Preparations 1

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sailor Moon.

Kilnorc: First off, gomen nasai for such a long wait, guys. Been real busy. hehehehe. other fics, then research...-sighs- well anyhoo, i'm here now, so here we go! WHOOPIE!

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Serenity sat quietly on her bed in the room that she and Tea were given on the cruise ship, holding a pillow close to her. Something was bugging her today, but she couldn't figure out what was wrong. Ever since she and the others had climbed onto the ship, a bad aura just seemed to cover the area.

Knock knock

The cinnamon haired girl looked up to her door, "Yes?". The door opened up and Brian poked his head through, "Hey, Serenity. You seen Tea around?" he asked her. She shook her head, "No I haven't. She said she was going out for a walk, and that was about an hour ago,".

Brian lowered his head, "Dangit, I can't make a romantic move even on a cruise ship!" he lifted his head, "Well I'll find her later, what's wrong?". Serenity shook her head, "Nothing's wrong, Brian. I'm just a little nervous,".

The American teen walked further into the room and closed the door, "Serenity, I have three sisters back home, and I know when somethings up with them...," he said quietly, taking a seat next to her, "Wanna talk about it?".

Guess I can't hide it...and he IS the only one here, she thought as she exhaled loudly, "Well...honestly, I don't wanna be on the boat,". Brian chuckled, "I didn't know you were scared of sailing, Serenity. If you got nerves or seasickness, just try to stay in spot, like the center of your room, and whatever you do, DON'T read! That'll make it worse,".

She shook her head, "It's not that...," she slowly turned to look at him, "Something bad's gonna happen, Brian...," she whispered, tears leaking from her eyes. Brian smiled and pulled her into a hug, "It's going to be ok, Serenity. Don't worry. If anything, it'll be trouble that we're used to, and before you know it, Yugi and your big brother will stop it...," he assured as he rubbed her back.

Serenity squeaked out a laugh and rubbed her eyes, "Thanks Brian. I guess you're right. I shouldn't worry about that sort of thing. I should just worry about the first stage of competition,".

"First stage of competition?"

She nodded, "A little while ago, one of Pegasus' people called the room and said that the first stage of the Duelist Princess contest is a duel elimination round. I think that the Duelist Princess should be able to hold her own in a duel besides looking pretty,".

"Well see, you got nothing to worry about there, either! You're friends with the King of Games, and you're brother is one of the top duelists from Battle City! You are gonna wipe the floor with those chicks, Serenity,".

"You really think so, Brian?"

"Oh hell ya. Now, the most important thing you need for this, is a deck...I don't think you can win a duel without one!" he laughed.

"Um...I don't have one of my own,"

Brian fell over, "You're kidding me...,"

Serenity rubbed the back of her head, "No...I'm sorry, but I don't have my own deck. But I did get a big case of cards to make my own, but I'm not good at it. Could you help me out, Brian? I mean, you were in Battle City right?" she asked as the American picked himself up from the floor.

"Yeah, but I didn't get to the finals. I would love to help you out, though, Serenity. I consider myself to be a talented deck builder. What kind of style would you like?"

"Well...there's one I've been thinking of. Sorta as a tribute to my big brother, Joey...," she said slowly.

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Tea sighed as she leaned against the railing, her blue eyes looking at the sea below, For a cruise ship, this place is kinda dull. Heck, the boat to Duelist Kingdom had more excitement than this. Then again, me and Tristan stowed away, so we had the pressure of not being caught at the time.

"Hey Tea!"

The brunette looked to the side to see Ryou walk up to her, "Hi Ryou, what's up?" she greeted. Ryou looked around nervously, "Um...my worse half has been running around in my body again, so if anyone in a suit tries to bring me in for theft...please be my alibi!"

Sweatdropping, Tea slowly nodded, "Ok...sure, I guess. You been enjoying the trip so far?".

"Well to be honest, it's rather boring,"

Tea laughed, "I was just thinking the exact same thing! I wish something interesting would happen,"

"Attention. Will the contest participants please report to the front of the cruise ship at this time. Once again, all contestants please report to the front of the ship,"

The two of them stood there listening to the intercom announcement and blinked a few times, "I guess our wish was granted, Tea,"

"...yeah, seems like it,"

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The entire group of contestants were lined up along the front of the boat, each one with a duel disk on their arms. Yugi, Joey, Duke and Tristan were scanning the line for Serenity when Ryou and Tea joined them.

"What's going on?"

Joey crossed his arms, "Pegasus is havin' da girls in da contest duel each other ta see who goes to the next round. Since when did a beauty contest have dueling as a stage?" he asked, frowning a little bit.

Yugi shrugged, "When has Pegasus ever have a contest that didn't involve dueling?" he countered. Before Joey could reply, Pegasus himself walked onto the deck, followed by a few of his suits. He cleared his throat loudly and held up his hands, "Welcome all, my honored guests and participants! To those who are wondering what a beauty contest has anything to do with Duel Monsters, please allow me to explain. You all know of Yugi Motou, the King of Games...who's currently in the crowd right in front of me. Hello Yugi-boy!".

The short duelist sweatdropped as the silver-haired man waved at him. Pegasus lowered his hand, "Anyway, since there is a King of Games, I thought of something rather interesting awhile back. If there's a King, why not another title like Queen or Princess? After I thought about it, I came up with a contest that will give the young women duelists of Domino the chances to gain the prestige of Dueling Royalty! Now," he clapped his hands together and turned to the group of girls, "Now, to get to the point, here are the rules. I have a group of mercenary duelists on certain points of this cruise ship. At any given point, they may jump out and challenge you to a duel. You must accept the duel, or you are out of the contest right then. The Life Point limit begins at 4000 points and to prove that you have successfully won your duel, your opponent will give you a card. Show this card to the nearest employee of mine, and then you'll be taken care of. Any questions?".

Murmurs rippled through the line of girls, but in the end they all shook their heads. Serenity shifted nervously in her spot, still trying to shake the feeling from before. Gotta focus, Serenity. You want to make Joey proud... she looked at the deck in her duel disk, I just hope the deck Brian helped me build makes it possible...

"Psst...you ok?"

She looked to her right to see a taller girl with long black hair and gentle eyes, "Uh...yeah. Just a little anxious I guess," she admitted. The girl smiled and patted her on the shoulder, "Relax and have a good time. It's not a game of life or death here,".

"You haven't been in the games my friends and I have been in with," Serenity said quietly.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just babbling...hahaha,"

Joey growled and leaned against the wall, "I don't like this Yugi. Everytime we get involved with Pegasus, something involving some sorta magic starts up and we're fightin' for our souls. I don' want dat for my little sis,". Yugi glanced at him, then looked at Serenity, "Actually I think this is one time we don't have to worry about anything bad happening,"