Disclaimer: I do not own this story, anime, manga, etc. Created for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter 8

All through the hotel, duelists of all ages relied on their alarms to get them up in plenty of time to get ready for a long day of game play – at least most of them hoped it would be a long day. No one wanted to think about being the first person eliminated in the first round. Yugi awoke just before his alarm went off and stretched, prying himself out of the warm cocoon of blankets and heading to the bathroom. Without Yami visibly there to distract him, he was able to take care of himself and decide what to wear relatively quickly, and then went to where the Puzzle lay waiting for him on the side of the bed where he had left it in the middle of the night, after taking it off once Yami's spirit was back inside. He held it in both hands and smiled wistfully at the Eye before looping the chain around his neck, ensuring the connection between him and his partner. Almost immediately, he was aware of the pharaoh's spirit there with him, as if Yami had been waiting for him to get up so he could bond and speak with him. Far from his usual dormancy the morning after the ritual, the pharaoh was alert and eager. He observed Yugi from within as the young man preened in front of the mirror. "You look lovely," the voice inside his mind purred. "Trying to impress your opponents a different way?"

"No," Yugi giggled. He had opted for a slinky black shirt that stretched tightly over his chest, its sleeves short enough to show off his arms, its deep v-neck collar revealing just a bit of his chest. He was not wearing anything around his neck for once, except the Puzzle chain, but he had his favorite black and silver wristbands and extra belt on. "But we may as well look good. It's a world tournament, after all." He went to the desk where he had left his deck after structuring it, slid it into the pouch on his belt and snapped it safely away for now. Last but not least, he slid his duel disk onto his left arm, giving a satisfied grin at the snap of its arm guard closing securely. "All right. I think I'm ready. Let's go."

He grabbed his room key and the official tournament badge and strode for the door. As it closed behind him, the Eye of the Puzzle began to glow, signifying the internal mystical bond between minds forming, turning two separate minds into one. Yami Yugi would be dueling today, his sleeker appearance and elegant eyes fitting right in with the tight shirt and black leather pants. He stepped up to the door of the room beside his and rapped with his knuckles, giving a cool smile to Joey when he opened it. "Hey!" the blond youth greeted him. "All ready to rumble?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Yugi replied. "Happy birthday, Joey."

Joey brightened up even more. "Thanks! Yeah, what a great way to celebrate my coming of age – dueling in a world tournament!"

Yugi chuckled deeply. "Shall we go down?"

"Give me just a second." Joey left the door open for his friend to come in and wait while he went to get his shoes and his duel disk. He also remembered, after seeing the badge pinned to Yugi's belt loop, to locate his own and find a place to display it. He wore an athletic jacket with stripes up the sleeves zipped over a tank top, so he pinned his badge to the front pocket and declared himself ready to duel. The two young men took an elevator together, not waiting for any of the other invitees since all of them were now officially opponents despite their relationships. Joey grinned at his pal. "I hope your head's in the game, man. I know you had a good day yesterday."

"Yes, I'm fine," Yugi assured him with a sly glance. "I'm going to give it my all, no matter who I have to face. Even you."

"Yeah, I just hope I don't have to go against you till later," Joey worried. "I want to make it at least through the elimination rounds before I get my ass handed to me."

"How do you know it'll be me? Maybe Mai will be your roadblock this time."

"Oh man." Joey clapped a hand to his forehead. "She will never let me live it down if it goes that way."

Yugi chuckled warmly. "You're a world-class duelist now, Joey. I'm sure you'll go far, and who knows? Maybe this is your time. Maybe nothing will stand in your way."

The two of them proudly flashed their badges at the dark-suited security man standing at the door to the room where orientation would be held, a larger ballroom than the previous night's reception. Roughly half of the competitors had already gathered, but Joey immediately noticed an even better feature of the room. "Aw yeah! Breakfast! All right, that does it – Pegasus is my new favorite tournament organizer."

They went straight to the lavish spread laid out for the competitors to provide a good breakfast so everyone would be awake and energetic and ready for their day. Yugi opted for fruit and biscuits, but Joey dove into just about everything and fed his face while they stood aside watching people enter. Mai was actually not far behind them, and decided to play civil and eat with them. Rebecca and Mako looked to have come down together, by chance, and then Marik, with scores of unfamiliar faces between them. Kaiba waited until almost the very last minute, arriving shortly before nine and simply helping himself to some coffee and standing aside to wait for the show to get on the road. The duelists all murmured amongst themselves, looking around and trying to decide who they would or wouldn't like to get a piece of. Just about all of them wanted the chance to face Yugi, but no one wanted to be his first victim. He just stood looking about coolly while he ate his fill and listened to the nervous chatter around him. At last, when it was time, the publicity agent who had flown down with the Japanese finalists stepped up onto the dais at the far end of the room that served for their stage, making the room hush expectantly. She adjusted her glasses and faced the microphone standing there for her. "Ladies, gentlemen, duelists. May I present to you, Mr. Maximillian Pegasus."

The audience burst into eager applause as Pegasus glided onto the stage, looking calm and collected and not as fruity as usual in a dark blue suit. He smiled indulgently at the room full of duelists, his one hazel eye gleaming in anticipation. "Good morning, duelists," he purred into the microphone, holding out his hands invitingly. "My assistant tells me no one has gotten a last-minute case of cold feet, I'm glad. That means sixty-four eager, young souls ready to prove themselves, to make themselves world champions. Give yourselves a pat on the back, you're already the elite among duelists, the only ones good enough to make it this far.

"I suppose you want to know how this tournament will proceed," he added with a clever grin. As he hoped, several of the young crowd hooted enthusiastically. Pegasus lifted a hand, and at his signal, a projector screen dropped down from the ceiling. "Today begins the elimination rounds, in which you will all be divided into eight separate brackets," he announced as a chart flashed up onto the screen, displaying a grid of empty lines all feeding into the one center bracket, the final round. "For the sake of fairness, all finalists will draw lots to determine which division you will start from. Eight duelists each, for eight divisions. Each group will be transported somewhere in the city to duel, so you will only know the outcome of your own division, until this evening when we re-convene for a gala dinner here, with me." Pegasus acknowledged the impressed noises coming from his audience with a cool smile. "My people have been all over Hong Kong, searching out the most beautiful and interesting locations for a duel, so I trust that everyone will have a delightful time even if they happen to lose."

Mai snorted. "Oh yes, delightful."

"As long as I'm not dueling by the harbor. It smells fishy," Joey groused.

"I'm sure Mako would enjoy that," Marik remarked.

"So, make sure you have your duel disks!" Pegasus continued. "Industrial Illusions has partnered with KaibaCorp to track the information from your duels, so we will know the winners right away. But, I'm proud to announce that that's not the only way you may find yourself in the finals." He paused a moment to let the audience murmur in question – he knew how to work a crowd for the best dramatic effect, and they were cooperating fabulously this morning. "I myself, along with some of my top game assistants, will be traveling around to observe your duels, and from each division, one person will be given one of these." He held up a shiny token, a little larger than a coin. The screen above him changed to flash a larger-than-life image of the token, so they could see the rearing Pegasus horse on one side and a large number two on the other. "This is a second chance token," Pegasus declared. "I and the other judges will be watching for a duelist who shows amazing promise, who has the talent to go all the way but may have simply been unfortunate to have been paired up against someone with better luck. That person will get a second chance token, which will allow him or her to re-enter the final round tomorrow, refreshing our pool of competitors from eight to sixteen. From there, we will re-sort the finalists so no one has to face the same opponent twice, and proceed with the quarter and semi-finals." He pocketed the token, and the screen flashed again, this time switching to a picture of a large arena floor, with raised seating all around it. "Instead of outdoors, the final rounds tomorrow will be held here, at the hotel convention center, in the largest exhibition hall. Everyone who has entered the tournament is free to watch – so long as you still have your badge," he cautioned with an upraised finger, "and is welcome to sit in the live audience for the televised world finals tomorrow night." He grinned even more broadly as he headed into the home stretch. "As you may well know, I am giving out first, second, and third place prizes, meaning that three of the four top finalists will be walking home with something. The two who fail to advance to the final round will duel each other for the third place prize, live on TV, and then the last two will be pitted against each other to determine the true world champion of Duel Monsters. The final round will not be a single elimination," he then announced, "but a unique best of three series." That was met with considerable awe and quite a bit of murmuring. Pegasus let them cool down before finishing up his statement. "So you see," he said in his oiliest tone, "someone could truly come from behind and take the crown. Which of you will it be? It could be anyone."

A barely audible sigh of apprehension passed through the room, as all eyes were firmly rooted on Pegasus to see what would happen next. The publicity agent stepped back onto the stage, carrying a small box with ornate gold designs painted on its surface, and waited next to Pegasus. He straightened his tie before continuing. "There is one additional, important piece of information you must know before we draw lots. Now, as you have heard, I have invited six special guests into the tournament, duelists whose skill and fame is so far above the average Duel Monsters-playing public that I feel they have no need to prove themselves in regional tournaments in order to qualify to play here. It's time I introduced them to you, if you hadn't already guessed some of them." He flashed a sly look around the audience, his gaze settling briefly on Kaiba first, and Yugi and his friends second. "Would the invited duelists please come up to the stage, to meet your opponents?" The projection screen now displayed the headshots and names of the six duelists, a roster which Pegasus now read with triumph. "Mako Tsunami, the ocean's finest. Rebecca Hawkins, the American prodigy." As their names were read, each duelist came up to the stage and stood together side-by-side behind Pegasus, trying not to look too smug – or too nervous. "Mai Valentine, champion finalist. Joey Katsuya, second place in Duelist Kingdom and fourth in Battle City." Joey, on the other hand, grinned like a maniac as he hopped up on stage and sidled up to Mai. "Seto Kaiba, former world champion," Pegasus said with subtle condescension. Kaiba did not look at him as he stepped up and faced the audience, stony-faced. "And last but certainly not least, the current, reigning world champion of Duel Monsters…Yugi Muto."

The audience finally erupted with applause as Yami Yugi calmly picked his way through them, keeping his regal composure all the way and betraying no emotion either way as he stood beside Kaiba. They all waited there as Pegasus went on with his special instructions. "I know many of you are in this tournament to battle against one or more of these magnificent duelists, to prove yourselves worthy of standing next to them someday. In order to prevent number swapping and other underhanded tactics to promote unfair advantages, these six duelists will not draw lots with the rest of you. After you have all drawn your numbers and been recorded, the six invited duelists will be specially placed among you, so you won't know until just before you're sent to your dueling location just who you might be up against." Pegasus turned to indicate his assistant with the box. "It's time to see just which division you belong in! Come up and choose a number at random, make sure to show us your badge when you do. The judges will record your badge and your number, and place you accordingly. When that's done, I'll give you a few final instructions and send you on your merry way. Good luck!"

He stepped aside, clasping his hands behind his back and smiling in delight as the audience cheered him excitedly. The publicity agent returned to the microphone, instructing the dueling rabble to form a single file line and come up to select their numbers. Two more suit-clad Industrial Illusions employees came up to handle the recording of the information, while the room shuffled and sorted itself into some semblance of a line with minimal pushing and shoving. The invited duelists had not been asked to depart, so they stood there in their little knot, watching the mayhem and giving each other encouraging looks. Standing at the end of the row with his arms folded, Yugi turned to Kaiba beside him. The taller man looked as sour as ever, but Yugi remembered the look on his face the night before when he and his partner needled him about their relationship. "Kaiba," he said quietly, waiting for him to look down and acknowledge him. "Listen. I must apologize to you for something I said yesterday."

"I don't want to hear it," Kaiba said under his breath.

"I'm serious. We were rude to you in the elevator, and I'm sorry." Yugi glanced away, toward the line of people getting their numbers registered. "What you said to me made me think. You were right, it wouldn't be fair to you if I were to enter this tournament without caring about the outcome. So, I want you to know, I'll give you what you deserve. I will duel with all my heart and not give you anything less than my best if we do end up facing each other."

Kaiba eyed him for a moment. "You had better. If you weren't going to put your best effort into it, you may as well drop out."

"I know. And I promise you, my heart and my head are in the game. You want a battle worthy of a champion, you'll have it."

"Good, because I'm not going to settle for anything less than the top." Kaiba folded his arms sternly and stared down at Yugi. "Should I somehow lose this tournament, I will have no choice but to retire from Duel Monsters for good."

Yugi started, shocked. "What? What made you decide that?"

"I'm done taking a back seat to you. There's only so many times I can do this." Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "This is between you and me, for now. This is my decision, this is the way I want it. But that means I'm going to be fighting my hardest, for I'm not ready to retire just yet. I'm going all the way, Yugi, and I'm not going to let you stand in my way."

"Very well." Yugi nodded seriously. "In that case, I will duel you as hard as I know how. I don't want to see you do this, Kaiba, but if it's the motivation you need…so be it."

Kaiba held his gaze a moment longer, and then looked away, watching the number lottery with an aloof air. "Apology accepted."

Yugi nodded, and then stepped around him to go and talk to Mai and Joey while they waited for the selection process to be done with. They could actually watch the progress, as the display on the projection screen was interactive, and names continually popped up in the blanks on the roster showing which of the eight divisions people would be going with. At last, the final one appeared, and at that moment, eight of Pegasus's suits standing in neat rows along the sides of the room held up numbers, one through eight. "Please gather by the number of your division," the publicity agent ordered. "The invitational duelists will be sorted as soon as you are in place."

The crowd splayed in all directions as people located their number and gathered in small groups by the suited man holding it up, looking expectantly to the stage. Pegasus was still standing there, but only watching as his people handled the logistics. The agent numbered off the six duelists in what seemed to be a random order, and dismissed them to go join the others at their respective numbers. Yugi found himself in the second division, Rebecca in the first, Joey in the fourth, Mai in the fifth, and Kaiba in the eighth. All of them, except for Kaiba, paused to shake hands with each other and warmly wish each other good luck and ganbatte before splitting up and going to their appointed division leaders. Some of the duelists in Yugi's division looked at his arrival with eagerness, some with fear. At last, as it appeared they had all settled down more or less, Pegasus resumed speaking. "And now, my friends, for the rules of the tournament. The elimination rounds are single duels, only the final round will be a three-duel match. We will play by the official tournament regulations as first laid down in Battle City, with the first duelist whose life points reach zero being eliminated. However, I am immediately and officially lifting all deck restrictions, except for the three-of-a-kind rule. Any cards which may have been forbidden or restricted in other tournaments are now free to be used." For some reason, his gaze at that moment lingered on Yugi, who only looked blankly back, though inside he wondered curiously about this development. "The judges will be on the lookout for any cheating," Pegasus went on, "and anyone caught in flagrant violation of the rules, including using marked cards, hacked duel disks, two-headed coins, and the like, will be immediately thrown out of the tournament and sent home on the first plane out of Hong Kong." He paused to let it sink in and then smiled cheerily. "Now, go to your dueling locations! Play your best, and play to win! I will see you later tonight, and we will find out just who goes on to the next round. Good luck to each and every one of you." He stepped back from the microphone and bowed, signaling the end of orientation. Duelists throughout the room raised their duel disks and cheered.

The men in suits with the numbers began barking out orders. "Stay with your group! There's no time to go back to your room. Follow your group leader to the vans! Don't leave the group!" A number of vans stood parked in a line outside, waiting to transport each group to its special location somewhere in the city. There was still more than enough time before noon to get people to their places, and already some of the duelists were digging through their decks and adding in a card or two that they thought they would have to leave out due to regulations. A driver and a judge sat in the front of each van, so the eight duelists had to pick their seats in the back and buckle in. Yugi sat in the very back, his game face already on. He didn't know any of the people in his division, which meant he could duel without worry that he would already be eliminating one of his friends. His opponents ranged in age from around fifteen to perhaps mid-twenties, some of them shy, some of them bordering on overconfidence. He just sat in silence as the van pulled away and drove them through Hong Kong.

The group of friends from Domino found themselves split up across the city in some rather curious places, but Pegasus had not been kidding that his teams deliberately searched out the most beautiful and creative locations to serve as backdrop to the sequence of elimination duels. Some were down near the harbor, where they had marvelous views of ship traffic and the sun glinting off the water, some were in a green glade high on the side of a hill near a shrine, some were downtown in a bustling marketplace draped in lanterns and signage and dragon banners snapping briskly in the wind. Kaiba found himself standing on a rocky promontory with the wind doing dramatic things to his long sleeveless coat. Joey was dropped off with his opponents at a park paved with stones. Yugi lifted his head to admire the flower-choked garden he walked through as he followed the judge to the exact location. The weather was gorgeous, with just a few puffy clouds racing past the sun in a steady wind. The second division stopped in the middle of the garden, where colorful flowerbeds ringed a small patch of green lawn and thick trees screened them from the sound of a busy city just beyond their secret glen. The judge for this group was none other than Pegasus's second in command, Croquet, looking as inscrutable as ever with his dark glasses. He gathered the duelists around him and presented them with a bowl of fortune cookies. "Your numbers from the drawing do not determine which order you will duel in," he announced. "Each of you, pick a fortune cookie and break it open. Inside there will be a number written, one through four – there are two of each. The ones will duel each other first, then the twos, and so on. You will duel in pairs until only one of you is left, and that person will advance to the next round. But remember, Master Pegasus has authorized me to watch your duels for someone worthy of a second chance token. There's even the chance he himself may drop by and select someone, so play your best and show yourself worthy of being a finalist."

He held the bowl into the midst of the ring of duelists, and each gingerly plucked a cookie to crack open and see how their fortune played out. Yugi snapped his open and pulled out the slip of paper to find a number three written on it. Almost right away, the others were craning their necks to see what everybody got, and wincing or grinning accordingly. The boy with the other "three" fortune was one of the Japanese finalists, and looked rather resigned to have to duel Yugi eventually. But there were other duels to go through first, so Yugi stepped aside and leaned against a rail fence that lined the path they had taken to get to the heart of the garden. This would be interesting to watch.

His friends fared about the same wherever they were, and as soon as the clock struck noon, judges declared the tournament officially underway, so the first pairs of duelists could begin their battle. Mai was among those going first, and even had the first draw of the first game. Plucking the top card of her deck, she smiled knowingly and decided to start with a bang. Some of the duels got off to a slower start, as inexperienced tournament duelists took their time getting used to the location or the audience or having to duel a stranger whose strategy was completely unknown. As the afternoon progressed, though, things got considerably more exciting. Joey found himself paired up with a young woman from England, a brash and cheeky girl named Shandy who dueled as ruthlessly as anyone he had faced before, with a snarky mouth to match. She took an early lead with a wink and a smile, and beat Joey down progressively until he was backed into a corner, but that was when his usual luck kicked in. Both of them were briskly taunting each other good-naturedly the entire time, as it seemed each had met their match where mouthing off was concerned. But the smirk was soon wiped off Shandy's face, and she found the tables turned on her after Joey had been reduced to his last 300 life points. Within three turns of that moment, he had defeated her soundly, knocking her off her feet with a ferocious retaliatory blast from his Jinzo. Even then, she managed to crack a smile and thank him for a hell of a duel as she got up and brushed herself off. Joey sighed with relief that he had managed to pull it out, but admitted to her that she put him through the ringer, worse than anyone except Yugi and Kaiba themselves had ever done. Fortunately, there was another duel after his that he could sit and watch, giving him time to catch his breath and gather his wits in order to fight again.

Anyone who dueled Kaiba found themselves eliminated after a relatively short duel, which suited the CEO just fine, as he had little respect for the rabble and knew they were just fodder for him to plow through on his way to the top. He was in fine form, at least compared to his opponents, and dueled without much cheer or interest, his face solemn and his game play cold and methodical. It was a stark contrast to the way Joey dueled, always grinning about something, though most of the others tended to play with just enough seriousness warranted by their situation. Mai was as sharp and confident as ever. Marik took his game seriously but knew when to smile, when a game went his way and he came out on top. The deadly violet gaze of Yami Yugi spelled certain doom for his opponents, and he, too, was moderately pleased to see that very little challenge stood in the way of him advancing to the finals. Only one duelist gave him a bit of a surprise, his second-round duel against a young man from Europe, but he didn't stay down for long and came back with a smooth and calculated strategy that turned the guy's Magic cards against him and forced his dragons to enable Yugi's Buster Blader to receive enough power bonus to end the duel with one attack. His final duel ended with a rather nasty onslaught by Breaker the Magical Warrior, but the kid had been obnoxious toward him and deserved a good slap in the face to keep his arrogance in check. Croquet declared Yugi Muto the winner of division two, and Yugi let his duel disk drop to his side with a satisfied sigh. It had been a good day, and even if he hadn't been seriously tested, the sequence of battles served to warm him up and let him use them as practice for what were certain to be far more strenuous rounds tomorrow. At the very least, his inner spirit shared with him, they could see their skills were as sharp as ever and they had no trouble discerning an opponent's strategy in time to devise one of their own to beat it. An Industrial Illusions publicist had dropped in on them to take some pictures of the duels, and after it was over gathered everyone together for a group photo, but Pegasus had never shown up. It would be up to Croquet to decide who, if any of them, deserved a second chance for being so unfortunate as to have to face Yugi Muto in an early round.

Yugi and Yami remained in their bonded form all the way back to the hotel, back to the orientation hall where they would wait for the results of the other divisions. Theirs was not the first back, but they were done earlier than most. Yugi looked around and found only Marik there to see, for he noticed Yugi at the same time and came running over. "Yugi! How did you do? Did you win?"

Yugi smiled broadly. "Yes, I did. How did you do?"

"I won the division," Marik said brightly. "I was surprised, the duels went really fast."

"That's wonderful!" Yugi exclaimed. "Did you have to duel against anyone we know?"

Marik shook his blond head. "No, fortunately. None of our friends were in my division. I don't even know who they would pick for a second chance token, none of the people I faced were particularly hard to beat."

"Yes, I didn't have much challenge either." Yugi shrugged. "I guess we're just getting to be too good for our own sake." He smiled warmly at Marik. "I would imagine, dueling feels a bit different for you, now."

"I admit, I've had to re-train myself in strategy, without the god cards to rely upon," Marik agreed, "but I'm dueling as well as I ever have. The only difference is, I don't feel so angry when I play. I rather like that part."

They stood around comparing the results of their duels while they waited for the others to show up, and one by one they did. Joey came in with a particularly confident swagger to his step, Yugi didn't even have to ask him if he won his division. When Kaiba's division returned, they didn't feel like asking him how he did, but they could guess by the defeated postures of the other seven youngsters who came in behind him that he had clinched a spot. Mako, unfortunately, told them he had been eliminated by the Japanese champion, Eiri, but he was feeling good about possibly getting a second chance. Their duel was the last in the division, the duel to determine a finalist, and had gone on twice as long as the rest before Eiri finally squeaked out a win. Among the last to return was division five, and Mai sashayed in with a brilliant smile to announce to her friends that she had also won a spot in the finals. Then, Rebecca came up to them, looking extremely downhearted but with a hard look of anger behind her eyes. "Rebecca?" Yugi said in concern. "Did you make it through the elimination round?"

"No," she snapped. "And you'll never believe who eliminated me."

The group standing in a small circle looked at her in surprise. "Who?" Mai asked for them all.

The young girl lifted her head and looked straight at Mai and Joey. "Valon."

Mai just stared. Joey made a boggled face. "Wha?"

"Valon?" Yugi repeated in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Rebecca grumbled. "I'd remember that stupid hair and nasty Aussie taunting voice anywhere."

"How did he get in the tournament without any of us noticing?" Joey asked swiftly.

"He must have been keeping a low profile," Yugi mused, "much as I did last night."

"I recognized him right away when I went to line up with my division," Rebecca reported, "but he didn't say anything to me until we were facing each other in a duel. He knew it was me, he remembers me from that one time Duke and I fought him."

Yugi glanced concernedly at Mai, and beyond her to Joey, who was looking sharply around the room, trying to catch a glimpse of the rumored duelist. "Did he say anything else about us?" Yugi asked seriously.

"No, we just dueled," Rebecca pouted. "And he knocked me out of the tournament without breaking a sweat. I'm glad I got to show off my skills for three rounds, because if I'd fought him right away, I'd have no shot at a second chance token."

"Valon," Joey said under his breath. "I don't see him. Where is he?"

"I don't know." Rebecca looked around as well. "He was with us the whole time, until we got back."

"Maybe he had to go to the bathroom," Marik shrugged, not sure why everyone was so upset.

Joey glared in the general direction of the rest of the hall, but then returned his attention to the group, particularly to Mai. She hadn't said a thing since hearing the news, and her expression was difficult to read. "Hey, it's all right," Joey said reassuringly, placing a hand on her arm. "If he's here to make trouble, he's gonna have to go through me, and I don't mean dueling with cards."

"Don't, Joey." Mai waved him off. "Just let it go. What's past is past, there's no sense dredging it up now in the middle of a tournament."

Joey nodded his understanding. Rebecca looked annoyed and opened her mouth to say something contradictory, but Yugi beat her to the punch. "No, Rebecca. Joey and Mai can deal with this on their own. They don't need us getting indignant on their behalf. What happened was years ago, it has no bearing on this tournament at this time."

Rebecca pouted at him, but couldn't find a reason to argue with him and just harrumphed and crossed her arms, turning away. Joey and Mai stood a little closer together now, with Joey gently rubbing a hand up and down Mai's arm in idle comfort. Marik leaned in to speak surreptitiously with Yugi. "Who is this person? What has he done to Joey and Mai?"

Yugi turned his head in order to whisper back. "It's a very long story. I'll tell you about it later."

Marik couldn't stop the little shiver that rippled down his back at the closeness of the whisper and the air of the pharaoh he could sense in Yugi's demeanor. He only nodded and stood aside, not wanting to interfere. Within Yugi's mind, the younger self spoke over his elder's shoulder in a contemplative murmur. "If Valon's here to see Mai, he's going to have a rude awakening. There's no telling what he might be up to."

"Yes," Yami agreed internally, "which is why we can't jump to conclusions. For all we know, he is simply here to duel like the rest of us."

"And all we know of him is what Joey told us, about his duel with Valon," younger Yugi mused. "Why he had a grudge against Joey and what he was in it for. Other than that…"

"Many years have passed. He may be a different man than what they remember."

"I hope so." With that, the younger voice faded and melded back in with the pharaoh's spirit, rendering them bonded once again in order to pay attention to the festivities.

At that time, Croquet and the other judges of the tournament made their way onto the stage, and the roomful of murmurs quieted to hear what they had to say. The female publicity agent took her place at the microphone again, her voice much more pleasant to listen to than Croquet's gravelly mumble. "Attention, duelists. Welcome back, and congratulations to the winners who are advancing to the next round. Maximillian Pegasus hopes you enjoyed your duels today around the city, and is preparing to thank you all for your participation and reward you for your efforts by meeting you for a gala dinner in half an hour here in this room. First, though, we will post the results of the day's dueling, and announce who has received a second chance token to re-enter the tournament against the divisional winners. First, the official tournament finalists…"

Names and photos flashed up onto the projection screen as she made the announcements. They were displayed in order of division number, so the very first face to appear on the screen made Yugi, Joey, and Mai stare in amazement. The winner of division one was indeed Valon, looking a few years older but just as cool and cocky. "From division two, Yugi Muto. Division three, Marik Ishtar; division four, Joey Katsuya; division five, Mai Valentine. From division six, Chang Tenpou; division seven, Eiri Murakami; and division eight, Seto Kaiba."

Scattered applause broke out around the room. At least three faces in that list were no surprise to anyone. Joey resumed hunting about for Valon, but he might have been hiding deliberately in a corner, for there was no sign of his tousled brown hair above the heads in the crowd. By now, even he had to know Joey and Mai were there, as much as Pegasus was displaying his invited guests. The publicist continued briskly. "At this time, we would like to welcome eight second-chance finalists into the next round. Please come up to receive your token, which you will need to display along with your badge for re-entry tomorrow morning. In no particular order…" She adjusted her glasses and read from a sheet on her clipboard. "Mako Tsunami." He grinned at his friends and gave them a thumbs up as he departed to get his token. Joey and Yugi were able to smile back. "Shandy MacDouglas."

"Dude!" Joey exclaimed under his breath. "That's the British chick that dueled against me. Man, she was tough!"

Yugi glanced aside at him. "Really, Joey?"

"Yeah. Toughest duel I've had in a while." He nodded appreciatively. "I'm glad she's getting a second chance. She was really good."

The publicist was still announcing. "…Sam Waters. Rebecca Hawkins."

Rebecca sniffed haughtily, though it was clear by her hard-eyed look that she was relieved to have had her name called. "It's about time."

The eight second-chance duelists stood in a row below the stage, each clutching or admiring their token. The publicity agent lowered her clipboard, and the projection screen behind her went black and began to disappear back up into the ceiling. "Congratulations, duelists. Mr. Pegasus is eager to celebrate your triumph with you. Everyone will be given one half hour to cool down, remove your duel disks, and prepare, before returning here for the dinner event. Thank you."

The room erupted into excited chatter once again as everyone began to stream for the doors, eager to go put their duel disks in their rooms and get ready to come back down for dinner. Yugi and his friends took their time, staying at the back and lingering in the lobby while waiting for the elevator so they could talk amongst themselves about their duels. Joey heartily congratulated Mako for sneaking his way back in. Rebecca stood with them cupping her token in her hands, staring at it with a mix of determination and melancholy on her face. As they waited, Eiri came up to them, specifically to Yugi, to offer his congratulations. Yugi greeted him the same. "You won your division," he noted.

"Of course." He smiled brightly. "I've got my eyes on a singular prize, I'm not about to let anything stand in my way."

Yugi nodded, but then Mai called out to him as she grabbed a free elevator, so all the invited duelists could go up to their floor together. Yugi just gave Eiri a small wave as he turned and joined his friends, unaware of the eyes lingering on his form as he walked away.

His room was darkening with the setting sun as he entered, making the flash of the Puzzle's Eye that much brighter as Yami let go of the connection and allowed Yugi to resume his natural form. He took a deep breath and let it out in a huge sigh, glad that the first day was over and he could look forward to a feast now, and then a good night's sleep before the biggest, best duels. He slipped the duel disk off his arm and left it on the desk, with his deck still inside, and crashed on the bed to relax for a few minutes. He liked being with his friends, and was glad so many of them were in the tournament, but the noise and mayhem of the lobby full of young, excitable duelists made him just want to hide in his room for what time he had, so he could regain his wits. Part of him still worried about this sudden, dramatic appearance of Valon, but there was nothing he could do. He was aware of Yami within him listening to his thoughts. "I don't even know much about him," he pondered aloud. "I saw him a few times, but we never faced him directly. Or the other guy, the one Kaiba faced."

"Alastair," Yami reminded him.

"Yeah, that was it. We only faced Raphael…and I know what happened to him in the end." Yugi blinked at the ceiling, disheartened that his thoughts were growing so serious when they were supposed to be having fun. "I have no idea what happened to Valon or Alastair, or where they ended up. I guess, he's just as likely to show up at a world tournament as anyone."

"I'm sure everything will be fine," Yami murmured reassuringly across their bond. "Not even Valon is foolish enough to make a scene in the middle of a tournament event like this."

"You're probably right." Yugi sighed more heavily. "This is turning out like some kind of soap opera. Just what we need, drama."

Yami only chuckled wryly as he receded. Yugi laid there in the dim dark for a while, and then checked the clock and decided he could get up and gather Joey and Mai and head back down to dinner.

The ballroom had been completely rearranged in half an hour's time, and many of the participants had lined up to wait ahead of time. Once again they were required to flash their badges at the door, and upon doing so, received special instructions. Most of the duelists were just sent inside to find a seat, but the finalists and second-chance duelists who flashed badges and tokens were directed to take their places at honored seating. A large table had been set up on the dais, where the eight finalists were to sit with Pegasus, and a second table of honor sat just below the stage for the eight with tokens. Apart from that, though, there was no assigned seating, so Yugi, Joey, Mai, and Marik headed for the main table to pick seats. On their way they passed the lower table, and Yugi noticed that Rebecca was already sitting there alone, fingering her second-chance token. He excused himself from the others for a moment and went to say hello, concerned that she was going to give him the same aloof look that she had been giving him all day. "Hey," he said as she looked up to him. "I'm glad to see you're going on to the finals."

"Yeah," Rebecca said quietly, returning her eyes to her token. "It's not the way I would have liked it to be, but I guess this is better than being totally eliminated."

"Mhmm." Yugi nodded awkwardly and then decided to just say what he needed to say, what he had been holding inside for a full day. "Uh, Rebecca. Look, I'm sorry if I shocked you yesterday, when you saw Yami and me for the first time. I could have handled that better."

She glanced up and blinked at him. "Yeah, that was kind of a big surprise," she said in a low tone. "I mean…seeing the pharaoh in his own body, it's kind of…"

"I don't mean that," Yugi said, even more sheepishly. "I figured you could take that, after all we've been through with the Puzzle. I meant…our relationship." He shrugged uncomfortably. "I know there was a more tactful way I could have introduced it, and for that I'm sorry. It was kind of rude of me."

"It's okay, Yugi. I haven't seen you for, like, three years, it's not like I expected you to be pining for me or anything." Rebecca gazed up at him with a serious air. "Although I really didn't expect to find out you were…you know."

"It's just Yami. He's special to me." Yugi sighed. "I just wanted to clear the air between us. You're still my friend, and I didn't treat you like one. Yami means so much to me, I want to share that with all of my friends." His eyes lifted hopefully. "Okay?"

Rebecca allowed herself a smile at last. "All right, Yugi. I forgive you."

"Great…" About then, Joey called out to him from the dais above them, so he kindly excused himself to go and pick a seat before all the good ones were taken. Eiri and Chang Tenpou were already there, sitting across from each other at the far end of the table. One chair stood at the head of the table, quite obviously for Pegasus. Yugi decided to sit at that end, since he had less of an issue dealing with Pegasus than the others, and Joey and Mai took the next two seats beside him. Marik went around the table and pondered which of the three empty seats to take, choosing the one across from Mai and beside Eiri. They didn't quite sit down yet, though, standing for a bit looking around the room as people streamed in through the door. Kaiba could clearly be seen muscling his way through crowds of shorter folk to get to the head table, looking rather tough in a long, dark, sleeveless coat with studs on the shoulders and pockets. "Hey," Yugi greeted him as he stepped onto the dais and eyed the location of the two empty chairs. "Congratulations."

Kaiba snorted derisively. "What a pathetic field of duelists. I can't believe some of these people were national champions where they come from."

"Yeah, I had kind of an easy time myself," Yugi admitted.

"There were a couple of upstarts in my division," Mai sniffed, "but for the most part I could handle them."

Marik leaned on the back of the chair he intended to sit in. "I didn't have that difficult a time either. But they were good duels, make no mistake."

Kaiba cast him an annoyed look. "I'm surprised you can even make it through a duel without a god card in your deck."

Marik eyed him right back. "I can win without big flashy monsters in my deck, unlike certain duelists I know. How does it feel to know you'll never hold Obelisk again?"

Kaiba glared in his direction. "Guys," Yugi sighed. "Save it for the dueling arena, okay? Let's just forget about it for tonight and have a good dinner."

"Yeah," Joey started to agree, glancing over his shoulder to see whether anyone else was coming, when he froze. Mai noticed and followed his gaze, her expression going blank. Yugi also glanced to see that they had noticed the eighth finalist striding confidently up the center of the room toward the head table. Though he hadn't seen as much of him during their past confrontation, Yugi recognized him immediately. He had the same shock of unruly brown hair, styled like a surfer-punk, but instead of motorcycle gear, he was dressed casually in a tight t-shirt and weathered jeans. Piercing blue eyes were focused directly on all of them, and a smirk of derision crossed his lips as he noticed they were all looking back at him. Joey muttered his name, though it was hard to tell with what underlying emotion. "Valon."

Kaiba heard him and looked sharply to verify. Marik straightened up curiously. Valon navigated around the secondary table below and hopped up onto the dais on the far end, putting some distance between himself and his former rivals as he made his entrance. "Well, look what we have here," he remarked in his heavy Aussie accent. "It's a regular reunion of old friends. Kaiba, Yugi." His eyes went past them, straight to the woman standing just behind Joey. "Hello, Mai," he said, far more quietly.

"Valon," she acknowledged him.

"Never thought I'd see you again," Joey added heavily.

"Yeah, what do you know? Here you are, a big-shot in the big tournament, eh Katsuya?" Valon stuck his hands in his pockets, trying to look casual and confident as he stood on the corner of the dais. "It's been a while, eh?"

"Look, Valon," Yugi spoke up, thinking he had better play the peacekeeper before anything got out of hand, "we don't want any trouble. Whatever it is you want…"

"Oh, no worries, mate," Valon assured, raising a hand. "I'm not lookin' for trouble either. I'm just here like they said, at the big fancy table for the divisional finalists." His gaze traveled over Yugi's shoulder to Joey, and he eyed him with a bit of a smirk. "It's not me as has the problems."

Yugi looked to Joey, afraid his best friend would be angry and poised for a fight, but to his surprise he was calm, his expression troubled but not vicious. He had placed himself between Valon and Mai, but apart from that, his hands hung loose and limp at his sides and his stance was one of patience. Mai sat down and turned her attention to her place setting instead. "Did you know we were going to be here when you entered the tournament?" Joey asked as calmly as he could.

Valon shrugged. "Nope, not a clue. I kind of hoped, though." His smirk faded a little. "I could do with a rematch."

Joey's brown eyes narrowed. "Rematch? I didn't kick you down hard enough the last time?"

"You gave me the best duel of my life," Valon said with complete seriousness. "Don't you get it, Katsuya? I'm a changed man, really. I'm not here for anything other than a shot at the world title, or at least a few good, challenging duels along the way."

"Then sit down and quit posturing," Kaiba interrupted. "All this testosterone is making my head hurt. You and Katsuya can glare at each other across the table all you want, as long as you keep your mouth shut." He dropped into his chair, leaving the empty one next to him as obvious evidence that that was where Valon was expected to sit.

"Let's not start anything," Yugi begged. "Not in front of Pegasus. He'll be here any minute."

Valon nodded silently and went around the table, going to sit between Kaiba and Marik. This put him directly across from Joey and within clear sight of Mai, but he refrained from looking at her just as she did her best not to glance his way. Yugi and Marik slid into their seats, and lastly Joey sat down, trying to ignore his former rival. "Don't worry about Pegasus," he assured Yugi. "I'm sure he doesn't care about what goes on between us. He probably thinks it makes for a more dramatic duel."

At the far end of the table, Eiri and Tenpou watched in complete silence, unsure what they would say even if they had a chance to get a word in. It was clear there was some kind of past business between all of these people, and unpleasant business at that, so neither of the outsiders was in any rush to get involved. Kaiba sat casually back in his seat and crossed his legs as he addressed the newcomer smugly. "What's kept you busy the last couple of years? Back to your old tricks? Or maybe you just got out of prison?"

"You oughta know," Valon shot back, leaning an elbow on the table and looking cool. "I got a nice paycheck from you not too long ago."

Kaiba's eyes widened. "What?"

"Couple months ago," Valon said airily, brushing back a lock of hair. "Your company hired me to help test your wireless dueling system. It was pretty fun, thanks a lot for the opportunity." He looked across the table. "Although had I known you were gonna get Yugi to test the other end, I might not have said yes. Nothing like getting humiliated in public to keep a guy modest."

Yugi started, remembering the accent in his ear while dueling on a stage in front of the Tokyo Game Expo audience. "That was you!" he gasped. "I thought something about that duelist sounded familiar!"

Kaiba had gotten over his surprise and resumed his usual aloof air. "Not bad," he purred. "But you were certainly no match for Yugi. Just think how much more humiliating it could have been if I dueled you myself."

"You'll get your chance, someday," Valon promised with a grin. "I'm ready to take on anybody who wants it. Bring it on."

"Yugi is right," Marik broke in. "I'd advise you not to start anything here, not with all of us around you. Save it for the dueling arena."

Valon glanced at him with a bit of surprise, and then smiled a little too broadly at Yugi. "My, you've got friends everywhere, do ya?"

"Shut up," Mai said, her first comment since his arrival. "Pegasus is coming."

The others glanced to see that she was right – the head of Industrial Illusions was on his way to the dais, almost to the stairs already. The others at the table immediately clammed up, looking to see if Pegasus was going to start the evening off with the usual egocentric speech. This time, he didn't say a word as he stepped up onto the dais and looked over the table of champions, smiling at them all with what could only be described as evil glee. The eight second-chance finalists had also filled their seats below, so with the guests of honor in place, it was time to start the feast. Pegasus simply took his place at the head of the table to get things started, with Kaiba on his right and Yugi on his left just the way he had wanted it. "My, look it all these familiar faces," he purred, a hint of sarcasm hidden behind the otherwise friendly comment. "Congratulations, all of you. I expected each of you to make it this far, it's a pleasure to see you haven't disappointed me. And two new faces!" He smiled down at the two at the far end of the table, both of whom bashfully smiled back at being in such illustrious company. "The Chinese champion and the national winner from Japan. There certainly is an enormous pool of talent seated with me today. I'm so very impressed."

Those who knew him well did not buy his laudatory schtick for a minute. Valon, in particular, gave him a rather cold, bloodthirsty smile. "'ello, Pegasus."

Pegasus smirked back at him as a waiter came up to the table with a bottle of wine. Hotel staff were already weaving among the tables, pouring drinks for the duel participants in preparation for the food which was to follow. Pegasus sat coolly while his glass was filled and then sipped casually at it before addressing the Australian duelist. "If you think I'm intimidated by your presence, Valon, you're quite wrong," he said airily. "Past misfortunes aside, I figured you to be good enough to hold your own to the final round. Getting to watch you face your rivals again should be quite interesting."

Joey glared at him. "So you planned this, all along."

"I planned nothing." Pegasus gave him another confident smirk. "You and the others were invited well before anyone even had the chance to enter regional tournaments, much less qualify for the trip here. But far be it from me to ignore what could potentially be a spectacular, dramatic duel."

Joey leaned close to Yugi. "I told you," he muttered in his friend's ear.

"And how about you, Yugi-boy?" Pegasus smiled a little too broadly at the young man on his left. "How did you fare in your duels today?"

"Fine," Yugi answered cautiously. Yami within him listened with his senses on edge, but couldn't say what about their host's demeanor made him uncomfortable this time. "Nothing special, really."

Pegasus nodded as he sipped at his wine glass. "Hm, yes, Croquet tells me things in your division went rather quickly. Who did he give the second chance token to? Ah yes, the European champion, your second opponent. Here's hoping he's ready, because the next round is going to be even tougher with all of you standing in the way of the championship." He raised his glass to them. "To second chances."

They all remotely nodded or just took their glasses to them and drank. Mai decided to ignore everyone else completely and started asking Eiri and Tenpou what they thought of the tournament so far. The Chinese champion was a local, and didn't look out of place among the group with his spiky, Jet Li-style haircut and dark clothes. Eiri seemed impressed to have finally recognized Marik as the Battle City runner-up, and wanted to talk to him for a bit. Their table was the first to be served, and fortunately the arrival of the food proved a welcome distraction from the tension that kept most of them silent for the time being. Joey, at least, was able to finally talk to Yugi about something completely unrelated to the tournament or Duel Monsters. While they filled their plates, Pegasus glanced aside to Kaiba, who was studiously keeping from looking at him. "Just coffee tonight, Kaiba-boy?" he teased. "You really should try the wine, it's quite sweet."

Kaiba refused to acknowledge him. "I'm fine, thanks," he muttered.

Yugi and Joey were still chattering about nothing. "What are you going to wear tomorrow?" Yugi asked his pal.

"Same thing," Joey shrugged, "as long as I don't spill nothing on it."

Yugi nodded. "I think I'm going to put a coat on. It was nice outside, but the air conditioning in this hotel makes it really chilly."

Joey laughed at him. "You're gonna look like Kaiba before too long, in that big coat."

Kaiba's quiet comment across the table took them both by surprise. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, isn't it?"

Valon obliged the requests for no trouble and kept quiet through most of dinner, enthusiastically eating his fill and half-listening to the varied conversations going on around him. Nobody wanted to talk directly to Pegasus either, but he seemed to be there more for the intimidation factor and less for company. Kaiba remained mostly silent as well, doing his best to ignore Pegasus and not respond to any attempt to engage him in small talk. Inside, his heart felt sick and twisted, but he could say nothing about it, no matter how much his conscience was bothering him. Mai was not her usual snappy self with her past sitting across the table from her, but she managed to put it aside long enough to speak with the newcomers and with Joey, though her talk with the latter was mostly on the practical side of passing things up and down the table. At least Yugi and Joey were there to make enough noise for the rest of them, and to everyone's relief, they didn't talk dueling. Yugi insisted on toasting his best friend's birthday in front of all the others, friend or foe regardless, and everyone but Kaiba joined him. Joey had come of age that day and was celebrating with a drink, but discussing what they would do to party when they got back home to Domino provided a moment of light-hearted conversation that everyone welcomed. At last, toward the end of the meal as waiters were clearing away their plates and asking who wanted dessert, there was a brief lull in conversation primed for Valon to clear his throat and lean across the table, keeping one hand firmly wrapped around his glass. "Hey, Mai," he began amicably. Mai, Joey, Yugi, and even Marik looked immediately at him. He seemed calmer, no smirking. "What'cha been up to lately?"

Mai blinked at him for a moment before deciding to answer politely. "Working a steady job. Yes, the chocolate cake sounds perfect," she added to the waiter standing over her shoulder. "Please."

"Oh." Valon's gaze flicked briefly to Joey. "Settling down, eh?"

Mai looked down at the dessert set in front of her, but refrained from pouncing on it until she had said what she was bursting to say. "Valon, Joey and I are seeing each other. We live together, in Domino City. And I'm very happy with him."

Valon did not react for a moment, sitting back in his chair. When he looked up again, a faint smile was on his lips, and his blue eyes fixed firmly on Joey. "That's good to hear," he said softly. "You deserve someone like him. As long as he's treating you right." The smirk returned. "You better be, mate."

Joey chanced a smirk in return. "'Course I am. You got nothing to worry about."

Valon nodded. "That's all I needed to know."

Turning down dessert, Pegasus rose from the table, taking his wine glass with him. "If you'll excuse me, I would like to congratulate my second chance winners on their dueling skills. Remember, you need to meet in Conference Room A at ten a.m. tomorrow to prepare for the finals. Get a good night's sleep, my friends! It's sure to be a dazzling show." He raised his glass to them and then turned to step off the stage and lurk around the second table of honor.

By then, most of the finalists had finished their dessert and drinks and were just content to sit and take a deep breath, contemplating escape. Yugi looked at Joey beside him. "Well, what do you think? Should we head up?"

"Not much else worth doing down here." Joey nudged his girlfriend's arm. "Hey, let's get out of here."

Mai nodded and put down her half-empty glass. Marik waved to them across the table. "Sleep well. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"Yeah. 'Night, Marik!" Yugi said brightly.

Kaiba pushed himself out of his seat as well. "As long as you're going, I'll catch the same elevator as you," he murmured.

"All right, suit yourself." Yugi smiled at the others at the table, having no wish to appear confrontational to any of them, and led the way down through the smaller tables and out the door. Kaiba knew Pegasus was watching them leave – watching him leave, with an escort, so as not to be left alone with him – but kept his eyes forward and said nothing to the others. He didn't want them hearing the slightest shade of fear in his voice. He left them upon reaching their floor, and Yugi bid his friends good night before going inside. Mai and Joey lingered in the corridor a few minutes more, so Joey could embrace her and promise her that he wouldn't let Valon's presence distract either of them, until with a kiss and the last whisper of "Happy birthday" they went their separate ways.