The group followed the fairy that seemed to be guiding them. They finally arrived at a cliff letting way to the view of a city underneath.
"I guess that's our destination," Yugi said.
"Let's find a way down," Mokuba told the other three.
When they finally reached the town, it was bustling with people.
"Hm... If this is like any normal RPG, if we ask around, we will get hints on where Kaiba might be," Akia suggested.
"Sounds like a plan," Yugi agreed.
They all went around talking to everyone, asking whether they saw someone dressed like them who passed by. Jounouchi then went and asked an old lady about it.
"I did see a stranger being brought to the temple across the desert," the woman informed him.
"A stranger? That must be Kaiba! Thanks, lady," Jounouchi expressed his gratitude.
They then went around asking where the desert was. Being pointed in the right direction, they reached the town gates. As soon as they started heading out, they were knocked back by a sandstorm.
"Huh? What's that all about?" Yugi inquired.
"How can a sandstorm just knock us back to the town gates?" Akia questioned.
They tried again, but got the same results. They looked around and found an old man sitting in front of his house at the outskirts of the city.
"Excuse me, we need to cross the desert. Is there any way to do that?" Yugi asked.
"You need a Koke Card to cross the desert," the old man replied.
"Koke Card?" Jounouchi inquired.
"You need a Koke Card to cross the desert," the old man repeated.
"What's the Koke Card?" Akia asked.
"You need a Koke Card to cross the desert," the old man kept saying the same thing.
"I think he's going to keep repeating the same thing..." Yugi commented.
Agreeing with Yugi, the group stopped trying to get any more information out of the old man. They all headed back to the city to find more clues about the Koke Card.
"Hm... None of the villagers are saying anything useful," Akia noted.
"Yeah, they all just say "hi" or "what brings you to our town?" It breaks the immersion quite a bit," Jounouchi gave his opinion.
"Look! Over there!" Mokuba pointed at a poster a little further ahead.
Jounouchi and Akia stopped their conversation and shifted their attention towards the poster. They all then headed there to read it.
"Big tournament..." Akia started.
"The prize for the winner..." Jounouchi continued.
"Is the extremely rare..." Yugi read.
"Koke Card!" The four of them exclaimed at the same time.
The poster told them about the location of said tournament, which they immediately got to. There, they found a man registering names, sitting at the entrance.
"Who's going to enter the tournament?" Mokuba asked.
"I'll sign up!" Akia volunteered.
"No, I will," Jounouchi intercepted.
"But, Jounouchi, your Life Points are the lowest out of the four of us," Yugi told his friend.
"And that's why I'll be the one entering. You guys should keep your full Life Points for later on when you'll really need 'em," Jounouchi replied.
Akia sighed. She knew she wouldn't be able to change Jounouchi's mind about this, but she was still worried.
"Don't you dare lose," she warned him.
Jounouchi grinned widely at her, "you can count on me."
He then went and registered his name in, while Yugi, Mokuba, and Akia headed for the spectator seats.
The building looked like a coliseum, with seats all around the arena in the middle. The group looked around and spotted the tower where the prize was, along with probably the hosts of the tournament.
"We could just snatch it. It's right there!" Akia exclaimed.
"I'm pretty sure that's not as easy as you make it sound," Yugi answered his sister.
"I guess..." She sighed in defeat.
They then focus their attention at the front where the announcer was introducing the champion of the town, Butterfly Lady, as she made her entrance. It was a very voluptuous lady with blonde hair, a red cape, and a butterfly mask over her face. The announcer then introduced her contestant as Pig Man.
"Pig Man? Isn't it supposed to be Jou-" Before she could finish her sentence, Akia burst in laughter. The contestant in question was dressed up as a pig, and Akia just knew that it was Jounouchi. Yugi and Mokuba were doing their best not to laugh so hard.
After they all finally caught their breath, they concentrated on the duel.
Jounouchi had summoned his Flame Swordsman (1800/1600) in attack mode. His opponent then retaliates by summoning Harpie Lady (1300/1400) also in attack mode.
"Harpie Lady?" Akia mumbled.
"You're thinking the same thing, aren't you, Akia?" Yugi tried to confirm his suspicions with his sister.
"Could it be Mai-san? She does look similar. And her voice is also awfully similar," the black-haired girl suggested.
The twins decided to watch the duel more before reaching a conclusion.
"Harpie Lady?" Jounouchi was hesitating to play his next turn.
"Jounouchi seems to be having the same thoughts as us," Akia observed.
After his moment of hesitation, he attacked the Harpie Lady with his Flame Swordsman.
"You walked right into my trap: Mirror Wall!" The masked woman yelled out.
"Mirror Wall...!" Yugi exclaimed. Both he and Akia looked at each other. It was almost perfectly clear now who Butterfly Lady was.
Due to Mirror Wall's effect, the Flame Swordsman's attack was halved (900/1600). The masked woman then equipped her Harpie Lady with Rose Whip, giving her a 300 points attack and defence boost (1600/1700).
Jounouchi, now also sure of the identity of his opponent, ripped off his mask. "Mai! It's me!"
"Jounouchi?! Stop!" The masked woman stopped her attack just in time to save Jounouchi's Flame Swordsman and Life Points. She then took off her own mask, revealing to be indeed none other than Kujaku Mai.
"What are you doing here?" Jounouchi asked her.
"I should be asking you the same thing-!" Before Mai could finish her retort, she was interrupted by the crowd's booing.
"Let's get out of here," Mai told him.
"But the prize!" Jounouchi retorted.
Mai then looked at the tower behind her and ordered her Harpie to use her whip and get the Koke card. The crowd at this point was in panic. Yugi, Akia, and Mokuba hurried out of the stadium. Mai and Jounouchi also ran out of the arena and joined the others.
When they all gathered outside, they ran further away from the coliseum, trying to put some distance between them and any potential pursuers.
While catching their breath, Akia was smiling at seeing Mai. She had missed her, even if it hadn't been that long since they last saw each other.
"Mai-san! How have you been?" Akia asked her friend.
Mai was equally happy to see Akia and the others again, even though she was confused over why they were there. "I've been fine. More importantly, why are you all here?"
Yugi started explaining to her what had happened to Kaiba and how Mokuba needed their help to rescue him. In return, Mai explained that she was asked by Kaiba Corp to beta test the game they'd been working on. Since she was offered money to do it, she agreed.
The group reached the town gates and Mai used the Koke Card. Big chicks with a green mane spawned. They were big enough for someone to ride them.
"Aw! They're so cute!" Akia went up to one of them and started petting it. The Koke let out happy chirps.
"Cute? These things look creepy..." Jounouchi shuddered.
"Come on, Jounouchi-kun, don't be a scaredy cat," Mai chuckled at him as she rode one of the Koke. Jounouchi grumbled and did the same, while Yugi, Akia, and Mokuba were already riding their own.
They all headed out to the desert, braving the sandstorm.