A/n: Hello there! Bet you didn't expect to see this chapter up this early!
Bunni: They probably fainted in shock.
Mystic: Hmph. Well anyways, the reason I'm updating so early is because I tried to take a "well-deserved" break from writing this. It didn't work so well. I just hope that this chapter is as good as the others and doesn't seemed rushed of anything... It's definately not my favorite, but that's just 'cuz I don't like the episode. Filler is boring. So anyways, I would like to say thank you to all of my reviewers (I'm going to start naming them starting next chapter, I just don't feel like it now), and now go read!
Disclaimer: If you think I own Yugioh then you are a LOONY.
"And why, exactly, are we on the roof of the school?" I asked Kitty as the group stood, well, on top of the school.
"Because the roof is awesome like that," Kitty said with a shrug.
"You can't be serious!" Wheeler suddenly said, apparently reacting to Yugi telling him about last night. "You mean to tell me that that rich punk Kaiba's holding his own exclusive Duel Monsters Tournament?!"
"Yep," Yugi said, seeming strangely indifferent to his friend's distress.
"And it starts in about a week," I commented. The expression on Wheeler's face was getting pretty interesting. Kitty giggled.
"I can't believe moneybags didn't send an invite to me!" the frustrated teenager complained. "I was the runner up in Duelist Kingdom! Where's the respect?!"
"Are you actually implying that Kaiba ever had any respect for you?" Kitty asked. "In his opinion, you're probably even lower than the ground you walk on."
"I'll give him something to walk on!" Joey retorted threateningly. Something told me that that didn't come out the way it was supposed to.
"You know this is exactly how he wants you to react," Tristan commented. Wait a second, did he just say something slightly intelligent?
"You gotta good point there," Wheeler said, calming down. "Maybe I don't need to enter Kaiba's snooty competition. What about you, Yugi – are you gonna enter the competition?"
"He doesn't exactly have a choice," I said. "If he doesn't, Kaiba will proclaim himself King of Games and make Yugi look like a coward and a fool."
"Besides, it's my fate," the midget threw in. "I just found out that entering Kaiba's battle city tournament is the only way I can achieve my destiny."
"You destiny?" the tall blonde asked, confusion spreading across his face. "What are you talkin' about?"
"It's a long story involving giant rocks and the fate of the world," I commented dryly. "Something coming back from the past to try and destroy the world, Yugi must defeat it, blah blah blah."
"You know, the usual," Kitty said, grinning.
"Well then it's my destiny to help!" Joey proclaimed. "And I've got just the card! Red Eye Black Dragon, folks!"
He held up the aforementioned card into the air. I couldn't help thinking that even a regular Blue Eyes would crush it without a second glance, and Kaiba had Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. And don't even get me started on Obelisk and the other Egyptian Gods. Yes, Red Eyes was a pretty powerful card, but it wouldn't last very long if you were dueling someone with a good deck.
"So now you're saying you've changed your mind again, and you are going to enter Kaiba's tournament?" Tristan asked sardonically.
"That's what I'm sayin' alright!" Joey replied, missing the insult. "Yugi inspired me! With Red Eyes in my deck, I've got it made!"
The rooftop was filled with sweat drops galore as Wheeler proceeded to kiss the card.
"Looks like you've got some competition," I whispered to Kitty, who proceeded to glare at me.
"Wait a second," Tea suddenly imputed. "Didn't you learn your lesson the last time you dueled Kaiba?"
"Yeah, he did sort of kick your ass," I agreed. "Red Eyes didn't work so well that time, did it?"
"You'll need to have a little patience, Joey," Yugi said, dishing out the help as usual. "First you should get used to Kaiba's new, more advanced version of the Duel Disk."
"The old ones were too advanced for me," Joey stated, Kitty snorting at the understatement. "They cost me the duel!"
"You're a much better duelist now than you where then," Yugi continued. "But before you jump right into another duel with Kaiba, you should practice dueling with the Duel Disks."
That first part was a lie and you know it, I thought silently at Yugi, smirking mentally.
He needs the confidence, and he is better than he started, he shot back, annoyed. I didn't specify when "then" was.
Who pissed in your coffee this morning? I asked lightheartedly, enjoying the little spat. I was complimenting you, genius.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Joey asked, excited as a puppy with a new chew toy. "I've gotta go try and sign up for this thing!"
And then he ran off, leaving us with no other choice but to follow him.
~*~
"Looks like the registration office is over there," Tea pointed out to us. Joey sprinted off towards it, Tristan following – probably making sure Wheeler didn't get lost.
"Do you think they'll let Joey sign up for the tournament?" Yugi asked as we followed after them.
"Seeing as it is Kaiba's tournament after all, I'd say no," Kitty said. "But either way, I don't want to miss out on whatever show is about to take place."
"By the way, thanks for taking Yami to the Egyptian exhibit yesterday," Yugi told us.
"I still can't believe he was an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh!" Tea said.
"Yep, and he saved the whole world, too!" Yugi said brightly. We continued walking in silence for the next couple of minutes, and I looked around at the tall buildings and hoards of people, bored.
"Here's the sign-up place," I said, interrupting Tea's worry-fest, which was quite obvious on her face, however oblivious Yugi was to it. Tristan and Joey where already there, looking inside curiously.
"How may I be of assistance?" the creepy-looking dude at the counter asked as we all walked in.
"Hi," Yugi said politely before continuing. "We would like to register for the Battle City Tournament and get our Duel Disks."
"Well then, my young friends, you have entered into the correct place," said the guy – who was really starting to give off rapist vibes. "You're fortunate since I have three Duel Disks left. But first I have to make sure you're qualified to register."
"Ok, I'm Yugi Mouto," the short teenager stated, though it was a wonder he wasn't recognized by his unforgettable hair.
"Not bad, you've got five stars," the counter guy said after he finished typing Yugi's name into the computer. "That's the highest rank."
"Where does this information come from?" Yugi asked curiously.
"KaibaCorp. Performed extensive research on Duelists around the world and compiled the results into a database," the man said as he turned the computer monitor around. "This shows your skill rank and the rarest card in your deck. Mr. Kaiba has gone through great lengths to make sure he knows everything about you and your decks."
This caused quite a shock from everybody except Kitty and I, and soon they where complaining about the unfairness, and how Kaiba was cheating and that was such a terrible thing to do.
"It really isn't that surprising," Kitty said to me. "I mean, it's not like Kaiba doesn't already know every single card in Yugi's deck by memory."
I nodded in agreement – it was a very Kaiba-ish thing to do.
"Well as promised since you qualified to enter you get this," said the guy as he held up a box. "KaibaCorp.'s brand new Duel Disk System!"
"Awesome!" said Yugi as he accepted the box with a smile. "Thank you!"
He didn't get much time to look over it thoroughly, however, as he was rudely pushed aside by Joey.
"I wanna register, also," said the blonde excitedly. "Joey Wheeler's the name."
"I'm sorry, you've only got one star," said the man after looking it up. "That ranking is much to low to enter."
It took a couple seconds for the information to register in his brain, but when it did Wheeler exploded.
"That can't be!" he yelled, enraged. "Kaiba fixed those results! I came in second in Duelist Kingdom!"
Fortunately Tristan intervened, restraining Joey and trying to calm him down without much success. It was sort of funny how Wheeler kept bringing up the whole "second place in Duelist Kingdom" thing, didn't he have anything else to say about his dueling skills?
Oh wait, he didn't. Never mind then.
"I'm sorry, Joey," said the receptionist suddenly. "It appears my hard drive was malfunctioning. Actually, you have four stars. Congratulations, you qualify."
"I knew the computer was wrong," Joey said confidently. "That's how I was able to stay relaxed and keep my cool while he fixed it."
Kitty slapped her forehead. I yawned.
"Best of luck," the man said, handing Joey his duel disk, who accepted it gladly.
"Battle City Tournament, here we come!" said Yugi, though I wasn't sure whether he was joking or not.
"Finally," I murmured. "Let's leave already."
We walked outside into the dark, cool crisp of the evening- Wait a second. How long had we been in there?! It had been the middle of the afternoon when we went in, and I was pretty sure not that much time had passed. Oh well, I preferred the night anyways.
"Guys, I gotta get going," Joey said after we had walked in a random direction for about five minutes. "My sister Serenity's operation is tomorrow and I told her I'd stay with her at the hospital tonight."
I could see Kitty cringing. She knew what was going to happen, of course, and so did I.
"Don't interfere with the plot," I whispered to her. "He'll be fine. Just think, if Wheeler doesn't loose his Red Eyes now, then Yugi won't acquire it. And if that doesn't happen…"
"Friends Till the End will end badly," she finished for me. "I know, but still…"
"Just wait until the ending of season two," I consoled her. "Then you'll be the one holding me back."
~*~
"Hey," I said, trying to act casual as we approached the spot where Yugi, Tristan and Tea were all talking about the missing Joey. "What's going on?"
"Thank goodness you're here!" Yugi said, turning to face us. "We could really use your help searching for Joey. He's gone missing!"
Kitty's concerned face was real. Mine wasn't.
"We'll definitely help," Kitty said, and then nudging me, her voice turning threatening. "Right?"
"Uh, yeah!" I said after a second, smiling a wide, fake grin. "Of course we'll try and find him!"
Kitty glared at me.
"We should split up and check every corner of the city," Tristan suggested.
"It just isn't like Joey to miss his sister's operation," Yugi said, worry covering his voice like water. "Something must have happened to him."
"Alright, I'm heading down town," Tristan said boldly. "You guys look around here."
And then the others were gone. Don't ask me how they moved so fast, they just did.
"So," I said calmly. "Do you want to go to the beach now, or should we just wait for them to find him?"
"We're going to the beach," Kitty said, a wicked glint appearing in her eye. "I want to go knock some sense into Wheeler."
"You are possibly one of the strangest fangirls I've ever met," I said as we started walking, shaking my head. "One minute you're going to destroy the plot to save him, and the next you're wanting to punch him in the face!"
"At least I don't go after the villains," she said, smirking at me.
"They're the only intelligent people on the show," I replied, shrugging. "I can't help it."
"Yeah, intelligence does tend to be a lacking factor in most good guys," she agreed. "It's quite pathetic, really. So, are we going to walk or do you actually want to get somewhere by next week?"
"Fine," I huffed, and she took off running, not getting too far before I chased after her.
We ran for about five minutes, until finally we could smell the salty wind coming off the ocean. A couple more blocks, and we where standing on top of a tall wall surrounding the beach.
And down there was a lone figure, sitting in the sand.
We stood there for a couple of seconds, and the I turned and motioned for Kitty to go on ahead.
"Might as well get this over with," I said, and she smirked as a reply and jumped down.
"You know, that's a pretty pathetic pose for a duelist," Kitty said as she approached Joey. He looked up, surprised to see her, and then stood up slowly.
"What's wrong?" he said, though his tone was no longer held the chipper excitement as yesterday. Instead he sounded defeated and depressed.
"What's wrong?" she repeated, angrily. "What's wrong?! What's wrong is that you promised your sister you would be at the hospital, but instead your sitting here moping like a five-year old!"
He cringed. It just then became obvious just how beat up he really was.
"What's wrong?" Kitty asked, a mixture of concern and exasperation on her face.
"These thugs, 'Rare Hunters,' they called themselves," Joey replied, sounding completely out of it. "They attacked me on my way to the hospital. They said they take other people's rare cards, and…"
"They took your Red Eyes?" Kitty asked rhetorically. "And that stops you from going to see your sister how…?"
"Red Eyes was the key to my deck!" Wheeler yelled, coming alive again, and then deflating. "I… I can't comfort Serenity right now."
Kitty sighed through her teeth, and then reached back and slapped him. Joey reeled back in shock.
It took all the control I had not to burst out laughing then and there.
"You idiot!" she exclaimed at him. "Are you seriously putting a card at more importance than your sister?! It's a friggin' piece of paper!"
She turned around, and though from the back it must have seemed she was very sad and angry, she winked at me before continuing. She was enjoying this thoroughly.
"I thought you where a respectable person," Amanda said softly. "I was glad to have met you, glad to have you as my friend. But I guess you turned out to be just another selfish, useless dog."
I saw anger, hurt, and then finally realization come across Joey's face as he walked towards Amanda, placing a hand on her shoulder and turning her around. And then I realized she was actually crying.
Damn, she's a good actress.
"You're right," he said, the regret sounding clear in his voice. "I was being a jerk."
"It's ok," she said softly, and the embraced him – which was definitely a surprise for Wheeler, who looked extremely awkward as he clumsily hugged her back. I noticed he was blushing, though. Well, at least everything was going smoothly in the romantic section so far.
"Um," I said, and they broke apart, reminded of my presence. "As cute as you guys are, we really need to be heading over the hospital…"
Yes, the look on Wheeler's face was absolutely priceless.
A/n: Yeah, definately not one of my favorites... As to why I cut off the end of the real episode, well it's because all I would be doing is typing up the episode. There isn't much room for any extra, interesting stuff. Also I find the ending of the episode quite dull.
Bunni: Isn't that your opinion of the whole episode?
Mystic: Yes, but when you add in the beach scene from the original episode it's much better.
Bunni: Nothing like violence to keep something interesting.
Mystic: Exactly. Please Rip + Review, hope you enjoyed!