~Sabrina~

Yugi and I are currently walking around the arctic area. I'm not that cold anymore due to Ari's kissing scene with Yami. I've tried giving Yugi his jacket back, but he insists that I hold on to it until we get to a warmer part of the Virtual World. We haven't seen the others, nor have found a way to reach them. "Where do you think they could be?" Yugi asks.

"If I knew, they'd be walking with us." I say.

"Yeah, but I-err- just keep your eyes open."

We walk a bit farther until I see something in the distance, "What do you suppose that is?"

Yugi squints, "Is-is that Tea?"

"I think it is."

Yugi smiles widely, "Tea! Hey Tea!" he yells as we run toward her.

"Huh? Oh hey guys!" she says.

"Hi Tea. Are you alright?" Yugi asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Have you guys run into the Big Five yet?"

"Yes. Yugi faced Gansly earlier, then found me after I defeated Crump." I say.

"Oh, okay. Have you seen the others?"

"No," Yugi says, "I'm worried. They could be in the middle of one of the Big Five's traps."

Tea shivers and then wraps her arms around herself. "Here Tea." I say tossing her Yugi's jacket, that I was stuck holding onto.

"Isn't this Yugi's?"

"He won't let me give it back yet."

"Oh, well, thanks!"

The three of us head out in a search for the others. The glaciers around us are starting to get thicker, making it colder. I'm not sure if we're ever going to escape this area. The glaciers form a canyon around us now, and usually that means a dead end up there. "Should we turn around?" Tea asks.

"We could always try and climb upward." Yugi suggests.

"Do you know how hard it will be to climb up an ice wall?" I say.

"Oh, right."

"Wait guys!" Tea says, "Is that a door?" she says pointing ahead.

Yugi and I look ahead to see a well-made wooden door up against one of the walls around us. "Should we open it?" Yugi asks.

"Why not? Let's go!" I say.

The three of us rush up to the door and burst it open. Inside is a courtroom. "Joey? Is that you?" Yugi says.

"Aw hey guys! I'm about to bring da whooping on Johnson here!" he says.

"Order in the court!" a look up to see the Judge Man up by the witness stand. Another member of the Big Five. "Settle down. This trial will proceed. Now sit down while this commences." He says.

Tea, Yugi, and I sit down on one of the benches and watch the duel from there. Joey's Deck Master is Flame Swordsman. Its Joey's turn, so he summons Panther Warrior in attack mode, then sets one card. Johnson activates Leading Question to give his monster enough attack points to destroy Panther Warrior, but Joey activates Skull Dice and rolls a one.

Joey's Life Points drop to 1100 and Johnson gains Life Points to his Sinister Justice card, bringing him to 1800. Joey draws, "I summon Swordsman of Landstar in attack mode! Then I'll use the Graceful Dice card. And I get... what!? A one! Fine I place two cards face-down and end my turn."

"I'll use my Deck Master's special ability. Now I pay 1000 Life Points to destroy your Swordsman and bring you to 600 Life Points. Then I activate Pot of Greed and-"

"Well I activate Gamble! This card allows me to flip a coin and if I call it right, I can draw five new cards. And I pick heads." Come on Joey! He flips the coin then grabs it, "It's… tails!?Aw man!" Joey whines. "I play Scapegoat! Try to get past these guys Johnson!"

"In due time Joseph. I activate Reinforcement of the Army to add a warrior-type monster to my hand. Then I activate Polymerization to fuse these monsters to summon Dragoness the Wicked Knight! So I use both my monsters on the field to eliminate two of your Scapegoats."

Joey's turn is skipped due to the Gamble card he played. "I use both my monsters to destroy your last two Scapegoats." Johnson says.

"No! My monsters!" Joey says.

"Yugi, is it just me, or do you think that Johnson might be rigging this duel?" I ask him.

"It could be. But what can we do? If we don't act fast, Joey could lose this duel!" he says.

A white beam of light emerges from the ceiling. What now? Noah appears on the ground. What's he doing here? "Time out! Stop the duel!" he says.

"Noah, please sir, I'm only a few minutes away from taking his body!" Johnson says.

"You don't deserve that prize Johnson. Not after what you just pulled."

"So he was cheating!" Joey says.

Noah turns his attention toward us, "Sadly, yes. He's using my virtual technology to rig your dice rolls."

"But Noah! I can't live in this prison anymore!"

"Silence! I brought you five here under the condition that you help me defeat Seto Kaiba and his friends. And with you cheating, I can't prove that I'm more deserving than him! I've lived under Seto's shadow for too long and I should be the president of Kaiba Corp! Now Johnson, I think it's time to say goodbye."

"Hey Noah." Joey says.

"What?"

"I'm willing to continue this duel if Johnson is willing to stop cheating. And if he wins, then you still have the chance to prove yourself. But if I win, then I can prove that Joey Wheeler doesn't sit around and let frauds run free!"

"Very well, but I hope you realized what you just got yourself into. All of the original stakes still stand. Good luck." Noah disappears and lets the duel continue now.

Joey draws, "I activate Pot of Greed! Now I move Flame Swordsman to the field and equip him with Burning Soul Sword to raise his attack power."

"But Burning Soul Sword requires a sacrifice to be played, and you don't have any other monsters."

"I'm not done. I activate the Arduous Decision magic card! With this card I can draw two cards, then you're able to pick one of them while their face-down and if it's a monster I can summon it to the field, but if it's a spell or trap both cards go to the Grave. Okay, so pick one." Joey holds out both cards so Johnson can't see what they are.

"Um… I choose your left hand."

"You sure? This could be the end for you."

"Uh- I change my mind! I pick your right hand."

"Why thank you. You chose my Goblin Attack Force. Now I can summon it to the field and then sacrifice it to use my Burning Soul Sword! Now Flame Swordsman, attack his monster and wipe out his Life Points!"

"This isn't possible! I never lose in the courtroom!" Johnson disappears moments later.

Yes! Joey wins! "Aw yeah! Whose da man!" Joey says.

"Great job Joey!" Yugi says.

"By the way, where are the others?" Joey asks.

"They might be stuck dueling the rest of the Big Five. Like they said, all of us have to duel." I say.

"Wait, all of us!? Oh no Serenity! She's never dueled before; she barely knows how to play! We've got to find them!"

Hooray another cliffhanger. I think I'm about a quarter of the way through the Virtual World arc, so yay!