Under Control

As the days passed, Emily spent most of her time trying to understand the Millennium Star and all of its powers. She had wings, but didn't know how to use them. Before she thought about flying, she folded them and spread them a few times to get used to them. What she really wondered was if there was an ancient spirit living within the Star because she could hear a faint voice. Although Emily had never heard it before, the voice sounded familiar to her. She tried to find whoever it was the voice belonged to, but in vain. But the voice continued to speak to Emily, guiding her.

What Emily had also discovered was that she could perform magic. She wanted to find out what kinds of spells she could cast, but knew it was too dangerous for her to use her powers in public. She actually had a few accidents in school which caused her powers to go out of control. One time, one of the boys at school was tormenting Emily. She tried to control herself, but lost it when he placed his hand on her rear end. Appalled, she turned around and grabbed his wrist, but when she did, her hand caught on fire and scorched the boy. The burn wasn't severe, so he didn't need to go to the hospital.

Frightened, Emily ran to the girl's restroom to try to calm down and pull herself together. She didn't know what happened except that it was an accident. One of the girls came out of the stalls and asked her if she was all right. That took Emily by surprise and she accidently performed another spell of a different element. Water surrounded her hands and she ended up soaking her classmate.

Max was the only one who knew what was going on with Emily. Especially when one of the bullies tried to pick a fight with Emily for accidentally getting mud all over his uniform. The bully tried to land blows on Emily, but as she protected herself, her arms turned to stone. When she caught one of his attacks, she lunged her hand towards him and a force of wind pushed him away. It came to no surprise that a lot of students were freaked out and called Emily a freak. Her friends were scared, but at the same time, amazed.

That day after school, Max brought Emily into her home. She lived in a luxurious estate and had a lot of space to do whatever she wished. Max revealed to Emily that she was just like her when she got her Cobalt Star shard from Bakura's father. She didn't understand her powers, but the spirit within helped her to learn and control them. Now it was Emily's turn to be educated. Max couldn't teach her the magic she knew, but she could help Emily learn to use her magic. Max couldn't control the spirit of the Cobalt Star shard, but she could use its powers of her own will. And this was one time when the evil spirit would not attack. But it was an act of choice. She had to keep herself at bay to keep everyone convinced that Max was no longer possessed by an evil spirit. Besides, even without the Cobalt Star shard, Max could still use its powers.

Emily's training was hard over the week, but Max told her to keep practicing on her own. There wasn't a lot for her to teach anyway. Emily just hoped she would be able to use her powers when she needed to. But confidence wasn't a luxury she could afford right now. She had to stay on her guard.

The next day, Yugi and his friends met up on the school roof. "You can't be serious," said Joey. "You mean to tell me that rich punk Kaiba is throwing his own tournament?"

Yugi nods. "And the whole thing kicks off in less than a week."

Joey growls. "I can't believe Moneybags didn't send me an invitation. I was the runner-up in Duelist Kingdom! Where's the respect?"

"Here's a news flash for you, Joey: Kaiba doesn't like you," Max told him.

Joey continued to growl. "I'll give him something not to like."

"You know, this is exactly how he wants you to react."

Joey finally calmed down. "You got a good point, Max. Maybe I don't need to enter Kaiba's snooty competition. What about you, Yuge? Are you going to enter?"

"I have to. It's my destiny." To explain what he means, he tells him, "Some ancient evil force has come back to threaten the world and it's my destiny to join the tournament to stop it."

"Then it's my destiny to help you," Joey told him and began acting bold.

"So basically you've changed your mind again and you are going to enter?" Max asked.

"Yup, Yugi inspired me. And I've got just the card to help me. I'm talking about Red-Eyes Black Dragon, folks." Then Joey plants a kiss on the card and starts sweet talking. It was kind of embarrassing.

Téa speaks up and asks, "Didn't you learn your lesson the last time you dueled Kaiba?"

Emily agreed. "Your Red-Eyes is a powerful card, but it doesn't guarantee you victory over Kaiba."

"You'll need to have a little patience," Yugi added. "You'll also need to get used to his new and advanced version of the duel disk."

The prototype was already too much for Joey to handle. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle the new version. Thinking about what happened last time made him remember how Kaiba mistreated him. But Joey was a much better duelist now than he was then. Finally, he decided he would join Yugi in the tournament and help him face his destiny.

After school, the gang went downtown to register for the tournament. On the way, Emily remembered to thank Téa for recommending going to the exhibit. It was still hard for any of them to believe that Yami was a pharaoh and Emily was his daughter. But what was really scary was the thought of ancient evil forces returning to threaten the world.

"Hey, girls," Yugi was saying, "You know how in the tournament, the winner gets the loser's rarest card? On one hand, it's an awesome idea, because the winner gets the prize of rare and powerful cards. But I put my heart in my deck and I don't want to lose any of my monsters to another duelist; especially my Dark Magician. But the world depends on Yami and me, so I'll play by whatever rules I have to."

The group finally found the registration office. "May I be of some assistance?" asked the clerk.

"Hi, we came to register for the tournament," said Yugi.

"Well then, my friends, you're in the correct place. You're fortunate since I have three duel disks left on my shelf. But first, I have to make sure you're qualified to register."

"Okay, I'm Yugi Muto."

The clerk typed Yugi's name in the computer. "Not bad. You've got five stars. That's the highest rank."

"Where does this information come from?"

"KaibaCorp has a database containing information on duelists all over the world. To determine your quality, Mr. Kaiba has gone through great lengths to learn everything about you and your deck." The clerk showed everyone the screen. It contained Yugi's picture, his rank as a duelist, and his Dark Magician; the most powerful card he ever used in a duel.

"Knowing everything about everyone's cards gives Kaiba an unfair advantage," Emily protested.

As promised, the clerk presented Yugi with a duel disk. Max tried to register, but had a hard time. It was actually hard for Max to do these kinds of things because she didn't have a last name and was often rejected. But Kaiba knew who Max was and let it slide for her. The clerk finally found her catalog. She was a four star ranked duelist and her rarest card was the Angel of Death.

It was Joey's turn to register, but the clerk told him he couldn't qualify because his rank was one star. Clearly, it was a stunt Kaiba pulled because he didn't deem Joey worthy. While everyone tried calming Joey down, the clerk noticed that Joey's rarest card was the Red-Eyes Black Dragon and assumed his superior would want it in his possession. He knew what to do to register Joey for the tournament.

"I'm sorry, Joey, it appears my hard drive was malfunctioning and you actually have four stars. Congratulations, you qualify." Hearing that, Joey's anger turned into excitement. He knew all along he was worthy of qualifying for the tournament. Everyone was happy and left the shop. When they did, the clerk picked up his cell phone. "Send over the Rare Hunters. The boy with the Red-Eyes and the girl with the Angel of Death just left."