Summary: No one is sure whether the planets had aligned, or deals had been made with dark forces but somehow against all odds Téa became a duelist and was winning.

(Blend of Manga/Anime verse. Dub/Sub. Also includes Season 0 - Now with fanart!)

Notes: Inspired by In Which Ishizu Never Made it to Battle City by LizzieHopscotch. The idea for this story is inspired by the amazing LizzieHopscotch's 'In Which Ishizu Never Made it to Battle City' here on AO3. It's amazing so please give it a read! 3

WARNINGS: Self-doubt, self-esteem issues, occasional cussing, misuse of modern media and potential call outs and duelling with correct usage and knowledge.

Author's Note: So here we are. We decided to give this story a lot of love and rewritten parts of it. Old fans will immediately notice a big difference and hopefully new fans will join the circle. This first chapter was originally 4500 words now it is a whopping 20000 words (more but you get the idea.). I would consider that a massive improvement. Do be kind and supportive by leaving a kudo and a comment.

Kudos and especially comments help my muse start up.

CHAPTER 01 : A BAD AND AN EXCEEDINGLY WORSE DECISION

IMPORTANT:

'Normal thoughts'

"Normal Talk"

"Electrical device talk: Television, speaker or Phone"

This is a flask back "That is speaking."

X

Honestly, she hadn't expected it to go this far. It started rather innocently as most problems do. Social Media and a rather fun date with a spirit. Destiny on the other hand had different ideas…

X

"We've been waiting for you, Pharaoh." The tone was courteous. It had an air of formality and maybe even a little bit cold. Still the owner's appearance could be described as beguiling, charming or enchanting but deceptive. The woman had long straight black hair that trails just below her shoulders. Two of her locks were wrapped in gold rings which were coming from behind her ears and continued in front, stopping at her sinew neck. She was slender yet beautifully shaped at her shoulders and chest. Her skin was tanned into a lovely shade, like powdered cocoa.

The Cairo woman wore a long ankle length dress partially bearing her shapely shoulders. Black patterns adorned around the neck of the dress and the rims of the sleeves. The jewellery comprises a gold piece of headwear that circled her head and featured an enormous emerald where it meets at the front. She walked in as if she owned the stage and honestly; she did as all eyes were on her, The Prima Donna.

Téa would be lying that there wasn't a flash of jealousy. Compared to the native woman she looked, and felt, like absolute trash.

"Who are you?" Téa was shocked out of her daze as she heard the deep tone of the spirit. He had taken his place in front of the brunette as the black-haired woman had approached them.

"I am Izhizu Ishtar. The curator of the Egyptian Artefacts you see before you." The dark-haired woman turned now to gaze upon the stone tablet behind them "For thousands of years my family have protected a piece of the Pharaoh's memories." She elegantly turned her gaze to the two of them as a gentle glow came from the necklace around her neck.

Téa and the spirit's eyes widen at the sight of the familiar symbol of a golden eye. The piece resembled very much in relation to the Millennium puzzle and its other counterparts: The Millennium Eye that belonged to their previous foe Maximillion J. Crawford Pegasus, known as the creator of Duel Monsters and The Millennium Ring that had contained a spirit which had possessed their friend Ryou Bakura.

She really hoped this wouldn't lead to some shadow game. The last time this had happened it was, unsurprisingly, after they had visited the same Museum. Mr Kanekura died of mysterious circumstances and Professor Yoshimori, 's dear friend and Archeologist partner, had turned into a mindless puppet that tried to strangle Joey.

"Please excuse my puppet's rudeness."

Then that strange man appeared, and everything went to hell.

"Yugi…You have a good friend… He would save you by sacrificing himself." Violet eyes widen at the sight of the turbaned man, Shadi. His fingers raked through the soft chestnut coloured hair before settling over the eyes of the girl in his grasp "And she is a good friend as well."

She felt an arm grasp around her shoulders before being pulled into, a tight grip, in the arms of her friend. He had pressed her face against his shoulder away from the gaze of the, potentially, dangerous artefact. Gazing at the item is what gave them power over the victim. After all the eyes are the windows to the souls as they say.

"Before we continue this conversation, tell me one thing." His grip tightened on Téa's shoulder as he formed an escape route in his mind should this curator pose a threat. "You wield a millennium item, do you not?" The woman nodded as she touched the artefact that adorned her neck.

"This is the Millennium Necklace. It grants me the power to see into the near future."

"Then answer me this. Are you my enemy?"

"Some items have evil intelligence inside them… but have no fear for my item is no enemy of yours." Silence filled the area. His grip on her shoulders slowly loosened, but he kept his gaze on the woman.

"I knew you would visit." Sapphire eyes narrowed on their forms "My item showed me your arrival to this museum."

"You called him Pharoah." The male blinked at the small voice that came from the girl in his arms. "You said your family protected a piece of the Pharaoh's memories." Téa gently grasped his hand in her own. "Do you know who he is?" The sapphires closed before the beautiful woman nodded. "Then you could tell him-"

"I'm afraid not. It isn't time yet, and it's something the great Pharaoh must find out by himself." Ishizu turned her gaze towards the tablet once more. "A great battle will soon be waged in this city."

The brunette's eyes widened at the woman's words 'A battle wait what?!'

The black-haired woman continued "You came here yourself. You chose this. A Destiny of Battle."

'Hold on, I dragged him here! What Destiny?'

"My King, to regain your memory you must gather all seven millennium items." She felt her friend's body stiffen "The enemy who will soon appear before you is the one who wields the last millennium item." She tightened her grip on his hand which he returned with the same strength. 'Not again.' She clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. As the memories of their previous battles resurfaced 'Not again.'

"And the battle." The woman turned away from the stone memory before walking towards the stairs, the exit of the room "Will be a battle to regain your memories. You'll understand when you leave today. For it is there that you will choose your own destiny. The rest is something you must find out for yourself." Silence followed as the Arabic woman left the room leaving the two with the tablets of the old Kingdom.

The tri-coloured male turned back to look at the tablet that withheld his long-forgotten past. "A Pharaoh." A small whisper came from him as he looked at his stone appearance. "But why was I locked away?" He gripped the chain that held the decrypted artefact. "Did they predict that there would be a battle or is this some form of punishment and that I need to repent?"

"Repent for what?" She placed her hand on his shoulder as she gave a comforting smile, "Being a kind and caring guy. Memories don't create the kindness that is already in one's heart." The spirit stared at her in shock before a soft smile formed on his mouth. A slight blush formed on his face before he turned towards the exit. "Let's go. I'm curious to see what she meant; we'll understand when we leave."

"Right." She quickly caught up to the duellist. "So, do we have to call you Pharaoh now?"

"I would rather not."

"King?"

"Téa…"

"The morning and the evening star." She laughed as the male could only sigh at the playfulness of his companion. "I'd prefer if you could call me Yami for now."

"Yami?"

"Yugi called me that after I said he was my Aibou and Hikari. It seemed right at the time."

She blinked in surprise before a wide smile formed on her face. "If that's the case then I'll call you Yami as well." He gave a small smile at the gentle tone she said in her name. It wouldn't be long until the duo would find themselves outside the museum. The sun had already set as the streetlights turned on illuminating their dark surroundings.

Despite the strange warnings of the doom and gloom the outing had turned out to be fun and fruitful so Téa believed it to be a success and a day she would remember fondly for a very long time.

"Téa…" She paused her thought before turning to her friend with a confused expression. The spirit had his head down as he probably was trying to find the correct words. "Yugi is not aware of all the events that happened today. This was a private day between the two of us." Her face slightly flushed at his choice of words, but she nodded showing she was listening.

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Sure, whatever you need."

"Don't tell him about Ishizu… or about the stone tablet." She slightly frowned at that, aware where the conversation was headed. "He knows what it means if I regain my memory… but I don't think he can accept that yet." She bit her tongue at the painful truth of the statement but how could you explain to someone that you were his first friend, after being ostracised for being small and different, a protector and genuinely believed he had granted his wish.

A simple wish for friends he could trust and would never betray him and in return he would never harm. Her heart ached when Yugi had confessed to her his wish on the night before DEATH-T.

"You may be right… but Yugi would never put his selfish desires before anyone he cares about. Even if it pains him, he'll help you if you ask him." The spirit narrowed his eyes in thought at the bit of information she gave him. He opened his deck holder before gently taking out a deck of duel monster cards. He had a gentle hold on it and clearly it meant a great deal to him.

"He and I built this deck together. Half of his heart is in this deck." He gently placed the cards against his chest as he closed his eyes "I will tell him when I'm ready… If I keep secrets from him… Then these cards won't trust me"

"That's good." She smiled at him before blinking in confusion as she noticed his gaze flicking around. She frowned before looking around as well. There was an odd number of people around them and the way they were gazing- ahem glaring at her friend meant that there was something going on. Her eyes widened as she noticed the green-haired bug menace Weevil Underwood, though that was his duellist stage name his real name was Insector Haga who clearly had his vision focused on the man that knocked him off his pedestal.

Yugi Mutou

The boy gave a glare at his nemesis before focusing back on the phone screen in front of him. She also saw Kyouryū Ryuzaki also known as Rex Raptor, and water loving Ryota Kajiki known on the circuit as Mako Tsunami.

America had in the last two years gone into the duelling craze and had thrown their own pair of champions in the hat. The former champion 'Bandit' Keith Howard and the current Rebecca Hawkings. With America and other countries now tuning into the tournaments, English, German and other native speakers had a hard time saying or getting used to saying the names of other international duellists. The result of the mispronunciations of names: Hilarious nicknames and Memes.

Inspector Haga Gadget was a truly memorable incident.

Later it was unanimously agreed that stage names could be used.

She loved social media and its little library of facts, but she considered it one of her biggest problems. It was way too much fun and addicting. Where were her thoughts again? Ah yes Seething Weevil glare hate and die Yugi die!

She gave out a small snort of laughter which caused her friend to look at her in confusion. "Nothing nothing." She frantically waved. "I'll tell you everything later, but did you notice there are a lot of duellists around here?" Before the now known ruler could answer her, a loud almost bird-like chirp tone greeted them.

"Hey there!" They turned to the being that could out to them. "Yugi! Téa." Yelled a woman with fair skin and long, thick, spiky blonde hair. Her Violet coloured eyes sparkled with amusement and her silver hoop earrings jingled as she waved at them.

"No way!" Grinned Téa as she waved back "It's Mai!"

Unlike at Duellist Kingdom, where she wore a short-sleeved lavender coat over her white tube top. Mai now wore a sleeveless light purple vest and a white tank top, which slightly exposed her midriff, and long white fingerless gloves. Completing the outfit with a plum-coloured miniskirt and a Deck holder strapped to her thigh along with her signature magenta coloured high-heeled boots.

She stopped in front of the duo with a sly grin on her face as she looked between the two. "It's been a while since you two. How've you guys been?"

The brunette smiled at the woman's cheerful nature "We're fine!" She grinned before grabbing the Harpie duelists' hands "How have you been Mai because you look great!" The blond practically preened at the compliment.

She quickly snagged the admiring dancer under her arm "So tell me Téa is this what I think it is?" Her grin widened at the reddening face of her prisoner "Is this a date? Tell me all the details!" She cooed as she practically squished the girl against her chest. "Was it romantic? Did he sweep you off your feet?"

"I-it's not like that!"

"No need to be shy, I can keep a secret. Is it true if they're not packing in height they're packing in-"

"MAI!" Shrieked Téa which resulted in the harpy laughing at her misery.

"Um Mai" The blonde looked up at the, now slightly worried, male. "What are you doing here?" She could only stare in shock at her previous opponent. "Yugi… Didn't you get the message? Don't tell me you're here by accident!" She said in surprise which caused her arms to loosen their grip on her prey. Téa, face flushed in embarrassment, immediately slipped out of her grasp before going behind her friend in an attempt at staying away from the eagle's claws.

"Someone told me I could find my future here." Mai gently tapped against her chin in thought before looking back at her tri-coloured friend. "The future, huh? Could be true." Seeing his confused face she quickly elaborated " A few days ago, some news got out on the internet: Go to where ancient duelists and engravings rest. An Encrypted message." She turned to look at the gathering crowd of people "You had to figure out the location by today's date and the time which is now."

"Ancient engravings made sense since that means the museum since they have ancient artefacts on display." She turned to look at Yami "But the mention of ancient duelists is very specific."

'She is right.' He frowned at the thought 'Izhizu didn't mention any other visitors but why… Why do I have this feeling?'

Deep pools of glacial blue gazed at him "I am grateful. But don't you forget our duel is not over yet. One day we will meet in the arena again to decide which of us is truly the better duelist."

'There is more to this than mere coincidence.' His eyes narrowed further as his mind went to the dragon duelist of Kaiba corporation. The other man carved in the stone… looks like him. In fact, the resemblance was uncanny. His eyes flicked back to the conversing women in front of him. The carving on this stone slab… Could it have predicted their present-day battle?

"What happens when all the conditions are met." Asked Téa a tone of curiosity etched into her voice. "Well, apparently they are supposed to announce a huge tournament here." Grinned Mai excitement was clear on her face.

"A duel tournament?" Questioned Yami. She turned to him with a slight wink. "You know it, but it didn't say who is hosting this tournament though there is a buzz that it's someone with a ton of cash and an obnoxious attitude." One person immediately came to mind.

"Kaiba." Came the unanimous response from the two females before they burst out in laughter.

Yami coughed trying to hide a small grin "I suppose we'll find out soon. It's pretty safe to say it's not Pegasus again." Téa nodded in agreement before looking at the, she presumed, duelists hanging around the area. "Speaking of Pegasus, this is looking a lot like duelist kingdom all over again."

"You can say that again." Chimed Mai in agreement. "There are certainly a lot of familiar faces in this crowd. Most of them I'm not too happy to see."

"So far I've seen Weevil, Rex and Mako." His eyes grazed over the other duelists "Besides them I am not aware of the others."

Mai hummed in thought before flicking her gaze at one of her potential future opponents. "If you plan on joining this tournament, I'd recommend you start your research on a few of them. Like Esper Roba who some people consider a Psychic… Don't give me that look!" Mai Huffed in annoyance at Téa teasing grin "You gotta admit my memory is good."

'Ah there's the ego.' Snickered Téa before her eye landed on one of the females in the crowd. Unlike most of the typical wear this woman wore a Chinese yellow dress and decorated her wrists with intricate bracelets. Red high heels adorned her bare feet, and her hair was put in a fashionable two buns style along with streaks of hair that cascaded down her back. Her lips were painted into a lovely shade of red.

"Who's that?"

Mai looked over where the brunette was pointing. "That's Vivian Wong. During the Asian Duel Monsters tournament she came in first place but in the international she came in third." Téa's eyes widened at the information "So she must be pretty strong."

Mai nodded "They say she might be able to defeat a duelist group called 'The supreme Clan of Nine Dragons'. Each with their own unique deck styles. If she does, she'll be known as the 'The Duel Queen of Asia'." Mai gave a slight smirk "I might make an opponent out of her. There are also a few small fries out there like Bonz 'Ghost' Kotsuzuka though no sign of Bandit Keith or the current American Champion. Pity."

'Didn't think you would. Rebecca is at University and Bandit Keith is well…' Téa shook her head 'Honestly no-one is going to miss him.'

X

"Systems are ready."

"Light is green. Holographs are loaded and ready for deployment."

Heather-purple eyes flicked over the various computer screens. Tan fingers quickly glided over the keyboards before brushing a stray piece of black hair from his face. "Looks good. Connection is online. Monitors are connected and ready for broadcast." He turned to look at the elder brunette as he tightened the belts on his arms.

Unlike his brother's signature long indigo blue trench coat. His older brother donned a long white sleeveless Kaiba Corp-designed coat featuring shoulder pads, and a raised studded collar, with black sleeves from his shirt. "Deploy the recording in five minutes." Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba corporation. Eyes flicked towards the massive computer screen, his eyes quickly trailing towards the various data reading on screen before turning to look at his vice-president and younger brother. Mokuba Kaiba.

The black-haired male was missing his white and orange striped shirt instead was now wearing a green, blue-striped shirt with a yellow vest over it. He gave a slight grin at his brother's appearance. Despite his brother's maturity, he still couldn't dress properly, or at the very least fashionable. "Hold still." He mumbled as he straightened his brother's vest before grabbing his hair. "At least let's keep it out of your eyes." He carefully tied the long hair into a lower bun. A few bangs were still in the way but nothing he could do about it now.

"Mr. Kaiba sir. The helicopter is ready." The duellists nodded as Mokuba quickly grabbed the disk and handed it to him.

"You ready, big brother?"

"More than ever."

X

"That's new." The spirit blinked at Téa before looking over to where she was staring. A statue shaped into the figure of a crouched stone warrior, though it lacked any human appearance, it was large and practically tower over the onlookers. "I'm positive it wasn't there a minute ago." His friend insisted.

"Let's not forget it reminds you of a certain monster." Interjected Mai.

'She's right.' Mauve eyes gazed over the stone statue's shape and form. He pulled out his deck before quickly shuffling through them. 'There!' He pulled out the chosen card, The soldier of stone, a duel monster.

There was a yelp of surprise which caused various heads to turn in the sound's direction. A loud grinding sound of stone against stone echoed as the figure slowly stood up. Further intimating the surrounding bystanders. With earth shaking steps it walked past the trio and into the street.

"That is way too heavy to be a cosplay." Téa and the Pharaoh quietly nodded in agreement.

"Hey Bonz! There's your girlfriend!" Shouted one of the other duellists at the sight of a Medusa's look-alike who gave a threatening hiss at the trio of males.

"She's not my girlfriend! Snake-hair is just a handy card!" Cried the short male before screeching as a rotten hand, that erupted from the ground, attempted to grasp his leg. The rest of the figure launched from the ground before dusting off its royal garbs and gave out a moaning barely coherent word of "En Gärde" as the being brandished a fencing blade and took off after the running trio.

"What's going on?" whispered Téa before giggling at the sight of a familiar creature near her friend's legs "Ya- I mean Yugi look down at your leg. It's a friend." The male made a slight sound of surprise at a purring ball of fur who was rubbing against his leg. "Kuriboh?" The little thing made a happy little noise at his name being called.

"Seems I'm not the only one with a friend." Pointed Yami at the feather ball that was floating and cooing near the brunette head.

Téa gave a squeak of joy before grabbing the small little creature cooing at the sight of her little friend "It's Happy Lover! Look at it. It's real!" The little fairy chirped in joy as she cuddled it tightly to her. "Mai did you- Mai?" She looked around in confusion at her friend's sudden absence.

"MY GIRLS' TITTIES ARE BACK!" A loud screech was heard. Both turned to look at Mai who had emitted such a sound. She stood near one of the building ledges that was adorned with her beloved trio of winged beast girls. The Harpie Lady Sisters. They were busy grooming each other's feathered wings much like typical birds. They, like Mai, seemed to care much about their appearances.

"They wanted to change their design and holograms into a more censored version." Hissed the blonde with a clear look of disdain on her face. "They wanted to make it 'kid-friendly' ugh! But now here they are in their full beauty!" Cooed the busty woman as she stared at her ace monsters.

More monsters seemed to slowly appear, most Téa could not recognize but there were a few familiar faces she knew by name. "Is there some kind of parade?" Asked Téa as she allowed the small creature to float away from her.

"Maybe. I wonder if I should let Yugi out to witness this?" Before Téa could answer him a small yell of surprise caught them off as a humanoid figure flew past them. The figure dug their heels in as they attempted to stop whatever force was pulling on them or their wand in this case.

"It's a girl." Mumbled Téa.

"Not just any girl Téa." A spark of excitement shone in his eyes. "She's the Dark Magician Girl." The monster girl had blonde hair and playful green eyes. Her outfit is composed of an off-the-shoulders garment that extends to her upper-thighs and ends up as a pink skirt. It is blue with pink trimmings and a few touches of yellow. She wore boots reaching up halfway to her thighs, and her wand was blue with a yellow spiral. Completing the outfit was pink and blue gauntlets.

"Her hat looks a lot like the Dark Magician's. So cute!" The Magician grinned as she tilted her hat before giving her wand a slight twirl. "She is talented but for now she is still a magician's apprentice thus not as strong as her male counterpart." The girl puffed her cheek in annoyance at the unintentional jab of her skills. She gave her wand a wave as small sigils appeared around her.

"Um Yami… I think she's mad."

"Why?"

"You insulted her! What did you think was gonna happen?!" scolded the brunette as she saw a small ball of a black-coloured flame floated over the female Magician. It disappeared before reappearing at her side. She grabbed it before throwing it up and catching it with the tip of her wand. "You gotta admit that's amazing." The blonde girl smirked before tossing her wand up one more time and waited for it to land on her outstretched hand… Unfortunately, it resulted in the wand landing on her head. Swirls decorated her eyes before she shook her head and rubbed it furiously.

"Yami watch out!"

"Téa Get Away!"

She looked up in confusion before noticing her magical sphere was missing from her wand. Her eyes widened seeing the attack was heading straight to her audience.

Before the attack could contact the two a tall figure donning violet and black plated armour appeared In Front of the two would be victims. A tall staff appeared in their hands. With a gentle wave with the magical weapon two cylinders appeared within the line of the attack. The attack slid into one of the tunnel cylinders before disappearing. Their saviour outstretched their hand upwards causing one object to tilt upward towards the sky. From it the same attack that had disappeared now reappeared before it shot upwards and away from the area.

The purple armoured being turned to look at the duo behind him. "Ah T-thank you Mr. uh Dark Magician sir." Stuttered Téa in awe at the display of pure mastery. A gentle smile came over his face as he gave a gentle bow towards them though it would not remain long before an annoyed frown replaced it as the master magician walked towards his, now sweating, apprentice. The male grabbed the scruff of the girl before floating off in a direction away from the busy street, his apprentice forcefully trailing behind her master. A pout decorating her lips before she softly smiled at the two and waved at them in goodbye as they pulled further away.

"Okay… Best… night… ever." Declared the dancer as stars practically glowed in her eyes ignoring the slightly exasperated look of her male friend. Though the merriment would end as a loud bellowing screech shook the earth itself, ripping across the air through the streets like thunder.

Every head on the city block turned towards the source of such a freighting bellow.

Perched on one of the large monitors was the very famous beast of light. A creature that had the power of lightning at its claw tips with wings that could summon a hurricane if it wished. Unlike most dragons that had pointed snouts this creature face was well rounded and curved but still easily showed the freighting tips of its sharp teeth. Its scales as white as freshly fallen snow with eyes as blue as sapphires. The creature that was towering over them was the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Seto Kaiba's signature monster and said being face appeared over the large monitor before spreading towards the rest of the television screens on the City Block. Each platform mirroring the smirk adorning the CEO's face.

"Greetings duellist welcome to My City. Domino City." His voice echoed all around the area as the electronics broadcasted every word. "But more importantly, welcome to my tournament." An immediate chorus of excitement travelled through the crowd. "Each of you have seen and heard my little message. And some you had enough brains to figure it out and show up here tonight. Most of you followed like sheep to the slaughterhouse riding on the backs of your betters."

This had caused an immediate outcry of rage from the various duellists in the crowd. Mai scoffed at the billionaire's attitude "I don't know what's bigger his ego or his melon on the big screen."

"Think of this as an opportunity to make you stand out from the crowd. My competition will make Pegasus and his duelists kingdom tournament look like a joke." This caused various screams of excitement to erupt from the crowd. "Being you, all are elite duellists. I added special rules to my tournament just for experts. For example, you will duel using these new improved duel disks." The displayed image zoomed out showing a strange device strapped to his left arm.

"What's that?"

"Kaiba corporations' new device."

"Another new rule that I designed for this tournament. Is that before each duel both players must ante up his rarest cards and the loser of the duel forfeits his card to the winner." Yami's eyes widened as Mai softly muttered "That Kaiba sure has set a tough rule because losing even one duel could ruin my deck."

"In other words, the final champion will have the strongest deck in the world and be crowned The King of Games. The qualifiers will receive a duel disk for free. Think of it as a personal investment into your future." Resounding cheers deafened their ears. For those that have not qualified and others that possess nothing more than a paltry of a deck." He stretched his hand out towards the screen. "I bring you an opportunity. You either pay for it or." He grinned with a malicious edge "You'll make yourself a walking target or prey for the poetic ones."

"What does he mean?"

"Target? Prey?"

"For those with lower and none-existent rankings you can place down more than one rare card to increase your rankings. The rarer the card the higher the ranking until you can qualify for my tournament but if you lose, you must give up those cards even if your opponent only has one card to bet."

"All right!"

"Where's the arena?!"

"When can we start?!"

'This got bad idea written all over it.' Thought Téa as she stared at the excited crowd surrounding them before turning her gaze to the spirit. 'She mentioned that there will be a battle to regain his memories. Is this Tournament the battle that have to take place?' Her fingers dug into her bag's straps 'The enemy who will soon appear with an item. It's obviously not Kaiba. It is possible it could be the spirit of the ring but that would mean Ryou could fall prey to it.' She needed to check on him more she-

She slightly jumped back as a terrible gust of wing caused her hair to wave into her eyes. Correct that to a gust of wind created by a helicopter. She squinted her eyes as she gazes up at the aircraft.

Kaiba had leaned out of the aircraft, his coat bellowing in the wind like restless wings, with a sneer he looked down on the crowd of people. His azure eyes caught the gaze of his rival before narrowing. 'I knew you'd show up, Yugi. The two of us will settle things once and for all in this battle.'

"The stage of the battle." He stopped before he stretched his arm out "Will be all of Domino City. In one week, this town will become a battle city!" He stopped as the bellowing cheer of the audience practically deafened him. "Online registration for the Duel Disk's starts tonight. Mark your target and plan ahead. His mouth stretched into a feral grin. "Take this time to prepare yourself because this tournament will be a battleground for the Gods AS MY BATTLE CITY TOURNAMENT BEGINS!" There were resounding cheers and screams form the crowd beneath him.

'Fools the lot of you.' His eyes flicked back at the tri-colored male. 'Hope you are ready Yugi because this is the stage where I will set your defeat and claim back my crown.' He turned around before taking a seat "Roland we're done. Get me out of here." The man gave out an affirmative as he steered the aircraft towards his boss's tower.

The white dragon gave out one last screech before following its master's direction as it finally disappeared as the projectors shut off leaving the streets in the dark except for the lights that decorated the sidewalks.

"The man has an ego, but he's got skill in show business." Sighed Mai as the crowd slowly dispersed. "That man is a born theatre kid." Tea shook her head "I swear he lives only for the drama." Honestly, she really hoped that his finger would get clipped within the helicopter's blades but alas karma hasn't come knocking yet.

Mai laughed as she turned to look at the duo. "The lights are up. That's my queue to go home. It's getting late and even this bird needs her beauty sleep." She grabbed a small notebook, ripping out a small piece of paper and gave it to the short brunette. "Here just in case and Yugi?" The male blinked at her, his attention on the blonde diva. "I'm looking forward to our rematch." The male grinned and nodded. "See you later Téa and don't do anything I wouldn't do." She gave a last teasing wink before walking down the darkened street.

"What a day huh?" Téa said with a smile as she looked at her friend "Ready to go home?" The Pharaoh blinked at her before nodding. He looked back at the museum with one last glance before he quickly matched his friend's pace.

It was probably a few minutes of silence, five at most she swears, but it will like an eternity. "I-I hope you found what you were looking for even if it is just a start." She winced at her stuttering voice 'Nice Téa! Where did your confidence go now.' She stopped when she noticed her friend had no longer kept pace with her.

"Yami?"

"I'm sorry Téa." This caught her off-guard. She frowned at him in worry as he had his head lowered. It wasn't like him to apologise for no reason and from what she knows there was nothing to apologise for. "You planned this day for me. Trying to help me whenever it's allowing me to forget my problems or giving me words of wisdom." She didn't know about the whole wisdom thing but it's nice of him to think she had at least a few words worthy of listening to. "You even showed me the article of the museum despite knowing Yugi is worried I might leave. You did it because you know I'm trying to find answers but the moments where you enjoyed yourself or when you told and showed me your passion." She saw knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists. "I did nothing to enjoy them with you."

That wasn't… She didn't answer him.

"I've noticed you bought a booster pack yourself because you saw my interest in it." Saddened mauve eyes looked up to her. "You did a lot for me and for Yugi. More than I think you'll ever realise and today I've seen what he always saw in you." Her face was definitely warm and currently she just wanted to hide under her futon and attempted to convince herself that he didn't mean it in THAT way.

"Listen, you guys are my friends and I'd do anything for my friends."

"I'm worried for the day when we'll see how far your selflessness goes Téa."

She practically cried in relief as she saw the familiar walls of her home. "You guys would do the same thing for me don't sell yourselves short." She scolded as she placed her key within the door and unlocked it.

"Are you going to be okay from here Yami?"

The male gave a slight chuckle "I may be over five thousand years old, but I know how to get back home. I'll… We'll be fine." She smiled before leaning over and giving a quick peck on the, now surprised, male's cheek. Her eyes widened in realisation at what she had just done.

"I-I UM… GOODNIGHT!" The door closed with a loud slam as the small brunette practically pushed her entire weight against it. She grabbed her molten face as she felt her back slide down to the floor.

'IDIOT! IDIOT! IDIOT! BAKA! BAKA!' She mentally shrieked at herself as held her face. 'That's it. My life is over." She mentally wept "I'm going to have to move to a new City. A new country. Get a completely new identity and live as a farmer.' Kami she didn't know the first thing about cows and planting rice she-

She paused her inner turmoil as she heard the familiar ringtone of her phone. Someone had sent her a message. The pit in her stomach grew as she saw the sender was Yugi. How long had she been sitting here?! An hour?

"Well, might as well rip off the band aid." She muttered as she pressed a button to open the message.

I don't know what happened today,

But his soul seems lighter,

and I got you to thank for it.

Please keep being his friend and

Thank you for always being mine. {'}

'Yugi.' She smiled as she stared at the simple yet deep message from her friend. She lifted an eyebrow as more messages came in.

IM SORRY

THAT SYMBOLS MEANS A HIUG I SWEAR

A HUG IS WHAT I MEANT

The dancer couldn't contain her laughter. Of course, he'll get flustered with a mistake like that. 'I wonder if I should leave him on read just to tease him.' She mused but, unfortunately, replied to him.

Yugi, it's fine.

But we're getting you a new phone.

This old Nokia nonsense needs to go.

…

…

No way. I'm having enough trouble with this thing.

A new one will only make it worse.

Have it your way. Goodnight 3

Q/A\\\Q You too!

Yami says Goodnight

Her face flushed again, but she quickly typed a 'Him too' to her friend. Despite what had transpired and what that whole tournament thing meant she felt good. Calm and happy. She winced as she slowly got up, floors are not a comfortable place to lie down, and headed for her room. She placed her handbag on her desk before taking out her pink phone again. 'I should have taken pictures of that little monster parade but… I still have these.' She smiled as she gazed at a few of the photos she took. The one with the Pharaoh and his pigeons was particularly her favourite. She exited her small photo app before clicking on a small circle that had a little bird carved into it.

Social media is sometimes one of her bigger problems. It was the best way to keep up with what's new in the dancing and occasionally duelling world. So, she kept tabs on what's important to her friends? There's nothing wrong with that. She may have been the only girl in their tight-knit group, but she loved them no less as a friend than she ever loved her female friends.

So, continuing, 'Chitter' is the latest in social outlets. One of many. Say your peace in a hundred and sixty characters or fewer. No matter how bad your ideas were. As with all things within this universe duelling was rampant like all others… She loved it.

She could finally follow all that Aileen Roa did and said without feeling like she was gathering too much of her merchandise and magazines… or coming across as a stalker. All the latest dance crazes and styles all right at her fingertips… Ballerinas. Anna Pavlova. Margot Fonteyn. Alicia Alonso… prima donnas. Her heroes and her big dream but right now that wasn't her focus or use of the app right now.

With the tournament now officially announced it meant the database and its ranking were now officially open for all to see and judge. Which meant there were now videos of rant and ravings of rank system and whenever it was biased or not and repeats of what Kaiba had already mentioned or explained during his little speech/announcement.

The brunette's eyes flicker over the screen before noticing a live stream of… 'Oh Kami! He's on!' She sputtered in laughter as it showed that the user Inspector Insector Underwood was currently live streaming and it just started. 'I shouldn't… I shouldn't…' Téa bit her lip before she clicked on it and was immediately greeted with obnoxious beady eyes of Weevil.

"Why hello there my little larvae and pupae!" Grinned the forest haired boy as he leaned back on his computer chair. "Welcome to another of my live streams and today I have big News for you all so listen closely my little weevils." He smirked before typing a few sets of commands on his keyboards before the screen displayed the familiar street with the large monitor on it. "Now I suppose you will remember the little message we were given. Go to where ancient duellists and engravings rest. Obviously, it meant the museum."

She rolled her eyes at the insect enthusiast 'And I'm sure your fans told you that answer.'

"Now yours truly went and waited at the location for the supposed 'special' announcement and I – oh thank you wonderlandludicrous for the 520 ¥."

'Wait what.' She blinked, noticing a list of comments at the side of the screen. 'This guy actually gets donations.' He had a bigger fanbase than she thought but despite his attitude he was or is a big shot in the duelling ring.

"I met a few of my previous opponents and, I suppose, would be opponents." The screen changed from the sight of the street to a familiar face of Mako Tsunami. He had dark brown skin with black eyes and hair along with two thick eyebrows. With his signature scar on his right cheek. Currently he donned an annoyed expression as he stared at the camera in front of him "What are you doing now Weevil?" Came the annoyed gruff voice of the fisherman.

"If you must know, I'm filming for my followers that unfortunately cannot witness the event that is going to take place here."

"Then do it somewhere else." The screen froze as it stayed on the face of the water duelist. "As you could see I lack - wait what?!" She laughed at the incredulous expression that formed on the bugman's face as he stared at the incoming comments.

Real_name_hidden: I wouldn't mind having his guppies

Fedora_the_explorer :Vote for Mako for the best looking Duelist

YESIMFUNNY: I Wanna see his big lure.

FrostedCupcake: Fedora_the_explorer - Kaiba would win Hands Down.

MomsSpaghetti: Cause he bought the votes.

"Honestly, I expected better taste from you people, but I agree with MomsSpaghetti." He readjusted his glasses before allowing the video to continue. "A few past opponents are here as well to partake in the event as I'm sure you noticed my polar opposite Rex Raptor."

The screen zoomed in on the face of the Dino Duellist before the familiar high pitch tone filled the video. "I'm going to ask him if he has anything to say to the followers. I'm betting 5 ¥ he's going to say, 'Dinosaurs rule'. Donate 5 ¥ if you're wrong." Téa could help lift an eyebrow at that. He does have the attitude to be a vlogger and if he keeps it entertaining, he might even get a follower out of her.

"So Rex, anything to say to the followers?" The chestnut-haired male blinked at the bug lover before scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "Uh Dino's rule!" He grinned, showing a peace sign with his hand. "Wonderfully said." Came the nasal reply before the camera turned away. "Idiot."

Honestly, the boy's last comment made her slightly choke on her spit as she laughed. Typical Weevil.

MightyMorphingDolphin: He's a huggasaurus 3

NOYOURNOT: Honestly that was just wholesome.

FreakyFridayFunken: Best 5 ¥ I ever lost on.

"And of course, I saw my eternal rival and enemy Yugi." The green-haired male hissed as he said the name and honestly, she was surprised that the camera wasn't covered in spit. The camera focused on the two figures that were herself and Yugi, technically Yami if she wanted to be correct. "Of course, he would be there after all. It wouldn't be a special event without the 'King of Games'." The male formed air quotation marks with his hands as he said it. "In my opinion, I would have won if-"

The male continued his tirade, but her focus was on the comments that kept flooding in.

hoosier-daddy: To think that hair is natural. I wonder if the curtains match the bleachers.

Joe Not Exotic: I want him to put a card in my deck slot 3

AllGoodNamesRGone: Found the real best-looking duelist here 3

IYELLALOT: Who's that? Is that he's girlfriend :(

Heyyou: Ugh she looks so plain.

"Something tells me I should bolt." She muttered as she saw more comments flooding in, and each looked about as unpleasant as the next. Yeah… she wasn't ready for that rabbit hole. She exited the app on her phone before standing up from her bed.

The brunette coughed slightly now noticing her parched throat; she walked towards her kitchen to grab a quick drink. As she softly sipped at her juice box, she found herself on her computer with the Kaiba Corp Database in front of her. Curiosity was gnawing on her, and she doubted a quick peek would cause any serious problems besides Joey and Yugi would have high rankings especially with being the winner of Duellist Kingdom and Joey being the runner-up.

She logged on to the KC Duellist Database and quickly typed up Yugi's name. Naturally Yugi had been given a wonderful ranking, five stars as it should be, Yugi was known for his Dark Magician and a slew of infamous cards. His life or at least his duelling life was not so secret.

As for Joey… A part of her wanted to laugh because of course Kaiba would put that as Joey ranking but a bigger part of her was just fuming at the man's absurd spitefulness at putting her friend down. Two stars and a 'nobody'. Joey will not let that one sit for too long and honestly, she was hoping he'd put up a fight. He came this far for his little sister. If anything, he and Kaiba would have at least some form of understanding or respect as they both put their siblings' well-being in front of their own.

Mai had an un-surprising four-star rating. With skills and strategies, she earned it. She had talent, confidence and she could use her cards to the best of her abilities. 'My victory with her was fake.' She sighed in annoyance and even a bit of anger. She may have 'won' against Mai but in her heart; she knew the truth. With one card Mai could beat her and if it wasn't for her… kindness she would have. Harpie's Feather Duster. It had to be it, but she'd only figured it out afterwards.

She heard the fallen cries of her fairy before becoming nothing more than broken data particles. "How about that? Your fairy turned to dust." She gritted her teeth as she saw her LifePoint's fall to 1100. "If you had any idea what you're really up against Téa, you'd call right now. This isn't going to get easier; you know." The winged beast flicked the whip in its claw with a loud crack. "Didn't you say it was your fault that Yugi lost?"

She felt her hand froze as Mai said that. "If there was one thing, I disliked most about you is that." Dislike? What did she do? "Stop thinking so highly of yourself, you're not the one who caused that loss. Once the duel starts, you are alone in that fight. You can't rely on other people's power or skills. You can only trust yourself."

She wasn't entirely wrong. Your friends can't help you draw or tell you what to play but you could rely on them to catch you if you fall and to give you courage.

She felt tears at the corner of her eyes as the fairy called shining friendship gave out a small coo. "Mai, I'll show you how I'll protect this friendship until the very end. This card represents our friendship." Her hand trembled as she tightly pressed the card against the machine's dashboard. "No matter what you say I believe in my friends… I believe in Yugi." Her friend gave no response that he even heard her but still she continued "We've always stuck by each other… and we finally made it this far. That is why we can't press on without everyone. We're more than friends, we're a family."

In the end she really didn't help that much but if her words got through to Yugi and maybe even Mai then…

Blazing Azure eyes met with Mai's maroon-coloured ones. "No matter how dark things may get, the special bond I share with my friends will always find a way to shine through!" She clenched the few cards in her hand with a vice before taking out one card from them. "I may be scared but that fear won't keep me from duelling!" She threw down the card that would -

"Do you wish to enter the Tournament?" She blinked in surprise at the flat toned voice. 'Join the tournament?' She must have scrolled further while she was thinking back on her duel with the blonde woman. She scoffed before closing her laptop. 'Me duelling. That would make Kaiba laugh.' Téa put away her laptop before walking towards her bathroom as she prepared her nightly ritual before heading to bed.

After all tomorrow was school, and after school is where her own battles take place.

X

- 3:15 pm Domino High School - Rooftop

It was surprising how fast time went by especially in school but with the upcoming tournament they were forced to work extra hard since the school would be closed for the duration of the tournament. And if one of their students became the best Duel Monster's player in the world, it makes the school look like it had played an important part in their upbringing. She could practically see the Yen symbols plastered on their principal's face.

'Would be great if they give scholarships for being a great duelist.' She mused as she grabbed her bento box and walked towards the staircase that would lead to the roof of the school. Honestly, the way Duel Monster was getting popular it wouldn't be long until it became an official sport. If it was entertaining to the people and if there was a large enough crowd for it, then it probably could.

'You're just looking for an excuse for why you even want to try.' Came the voice from the back of her head. 'Not that you would get far.' The voice was starting to sound a lot like Kaiba. Great. As she opened the door to the roof, she heard the voices of her friends, and they were already discussing Yesterday's events.

"Battle City?!" Exclaimed Joey before he pointed his finger in the direction of the City "You mean ta tell me that starting a week from now there's gonna be duellist fighting in da streets?" Excitement thy name is Joey. The man was practically vibrating in his shoes at the thought of entering another tournament.

"A lot of new and powerful duellists will be coming to Domino." Comment Ryou "In fact I even checked on a few news websites. Some of the duellists are from different parts of the world. Asia, Europe you name it." He grasped his hands together as he smiled "Even one of my favourite duellists is coming here."

Tristan looked at the white-haired male in surprise. "You have a favourite duellist?"

"More like I like his cards you see he uses an arch type called the Vendreads they are zombie types. Absolutely horrendous looking. I adore them!" Cooed the ex-millennium item holder.

Téa could help but slightly laugh at the disturbed facial expressions of Yugi and Tristan. "Make sense since Ryou is a Gamemaster. You love creating monsters and bosses for us to fight in your campaigns."

Yugi sighed in slight exasperations "Don't remind me. The False Hydra campaign still gives me nightmares, not to mention we played it in the middle of the night." He glared at the sheepish looking male "Let's not forget you added sound effects for when we entered a dungeon or some creepy place."

"But it was fun!"

"Dude." Tristan said with a deadpan expression "WE DIED."

"But it was fun!"

"I'd go for another round." Chimed the dance "I really enjoyed it."

"That's because he favours you Téa."

"AHEM!" They turned to look at the fuming blonde as he pointed at his tri-coloured friend. "Yugi was about to tell me bout da tournament."

"As I was saying. Yami told me this Tournament was being hosted by Kaiba."

The look of excitement on Joey's face immediately soured into a frown. "You can't be serious!" He hissed as he brought his face near the smaller being "You mean to tell that rich punk Kaiba is throwing his own Duel Monsters Tournament!" Steam was practically radiating from the enraged blonde.

Yugi smiled nervously as he slowly raised his hands in defence at the enraged male. "Well, you can't tell what he can and can't do, it's his money that he's using for the tournament besides no-one knew who was going to host it."

The male gave out a loud snarl as he stomped away from his sweating friend. "I can't believe money bags didn't send an invite to me." He trusted a thumb against his chest "I was the runner-up at the duelist kingdom. Where is the respect!?" Before he could continue Téa, decided she had enough of her friend's whining, stuffed his mouth with an onigiri from her bento.

"Joey it wasn't an invitation, there was a riddle people had to figure out." She said with an annoyed expression "Yami and I were only there by pure dumb luck. No one was necessarily invited." The male huffed before dining on the rice sandwich.

"Besides dude," Shrugged Tristan "He clearly doesn't like you." The blonde only gave out a muffled noise as his mouth was currently filled with food.

"Tristan is right. I understand your upset but think it like this." Said the ever optimist Ryou "But by not giving a reaction he's not getting what he wants."

"Unless that is his plan and Kaiba wants Joey to be quiet." Teased Tristan.

Joey thumbed his fist against his chest as he tried to swallow the, clearly too big, piece of food before turning to look at the chestnut-haired male. "You know what Tristan I don't care! Maybe I won't enter Kaiba's snooty competition." He crossed his arms to show his defiance. He turned to look at his best-friend "What about you Yuge? Are you gonna enter?"

"Yes. I want to play against Kaiba fair and square and with this tournament I'll get my chance. Besides, it sounds fun and well." He grinned as he scratched his cheek "It will be nice if there won't be any bad guys this time."

'Yugi…' Téa looked away as she felt a heavy weight at the pit of her stomach. 'I don't think it's going to be fun.' She had hoped the spirit would have told him but he's probably still trying to find the courage to do so. He still had a week to tell Yugi everything.

"In that case I'm going to help you." Shouted Joey as he flashed out a fist in the air. "I got just the card for the Job!" He took out a card from one of the pockets inside his jacket and flashed it towards the others. "I'm talking Red Eyes Black Dragon folks."

Tistan gave him an exasperated look" So what you're saying you changed your mind again and now you are gonna enter Kaiba's tournament." He rubbed his face in annoyance as the blonde flashed him a sheepish grin 'How am I friends with you again?'

"That's what I'm saying alright! Yugi inspired me."

"Don't drag me into this." Whispered Yugi. He frowned as he heard the familiar chuckle of the spirit. "Yugi, you are inspiring. You should take it as a complement… and take responsibility for his behaviour." Yugi only heard more snickers from the spirit as he attempted to swipe at his friend.

"And with this baby in my deck, I got it in the bag." Grinned Joey before giving the card a quick peck. "MWHA! Isn't that right my little Red Eyes. Who's gonna help me kick some mayor Kaiba butt." He nuzzled the card again before looking over at his friends "With my red eyes I'll put Kaiba to shame." He blinked, noticing the others weren't sharing his jubilation. He scratched the back of his head as look down at the card "What the matter, never seen a guy kiss a card before?"

"Joey, I love your optimism but…" Téa looked at him with a worried expression "After what happened last time shouldn't you train a bit more? Kaiba is not a one-trick pony."

Yugi nodded in agreement with their female friend. "Téa is right, Joey, your Red Eyes is a powerful card, but it doesn't guarantee that you'll beat Kaiba."

The blonde's shoulder slumped a bit. "Yeah, you got a point, but Red is my goddess of victory. He and I have an unbreakable bond of destiny." Boasted Joey as he looked down back at the card with a wide grin.

"Joey we're serious if you don't train you could lose that card." Scolded Téa.

"Wait, a minute. Whaddya mean?"

"Joey the loser must give up their rarest card to the winner. If you lose you lose your Red Eyes!"

"… WHAT!?"

"Right." Yugi snapped his fingers. "There is a card Ante in this Tournament. You need a minimum of one rare card to be in the tournament." Joey looked at him in horror as he explained it. "If I lose, I lose Red but…" A sly smirk came over his face. "If I keep on winning, then I'll get rare card after rare card." Tristan gave a disapproving look at his friend's sudden flash of greediness.

"Hold it man when a person gets greedy, bad things will happen." Warned Tristan "Besides what about Serenity's surgery in six days?"

"As if I'll miss it!" Exclaimed Joey "I'll just quickly get my registration done then I'll immediately head to the hospital. No biggy."

"You're also going to need a Duel Disk." The Red Eyes user blinked in confusion before a slight frown formed on his face "Wait a min you mean that Yoyo contraption?" He groaned as he saw Yugi nod in confirmation "It's Kaiba newest version of the virtual card battle machine."

'The duel disk brings back such terrible memories.' Groaned Joey as he remembered his humiliating defeat.

"It really suits you to be on your knees. Just look at you." Grinned the tyrannical Duelist as he looked down at the kneeling male. "My new duel disk system has proven to be quite effective. You're moping like the freighted do I turned you into."

"Um Yugi, you're going to tell him about the rank system right?" Whispered Téa noticing Joey was currently experiencing a 'Vietnam' flashback.

"Um I don't think it's exactly necessary Téa." Laughed Yugi as he slowly backed away.

"Yugi you saw it didn't you?" Hissed Téa "You're his best friend he'll understand if you explain it to him besides Red-eyes will give him a boost to his rank, right?"

"I don't want him to be a target." Explained the sweating duelist "And he'll throw a fit if he sees his rank. Why don't you tell him?"

"Tell me what?" They both turned to look at Joey who had noticed them whispering at each other. Téa immediately grabbed Yugi "There was something else Yugi wanted to tell you. Right Yugi?"

"…"

Noticing the silenced Téa turned to look to see a confused mauve coloured eyes staring at the two of them. This wasn't Yugi. He was a tad bit taller, and his cheeks were a little more chiselled than her friend's. This was the ancient spirit, and the poor thing clearly did not know why his hikari had switched with him. Only knowing that angry azure eyes were currently glaring at the millennium puzzle.

Yugi had abandoned her… He ran away like the little coward she never thought he'd be.

She sighed before rubbing her eyes in exasperation at her missing friend. "It's nothing Joey. I'll tell you about it later."

Joey tilted his head before shrugging. "I'll let it go but spi- I mean Yami since Yugi is currently hiding from the angry fairy. How about after school we go to his place?"

"I don't mind, and Yugi won't but is something troubling you?"

"Nah I just need to get your opinion on my new deck. I put it together yesterday But I'm still not sure about some things." The spirit smiled and nodded "I'm sure we- uh what's this?" Yami looked confused at the strange soft white sphere that Téa had just handed to him.

"It's a sweet pork bun, one of Yugi's favourites… Eat it." Again, he looked at his friend with a confused expression. "I made it for him but since he's not here, you can eat it." She said it with a slight huff clearly upset at her friend's cowardice.

"I'm sure he didn't mean any-"

"Eat it… before I get annoyed." Muttered Téa before taking a bite out from her onigiri. She was going to have a few words with him. Switching with Yami won't always save his ass.

"If you don't want it…" Joey laughed as Yami pulled the bun away from him before taking a bite. Violet eyes widened at the sweet flavourful taste. "Look at him! He Likes it." He glared at the teasing blonde. The tri-coloured male turned away attempting to hide his flushed face… And took another bite.

There was more laughter in the air despite it being at the spirit's expense. "Going to dance class after school Téa?" She looked up, meeting the hazel-coloured eyes of Ryou.

She giggled, noticing the strands had slightly flattened against his head giving him the appearance of a floppy-eared bunny. "Yeah, we've been pushing it these last few weeks so I'm sure something big is coming."

"Will the class continue even with the tournament?"

She hummed as she thought about it. She really hoped not. She wanted to be there for her friends and cheer… Support them in their battles. "Madam Eve will probably tell us today." She smiled at the white-haired male "So I hope I'll be there to see." She jammed the rest of her lunch in her mouth before quickly swallowing it down with water.

She reached up and slapped her cheeks, feeling it's pleasant but insistent sting on her skin. "Well, I'm off!" She smiled and waved to her friends as she walked towards the staircase. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." They said their goodbye to the brunette while she walked down the stairs with her bag slung over her shoulder as she made her journey to the theatre.

Her world and her arena. Battles won and lost on the dance floor.

x

One, two, three… One, two, three… One, two, three…

The brunette felt sweat drip from her chin as she mentally counted the beat of the music. Her legs ached but still she continued as she moved along with the rest of her dance mates. The sharp gaze of their teacher followed them as they continued with their dance. Her heart nearly skipped a beat as she felt a cane tap at her right leg.

Translation: Bring your leg higher.

That was the third time Madam Eve had asked her. She was getting sloppy.

One, two, three… One, two, three… One, two, three…

She was having a hard time keeping up. Her chest ached from her slightly laboured breathing. A few of the other dancers were in the same condition as her. It's been over two hours with only a single break keeping them afloat.

One, two, three… One, two, three… One, two, three…

They were exhausted, and it was showing except for one dancer. Sweat was dripping but still the raven haired continued. Her glistening white skin gave her an ethereal appearance.

One, two, three… One, two, three… One, two-

The door closed behind her with a soft click. The slim female placed her school and gym bag down before taking her shoes off and placing it on the mat next to her school shoes and grabbed her slipper that was laid out for her.

"Tadaima…"

As always, there was no answer. Not that it would matter as both of her parents worked overseas. She always seems to forget how much she hated coming home to an empty apartment but right now she appreciated the silence and the comfort of being alone right now.

Her legs and back ached. A bath would be nice to make her muscles relax but she couldn't muster up the will or determination to go upstairs and draw a bath. The brunette settled for the next best thing: her bed… too far. The couch will do. The exhausted dancer allowed her body to sink into the couch. It brought slight relief, but it did nothing to settle the brewing storm of her mind and emotions.

What most people knew and even the few that didn't know her personally could see that she was a hard worker. She wasn't born with a genius level talent like some of her friends and other people she knew. 'Like a certain billionaire ugh'. She overcame her obstacles with hard work. Talent was secondary.

Or so she thought…

She learned that the hard way when a new student had entered her small dance school a few months back. 'It was a month after Duelist Kingdom wasn't it? Another obstacle after the other.' She sighed as she remembered the day that would force her to give it her all at every lesson.

The student she saw that day is what she would call the definition of beauty and grace. Hinoko Kusakari. She was beautiful and lithe. Proportioned to perfection. Slim with a long neck, a short torso, and a high instep. Perfection. Such is the product of good breeding and born talent.

Téa rubbed her eyes as she felt a slight tingling sensation. The weight in her stomach felt heavy and her heart ached. She worked hard. So much harder and her body hurt to an impossible degree but as if it was destined Hinoko gained the lead in the latest production. 'Swan Lake', her dream. The very production that she saw as a child and that caused the seedling of interest to bloom.

Typical and cheesy but she loved it. The music, the outfits, and the dance. She wanted to be part of it all. The white swan. Odette.

She felt her throat close as tears flowed down her cheeks. Small hiccups escaped her mouth although she was gritting her teeth trying to keep some semblance of control. Kami she could barely breathe.

Defeat never tasted so sour.

She was given a lesser role that she knows she will perform to the best that she can, but it still stung. She had seen the raven haired Hinoko in costume during practice today. Gorgeous. Like a doll. A simple message but the implication spoke mountains. Money and status were power. She wanted to throw up.

Was this how Joey felt when he lost to Kaiba? The helplessness, the frustration, and anger that despite how hard you worked it wasn't enough. Still, he succeeded in his goal in helping his sister and Yugi. Her friend also discovered his passion and joy for duelling. He may have lost against Kaiba but he gained far more in those few weeks.

Then there was Kaiba himself. The bastard had it all. He worked for it, not in the best of ways, he put his mind and soul into achieving what he wanted. He was the head of a successful company worth billions and the champion of Duel Monsters. He kept the company, but he lost his crown to someone that was a natural. Yugi had passion for all types of games, but he wasn't a professional duellist. To lose to someone that wasn't well known… That was a wound Kaiba was still reeling from.

She understood that. She was the best in her group and were constantly praised for her performance and diligence. Yet she lost it to someone she and her dance mates, along with her teacher, barely knew. They all adored her.

'Look at me.' She scoffed. She has something in common with a being she had called heartless and a machine. But he had been fighting his entire life since he was a mere child. 'He was nine and Mokuba was five.' She remembered how Mokuba had explained how his brother was before and how he changed. He did everything he could to get what he wanted. He defeated his stepfather to get adopted. Went through brutal treatment at the hands of said man and stole the company. Despite all that he did, she had begrudging respect and maybe even admiration for Kaiba.

Here she was crying and moaning that she wasn't the star, when she hadn't fought nearly long enough… Or maybe she wasn't good enough. This production would make Madam Eve's school standout and she needed to ensure its success and if she believed that Hinoko could help with that then… of course she wouldn't let nepotism cloud her judgement.

Still, it didn't make it hurt any less and honestly it ruined her week. She just wanted to go back to yesterday. Where she still felt joy and excitement.

Red-violet eyes filled with gratitude looked at her "You did a lot for me and for Yugi. More than I think you'll ever realise and today I've seen what he always saw in you."

"I wish you both could tell me what you see in me." She whispered as her arm covered her eyes away from the sharp light. A headache was starting to form, and her emotions were a mess. Nope. Didn't want any of that. She needed something to distract her. At this point anything would do. Something to fill her with the joy she felt she lacked. Her laptop called. Distraction. Weevil and his rants! Yes!

She reached over and grabbed her laptop before dragging it over and placed in front of her. Téa opened her peach-coloured computer and pressed the enticing power button.

"Do you wish to enter the Tournament?"

She blinked confused at the sudden question. "Right… I was looking at the database." She muttered. Well, if Weevil was going to help drown out her sorrows, then she should at least get a few provisions. Téa stood up before going over to the kitchen and grabbed a juice bottle, a packet of Pocky and a small bag of Choco Pie's. She placed the treats on her coffee table before sitting down.

"Great…" She groaned seeing the small symbol on her computer light up.

Low Battery… Her charger was upstairs. In her room.

Téa stood up with an annoyed expression as she walked up the stairs towards her room. She kneeled under her desk as she unplugged her laptop's charger. She gave out a silent curse as she bumped her as she tried to stand up. 'Sure, make my night more annoying.' She softly grumbled before noticing a familiar shoebox under her bed. The dancer gave a slight chuckle as she grabbed the box and quickly opened the lid to reveal cards… Duel Monster cards.

She had started collecting when Yugi had become interested in it and became slightly more invested in it as more of her friends became infatuated with the card game. She grabbed the charger and the shoe box before going down towards the living room.

The screen of the laptop brightened as she plugged in the cable. Do you wish to enter the Tournament? was still displayed on the screen in bold lettering but the brunette's focus was on the little box. She grabbed it and unceremoniously she tipped it over and card after card spilled out colouring the table in a kaleidoscope of colours.

When she first started collecting, she used each booster pack to predict her future. A childish version of tarot cards. The 'predictions' were always in her favour. Téa grinned as she picked up a Happy Lover card. In middle school if you wanted to confess to your crush, you like them, you'd give them a Happy lover and if they felt the same way, you would receive one in return. If you were rejected or 'friend zoned' you would receive a shining friendship. Tenderness was used by couples that were ready to confess their feelings to each other.

Duel Monsters had a big impact on their childhood and now it had an even bigger impact on their future… Except for hers. Tristan would always have their back and if necessary be the muscle of the group. But for her… her classes would continue… She won't be able to watch her friends duel or help the Pharaoh in his quest.

Not that she could, even if she didn't have to attend the rehearsals and she certainly wasn't a duellist. She never professionally duels and her opponents only comprised Yugi, Joey and Mai. It wasn't something she could confidently brag about.

Confidence was not something she lacked, or it was how she showed the world. What they didn't know was her worries and having to rely so hard on her friends. Yugi had even come to her first dance class as children. She gripped his hand so tightly she could hear him suck in a breath showing how it hurt but she wouldn't let up. Téa hated the unknown.

She was uncomfortable in unfamiliar territories but the moment she had the correct rhythm her confidence soared. Seeing herself dance in the many mirrors of the studio cured any doubts that this was what she wanted to do. Dancing consumed her very essence, and she happily fell into its embrace… but there was something that seemed to draw her similarly hard.

Standing tall on that arena in Duellist Kingdom and called out her attack. Her friends believed in her and she could protect him and them. Her friends. They could rely on her strength. Mai had let her win, but it didn't make her feel any less powerful or confident. She could see her reflection once again and wanted to fall again…

'Wait…' She felt her eyes widened as she went through her thoughts again. 'Am… Am I actually considering it?!' Her mouth felt dry as she rubbed her face trying to… do something. Why would she even consider it? It wasn't her dream or her passion it… it made her feel good, confident… Happy that she had found a way to win despite the odds against her.

Azure eyes flicked over to her laptop that still displayed the question. The same question she was currently asking herself right now.

'Do you wish to enter the Tournament?'

Téa bit her thumb as she looked between the screen and the pile of cards on her table. Even if she did want to take part, she had no ranking and even if she could create a duellist profile; she needed rare cards to qualify. She had a lot of cards and there was almost no way to judge their worth. She knew stars were a good indicator, but that was not the only solution. She knew that some cards that were even a low number of stars were still considered rare. Joey's 'Time Wizard' was a good example.

The brunette picked them up once more. She stared and stared before hissing to herself, throwing them into another pile and scratching the sides of her head. "How do they even figure this out? I mean look at these!" She gathered up a slew of cards but despite their pretty colours and pictures there was no way for her to know if they could raise her ranking…

'Excuses. You're only giving excuses.' A small voice whispered in her mind. 'Since when is Téa Gardner ever afraid to try for her friends and for herself.'

"It's not because I'm afraid of trying…" She whispered to herself "I'm afraid of failing and letting everyone down." She wanted to help her friends to make them rely on her. To see that she could be useful and maybe be seen as their equal. But a deep quiet part of her wanted to do this for herself. To be in a battle with everyone's attention on her as she and her opponent battled for victory and favour of the crowd.

If Joey, ever hard-working Joey, could do this… Then maybe she can after all she is a hard worker but, her ever doubtful thoughts, her friend had trained for weeks with Yugi's grandfather. Learned everything from scratch and despite the odds was able to reach second place in Pegasus' tournament.

She had played many times with Joey, and won in all their matches, and played against Yugi, which she lost in all their matches, with that and all the cheering she had done for them, she had the basics down flat.

Monster, spell, trap, attack, and defence.

She fell back against the couch pillow and pulled it up against her face. Slightly smothering herself as she felt anticipation build in her. Her excitement was starting to show. All those depressing thoughts and jumbled up emotions were disappearing. She turned the idea over in her head and the more she thought about it the less silly it seemed.

She turned her head to her mantle and looked at the picture she took with her friends at the beginning of the year. Smiles and joy filled their eyes. She just needed to believe. What did Yugi always say?

'You need to believe in the Heart of the Cards'.

If she did that and add from her own corner 'The Power of friendship'. She could do this! Téa Gardner could become a duellist and maybe in a few years… a champ.

"Slow down Gardner." She mumbled as she sat up and grabbed her computer "You first need to qualify and if you can't." The brunette clicked on the small icon that said yes. "It's over for this tournament but… That doesn't mean I should give it up." She needed to remind herself of the last one. Just because she might not be able to attend doesn't mean she can't attend the next one.

But for her friends, for Yugi and for the Pharaoh she had to try has hard as she can.

The computer showed her duelling profile. It was as bare as Kaiba's personality and Tristan dating pool.

"You do not qualify. Would you like to increase your rank?"

'Yup.' She clicked on the yes icon. Open card shaped slots appeared in front of her and a tab of card names were displayed on her left. She clicked on a name and a picture of a card appeared. "Ah okay this is a list of rare cards that can be used. That makes things a bit easier." She hummed in thought before looking at her pile of discarded cards and gave out an exasperated groan. 'This is going to take a while.'

It did… In fact; it took over half an hour. Turns out Kaiba is a greedy cu- She gave out a slight cough as she drank her juice a bit too quickly. 'Where was I?' Right turns out a card being 'rare' wasn't enough. It had to be exceptionally rare to raise your rankings and get the duel disk for free, especially if you were considered a 'nobody'.

Currently, she went through Thirty-five out of Kami knows how many cards and she had gotten only one card that gave her a ranking of one star. The card was known as the Gemini Elf with a description of: Elf twins that alternate their attacks.

These monsters had an attack power of 1900 which was considered impressive but with a lacklustre defence power of 900. So that was a start.

Let's see if she can make this easier for herself. "Let's take Yugi's Dark Magician for an example. Seven Stars and with an attack and defence higher than 2000. Monsters with all the above are not considered that common." She shuffled through the card pile looking for monsters that had matched the criteria. One caught her eye.

It was a monster called Vanity's Ruler. He reminded her of the time that Kaiba had dyed his hair green, why? She could only assume it had something to do with being a rebellious boy or some other personal reason.

This monster was a level Eight fairy type with an effect. High-level monsters rarely had an effect, the only one she could remember having a high level and effect was Mai's Harpie's Pet dragon. This monster had an attack power of 2500 and defence 1600 and its effect prevented special summoning of monsters. She assumed it was to prevent people from using Monster Reborn to bring back their monsters, but the effect also meant she couldn't special summon monsters.

Téa typed the card's serial number in and grinned as the second star lit up showing she was on level two. Now all she needed was one more then… she qualifies. She grabbed a few cards and went through the list once again. She was starting to get a little anxious especially as the cards she went through couldn't increase her rank.

Sadden red coloured eyes looked at her. "I've noticed you bought a booster pack yourself because you saw my interest in it."

'Wait.' She blinked 'The booster pack in my handbag!' She jumped up as she dashed up to her room where her bag was resting on her desk. 'Where is it? Where is it?' She shuffled through her bag "Got it!" She cheered as she held the small tin foiled pack. Téa with a gleeful expression quickly raced back down where her computer sat. She gently ripped open the top of the packet and took out the ten cards that rested inside.

First card was Dancing elf, something she already had. The second card was Lilith, lady of lament. If this card is Normal Summoned, its original attack becomes 1000. With a quick effect of tributing one DARK monster to reveal three Normal Traps from your Deck, your opponent randomly chooses 1 for you to Set on your field, and you shuffle the rest back into your Deck.

Sounds useful, but it wasn't on the list. So far, it's not looking very promising but still she had hope, she had faith.

The third card was called Honest… It was a beautiful card and while its attack wasn't impressive, his defence was pretty good, but his effect was… Magnificent. During your main Phase you can return this face-up card from the field to the hand. During the Damage Step, when a LIGHT monster you control battles with your opponent's monster you can send this card from your hand to the GY; that monster gains ATK equal to the ATK of the opponent's monster it is battling until the end of this turn.

This had to be a rare one. She just knew it. The following card was a trap car called Solemn wishes. It increases your Life Points by 500 points each time you draw a card or cards.

Change of Heart… Honestly this card made her uncomfortable for obvious reasons though it looked useful. The next one was trap card called Metaverse which allows you to take one Field Spell from your Deck, and either activate it or add it to your hand. She didn't know you could get a field card outside of Duellist Kingdom. She really didn't know a lot about the card game.

The next card was The Magician of Faith the monster she believed represented herself and with her friends she always had faith and right now she needed to have faith in herself. She gave a slight laugh as she pulled out the following card Darklord Marie, Rebbeca was quite the character. She hoped the blonde girl was doing well and working hard.

Dark coffin was a trap card which when destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, your opponent selects and executes one of the following effects which is to discard one card from their hand or destroy one of their monsters. The final one in the packet was a spell card called Swing of Memories. Target 1 Normal Monster in your GY; Special Summon it, but destroy it during the End Phase of this turn.

"Let's see if fate will allow me." Téa whispered as she held the card close to her as she, with a shaking hand, typed in the serial number. Her mouth felt dry as she saw her two stars now light up to four stars and saw the word 'Congratulations' appear on her screen.

"You qualify for Battle City." She gave a slight snort as she heard Kaiba say Battle City. Of course, he had to put himself in some way… but she did it… She's in. Téa Gardner is now a Battle City contestant…

She covered her face as the realisation set in. She was now a duellist in a tournament… With Joey, Yugi and the Pharaoh competing in it… Kami, was this a good idea?

What would they say? Would they be happy? Would they support her?

"A great battle will soon be waged in this city." Warned the dark-skinned woman as she looked at them.

The moment her friends were told what was going to happen… they would force her to quit because it was too dangerous, but she wanted to help. She…

"The enemy who will soon appear before you is the one who wields the last millennium item."

She was ready to… risk herself. To be their pillar that they can lean on during difficult times and ask her to step in if it became too much.

She couldn't tell anyone about this. This needed to be her own private secret until she felt ready to tell them the full story. That left her with a problem. She had the basics down, but she needed to know more. She needed a teacher.

One person came to mind.

She grabbed her pink cell phone and dialled a number saved under a very specific name.

Harpie Queen

"Hey Mai…"

X

"I should have thought this through." Moaned Téa as she stared at her barely stocked Fridge. What a way to welcome a guest into her house. "Would juice be good enough?" she quietly mumbled while staring in the fridge as looked through it for… pretty much anything. Despite how well they greeted each other Yesterday they had barely got along with her during the Duellist kingdom. What if they have an argument while she's over? Not to mention she didn't know what to serve an adult guest. Would she like udon for dinner?

She walked back to her room, arms filled with various juice and water bottles before settling it on her counter. She had prepared an additional futon just in case… She couldn't remember the last time she had someone over since well… honestly, she couldn't remember. Her father had forbidden any boys from coming to her home and well she mostly went over to Yugi's home. He trusted Mr. Mutou not knowing that the old man was also a somewhat harmless pervert.

She had set out the large sleeping area and threw as many pillows as their house had available. These things were supposed to be comfy right?

She grabbed her phone as she heard multiple sounds coming from it. Looking down, she sees it was from Mai. The brunette laughed as each message kept coming before she could give her own response to the Harpie Duelist.

Chocolate or chips?

Nvm I'll take both.

Hope your not on a diet, hon.

…

…

…

Mai you really didn't have to get us anything ^u^'

…

…

There is an old woman Infront of me

I'm this close to losing my mind.

She laughed. Mai was never the patient type except for duelling. She could only imagine what the blonde woman was busy buying, but she wasn't going to complain especially if she didn't have to pay for it. The brunette had to be honest with herself. Having a duelling teacher made her excited and as a bonus maybe she can really make a dear friend out of Mai. She never minded having more friends and with Mai being in the top four of Duellist kingdom.

She could go far especially with a little luck and a lot of hard work. She frowned as her phone lit up with another notification from Mai.

Okay here is the tea. The old lady in front of me

Is buying a cucumber and a box of condoms…

I'm severely judging her.

Did she… Did she read that correctly? Téa looked at the messages with a dumbfounded expression before quickly typing a reply to her.

Wait, what do you mean?

Téa sweetie you can't be that innocent.

…

…

Okay done with the shopping I'm on my

Way to your house now

Great Drive safely!

…

…

Téa the traffic lights are down.

What do I do!?

Don't drive and type at the

Same time!

…

…

Mai? Are you okay?

…

…

MAI!

"Don't panic. Don't panic she just took your advice." She whispered to herself with a slightly panicked tone as she stared at her phone. Waiting in anticipation of a message, a call or anything to settle her nerves. The brunette felt relief as she heard a vehicle settle in front her garage's door. She immediately ran to the door before quickly putting her shoes on. What greeted her wasn't what she expected… honestly, she didn't know what she expected but right in front of her was a bright red convertible with its entire two backseats covered in shopping bags and additional bags in the passenger seat. She gave the blonde an annoyed look, thankful she is safe but honestly couldn't she at least have given her a heads-up that she was okay.

"What? You told me not to text and drive." This cheeky bitch.

"Are you just gonna stand there and look cute? '' This caused Téa to look at the bags the blonde woman was now holding. "Or are you going to actually be useful and help me?" yelled the now ticked off and flustered woman tapping against her steering wheel.

"If we don't hurry the ice-cream is going to melt and I'm not Joseph Wheeler who would probably down the box like a milk carton!"

Téa couldn't help but laugh at that image knowing that Joey would do such an act and with gusto no less. "Hold on, let me help." The brunette grabbed the remaining bags before heading inside with Mai quickly following her.

"Did you buy the entire convenience store?" she asked as she packed out various types of drinks, snacks and… it's that a cake? Oh no, she knew that bakery. Lovely Berry. A famous Patisserie sweet store that always had their cakes sold out, and it was a Strawberry cheesecake. Her favourite!

She looked at the rest of the bags that had littered her floor. How much money did she spend? Téa turned to look at the Harpie Duellist who in question had her two index fingers pressed together with a clear look of embarrassment on her face.

"What else am I supposed to bring?! McDonalds?" She crossed her arms before puffing her cheeks in annoyance. "I'm not that desperate!" The brunette could only laugh in response before gently waving at her.

"I'm kidding Mai. This is more than enough." She smiled before pointing at the staircase. "There is a bathroom upstairs if you need it."

Mai, having gained a slightly more relaxed posture, flicked her hair over her shoulder with a smirk at the small dancer. The air now filled with her confidence and arrogance. "So how about you set us up with some snacks and I'll take a quick trip to your bathroom then." Before Téa could respond her guest had already walked into the direction of the staircase.

"As long as she's comfortable."

Téa immediately put away the drinks except a few cans and two of the large packets of chips. The cake and Ice cream was immediately put in the fridge and freezer, ready for whomever had a sweet craving. She put the tray down at a table in front of the living room's Television set before quickly travelling to her room to change into more comfortable clothing.

A simple pair of white PJ's with multitude of coloured stars on various parts of the outfit and a pair of matching socks. She had grabbed her small laptop, and the container filled with her cards on the way before settling down on the laid-out futon.

"If you laugh, I'm leaving." She looked around for the owner of the meek voice before her gaze settled on the busty woman wearing a lilac onesie outfit. A unicorn lilac onesie that is. Her hair was pulled into a pair of pigtails that was clearly too big for the hoodie of her outfit.

"It's really cute!" gushed Téa. She had a soft spot for pastel colours and this cute little onesie checked all the requirements. She hoped Mai could tell her where to get one.

"You actually like it?" Clearly this wasn't the reaction Mai had been expecting. Téa nodded before giggling as pulled at the plush horn that adorned the hood of Mai's outfit. She noticed the pigtails were quite large and would have a hard time fitting in the hood of the Unicorn onesie.

"If you want" She cradled the strands of blond hair "I can braid your hair. It will fit easier in there." The female temptress stiffly nodded as Téa led her to sit In Front of her couch. The brunette placed herself behind the busty Unicorn before she gently started working on one of the tails.

"So, you want to learn how to duel."

It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

"Aren't you going to ask why?"

"Why what?"

"Why I went from being a cheerleader to becoming a duellist."

Téa heard a loud crunch as the older woman popped a chip in her mouth. "Hon, that's your business not mine. Every Duellist has their own reason. Yugi has his, you have yours and My reason is my own." That's fair but it didn't sate her curiosity of the female duellist. Maybe one day she would tell her but for now…

"So, what does it take to become a duellist?"

"I can tell you one thing. It will not be easy." She heard another crunch as the chip was consumed. "Just because you know what a card does, doesn't mean you know how to use it in a strategy or if you are in a bind." Fair enough but she can handle it. It would be easier than studying for the school finals.

"I'll give you an example. If you don't call out the effect whenever it is a monster's flip effect or a quick effect it won't be considered active so when that monster is destroyed you can't call out the effect later."

Téa paused as the information sank in. Oh boy, she is already starting to feel that bite of doubt in her head. She knew what she was talking about but there were more monsters with effects than just Magician of fate, so she had her work cut out for her.

"You at least got the equip cards down so that's good and you have an idea how trap cards work." With one of the pigtails now braided Téa reached for the other one. "I also heard through the grapevine that the rules are going to change to make the tournament even harder."

Her hands stopped before quickly finishing it and tying the last pair up. "What do you mean?" asked the female performer as she sat next to her grabbing a small can of soda.

"I mean Kaiba decided to throw out the old rules and instil his own version of it, so a lot of Yugi and Joey's old tactics are not going to work anymore." She turned to look at the brunette before popping in another chip "Summoning a Blue eyes or my lady's pet dragon is going to be a lot harder now. You must sacrifice a monster or two in order to summon them. That is called tribute summoning."

The brunette looked at her with a confused expression "One or two? What the difference?" Mai grabbed her deck before pulling out her Harpy's Pet Dragon before giving it to Téa.

"This." She said tapping at the stars of the card with her manicured nails "On this card there are seven stars. Cards with five to six stars need one monster to sacrifice while cards with seven and more stars need two monsters."

The blonde woman grabbed one of her opened bottles and downed it "Ritual cards are similar except you need a spell card linked to that and a monster or two with enough stars to summon it and of course the ritual monster itself. That's three conditions" She turned to look at the confused and visibly stressed high schooler. "Listen, you don't have to worry about that right now. Let me look through your cards and we'll work out a nice plan on where to start."

The petite woman took the small shoe box and opened it before dumping the card out in front of them. "I swear they were less." Mumbled the brunette as she looked at the mess of cards in front of them.

She gave a sheepish smile at the older female who looked at her with a dumbfounded expression before sighing and grabbed a handful of cards. "Let's sort them out then we'll um… deal with making a deck or decks" she said as she stared at the treasure trove of cards in front of her. More than she thought the cheerleader would have, but the question was if they could make a decent strategy with the cards. A lot of them looked like they belonged to the first generation of Duel Monster. When the game was first released.

"There are enough cards here to make a few decks so I can set up a few practice rounds for us and maybe make up a few… let's call them duel quizzes for you to figure out." muffled out the blond with a poky in her mouth as she shuffled through the cards. The brunette was silent as she looked at some of the cards in her own hand. "Don't worry." Téa looked at the older woman "Since the rules changed everyone is learning from the beginning again. We're all beginners now." Mai grinned at her friend "As long as you work hard and try even harder, we'll make a duel princess out of you yet."

Téa felt her mouth twitch before laughing. "Not a duel Queen?"

Mai scoffed at her, "Honey that's my position you're gonna have to work a lot harder in order to beat me."

Téa grinned at the challenge she was given. "You're on Mai!"

X

- Location: Kaiba-Corporation Research and Development: Collectible Card Games Division – Floor A3

The sound of heavy breathing echoed in his ears, but he wasn't done yet.

The chestnut-haired male was now on his fifth duel of the day. The upgrade to the duelling AI was… impressive. His first duel with it when he had tested his God-Card for the first time had a level of difficulty, but this…

Sweat was dripping from his chin and his back ached, but he needed to persevere and go on. He needed to know all his God's strengths and weaknesses. Seto Kaiba looked up at the machine's side of the field. Two monsters. One Pegasus's newest creations of his recently released cards series. The Gem Knights.

One was known as Gem-Knight Crystal, which had the appearance of a humanoid figure and adorned a full silver suit of plate armour that would have comprised a helmet, pauldrons and other pieces whose names he couldn't recall at this moment. Crystal decorated the creature's chassis, wrists, and pauldrons. A rock type and level seven with an attack points of 2450 and 1950 defence points.

A decent challenge.

The second monster was a fusion monster with the name of Gem-Knight Amethyst like the crystal figure, this one also donned a full armour suite which was coloured in violet. It had brandished a mounted blade on its arm and wielded a silver shield on its left and a purple cape completing its regal image. Its attack and defence were the exact opposite of its Crystal counterpart. 1950 Attack and 2450 Defence and was, wisely, in defence mode.

On his side of the field, he had one beast which was a Level seven dragon type Duel Monster called Hyozanryu whose entire hide and horns were adorned in diamonds and gems. With such an appearance and strong hide it, obviously, had a high defence of 2800 which protected his life points from his opponent's creatures. Besides ensuring his safety, he had two cards face down. Ring of Destruction and Guidance armour.

"ACTIVATE NORMAL SPELL: Gem-Knight Fusion!" The card shifted down to the robot's disk before getting slotted in place. "PERMITS FUSION BY USING COMPONENTS FROM HAND AND FIELD. ACTION: FUSION SUMMON WITH COMPONENTS Gem-Knight Crystal ON THE FIELD. Gem-Knight Garnet AND Gem-Knight Lapis IN HAND TO SUMMON…" Light enveloped the two cards in the mechanical creation hand, along with the monster on the field.

The light from the cards shot out towards the glowing monster before the cards were discarded to the graveyard, "FORMATION: Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond." The shape of what once was Gem-Knight Crystal had become slender and feminine as it had gained high heels. The being's pauldron elongated, and additional ornaments appeared on the armour and seemed to stretch upwards. A medium-sized cape waved behind the figure.

He gritted his teeth as he saw the monster attack points. 3400.

The feminine figure brandished their blade as the gems on its chassis gave a slight glow. An effect is about to be activated. "EFFECT ACTIVATION: ONCE PER TURN TO SEND ONE FACE-UP Gem-Knight monster IN CONTROL TO THE GRAVEYARD TO SPECIAL SUMMON ONE Gem-Knight FUSION MONSTER FROM EXTRA DECK, IGNORING ITS SUMMONING CONDITIONS." The violet-coloured knight kneeled down next to the Diamond Knight as it prepared it's as a tribute. "SENDING Gem-Knight Amethyst TO THE GRAVEYARD. SUMMONING Gem-Knight Zirconia!"

Cracks appeared on the purple being armour as the floor it stood on shattered and started to grow and encapsulate the figure. The surface slowly smoothed out before a loud deafening clatter was heard emitting from the mound. Similar to that of a hammer slamming against a large bell. Another was heard which caused the smooth mound to crack, the next one caused the entire construction to shatter, revealing a giant, towering figure. Large hammers had replaced its arms and its armour had now of a silver sheen to it.

Like its imposing figure, its attack point was 2900 and with a defence point of 2500. His dragon was destined to be shattered.

"EFFECT ACTIVATION PARAMETERS ACHIEVED: Gem-Knight Amethyst MONSTER SENT FROM THE FIELD TO THE GRAVEYARD. ALL SPELL AND TRAP CARDS ON THE FIELD ARE RETURNED TO OWNERS' HANDS." He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he placed his traps back in his hand. The upgrade in software and platform improved the difficulty setting tremendously, but these tactics were pre-recorded by another duellist. These machines had no way of making their own decisions.

Tactics from a duellist second best to him from his time at the international duelling circuit.

"ENTERING BATTLE PHASE. OBSERVATION: Hyozanryu 2800 DEFENCE. Gem-Knight Zirconia 2900 ATTACK. DESTRUCTION EMINENT. COMMAND SET: Gem-Knight Zirconia ATTACK."

The hulking figure slowly advanced towards the reptile, each step causing a miniature earthquake, before raising its large hammer. With a terrifying force it slammed its large weapon on the beast, causing it to shatter into a thousand pieces.

"COMMAND SET: DIRECT ATTACK WITH Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond." The slender gem thrust itself towards the cloaked duellist before giving a wide slash with its gem rapier across Kaiba's chest. He loudly grunted as he felt himself get slightly pushed back. His azure eyes flickered to his duel disk, seeing his life points go from 4000 to 600. He was becoming careless.

"END PHASE COMPLETE."

"My turn then. I draw." He grabbed the card before placing it next to the other seven cards in his hands now with a total of eight cards. If he didn't use any of them, then he had to discard two cards, since the maximum cards allowed is six. 'Not that it would be necessary now that I have all the cards I need.' He smirked as he gazed at his hand.

"I'll start off with activating the spell card, Foolish Burial!" Shouted Seto Kaiba as he held out the card before jamming it in his Disk. "This card allows me to send one monster from my deck to the graveyard." The male shuffled through his deck before taking out his chosen card. Obelisk The Tormentor and placed it into the graveyard card entrance.

"Now I activate Polymerization and fuse the three Blue Eyes White Dragon in my hand to summon my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" A single white dragon appeared with a quaking roar. The beast's round face sharpened into a more traditional version of a dragon. A pointed facial structure with glistening, sharp teeth. It gave out a hiss of pain as the areas between its elongated neck and shoulder blade bulged with a hidden mass under its scales. It gave out a screech as another dragon head, a replica of itself, burst out and gave out its own war cry. The same transformation happened at the opposite of the beast as another head appeared now giving the dragon a total of three heads.

Its gaze locked on to the two monsters that had now stood in front of the machine. Each of the beast maws gave out a mixture of a snarl and a hiss at the mineral beings.

"Now I activate Monster Reborn!" The male placed the card into the card slot before activating it, causing it to flip up on the field. "I can bring back one monster from the graveyard and summon it on the field." He gave a smirk as the duel disk slid out his chosen card, "I bring back Obelisk The Tormentor." A loud rumbling sound echoed in the large room before a deep fissure opened behind the CEO.

A large, clawed hand reached out before grabbing on the ledge of the crater. A loud sound of a mixture between a growl and a groan echoed as a crown of horns slowly appeared. The darkness was kind to his features, but somehow there was a brooding sense of evil beneath the surface, and a hint of sulphur from hell itself. Bulging muscle and biceps decorated the divine beast body as it rose to its full height, easily towering over the three-headed dragon. He unfurled his wings, bat like, as it practically leered at his victims. It's long fangs and jagged teeth gleaming in the ceiling lights.

"I hope you are prepared." Laughed Seto before thrusting an open hand towards his opponent's direction. "Obelisk crush Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond into dust!" Cobalt coloured claws reached over towards the petite diamond Knight. The feminine knight slashed against one of the divine beast fingers as it drew close before being seized by the other clawed appendage. The monster struggled as it was lifted towards the gaze of the tormentor. Obelisk brought his other hand closer before enveloping the top of the creature's form. With the gem being entire body now enveloped within his grasp, he slowly applied pressure until a sickening crack was heard.

With a flex of his muscles, he applied more force, as small snaps and cracks echoed in the room. He opened his hand to allow what remained of his victim to fall to the ground, which was nothing more than mere shimmering sand. "So much for the strength of Diamonds. Not even stones created from the very earth can stand up to my God!" Cackled the brunette before focusing his gaze on his next target.

"Now my beast destroys Gem-Knight Zirconia with Neutron Blast!" The beasts opened their maws as a small light formed in their mouths before a large stream shot out towards the mineral knight. The three streams intertwined together before making contact, causing the Knight to be broken apart in smaller pieces before finally disintegrating. He smirked now, seeing his opponent's side of the field now barren of any monsters. "I end my turn."

His smirk disappeared as his God slowly disappeared back into the ground. 'This is the same thing that happened with Shadow Spell. Card effects only affect them for the rest of the turn they were activated.' He looked down at his Duel Disk where his divine beast now rested. 'That includes cards like Monster Reborn.' He grabbed his collar which contained the small radio, "Mokuba, save the recording of the last turn and archive it." He heard an immediate confirmation from his younger brother. 'That should be everything… I tried every possible combo and situation that will affect my beast…' He gave a feral grin. 'All except for a God.'

"ENTERING DRAWING PHASE." A card entered in one of the slots. "CALCULATING… INSUFFICIENT MOVES. ACTION: DUEL TERMINATION." The numbers that displayed on the duel machine flickered to zero, indicating its loss to the duel before slowly de-activating. The card slowly moved back into the graveyard slot.

Ready to be retrieved for later use or storage.

The CEO deactivated his own disk before hearing a small croon from his monster. The hydra creature lowered one of its heads as it gave out a slight purr towards its master. He reached out towards it, as if wanting to abide by its desire to be petted. The duellist's hand dropped as he remembered that the creature in front of him was nothing more than a mere hologram. He walked past the now silent dragon before entering the designated break room.

X

"Sugoi!" Grinned Mokuba as he saw his brother's fifth victory of the day. "Seto is unstoppable, especially with Obelisk in his deck, right Noh?" He turned to look at the researcher behind him.

"Indeed, unfortunately the systems are not as…" Muttered the scraggly chestnut-haired male as he, carefully, worked on a circuit board. His efforts were in vain as it gave a slight spark before a small trail of smoke floated from the circuitry. "Durable. Kaiba-sama is going to be displeased."

"At this rate, we will become a company that provides decent computer parts instead of relying on other company Products." Chipped in, a blond scientist, as he gave the young boy a printed piece of paper. "Here are the latest results, Mokuba-sama." The boy muttered a quick 'Thanks Kagamo' before quickly typing in the results of the data.

"Fortunately, it only happens when he faces the D.A.I.S computer." Assured Toyoda, a young brunette-haired woman, to the young male as she softly adjusted her glasses. "When facing an actual duellist, the system will have an easier time creating the Solid Holograms rather than configuring a way to win a losing battle."

"That's the strides we make to further enhance Kaiba Corporation." A gentle tone reached the boy's ears as he heard a small tray being placed next to him. "Here you go, Mokuba-sama and a water bottle for Kaiba-sama." He grinned looking up at the black, blue haired woman, "Thanks Watanabe."

The woman, named Watanabe, gave a small smile to her boss before turning to look at her Senior, Director Kuwabara. "With the constant improvement it will be less than five years before duelling will become a full virtual interface system, and with advancements other fields will benefit as well."

"It would be beneficial, but right now we focus on his final goal." Said the grey-haired male as he slowly strokes his beard. "The final touches on the holographic system on Alcatraz are being placed and everything must be ready for the finals. Anything less and we don't deserve to work under Seto Kaiba much less his Company." Piercing grey eyes looked over to the other scientists and researchers within the room. "Understood?"

Mokuba snickered as he heard the team echoing their agreements. He looked back as heard the familiar sound of the elevator and grinned, knowing that his brother was about to enter.

He leaped from the chair, leaving it spinning in place as he quickly grabbed a KC labelled water bottle before standing in front of the elevator doors. "Not going to lie, bro, I got a bit worried with the last duel." Teased the small gremlin as he noticed the small drop of moisture on his brother's brow.

"I'm happy to inform you sir that the Duel disk's all survived the tests, so there won't be any malfunctions with your opponent's gear afterwards." The director indicated to the disk his employer was wearing. "Of course, yours is still in peak condition".

The male barely gave a grunt of acknowledgement to his lead scientist as he reached over to the tantalising icy touch of water in his brother's hand. Unscrewing the top with ease he quickly downed the liquid. He gave a small gasp as he finished before tossing the empty bottle in the waste bin. "Not surprised since I had improved the system's AI and power output." He walked towards the large monitor before seating himself in the chair.

"One last thing, sir. The duellists you have requested for your… team." Kagamo looked up from her board, unsure if the correct term was used. "Will be arriving in a few days. We will have their disks and decks ready for testing."

"Good… They need to be ready." Muttered the CEO while typing in a few console commands as the screen displayed the data of the duel. "What is the status of the security force?"

"With the collaboration with Domino Police Department there are sufficiently enough officers to ensure that all the larger sections of the city will be under careful watch with a few exceptions in certain areas, but if there were to be a problem they would be immediately notified of the situation."

"Perfect." Seto said as he stood up from his chair and walked towards the elevator with his brother in tow. The research Team quickly followed. "How far is the progress of installing the projectors on the buildings of the city "

"Most of them are completed, but as you are aware, a few of the respectable companies question the validity and reasoning for installing the projections and cameras on their buildings." The director nervously fidgets with his tie as he notices the frown on his employer's face. "We are in the progress of ensuring their co-operations."

"Good, the last thing I need is someone getting in my way." The duellists said with a disdain look on his face. As the elevator opened, he briskly walked out towards the entrance of his company building, where his assistant Roland had been patiently waiting for him and his brother with the limo.

"We'll have the next sets of tests ready for you tomorrow, sir. Enjoy the rest of your night." The other scientists said their goodbyes as the two Kaiba brothers now exited the building. Kaiba nodded in greeting to his driver as he settled himself in the vehicle. A small smile formed on his face as Mokuba clambered over to get to the seat next to him, a phone clutched into his hand and a small laptop under his arm.

"Take us home, Roland."

"Yes Sir!"

"Here." He looked at the small touch screen device in Mokuba's hand. "This is the Data from the past five duels."

He felt a grin form on his face before narrowing his gaze to the small device, "Everything is documented?"

"Yes Nii-san." A deft finger quickly typed a few commands before a document opened before him. "Here is everything we documented and found out during your duels, and I can honestly say that with this card, nobody will be able to beat you."

He grabbed the small object as blue eyes flicked through the document. He felt his grin widen as he read more of the document.

"Subarashī." He let the word roll delightfully off his tongue.

He could feel a warmth settle in his belly. The duels and sheer power will be glorious. "With this, no-one will stop me. Not even Yugi."

That…that was a problem.

His grin faltered as he realised his problem. His deck would become unstoppable. No-one will be able to stand against him, but… there would no longer be any challenges to overcome. He could not let that emptiness fill his soul again… Gozaburo-

'Unless I face the other gods. They would be the only ones that could provide me a true challenge.' He closed his eyes as he laced his fingers in front of him. 'The perfect match.' Very few duellists ever provided him a challenge, a good duel, except for Yugi.

Their first match was based on pure luck and chance. He didn't want that; he wanted a challenge that would battle their wits and intellect against another. The closest he ever got was with the duel on the roof of Pegasus' castle. 'But even that was tainted.' He couldn't enjoy it. His brother's life hung in the balance. He needed to win at that moment, and Seto Kaiba would do anything to get back what belonged to him. It left a bitter taste. He needed more… so much more.

Perhaps with this tournament he will have that duel and finally become the greatest duellist the world has ever known.

He will have his crown.

He was lost in his musings when he felt shifting next to him.

"There have been a few contestants that have upgraded their rankings." He looked to the side to see Mokuba holding a small computer. Gingerly looking at him with those innocent eyes. "You want to see?" Why not… he needed to rest even if it's just for the moment, If only for his brother's sake. The boy could be such a nag.

That night, many of the mansion's maids woke up to the bellowing laugh of their Master, Seto Kaiba. He had looked at the list of candidates that had qualified for his tournament and in that list a single name had caught his eye. His whole stoic demeanour shattered and set off an unstoppable fit of laughter.

Téa Gardner.

X

Notes:

Subarashī: In Japanese it means terrific, wonderful, splendid, grand, magnificent.

Nii-san: In Japanese it means big brother or brother.

Baka: In Japanese it means idiot, stupid.

Sugoi: In Japanese it means Amazing, great.

D.A.I.S – Duelling Artificial Intelligence System

Anyone else thinks Weevil would have been a hell of a vlogger. I would subscribe to that train wreck. Also Ryou would make an awesome DM and I fully believe everyone joins him for DnD nights. Fight me.

Kaiba is also a theatre kid. Change my mind.