Chapter Six: Afterwards

"And in local news, police are still futilely attempting to determine the source of the inexplicable explosion at the Domino Docks which occurred late yesterday afternoon. Some have even begun speculating that the source of the explosion might have been extraterrestrial, explaining why no trace of whatever caused it remains. The police, however, are continuing to investigate the matter, and they wish to say that they highly doubt the cause of the explosion was from some other world."

That next morning, after Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Téa had gathered in Yugi's living room to watch the news about the occurrence yesterday, they walked upstairs into his bedroom and made sure to lock the door behind them. With Yugi's grandfather busy running the Game Shop downstairs, they were free to discuss the matter without risk of being overheard.

"Well, everyone, nice job with cleaning up the traces of Queen Kaosu's ship," Yugi said.

"Yep-de police aren't ever gonna be able to figure out what in de world caused dat 'inexplicable explosion'," Joey nodded, forming 'finger quotes' around the words 'inexplicable explosion'.

"Wow, Joey-I didn't know you knew what inexplicable means," Tristan teased.

Joey flung a small spark of magic at Tristan, hitting him directly in the eye. "OW!" Tristan yelled, covering his eye with his hand. "I was just teasing, man! No need to use your magic!"

"Oh yeah…speakin' of magic, dere's sometin' I need to tell you guys," Joey said. "Last night, I was searchin' for sometin' to eat in de kitchen-"

"That's important?" Tristan interrupted.

"LEMME FINISH!" Joey yelled. "ANYWAY, when I opened one cabinet, sometin' fell out of it and I tried to stop it wit a force field like Yug's, and I couldn't' do it. The ting crashed right onto my head."

"Well, I'm sure it won't make much of a difference," Tristan said.

"HELLO?! COULDN'T CONJOUR UP A FORCE FIELD? IS DAT REGISTERIN' IN YOUR BRAIN?" Joey yelled.

"You couldn't do it? That's odd…" Yugi said. He raised a hand up and a small, translucent force field appeared in the middle of his palm.

"Man, how'd you do dat? Maybe I'm doin' sometin' wrong…" Joey held up one hand and scrunched his eyes up as he focused, but as that could come out was a couple of green sparks.

"Joey, I don't think you're going to be able to do it," Téa said. "In fact, Yugi may be the only one of us who can."

The other three stared at her. "Whaddya mean?" Joey asked.

Téa reached into her orange purse and pulled out a thick book which had extremely yellowed pages and a brown, torn cover encrusted with a few sparkling gemstones. She blew on the book, and a cloud of dust swarmed up, making the other three cough.

"Just how old is dat ting?" Joey asked.

"What's that about, Téa?" Yugi asked.

Téa read the cover aloud: "A Hero's Guide to Superpowers and the Supernatural. I thought that this could be useful for us since we're probably going to be dealing with many of the things that this book talks about. And look at what I found on page 37." She flipped the book open.

The book read:

Special Abilities

While certain superhero groups may have some kind of similarity amongst its members, such as uniforms, relationships, or perhaps a certain kind of power, it's almost certain that each member of the group will possess their own special abilities. Special abilities are the different kinds of superpowers which are completely unique to each member of a superhero group. Such special abilities may include: super strength, super speed, telekinesis, force fields...

"Force fields?" Joey cried. "Wait…so all of us can all use magic and fly, but Yug is de only one of us who can make dese force fields?" He groaned and rubbed one hand against his forehead. "Man, why couldn't I have learned dat before I got dis bruise on my head?"

"Hang on, Joey, don't start moaning yet," Yugi said. "If I've gotten this special ability of my own, then maybe you're going to get a special ability as well."

Joey almost immediately perked up. "Hey, yeah! Maybe I'll get to do sometin' like shoot laser beams outta my eyes!"

Téa rolled her eyes. "What is it with guys and shooting laser beams out of their eyes?"

"Laser beams, huh? Well, if that's your special ability, then mine's going to be a power of attraction." Tristan grinned.

"What in de world are you gonna be attracted to?"

"Girls, of course. Maybe I could start with Serenity…"

"KEEP YOUR ABILITY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" Joey yelled, and once again, Joey and Tristan were caught up in a fight.

Téa sighed. "This is why I need some female friends…"

"Anyway, guys, I don't think it's time for us to relax and kid around just yet." Yugi said. "Remember what those three beings said: there's more magic coming, and we've got to be ready for it, no matter what special abilities we have."

The other three nodded. "Yep, I had a feelin' dat dis would be just de beginnin'," Joey said. "But hey, dat's just de way our lives go, huh?"

"Never a dull moment," Tristan agreed.

"So everyone," Téa said, holding out her hand and letting it glow with pink magic, "here's to being the new heroes of our world."

Tristan placed an orange, glowing hand on top of hers, followed by Joey's green and Yugi and the Pharaoh's blue.

"Friends and heroes forever," Yugi grinned.

"Weder we like it or not!" Joey laughed.