked with the blue piece and flooded the maze, drowning the Flame Swordsman. Joey's LifePoints fell to 1300.

Yugi set a card and then took advantage of the waterlogged field by bringing out his Summoned Skull. Since the Skull attacked with electricity, the water along the maze floor was a great conductor to electrocute the water element of the Guardian. The Brothers tried to use its effect to protect itself, but when they flooded the field, they attacked the hats, triggering Yugi's Spellbinding Circle, trapping the Gate Guardian and negating its abilities. The Lightning Strike destroyed the water guardian and knocked Dox down to 900 LifePoints. The water dried up from the field.

Para played the magic card Remove Trap, destroying the Spellbinding Circle. Joey summoned his Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Kisara grinned at its shining black scales. Yugi then revealed his face-down Polymerization, fusing Summoned Skull and Red-Eyes into the Black Skull Dragon. The Brothers laughed at their move—flying wasn't allowed in the labyrinth, keeping the Black Skull Dragon where he was. Yugi promised the rule wouldn't change the outcome of the duel.

Dox laughed at their dilemma as he played his Riryoku magic card. It cut Yugi and Joey's LifePoints in half and added the total to Gate Guardian. Yugi and Joey only had 400 and 650 LifePoints left, respectively. Yugi removed Dark Magician from the safety of the Magical Hats and sent him six spaces ahead and out of the maze. Yugi finished his move by playing Monster Reborn.

Para didn't even wait to see Yugi's monster before he ordered Gate Guardian to attack and destroy Dark Magician. The attack was blocked by a powerful water stream, courtesy of Suijin. Joey played his Copycat card, mimicking Riryoku to steal half the Brothers' LifePoints and add them to Black Skull Dragon. They each only had 450 LifePoints left. Dox mocked him for using it on the dragon, since it still could not fly. He sent Gate Guardian to attack Suijin, splitting its attack in two so they could destroy the elemental.

Yugi ended the duel on his turn. He activated his Monster Replace magic card, switching Black Skull Dragon with Dark Magician. Powered up by Riryoku, The Black Skull Dragon roasted Gate Guardian and wiped out the rest of the Paradox Brothers' LifePoints.

"All right!" the bystanders cheered for the two victors.

"We all have enough stars to make it into the castle now," Kisara said.

The Brothers cut their celebration short—they still had to choose a door to escape the tunnels. They rhymed their persuasions for their own door, irritating the group yet again. "Can't you two just act normal and give us a straight answer for once?" Tea asked.

"I am giving you a straight answer," they said at the same time.

"The answer is we can't trust either of these two," Yugi answered. He held up two coins—one marked with Para's symbol and the other with Dox's. The one he kept in his hand would be their choice. "Ready?" he asked as he prepared their choice. He opened his left hand first, which had Dox's mark on it. That meant Para's coin had to be the one in Yugi's other hand.

After beating around the bush, the Brothers announced that Dox's door had been the correct one, but Yugi figured out their secret. They could magically change which door was which, ensuring that they choose wrong. Yugi then revealed the coin in his right hand: Dox's. He used a double-marked coin to make sure they couldn't lose. I have to wonder. Is this the Yugi we know, or is it the spirit of the Puzzle? Again, Kisara tried to distinguish between the two Yugis.

"Pegasus's castle, here we come!" Joey cheered as the group walked through the doorway to freedom.

ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ

Seto walked through the forest of Duelist Kingdom. He hadn't seen anyone since he said good-bye to Kisara the previous night, which made things easier. The fewer people who spotted him, the better—at least until he figured out how to get into the castle and rescue his brother. Pegasus was going to be sorry he ever kidnapped Mokuba. Seto would make sure of that.

"So it's the famous Seto Kaiba, huh?" Seto turned to see Kemo standing a few feet away. "Searching for your little brother no doubt," Kemo laughed before charging at Seto. "You're coming with me!"

Seto ducked and jammed his arm into Kemo's stomach. Then in the moment Kemo was stunned, Seto threw the security guard over his shoulder, slamming him onto his back. "Actually, you're coming with me," Seto hauled Kemo to his feet, holding the guard's arms behind his back. "You're going to help me find Mokuba, wherever Pegasus has him. And you're going to start by getting me into that castle."

Kemo begrudgingly led the way through the forest until they came to a side entrance to the castle. "You have security clearance. Open it," Seto demanded.

"Do you think we should ring the bell?" Kemo mocked.

"I think you should shut your mouth and open the door," Seto scowled. "Open it now."

Kemo obliged, and they entered the dungeons of the castle. "You do know no one takes Pegasus by surprise? He probably already knows you're here, somehow."

Seto grew impatient with the guard. "I don't care what Pegasus think. He's going to pay either way for what he's done to Mokuba."

Kemo guided him through the dark tunnels of the dungeon, each one looking exactly the same as the last. It felt like they were getting nowhere. "What is taking so long? I told you to take me to Mokuba, not on some tour."

"These tunnels honeycomb throughout the entire island. Without me, you could be lost down here for years."

"Don't get any ideas."

"Listen, slim, I'm much bigger and stronger than you are. You only got the jump on me 'cause you snuck up and took me by surprise. What's to stop me from spinning around knocking your—"

Seto spun the guard around and grabbed him by his collar. "Try and I'll drop you where you stand."

"In that case, nothing would please me more than reunite you with your little brother," Kemo sneered. Seto let him go and shoved him down the tunnel. They went around another corner, and the guard stopped. "This is as far we go," he stepped and stepped on one of the tiles. It sank in, and an alarm sounded. "If you want to find your brother before reinforcements arrive, better hurry. Security will be here any moment."

Seto shoved Kemo aside and took off running. He should have expected Kemo to try something like this, but that didn't matter now. He had to find Mokuba. He ran through the tunnels calling his brother's name.

He stopped when he heard the other guards coming. Silently, Seto scaled the corner of a nearby corridor, holding himself completely still until they passed. Once they were gone, he dropped down and trailed after them, confident they would lead him to Mokuba.

Seto was right. A quick strike to the back of both guards' necks knocked them out. Checking around the corner, Seto saw the coast was clear and ran to the cell. "Mokuba!" he called to his brother, biting back the rage he felt at the despondent look in the eleven-year-old's eyes.

"I always knew you'd come and rescue me," Mokuba said, the shine returning to his eyes. He tried to reach Seto, but the shackles on his ankles held him back. Again Seto held back his rage at Pegasus and his goons. Seto began to work on picking the lock on the cell door.

"Well, well, the brothers Kaiba," Seto tensed at Pegasus's voice. "Reunited at last. Bravo, Kaiba, bravo. I knew nothing would stop you from getting here."

Seto grit his teeth and resisted the urge to punch the pompous windbag in his golden eye. "Ooh, not very nice, Kaiba-boy. You really should be nicer to your host. Though what can I expect from the one who forced his way in here and attacked my guards? I predicted you come eventually, but not with this much hostility."

"You didn't predict everything I planned to do you for harming Mokuba?" Seto asked, on guard. Pegasus didn't bring any other guards with him, at least not that Seto could see, so he must have something up his sleeve.

"Actually, I predict you won't lay a finger on me," Pegasus smiled, amused.

"I should take you down right now for what you've done," Seto narrowed his eyes at the silver-haired man.

"Don't be ridiculous, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus smirked at him. "In my dungeon, in my castle, in my realm, the only one who makes threats is me." His golden eye flashed with light, blowing his hair and blinding Seto.

Mokuba screamed from his cell, and when Seto could see again, he was lying face-down on the ground. "Mokuba?" Pegasus laughed and held up a card with Mokuba's image. "You monster! What have you done? What have you done to him?" Seto's rage at the Duel Monsters creator reached a new height.

"It's just a little magic trick," Pegasus said innocently. "I've ensured your cooperation, for you see, Mokuba's soul is now imprisoned in a place where the locks can't be picked. And there he will remain, Kaiba-boy, until you beat me in a duel."

"You're mad!" It wasn't possible. There was no such thing as magic. But Seto couldn't deny his brother lying unconscious in that cell. It had to be some kind of hypnotism, and only Pegasus could undo it. But if he wanted a duel, Seto would oblige. "I duel you right now! I'll do anything!" He refused to let Pegasus see how scared he was for his brother.

"Not just yet, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus grinned at him. "You must first earn the privilege to challenge me, and you can only do that by defeating Yugi in a duel. And if you can't win against him, Mokuba's soul will stay mine forever." He tossed Seto five star chips. "Use these to challenge Yugi-boy."

Defeat Yugi? Seto felt himself go numb as he caught the stars. He needed to defeat Yugi; he'd been trying to figure out how ever since the day he saw Exodia in person. To reclaim his title as the number one duelist. Defeating Yugi meant Pegasus couldn't take over KaibaCorp. And now, defeating Yugi was the only way to save Mokuba.

Seto turned away from Pegasus and stormed out of the castle. Searching the island for his rival would take too long. Yugi was determined to win ten star chips to enter the castle. So Seto just had to wait for Yugi to come to him.

In case anyone is wondering or picked up the similarities, the duelist Kisara fought is Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket. I don't own Fruits Basket, and this is not going to be a regular thing; I just needed a character, and the more I thought about the personality of the duelist with the fairy deck, the more Tohru fit. At most she may have another cameo if I need another opponent for Kisara or other characters in the future. Thanks for reading!