"But he's alive, right?" Lita asked. They had all once again gathered in the game shop the next morning, where Serena had relayed the events of the previous night. Serena nodded to confirm Lita's statement.

"Man… sustaining that many hard hits with his previous injuries would be… torture," Amy murmured, finally finding a word strong enough to describe it. Yugi shook his head slowly, knowing that Amy was right. He also knew that Joey was strong enough to pull through it, but still…

"So… Atem is with Joey?" Yugi asked. Serena opened her mouth to reply, but the door opened to reveal said Pharaoh.

"I was. I had to get some sleep, so I called an old friend of his to take over. She was more than glad to help," Atem said with a smile. Yugi, Tea and Tristan all grinned back.

"Mai is hanging around here?" Yugi guessed. Atem nodded. "Well, that's gonna be a surprise when he wakes up," he said with a laugh. Serena cocked her head.

"Who's Mai?" She asked.

"Joey's love interest," Tea said with a chuckle. Atem nodded.

"Yes, rather similar to you and Yugi," he added. That shut her up, causing a hard blush to spread over Tea and Yugi. Atem looked amused as he turned to Serena.

"She's actually expecting us before we head out to find duels. I say we head out, if everyone's in agreement," he said.

"Sounds good to me. I really want to make sure he's alright… then I want to get my hands on Bakura," Serena said. Atem nodded and smiled.

"In due time, Serena. I'm sure you'll have your chance," He said as they left the shop. She nodded.

And when I do, he's going to wish he'd never messed with Sailor Moon, She thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, there you are," The group had just arrived at the hospital, where a blond woman in a sleevless purple vest and purple shorts was leaning against the entrance doorframe. "It's rude to keep a lady waiting, you know," she jokingly scolded Atem.

"As you can see, I had many people to collect. Girls, this is Mai Valentine. She's a heavily decorated duelist in her own right," Atem said. A silence filled the air.

"Her name is… Mai Valentine?" Serena was trying and failing to fight the smile creeping across her face. Mai narrowed her eyes at the new blond girl.

"Yeah, it is. Got a problem with that?" She asked roughly. Serena tried to hold in a laugh and it came out as a snort instead.

"No.. it's just… My Valentine? You don't get the hilarity of that?" Lita spoke for her. Mai turned to Atem.

"Polite bunch, aren't they?" She asked. Atem just chuckled.

"You have to admit, the name is a rather obvious pun," He said. "OK, I think that's enough making fun of our new friend. I've already brought Mai up to date on our situation," Atem addressed the Scouts. "Has Joey awoken?" He asked.

Mai shrugged. "Don't know. He was still out last I saw him about half an hour ago," she said. "I had him moved to a bigger, private room so we could all get in," She added as an afterthought.

Atem smiled and nodded, and with that the entourage made their way into Joey's hospital room, where they found the normally-spunky duelist laying flat on his back with a cast surrounding his midsection.

"Dey said this'll have to be on for a month or so," He said, startling everyone as he opened his eyes. "I'd lean up if I could, but I gotta stay still so my ribs don't get any worse."

"Not a problem, Joey. You were excellent out there, you know," Atem said. Joey smiled.

"Thanks, Yu- Atem. Man, I keep forgetting dat you two ain't da same anymore," He said with a laugh. Atem shook his head and chuckled himself.

"Joey?" Serena began.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"When you said 'not this time', what did you mean?" She asked. Joey gave a weak laugh and grinned.

"Dat big ink blot is da dark counterpart of The Winged Dragon of Ra, Serena," He said. She nodded, having already known this. "Da last time I faced Ra, the REAL Ra, I was dueling against the dark spirit of da Millenium Rod," He said, his mind going back to that fateful duel onboard Kaiba's blimp.

"Whoa. What happened?" Serena asked. Joey grimaced as he remembered.

"Yami Marik, as we called him, had created a Shadow Game. I'd been injured from my monsters dyin', had lava dripped on me from a Lava Golem and even been struck with Ra full force, and I was still standin'. Yami Marik had played Monster Reborn on Ra, put all but one life point into it and attacked me, expecting the effects of the Shadow Game to do me in on da spot," He explained.

"And then?" Lita pressed. Now all of the Scouts were interested. Joey sighed.

"I was still on my feet after the blow. As you probably know, God Cards revived only stay out for one turn," Joey said. Everyone nodded, and Atem looked away as he too remembered what happened next. "Ra died. I drew and Summoned Gearfried, the Iron Knight," He said.

"Oh… that's why Gearfried was so important last night," Serena realized.

"Yup. Except the shadows had finally done what Marik wanted. I was halfway through calling my attack when I faded, which meant Marik won," Joey said.

"That's bull. You had the duel, but lost because Marik was a bitch and hid behind an outside effect?" Lita said angrily. Joey nodded and Serena understood.

"So by 'not this time'…"

"Yeah. It was round two and I was right back where I was last time. Except dis time I pulled through," Joey confirmed.

"Well, good for you. At least you gave back as good as you got," Rei said. A noise of agreement rose from everyone.

"So… you're pretty much stuck here, and the finals are next week. You're qualified for the finals. How is that going to work?" Amy wondered. Joey and Yugi smiled.

" Normally, Kaiba's fairly strict about tournament rules. But he kind of owes us big time for the events of last night, so Kaiba has agreed to let me duel in Joey's place so long as I use his deck," Yugi explained. Then he grinned. "It probably isn't coincidence that he realized taking Atem out would no longer get him his King of Games title back," He added. Everyone had a good chuckle over that.

Serena suddenly got serious. "OK, so assuming that Amy picks up a couple locator cards and I get one, that's five guaranteed people in the finals. If I know Beryl, she'll only trust herself to get in," She said. Atem nodded.

"And if I know Bakura, he won't trust any help. So I believe we can safely assume that the both of them will worm their way in. That leaves the eighth spot a wild card," He said, summing up the situation.

"Hmph. That wild card is going to be a Harpie Lady," Mai huffed. Atem smiled.

"You have tough competition, Mai. Several of Duel Academy's top students are entered in this tournament. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them gets it," He said. Mai looked at Atem, slack-jawed.

"Are you serious? I already have five locators! Only one more, and that's easy pickin's around here!" She said. Serena smiled and shook her head.

"And that's why you'll be out if you don't change that attitude. None of those students are 'easy' at all to beat. Amy knows that," She said. Amy nodded fervently. "Just make sure you don't underestimate anyone, that's all," Serena said.

"I'll keep that in mind. I'll be out winning my sixth locator if you need me," Mai said before leaving the room.

"Pretty tough words, Serena. Wise ones, but tough as well. Mai is a very skilled duelist; I'm quite sure she'll handle herself properly when it comes to crunch time," Atem said.

"Speaking of crunch time, I know Joey's hurt and I'd love to be able to stay here for him but Serena and I both need to get out there and cement our places in the finals," Amy said. Serena nodded.

"Good point, and neither of you should go alone. Tristant, Tea and I can stay here. The rest of you can group up and split up," Yugi suggested. Serena nodded and wound up with Lita and Atem following her.

"Hm. Hopefully we can get this over with qu-" Serena was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Serena, was it?" Serena turned around to find Alexis, the girl she'd dueled under possession standing there. "How are your arms?" She asked. Serena smiled and held them up, showing the marks where they were still healing.

"Listen, Alexis, I'm so sorry about what happened last time. I was a jerk. You played really well, and could well have beaten me if we hadn't-" Alexis held a hand up to stop Serena.

"I've seen it before, Serena. I've been there. I know what a powerful force can do to a person. You weren't yourself, I don't blame you. However," She said with a smile as she backed up, "I believe we have unfinished business," she finished, raising her arm as her duel disk activated.

Serena looked over to her friends and Atem nodded with a smile. "She's right, Serena. It's time to duel," He said.

"I think he just said it all," Alexis said. "But for the record…" Serena grinned.

"LET'S DUEL!"