Chapter One: Normal Vacation
The next day, the eight heroes were flying in a luxurious private jet provided specially for them as part of the grand prize. Under Téa's insistence, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Bakura, Grandpa (in Yuri form), and herself had gone shopping after school for new clothes perfect for Hawaii. Now, the guys were dressed in white flowered Hawaiian shirts with backgrounds that matched the colors of their magic and white shorts, while she herself wore a pink muumuu with white flowers that just hung off her shoulders and a white flower in her hair. Spencer, who'd enthusiastically agreed to go on a vacation in a tropical spot like Hawaii, had simply zapped up a white flowered shirt with a gold background and white shorts, along with a new pair of sunglasses that he'd perched on top of his bangs. Kaiba, of course, refused to get too much into the spirit and simply wore a white polo with blue shorts.
At the moment, Joey and Tristan were wolfing down the food provided for them on the flight, Kaiba was sitting in the back and typing away on his laptop, ignoring the others in entirety, and the others were gathered around each other in a group of seats, talking excitedly about their trip.
"Hawaii is going to be so beautiful…" Téa said dreamily. "The sun, the sand, the ocean…it'll be like paradise."
"I agree," Yuri nodded. "I'll be able to wear a bathing suit without having people staring at me in sheer terror."
"Grandpa, it can't be that bad!" Yugi laughed.
He rolled his eyes. "I'll remind you of that when you're old, grey, and unfortunate enough to have a potbelly."
"I do hope we'll be able to enjoy ourselves on this trip," Bakura said. "I worry sometimes about having yet another spirit come up to me because they want a bit of assistance or to simply talk."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about spirits," Spencer replied. "It's the gods that could possibly give us a hassle."
The others turned and stared at him. Joey and Tristan looked up from their feast and Joey said with his mouth still full, "Gods?"
Spencer nodded. "Yeah, Hawaii's got its very own god mythology. They've got Lono, god of peace; Kanaloa, god of the sea; Kū-ka-ili-moku, the feather god; Kāne, god of nature and life…"
"Uh, but dey're all just myths, right?" Joey said once he'd swallowed his food. "None of dese gods really exist?"
Just then, a voice came out over the jet's speakers: Your attention, please-we are about to begin our descent to the island of Hawaii, so would everyone please return to their seats and fasten their seatbelts as we prepare for landing. Thank you.
"Awright!" Joey cried out, jumping away from his feast and, ignoring the pilot's request, staring outside his window as the green and tan Hawaiian Islands came into view. "We're here!"
The others squirmed in their seats as the plane slowly circled down and screeched to a stop on the runway. Once it was finally okay for them to get up, they quickly grabbed their carry-on bags and dashed off of the plane. After going through all of the typical airport security and baggage pick-up procedures, they finally stepped out of the airport and into the beautiful Hawaiian sun. A bunch of young Hawaiian women dressed as hula dancers stepped up to them and placed leis of white flowers around all of their necks, much to the delight of Joey and Tristan and to the chagrin of Kaiba.
To everyone's delight, waiting for them right outside was a long, black limo with a driver standing by its front door holding a sign that said Wheeler. They placed their baggage in the trunk, got inside, and started off towards their hotel.
As they drove along, Joey and Tristan opened the sun roof and stuck their heads out of it to let the warm Hawaiian breeze run through their hair. Joey sniffed at the air and caught a whiff of a strange, sweet smell. "What's dat?" he asked Tristan.
Tristan sniffed the air and replied, "I think that's the smell of pineapple."
"Oh, man…" Joey licked his lips. "If it's on de air all de way out here, den dat means dere's lots a dem!"
"Fruit feast, here we come!" Tristan yelled, punching a fist into the air.
The others, meanwhile, rolled down the limo windows and gazed outside at the beautiful scenery. Dozens of Hawaiians were running around on the beautiful beaches, splashing in the sparkling water and building castles with the tan sand. Occasionally they saw a coconut tree which people were attempting to shake down in order to savor the coconut's delicious milk.
Spencer grinned as he watched a bunch of people surfing on the waves. "Hmm, that looks like an interesting sport," he said. "I think I'll try it out once we get to our place."
"Thank you, Spencer," Kaiba replied, still working on his laptop. "At least I'll get some entertainment from watching you wipe out the majority of the time."
Spencer turned and gave him an evil eye. "I'll get the hang of it, you baka," he glared. "You just watch."
Finally, the limo arrived at a beautiful resort which was right by the beach. The teens got four different suites right next to each on the first floor, which they decided to split up between Yugi, Joey, and Tristan, Téa, getting a room to herself as the only female, Bakura and Yuri, and Spencer and Kaiba (Spencer had ultimately lost the game of roe, sham, boe to choose who'd have to room with the C.E.O.). All of their rooms had two king-sized beds with flowery bedding that had nightstands with lamps on top with shades that were decorated with seashells between them, round tables with three chairs around them, and a computer area in the corner. Outside of large patio doors were porches with two chairs and a round table each with a beautiful view of the Hawaiian beach behind the place.
Joey flung himself down onto a bed and sighed with delight. "Now DIS is what I call relaxin'."
"Hey, Joey, that's my bed," Tristan said.
"No way, man, dis is my bed," Joey replied, lifting his head up.
"Um, guys, I think you two are going to have to share," Yugi replied, setting his bags down onto the other bed.
The two of them stared at him for a few moments, just about ready to pounce on one another in a fight. Finally Tristan replied, "Yeah, I guess you're right-I wouldn't want to risk Joey squashing you in his sleep."
"HEY!" both Yugi and Joey cried out.
After a little while, almost all of the teens got into their bathing suits and happily dashed out of their rooms to the beach. Joey and Tristan jumped into the water and started swimming out into the ocean, attempting to pull each other underneath every stroke of the way, while Yugi and Bakura tried to make sure they didn't kill each other in the process.
Spencer, meanwhile, swam right past them holding onto a gold surfboard which, he'd told Kaiba, he'd gotten the 'powers' way. Once he managed to find a good wave, he slowly brought himself up onto the board, wobbled a little as he held his arms straight out from his sides, and finally managed to achieve balance.
"Yo, Kaiba!" Spencer yelled to the teen still sitting on their porch. "Looks like you're going to be terribly bored on this vacation, huh?"
Kaiba ignored him and continued typing on his laptop.
Téa took the time to spread a pink beach blanket out on the sand and laid down on it. She closed her eyes and let the golden Hawaiian sun come down upon her, soaking up its rays and, hopefully, a little tan as well. Yuri walked around her on the beach, digging through the sand in search of shells to take home as souvenirs ("Reminds me of my time as an archaeologist," he joked).
After a bit of a while, Yugi paused in his swimming and glanced up at the sky. The others in the water noticed him just floating where he was and Joey asked, "Yug, what's wrong?"
Yugi looked back at them and let out a little laugh. "Sorry, but any moment now I keep expecting something to come flying down on top of us and attack us with magical beams."
"Yug, c'mon!" Joey smiled. "For once in our lifetime, we're just havin' a nice, normal vacation dat doesn't involve fightin' some evil psychopath, so just kick back, relax, an enjoy AAH!"
While Joey had been talking, Tristan dove under the water, swam up to Joey, and suddenly popped up and dunked him down into the ocean. A few moments later, Joey came back up and spat water out of his mouth. "AAGH! SALTY!" he yelled out.
Tristan laughed hysterically and quickly started swimming away, with an angry Joey hot on his tail. Bakura and Yugi followed after them; as they swam, Yugi thought, Maybe Joey's right…maybe we'll be able to have an actual normal vacation after all.
A small pool of lava slowly made its way down to the very bottom floor of the island, strangely having no effects at all on the trees and animals which it passed through. Eventually, the pool came out of the greenery and found itself at a sandy beach.
The pool of lava got up and slowly shifted itself back into the young woman Pele. She gazed around the beach and watched as a few teenagers enjoyed themselves in the water and on the sand.
She sighed. Well, I suppose I'll stay here for the time being, she thought to herself, lying down on the sand. Hopefully Poliahu won't think of looking for me around the beaches…
She didn't notice a few little ice crystals hovering a bit above her. Yes, that's right, Pele, Poliahu thought to herself. Just wait there and think I haven't been able to find you…and when you least expect it…POW!