Small Note

Sakura: Sorry about last week, I was going through a lot and working lots of hours that there was no time for me to get on the computer at all. Things are still a little hectic but I made some time to be able to post this. I'm a little bum out that I got no reviews for the last chapter when normally I get at least one. I'm a little curious if anyone is still reading this story at all. No one has to leave a review for all the chapters but if anyone out there reading this would just drop a little note or something to let me know someone is reading this I'll continue to post. I love writing this but if no one is reading well I could move on to something else.

Another little added note, as mentioned before I'm working a lot of hours because I have a full time job now instead of part time. More hours at work means less hours at home. Sucks, but gotta work for a living to make some money to pay bills. So just a little heads up that some weeks I may not be able to update. I'll try to update every week but at this pace and with Christmas coming up that probably won't happen. But thank you to those that still read and enjoy this story and without any more delay here is the next chapter!

Chapter 11

Battle City Begins

The sun rose as it did any other day but today was different. Normally it took a couple times for Yugi to hit the snooze button before he would force himself out of bed or for Yami to wake him up. However that morning Yugi was already up before his alarm could even wake him up. He took a shower, got dressed, took care of his puppies, and made breakfast while Yami still slept soundly.

It was while he was finishing up breakfast that he heard footsteps behind him. Yami drifted into the room yawning as he tried to wake up. He sat himself at the small island in the middle of the room watching as Yugi put a plate of food in front of him.

"Coffee..?" Yugi asked while he made himself some juice. At the nod he got from the other he poured his partner a cup of coffee that he already had brewing. It was funny how he always thought older people drank such strong stuff, but Yami disproved that never going a morning without a cup.

"How long have you been up?" Yami asked as he took the cup that was given to him. Blowing on his drink before taking a sip, once he got coffee in his system he would be more awake.

Yugi took up the spot beside Yami with his own plate. "Not long, got a shower in before letting the dogs out back. Then figured I'd make you breakfast for once."

Yami chuckled, "I'm surprised you slept any at all. The tournament must have you really excited?" He guessed since it took forever for Yugi to settle down the night before. His little duelist kept stressing over his deck and wanting to make sure he got up in time so he wasn't late.

Yugi blushed a little as he thought back to the night before. Hell Yami was out before ten but Yugi had laid awake not being able to sleep. It was amazing he felt so awake that morning. "Hopefully it will pass after today."

"Well theirs no rule saying you can't come home and take a nap," Yami said trying to hold back another yawn.

"Are you sure you got some sleep?" Yugi wondered because Yami still looked like he needed it.

Yami nodded as he picked at his food, "I think my body is still tired from yesterday. Everything has to be perfect for my brother's precious tournament." The last part he said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Aw did Seto work my baby too hard," Yugi grinned as he lean over and kissed Yami's cheek. "Well I'll just have to keep you all to myself today and keep the big bad CEO away."

"Is that all I get?" Yami wondered with a smirk as he swooped in before Yugi could move away and stole a kiss on the lips. They were only forced to break away when Shadow ran into the room with Yuki chasing him and they nearly knocked their owners off the stools.

Yami growled as he looked toward the two who had went straight toward their food bowls which Yugi had already filled. "What have I told you about running in the house?" He scowled them like they were children.

"Honey their puppies with a lot of energy…" Yugi reminded his partner as he went back to his meal.

"I know but sometimes I think they have too much energy."

Yugi smiled as he shook his head and looked at his watch. They would need to finish eating soon so Yami could get his shower before they were late for the opening ceremony. He couldn't wait to see how this tournament turned out compare to the other one he had been in. Plus there would be duelist that he knew competing and a small part of him wanted to show off to Yami. His fiancé had never seen him duel in a major tournament before and it would be different than their friendly duels with friends. And speaking of his friends he hoped Joey was doing okay that morning and he would see him and their other friends at the opening ceremony.

Domino City Plaza was packed with duelists as all had gathered for the beginning of the tournament. Yugi and Yami made it with thirty minutes to spare and stood in the meeting spot they were supposed to meet Joey at. Before the tournament began they wanted to get together, but it looked like the blond had not showed up yet. Their friends not in the tournament said they would find them and join them later in the day, which turned out to be good with the large turnout.

Yugi looked at his watch at the time, "Joey's late…" He announced worried that Joey would miss out. As far as he knew it would be fine to miss the opening ceremony.

"Probably on his way, he was just as excited about this as you." Yami reminded him.

As they were standing around they heard a familiar voice and turned to see Mai walking up to them. She smiled at them and waved before looking up at the clock in the middle of the plaza. "It's almost time…" She looked around as if looking for someone and then looked to Yugi, "By the way… Isn't Joey entering this tournament?"

Yugi nodded, "He should be here any minute."

"Nice to know he made the cut. It's been awhile since I've seen the big dork." She said knowing after duelist kingdom that there was no way Joey would miss out on another tournament. Her attention then turned to Yami as she asked, "So is your brother going to be fashionable late to explain the rules?"

Yami shrugged, "Beats me…" He looked down at the badge that was around his neck. Of course he already knew the rules since his brother hired only him and their younger brother to walk around the city during the tournament to make sure people were following the rules. Then there were people at Kaiba Corp keeping up to make sure no one played illegal cards. This place was huge and it would be hard to keep up with everyone, but Yami figured his brother gave him the job because he knew he would be following Yugi around and it would give him something to do.

While they were all enjoying a pleasant conversation together it was quickly interrupted by two other duelists. Yami didn't know them but they seemed to know Yugi and Mai.

"Long time no see…" One of the duelists spoke sounding very bitter. He looked to be in his teens with long brown hair and bangs dyed purple covered up by a red hat. Looked nothing but a trouble maker while the other looked like a nerd with his weird bowl shaped light green hair and big rimmed glasses.

"Wow Rex and Weevil…"Mai said sounding a little surprised to see them.

"Listen you two!" Rex shouted pointing his finger at Mai, "You're gonna pay for what you did on the island!"

Weevil just had a smirk on his face as he announced. "If you think I'll be as easy as before you are sorely mistaken… My new insect deck is many times more powerful."

Yami looked to Yugi for answers while his partner just shook his head with a sigh.

"Insect deck…?" Another laughed soon joining the group. He was dressed like a fisherman and even smelled a little fishy. "Wait'll you see my deck! My fortress whale will swallow you in one gulp!"

That caused Rex and Weevil to turn to the new arrival and that quickly turned into a shouting match of who had the better deck. Mai turned from the big idiots and wrapped her arms around Yugi and Yami's shoulders leading them away.

"I'm already tired of these guys…."

"I guess it's no surprise they would be here." Yugi noted and then quickly explained to Yami. "That was Rex, Weevil and the other guy that just showed up was Mako. They were all duelist in duelist kingdom that me, Mai, and Joey beat."

Well that explained a lot for Yami as there were some duelists out there that could not let go of a lost. He had a feeling they would be seeing them again. It was very different being around a real tournament then just seeing it on TV. It was like seeing what happens behind the scenes with the duelists.

Speaking of TV, the large screen built into one of the large buildings in the plaza turned on and Seto Kaiba's face was displayed on it. Leave it to Seto to pull something like that to make sure he had everyone's attention. "My fellow duelists… Welcome to Battle City!" He announced causing all eyes to turn his way. "I will now explain the rules of the match. The participants gathered here today have been acknowledged by Kaiba Corporation as being level five or higher. The duel disks on your arms are proof of that."

Looking around them Yami could see everyone there had a duel disk and if they didn't they probably were completely confused about what was going on or just wanting to see how the tournament would play out. It was definitely going to get interesting when the duels started.

"The stage of this tournament is the entire town of Domino City. I have spoken to the civic authorities. No matter where you are within Domino City… If two duelists come face to face you may fight." Seto continued to explain how all of it would work. "Each duelist will use a forty card deck. All matches will be played by ante rules with the loser surrendering the rare card of the winner's choice. As you win your deck will become stronger and stronger… But if you lose, it will be hard to catch up."

"Things are about to get cut throat around here…" Mai mentioned to which both Yami and Yugi could agree.

Of course Seto was not done just yet as he went on to mention something very important. "According to the reports there are forty eight duelists but only eight will make it to the finals." It certainly did not look like there were forty eight duelists more like a hundred with the turn out. And there were all kind of murmurs going about learning there would only be eight finalists. "As for the location of the finals it's a secret but it's somewhere within city limits. I too intend to duel under the same conditions as the rest of you. Therefore in the interest of fairness, not even I know where the finals will be held."

That sent the crowd into a state of confusion wondering how the hell they were supposed to find it when not even the person running the tournament would know the location. Both Mai and Yugi looked to Yami who shook his head to tell them that Seto did not tell him either. Not that Yami would give it away anyway if his brother somehow let him know of the location.

Thankfully Seto did not leave the crowd hanging for long as he showed his own duel disk, "Look at the duel disks on your arms. On the back you will find a transparent plate."

Now that he said it everyone was doing it and to all their shock there was a transparent plate the size of a duel monsters card. It was crazy how no one had noticed it before and upon a closer look on the transparent plate was part of a map in the shape of a tiny puzzle piece.

"That plate is a puzzle card. When all the puzzle cards from the forty eight duelists are stacked together, a map of domino city will be revealed. The puzzle cards have a special prismatic coating. If you stack any six of them a light will shine in a certain spot on the plate. That spot is the location of the finals! When you win a duel your opponents puzzle cards become yours. Only those who collect six puzzle cards can reach the unknown location of the finals!" Seto finished with the explanation but he still had a few more parting words.

"The tournament will begin at nine o'clock! Duelists scatter across Battle City!" With those words the screen went black and duelists did just as Seto said as they started to set off into the city.

Mai gave Yugi one more hug saying, "All right Yugi, next time I see you it's on…" She waved bye to the both of them before she was gone before the tournament began which was only five minutes away.

As the crowd around them thinned out Yugi looked at his watch and was really starting to get worried, "Where is Joey? You don't think he decided to back out do you?"

"I highly doubt that…" Yami's sentence died off as he looked up just in time to see a certain blond brush passed some people headed straight for a café across the way. "Hey I see him."

Yugi looked the way Yami was pointing and sure enough it was Joey. "I wonder where he was this whole time."

Yami grabbed Yugi's hand leading the way, "Only one way to find out."

When they got to their friend they found him having some kind of argument with a guy sitting at one of the tables outside the café. "I've been looking all over for you! You can disappear but you can't hide your snakelike eyes!" Joey growled out looking like he wanted to punch the guy.

The guy only smirked over his cup of coffee. "You have no rare cards… doesn't that mean you can't enter the tournament."

"That's cause you stole my card you jerk!"

"Joey what happened?" Yugi asked as they got to him at the tail end of the conversation.

Joey put out an arm to keep Yugi back away from the creep in front of them, "Be on your guard Yugi. This is one of those sleazy rare hunters that entered the tournament."

Yami looked toward the guy who looked like a normal guy having a cup of coffee, but those rare hunters sure could blend in if he was one of them. It was just a surprise to find out they really were here and his brother had been right.

Yugi seemed to put the conversation and the thing with rare hunters together. He looked up at Joey in shock, "You don't mean… They took your rare card?" The tournament hadn't even started yet he wasn't sure how that could have happened.

"Just don't fight them." Joey tried to warn his friend. They played dirty and he didn't want to see anyone he knew getting hurt.

However Yugi wasn't listening. He hated people like the rare hunters who did not understand how much hard work some players went to find their cards. Every card in a duelist's deck was one they picked out and should be cherished. He wasn't going to stand for it. "Anyone who steals a duelist's precious personal card will have to answer to me."

The rare hunter closed the laptop he had open and stood up. "Does that mean you want to duel me?"

He had this creepy look in his eye that Yami didn't like. He understood where Yugi was coming from but to fight a rare hunter at the start of the tournament. "Are you sure about this?" He asked Yugi as his partner got his duel disk and deck ready.

"Yeah I am…" Yugi looked to Joey with a smile. "I'll get your card back."

This wasn't what Joey wanted at all when he went to confront this guy after tracing him down. He didn't want Yugi facing such a creep. "Yugi wait…"

But Yugi would hear none of it as he stepped forward with his duel disk ready. "Garage like you is a disgrace to the city. Feeding off the sweat of honest gamers and publishers…. It makes me sick." He would get Joey's card back and teach the rare hunters a lesson about messing with a real duelist.

"Challenging me to a duel… You're very brave…" The rare hunter laughed as he towered over them, "Fine… I accept! We rare hunters will be taking this tournament and all its rare cards."

Joey couldn't let Yugi go through with this, "Yugi I gotta tell you—"

"Quiet Joey, I'll get your red-eyes back." Yugi interrupted his friend as he looked toward him, "We're entering this tournament together."

'But he's not somebody you can just beat like that. The rare hunters have got all kinds of rare cards… Real and bootleg… They've got the greatest decks in the world.' Joey thought as he knew Yugi was good, but rare hunters played dirty. He never got a chance to tell Yugi about what happened the night before wanting to confront the guy on his own and get his card back. No matter what he had to warn his friend before Yugi got in over his head, "Just lemme warn you! His deck is—"

Yugi held up his hand forcing Joey to go quiet, "Don't finish that thought Joey. No matter what kind of dirty tricks this rare hunter has hidden up his sleeve… I have no right to know the enemy's strategy before a game. That would give me an unfair advantage." He placed his dueling deck in the duel disk ready to face down in his first duel of the tournament.

"I admire your fighting spirit but I'm going to teach you that it takes more than that to win a duel." The guy said with the biggest smirk as both he and Yugi moved the distance away they would need for their duel.

As they prepared the start of the time for the tournament started to count down and along with it was the fast spreading word of the duel. Duelist who hadn't yet left the plaza heard the exchange and saw the duelist getting ready and it wasn't long before other people started to gather around them. It would be the first duel of the tournament and no one wanted to miss it especially when people realized the King of Games was one of the duelists.

As soon as nine o'clock hit on the dot both duelists drew their cards and made their first moves. Yugi went first placing one card face down while playing Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts in attack mode. With the new holographic technology from Kaiba Corp it was amazing to see duelist bringing the monsters to life anywhere they wanted. True they were still only holograms but they still looked so realistic to those watching.

When Yugi's turn ended the rare hunter went drawing a card and looked pleased with what he got. "I lay the spell card graceful charity!" He announced as he played the card drawing three new ones and discarding two.

Joey watched the move with a growl as this was the same way it started out with him. Yami could feel how tense his friend had gotten so he asked, "You know something is up…"

"This is the same way it started with me," Joey told him as he watched the duel. "Right before he stomped me in a few short turns and stole my red eyes…"

Yami knew Joey was no push over duelist as he had seen himself that he had grown. He wasn't easy to beat for others unless the duelist was Yugi or Seto. There had to be some kind of strategy this guy had and being a rare hunter he most likely played dirty. However if he were to ask Joey what had happened to get to the bottom of it Yugi could hear and he had said he didn't want to know. So it left Yami to silently try and figure out on his own what this guy was planning.

Before the rare hunter ended his turn he summoned Stone Statue of the Aztecs in defense mode to protect his life points from Yugi's monster. This left Yugi having to think about his next move carefully so he could learn what the rare hunter could be planning.

'A wall monster with two thousand defense points… seems like a 'turtle' style player… to hurt him I've got to get through his defenses…'Yugi thought as he drew his next card and started his turn off by summoning Baphomet the Demon. "And it's time to flip my face down card…" He announced causing the card to turn over to reveal… "I use polymerization to fuse my two monsters into Two-headed Eagle Winged Chimera! Now according to super expert rules I can't attack on the same turn that my creature is polymerized but on my next turn my Chimera will destroy your monster."

'Keep talking to the wall…' The hunter laughed in his head as he took his own turn. He looked not in the least bit worried about how this duel would turn out as he got another card he needed, "Once more Graceful Charity!" He took three more cards and discarded two. Looking at his hand now he seemed even more pleased with the turn out.

Yugi watched as the guy changed his hand again wondering why he would pull another move like that. All while Joey was stressing on the side lines wanting to warn Yugi about what he would be facing soon. Sure Yugi used to have Exodia in his deck but that didn't mean he had any cards that could beat it. He didn't want to see his buddy lose on his first duel of the tournament.

"Well then it's my end phrase… time to play another monster." The rare hunter said as he played Gear Golem the Moving Fortress in defense mode.

'Another wall monster with high defense….' Yugi noted and this caused him to have to pause for a second to figure this out. There had to be a reason behind the moves this hunter was making. 'What's going on? It's like he's not trying to attack at all… He's concentrating totally on defense. He'll never even scratch my life points this way. Then how will he beat me by shuffling his hand….?' He actually took a peak over at the two standing by him and he could see Joey stressing while Yami looked calm. Something he nearly forgot about seemed to hit him the moment he looked at Yami. There could only be one monster out there that would make a player want to go through the cards in there deck quick to get a hold of. One monster he had only know Yami to have summoned with easy due to the heart of the cards.

The smaller duelist developed a smirk of his own as he looked at the rare hunter, "Rare hunter I know what you're planning!"

The hunter actually looked taken back for a second before he quickly recovered and stated, "You lie! You're bluffing. There's no way you can…"

"I won't let you summon Exodia!"

The rare hunter froze in place shock written all over his face as he nervously said, "Yes. But what can you possibly do on your next turn…?"

Yugi held up one card from his hand but not showing what it was as he replied, "I'll crush Exodia with this card."

Now things had certainly gotten more interesting but what had Yami's attention was the sigh of relief from Joey beside him. He looked to the blond and asked, "You were so worried about that?"

Joey turned wide eyes to Yami, "Who wouldn't be worried about facing a monster that has yet to be beaten. I have not met one person who could beat Exodia. The sooner Yugi knew about this guy's cheap tricks the better his strategy to beat it would be."

"You have a point since Exodia can only be summoned with all five cards and judging by the look on Yugi's face he already has that card." Yami noted since Yugi did not look nervous as some other players might have been. Yugi was in complete duelist mode and he was a fierce player. That was one of the reasons he didn't let Joey tell him about Exodia beforehand. Focusing back on the field even he was curious to see how Yugi would go about this.

Of course even now that everyone knew about the rare hunter's plan he quickly covered up his nervousness about what card Yugi may or may not have as he focused on his own hand. 'Sure he guessed my strategy, however I already have four of the five pieces and the next card I draw will be the fifth and final piece I need.' The others around him did not know that he could see what cards he would draw thanks to special contact lenses and ink on the cards. There was nothing Yugi could do in one turn to stop Exodia from being summoned.

When it was Yugi's turn again he drew a card and got one that would work out well for him. 'Chain Destruction… If I play this trap card I won't be able to play a monster this turn….It's a risk but he must already have most of the Exodia cards by now. I have to play it this turn.' His cards had never failed him yet so he went onward and placed the card face down on the field and sent his Chimera in for the attack to destroy the Stone Statue.

Just as they all could see the attack and destruction of one of his monsters did not faze the rare hunter as he simply waited for Yugi to end his turn. Yugi wasn't done yet as he used his end phase to place one more card face down before ending his turn.

As soon as he did the hunter started laughing like a mad man as he stated, "Now it's my turn."

'The card I just played face down will only work at just the right phase of his turn… It's all over if I miss that window…' Yugi had played it all out in his head knowing just what he needed to do to stop Exodia. He carefully watched the rare hunter waiting for the right moment to active his card.

It was just as the rare hunter went to draw his next card that Yugi quickly stopped him, "Before you draw I active my spell card!" The rare hunter could only stare wide eyed as Yugi revealed life force sword as his face down card.

"This spell card will take one of the cards in your hand and force it onto the field." Yugi explained however it was a gamble because the affects for it were random and if an Exodia card wasn't picked he might just lose. So he could only watch as the sword came to life above the rare hunter before stabbing through one of the cards bringing the hologram of one of Exodia's arms to life on the field.

However Yugi wasn't done yet leaving the now stressing rare hunter into an even more panicked state. He proudly announced his next face down card, "In addition when Exodia's right hand touches the field it activities my trap card." The card turned over to reveal Chain destruction and he went on to explain, "This trap not only destroys a monster on the field, it wipes out all duplicates cards in your hand and deck. Exodia will never awaken!"

It was in that single turn and that spell-trap combo that Yugi won just like that without even losing one life point. The rare hunter's deck was dead without Exodia as would any other deck that simply relied on the Forbidden one to win for them.

"But that can't be…." The rare hunter muttered even as the crowd around them started to leave now that the duel was over. Other duelist were ready to go find some opponents after witness the King of Games crush that guy like it was nothing. Although the rare hunter was clearly taking it extremely hard as he all of a sudden started screaming and yelling over and over to help him and that someone was coming.

"What's happening to him?" Joey wondered as he and Yami approached Yugi as they watched the guy having some kind of attack. On his forehead the same millennium eye that was on all the millennium items started to appear confusing the three in front of him. "You're not doing that are you?" He asked just to be sure from Yugi and Yami who shook their heads. He'd been around some weird stuff but this was the weirdest so far.

Within another second the guy went completely limb and the light in his eyes was gone as he stared at them. Then as if someone was using him as a puppet his mouth began to move as he spoke, "Are you…. Yugi? I've heard of you…" His voice and manner was that of someone completely different.

"The man you just faced was the weakest of the rare hunters. The real strength of the rare hunters is much greater." The person explained before the tone changed as if he just realized something, "Oh I don't' mean to surprise you. The person talking to you now isn't this shell you see before you. I'm in a place a bit farther away. I've implanted a bit of myself in him, so I can control him whenever I want. He does whatever I desire…."

Yugi had seen something simpler to this before when Shadi had taken over Duke and his Grandfather's friend. However this was even more different as this was full on mind control not just turning him into a zombie. It creeped him out as someone they didn't know could see them and do something like this. It was making him wonder what kind of twisted hunters were these in this tournament. That is unless…

"Who are you?" Yami demanded, something did not sit right with him and it was the same with the pharaoh as could feel him listening in.

"This was just an introduction. Like you, I am one who has been chosen by the millennium items… My name is Marik. Remember that!"

Sakura: And we are done with another chapter… There will be a little more into Marik in the next chapter but not much because he's not in Domino yet. Also we still have more characters to bring back in along with seeing Joey's first duel in the tournament.

Yumi: Please Review! (Don't have to but would love to hear from the readers to know some people are still reading this story)