Chapter 8

Warning, this chapter is long.

VampireSiren- thanks very much

The Travel Writer- I suppose that details on clothes aren't quite necessary, given that most the audience knows what the main characters look like and what they're wearing, but I like to be sure everybody knows the little details, but I'll be careful on descriptions

Sincerely Christina- thanks dear, hope your move was pleasant, and keep your laptop alive!

Disclaimer: If you are truly lost as to what is going on, I suggest you read the manga, or watch the show, because very few duels will be written out.
I also do not own the concept of Yu-gi-Oh or it's characters. Just my OC, and my own little twists.

The morning had gone by, with duel after duel. Yugi had beaten Weevil and taken both his star chips, making Weevil one of the very first competitors to be kicked out. Shortly after this duel, the group had stumbled upon Mai, who promptly challenged Jounouchi to a duel.

Jounouchi nearly lost his head when Mai pulled a trick on him. She was able to tell which cards were which without even looking at them.

However, after a few rounds, Jounouchi had caught a whiff of Mai's perfume, and realized that she had sprayed all her cards with different scents. After catching her in the act, he managed to gain enough confidence and defeat her, using Time Wizard, and Baby dragon.

Once the duel had finished, the group had wandered the island a little more. It wasn't until Jounouchi pointed out that he was hungry, did they realize the situation they were in. The group had no food, half expecting that the tournament would have at least something. As Honda had taken out his survival book, Jounouchi's sense of smell caught something cooking, and promptly followed it. They had come across a pile of fish being cooked over a fire, and found a duelist, Ryota Kajiki. The man was heavily built with a deep tan and spiked black hair, he claimed to be the duelist of the sea. But the duelist had shared his lunch with the group of friends, and they all ate a hearty meal of fish, except for Kim, as she disliked fish and would rather eat her own arm than try to eat it. But the teenager resolved to excuse herself from the group later, to eat a granola bar quickly. She wasn't keen on Jounouchi finding out that she had a few snacks hidden.

Once lunch had finished, Ryota challenged Yugi to a duel, which he had eagerly accepted. And narrowly won.
They departed from the ocean area, wishing Ryota luck, and he in turn, wishing Yugi and Jounouchi luck in their future duels.

Now they were off to find some more duelists, when they suddenly heard a kid protesting.
"Hey let go of me" they turned to see one of the men in suits who had brought them to the island, holding onto a kid

"I can see that your glove is empty, that means you're disqualified from the tournament."

"No you don't understand, some kid stole them from me, my star chips and my cards!" the kid protested,

"I don't care how you lost your star chips. But since you don't have any, the rules say you must be deported from the island."

"Hang on, he said he had his star chips stolen right?" Jounouchi suddenly barge in, "If I get them back for him, will you consider letting him stay?"

"Heh, I don't make the rules kid." the man said "I just have to follow them."

"But it's not his fault that they were stolen!" the blonde persisted in arguing, "I'll go grab 'em for ya." he promised to the stranger. "what did he look like?"

"I-I didn't really see his face." the kid stuttered. "H-he was wearing a bandana and a hat, so it was really hard to tell."

"And he challenged you to a duel?" Jounouchi asked and the kid nodded,

"Yeah, I had set my cards and the star chips down for our duel, but then he had just grabbed the cards and chips before running off. I started to run after, but soon lost him!"

"See?" Jounouchi said defiantly, "It proves that they were stolen and it's not fair to kick him out!"

"Take it up to Mr. Pegasus." the man said gruffly.

"Look, I'll go get them for him, so don't kick him off!"

"I'll think about it." the man said noncommittally.

"Which way did that thief go?" Jounouchi asked the victim, who pointed in a general direction. "Alright, I'll go get them for you! but, if I find him, I'm taking half of your star chips as payment."

"Jounouchi!" Kim said exasperatedly, resolving to never lose her possessions or at least, not let Jounouchi know. With that declaration, Jounouchi began to run off in the direction, and the group all followed him.

They searched for a half hour, according to Kim's watch, looking for the thief. But saw no sign of them.
"Hey look over there." Ryou pointed to the ocean, where they saw a rowboat of duelists leaving the island.

"Aw man, the kid who's star chips was stolen is on them." Jounouchi moaned "Now I'll never get my star chips."

"Jounouchi, you do realize you have to duel for them right?" Kim asked shaking her head. "You don't just bargain for them."

"Man this sucks." the blonde grumbled, ignoring Kim's words. The group watched the boat row away for a few mor moments, before they suddenly heard a rustle, and a voice shout "YUGI"
They all turned, and saw a person wearing a bandana and ski cap. The bandanna and ski cap did its job, because they could barely tell what the figure looked like. But judging by the height, Kim assumed it was a child. They barely reached Yugi's height.

"This is probably the one that stole that kids star chips." Kim thought to herself.

"Hey kid, did you want to duel?" Yugi asked, staring down at the smaller figure. They gave a nod and Yugi pointed to a dueling simulator.

The duel simulators were small boxed areas, with a dueling table as well as what would appear to be a map. The map would show pictures of wasteland, grassland, ocean, mountains, and graveyards. Depending on ones monsters, they could use their environment to their advantage.

The tables also had special sensors, where they could produce holograms of the monsters. Kim had to admit, it was quite fun to watch the duels with these holographs.

Anyway, Yugi and the strange kid settled themselves in one of the dueling boxes

"How many star chips do you wager?" Yugi asked. The kid held up five fingers. "five? Alright." he agreed, before setting five star chips on the table. The stranger did the same thing, and pulled out his deck.

The two began their duel, and after only a few rounds, Yugi's opponents life points had already dropped to seven hundred fifty. He had played poor cards and without any magic or trap cards to back him up, prompting Yugi to play stronger monsters and wipe them out with a single blow.

"Give it up, there's no point in playing against me with stolen cards!" Yugi demanded. The kid looked panicked, then, before anyone could react, he leaped forward and snatched all five of Yugi's star chips from the table. "H-Hey!" Yugi cried out as he reached to grab him, but he somehow was able to burst out. Jounouchi and Honda ran forward to try and capture him, but he evaded easily.

However, Kim was used to such movements. With four younger bodies at home always trying to evade bath time, chores, or anything else they didn't feel like doing, Kim had developed a skill in capturing running children.

So it came as a surprise to the group when she was able to snatch the kid with very little effort and held him still.

Yugi rushed forward to where Kim and the struggling kid were, and gripped onto the ski cap and yanked it off. Long black hair tumbled from the top of his head, and the blue bandana he had been wearing, slipped from his face. Exposing a child's face, with big violet eyes.

"Y-you're Mokuba!" he said, slightly surprised.

The kid called Mokuba looked up, both horrified and scared that his identity was revealed.

Mokuba was Seto Kaiba's younger brother. CEO of Kaiba Corporation, former friend, and an opponent Yugi had faced during Kaiba's DEATH-T game.

Almost a year ago, Kaiba had enrolled to Domino High, and instantly befriended Yugi, as the both had liked Duel Monsters and games. However, his jealousy over Yugi's skill in gaming, and his grandfaters blue eyes white dragon, had changed him for the worst. After inviting Jounouchi, Yugi, and Kim to his mansion for a sleepover. He had then taken them to his new amusement park, where he had challenged and defeated Yugi's grandfather in a duel. Following the duel, he had suffered a heart attack due to Kaiba's new simmulator that made duel monsters come to life.

After that, Kaiba had challenged Yugi, and made the three friends start out in his DEATH-T game. Honda had joined, having gone with his family to the amusement park and witnessing what had happened, he wanted to help.

Eventually, Yugi had made it through every game, and before he could face Kaiba, he had faced Mokuba in a game called Capsule Monsters. It was much like chess, except with monsters. He had been able to defeat the kid in a game, and gone on to duel Kaiba.

The game had been close, but Yugi pulled through, and what had happened next, was a very bizarre detail Kim could never be able to explain.

With his millennium puzzle, he had "crushed" Kaiba's mind, leaving the young CEO in a coma. Yugi explained to them, that Kaiba was a very broken soul, and had to piece himself back together.

Returning to the present, they had all sat on the grass, each of them surrounding Mokuba, in case he tried to escape again.
"Why did you try to steal my starchips?" Yugi asked him.

"Are you still angry at Yugi?" Anzu asked gently. .

"Well yes, I'm really angry at him" Mokuba admitted. "Because of him, my brother is still in a coma, and being cared for by a private nurse."

"O-oh..." Anzu said softly, Ryou looked down at Kim, a questioning look in his eyes, and she shook her head. Telling him silently she would explain later.

"But that's not why I stole his chips." Mokuba explained, and then he took a deep breath. "I stole them so he won't face Pegasus."

"What do you mean?" Kim asked.

"Pegasus brought Yugi to this island for more than a reason than just to duel." he said darkly. "Pegasus intends to take over KaibaCorp."

"What?" the friends all gasped,

"Yeah, after Seto fell into a coma, our company began to go downhill, and Pegasus immediately jumped on the opportunity to take over. However, the committee board had made a deal. Because my brothers image as the number one gamer in Japan was so important, if Pegasus could defeat Yugi in a duel, then they would gladly hand over the rest of the company to him." Mokuba sighed "I thought, that if Yugi never dueled against him, then my brothers company wouldn't be in danger. The deal would be voided because Pegasus never got to face him."

"Heh, so I'll bet Pegasus is really looking forward to defeating me" Yugi said chuckling.

"Don't laugh Yugi!" Mokuba said standing up, "Pegasus is invincible, my big brother said that!"

"Mokuba, I need to face Pegasus though.." Yugi said to him.

"Yeah his gr-" Before Jounouchi could finish his sentence, Kim slapped a hand over the blondes mouth.

"But I can't risk this!" Mokuba cried.

"Mokuba, please, trust him" Anzu smiled down at him.

"I will fight for myself, but also for your brother Mokuba." Yugi promised. The child looked up into Yugi's eyes, and after a few more moments of hesitation, he finally gave a nod and grabbed the five star chips and began to hand them over.

"Hey stop there!" a voice called, making them all jump, and turn to see who it was. It was the man in the suit they had confronted earlier, "The handling of star chips without a duel is against the rules, make one more move and you will be disqualified."

"But they were stolen, and now he's just giving them back!" Kim said in protest. The man ignored her and stepped forward to Mokuba.
"Heh, I finally found you. You sure led me on a wild goose chase." he said, then before anyone could react, he reached forward and snatched Mokuba's arm in his big hand. "Now I'm taking away those star chips-"

"hold it! Two of those are Yugi's." Jounouchi stepped in, "So give them back."

"I already told you, the only way to get star chips is to duel for them."

"Fine, then I challenge you to a duel." Yugi said.

"heh, I don't play games kid. But if you insist, I'll arrange a special opponent for you.

"He said that way too quickly," Kim muttered.

"Look over there." the man pointed to the duel box Mokuba and Yugi had occupied moments before. Now, there sat a shadowed figure and...Kaiba?

"No wait, it's something that looks like Kaiba!" Anzu pointed out. And sure enough, upon closer inspection, they found that it was a puppet, replicating the image of Seto Kaiba. A man sat in a chair, holding onto the puppet.

"Come on in..." the puppet or ventriloquist said, "I've been waiting for you. Yugi, you'll pay for what you did."

"Tch, you scum, making fun of Kaiba like this." Yugi growled darkly.

"Yugi! Beat that guy!" Mokuba cried out desperately. Yugi clenched his fist, and entered the dueling station and sat down to duel against the ventriloquist.

"Kim." Ryou tugged on her arm slightly to get her attention, and she turned her head to look at him. "What is going on?" he asked.

"Right, you weren't here when this all happened." she sighed. "Well, it's a pretty long story." she glanced at Yugi and the ventriloquist and decided that she could at least spare a few moments to tell Ryou their adventures a few months ago. But she didn't want to bother her friends who were trying to listen in on the duel, so she pulled him aside.

"Well, I guess the story really starts almost a year ago." Kim began "Seto Kaiba had decided to transfer into our school, and we were pretty quick to befriend him. He seemed really nice and pretty polite. Not to mention, Duel monsters was not known very well in our school, so Yugi was delighted to know someone who knew how to play."

"Shortly after, Kaiba began to fall from our group, I'm not totally sure what happened, but I think the spirit of that puzzle and him had a duel and he might've lost, or was shown just how good Yugi was. Jounouchi and Honda think it's because he was guilty of stealing Mr. Muto's fourth blue eyes white dragon. But, one day, Jounouchi, Yugi, and I were playing at the arcade and when we came out, one of Kaiba's employees came to us and said that he requested us to be at his mansion that night. And then the next day, he took us to his new amusement park that he was developing. Where he proceeded to duel Mr. Muto, and won." she sighed a bit, "After that, well, Kaiba had been developing simulators to make duel monsters a little more real, kinda like those dark games that we played in Monster World."

Ryou gave a nod of understanding. "And then?"

"And then, Mr. Muto suffered a heart attack due to those terrifying images." Kim sighed, "Afterwards, Kaiba told Yugi to meet him after he had completed four challenges."

"And...so you guys..." Ryou began to ask and Kim nodded.

"yeah, after Mr. Muto was taken to the hospital, and we went on with Kaiba's challenge. Honda was there with his family, and we met Anzu at the first stage."

"What was that?"

"A very twisted version of lazer tag. We got guns to go ahead and shoot at our foes, but they happened to be trained killers, and had real lazer guns that would electrocute us to death. Honda figured it out pretty fast, and we were able to acquire some of the guns needed and win."

Ryou listened on, fascinated but horrified with this bit of news.
"And if you thought the first stage was messed up, wait until you hear the second. We were taken in a roller coaster and couldn't scream, less again, we get shocked to death so to speak. Then all of our hands got stuck and were about to be chopped off. But Yugi solved the puzzle on the only clue we had, and we were able to get free of that. And then-" Kim paused, a sick feeling forming in the pit of her stomach, and she covered her mouth, afraid she would lose her breakfast.

"K-kim?" Ryou brought his hand up, and gripped her arm gently. "W-what happened next?"

She gave a swallow, and removed her hand from her mouth just slightly, but gripped the front of her jacket,

"I-I don't know how it had happened, I had stumbled back from the axe that had been about to chop my hand off, and I-" she shuddered. "I felt a hand grab my ankle and pull me down, I couldn't even scream because I was just really shocked. But, moments later, I saw myself in a cell, with my friends outside. I had told them to stay away because I knew something sinister was lurking in the cell with me." she looked away from Ryou and onto a patch of grass. "But at the same time, I didn't want them to leave me, I was so terrified as to what was going on." she sighed, "But, Jounouchi volunteered to come get me out, and when he did, whatever that thing was, had handcuffed us together." she shook her head again, the memories still buzzing in her mind and causing her heart rate to spike. "the lights went on, and, w-we saw this hideous monster, he was like Leather Face from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Kaiba told us he was the Chopman, someone that we were very wary of here in Japan, he had killed a boyscout camp. I could only think how ironic my life was, because my brother was supposed to go to that camp, but he caught a cold. So he didn't go, thus he was spared, but now I was going to die."

"But you didn't." Ryou said, his hand holding onto hers a little tighter.

"No, and it's really thanks to Yugi and Jounouchi. Jounouchi found a candle and picked our handcuffs free, before setting the guy on fire." she sighed again, "I was totally useless in that game. I couldn't even find it in myself to help out, I was just so scared."

"you can't blame yourself for that." Ryou said gently. "That was a terrifying situation Kim!"

"I suppose." she bit her lip, and gripped onto his hand that was holding hers. She was glad to have something to grip onto, she hadn't told anybody her experiences at DEATH-T. Even afterwards, her friends hadn't bothered to ask, well, Jounouchi asked if she was feeling alright and took her home later. But still, it was a topic they didn't really discuss, unless it was the duel. And she still suffered nightmares about the Chopman.

"I'm sorry," her British friend said "I-I didn't think...well, I'm sorry I made you tell me."

"It's ok." she said and took a deep breath "I knew I was going to have to talk about it eventually, and I'm glad it was you."

"R-really?" he asked in surprise, and she nodded. "Well, thank you...for explaining to me." he sighed "Sometimes I feel left in the dark when you guys talk about old things."

"I'm sorry, we do tend to do that I suppose. But, if you want me to explain something, just let me know." she managed a smile "I promise nothing was as scary as that."
Ryou managed to give her a tiny smile, but before the two could do much more, they heard Yugi shout "Punishment game!"

"huh, did the duel go by that fast?" Ryou asked as he looked over at the duel box. Indeed, Yugi was walking out with another star chip, making him have six. Kim sighed, a little bummed out, because she wanted to know what was up with that creepy ventriloquist. Oh well, she'd ask Anzu to fill her in.

"We should head back with them."

"Right." Ryou agreed. As they walked back towards the group, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that they were always surrounded by a big group of people. A voice was stirring in his head, telling him to just abandon them, and go to the castle himself. Ryou rubbed his head, banishing such thoughts from his mind, knowing full well, that they were not his.

(+_+_+_+)

Meanwhile, back in Domino City, Seto Kaiba exited his mansion and had a helicopter brought to him. In Yugi's duel, the ventriloquist had played his most prized card, Blue Eyes White dragon. But the dragon had sensed Kaiba's will for the dragon not to be put to such use as defeating Yugi without it's proper master. And thus, had disappeared from the playing field. This sparked Kaiba to finally come out of his coma.

His most trusted and loyal servants had given him the run down. When he had lost, his company began to lose its credibility and stocks began to fall. Pegasus J. Crawford was after his company, and had taken his little brother to Duelist Kingdom, where he was hosting a tournament.

Not wanting to waste a moment, Kaiba had grabbed a briefcase containing some valuable equipment he had been working on prior to DEATH-T, and entered his helicopter. Ready to go to Duelist Kingdom himself and confront Pegasus for his crimes.

I apologize with how long and boring these are. I'm really hoping the next few chapters will be more fun to read.

Again, if you want more details on duels, you'll have to read the manga or watch the show. I just don't want to copy the manga word for word.

Shameless advertising time. I decided to go ahead and publish "Starlight"
It's a prologue to Little Star, but this is Ryou's side of the story, how he got the ring, his misfortunes, and how he came to meet Kim and her friends. (yeah it's in chapter one, but you get to read it from his point of view)

M'kay, I'm done doing shameless advertising! All I have left to do is give a big shout to those that follow/favorite/review this story. I really do get excited when I get those alerts. And they make me more motivated.

So again thanks.

Leave a review if you like this chapter!

~DSSM