Chapter 48

'So why exactly are we looking for rich boy when we should be trying to complete this challenge,' Joey used his hands to support his lower back before shooting a bored look in the direction of the ceiling.

'Because my brother was responsible for completing the last two challenges for us,' Mokuba glared at him, 'and whether you like it or not he's a part of this team.'

'You've got me all wrong here,' he gave a heavy sigh, 'I have no objection to Kaiba being a part of our team. My problem is that he doesn't want to be. He's been trying to take over this whole god damn situation from the moment he decided to put Tristan's face on.'

'He didn't decide to put Tristan's face on. We just think he looks like Tristan,' Mokuba shifted his gaze away.

'That's if we believe him.'

'My brother wouldn't lie.'

'According to him, he isn't your brother, remember? According to him you're really Duke and I'm really Mai, so this whole argument we're having right now makes no sense.'

'I know exactly how you feel Joey, but you really need to calm down a little here,' Mai gave an exasperated sounding sigh. 'You've been really hard on Kaiba ever since he completed his individual challenge and realised who he was.'

'Considering you're the one who's punched him more than once, I really wouldn't start cheering team Kaiba right now,' Joey shot her a look.

'I'm not cheering team Kaiba; like I said, I understand how you feel about him right now, but Kaiba is a part of our team so we really do need to find him before we move on.'

'Nobody said the team needed to stick together,' he rolled his eyes.

'No, but I'd like to think it was more than just implied,' she folded her arms.

'I...'

Before Joey could finish what he was saying, Catilin suddenly gave a loud, schoolgirl-like laugh. Instantly everyone turned their attention towards her.

'What's so funny?' Joey frowned.

'Tristan Kaiba,' she giggled, 'we've spent the day with Tristan Kaiba.'

'Huh?'

'The Kaiba who looks like Kaiba is really Tristan and the Kaiba who is Kaiba looks like Tristan. Both ways its Tristan Kaiba,' her face filled with a stupid grin.

'I hadn't thought about it like that before,' Duke tilted his head in thought, 'you're right, it is kind of funny.'

'No its not,' Mokuba glared at him, 'it's not because he practically is anyway.'

'Practically is, but not literally is,' now it was Jay's turn to join in. 'You might think of him as being a part of your family, but really he's just a live in friend, right? I mean, the only way I can see him changing his name and getting away with it would be if he and your brother get married or something.'

'That's not a million miles away from the realm of possibility though, is it?' Mokuba shifted his gaze away.

'Okay, I think the only person in the world who doesn't know Tristan is in love with your brother, is Kaiba himself,' Jay's tongue skated across his lips, 'and as for your brother... unless he stops kidding himself about the whole situation...'

'Are you both forgetting the conversation we've already had about this,' Joey and Mai's voices sounded almost simultaneously.

For a few seconds the two of them just stared at each other. Then Mai gave a modest cough and lowered her head, whilst Joey took a deep breath in and turned his attention back towards the others.

'Look, like I've already said, this situation is more complicated than any of you are giving it credit for. So I would seriously appreciate it if we just drop it, okay?'

'Sure, whatever,' Mokuba's voice contained odd tones as his gaze once again shifted away.

For a few long moments the whole group fell into a strange kind of silence as they made their way through the maze of lifeless mirrors. Then, almost out of nowhere, they found themselves in front of a wooden panelled wall, with two wide floor to ceiling mirrors on it. Unlike every other mirror in the creepy maze they'd been walking through, these ones showed their reflections.

'We actually exist,' Jay's tongue skated across his lips, 'look, there I am,' he pointed happily towards one of the mirrors, 'and I must say I'm looking exceptionally handsome today.'

'You're so vain,' Ahna rolled her eyes, 'and I wouldn't be so sure you're the one looking particularly handsome today, have you seen your other reflection?'

Almost without wanting them two, Joey found his eyes moving between the two mirrors. Everything in him became stiff and uncomfortable and it wasn't too hard to figure out why. Because one mirror reflected his own handsome, if unnaturally pregnant image and the other showed something completely different. In the other mirror his blond mop had transformed into sleek waves, his chocolate brown eyes had turned violet and his pregnant form no longer seemed so unnatural. Because in the other mirror he wasn't staring at his own reflection; he was staring at Mai's.

'And I thought no reflection was creepy,' Catilin's voice was little more than a low tremor.

'You're telling me,' Jay gave a nervous half laugh. 'I mean, it's one thing being told you're actually someone, but it's another thing entirely seeing yourself as them.' His tongue skated across his lips. 'So what do we do now?'

'We work out how we're supposed to complete this challenge,' Joey's voice was as firm as he could make it.

'But... how?'

'I'm not sure, but I'm guessing it has something to do with our reflections.'

'And did you work that out all by yourself or were the mirrors a big clue there?'

'Watch it Jay, regardless as to whether I'm Mai or Joey right now, I'm still your boss, show me a little respect would you?'

'Sorry,' he rolled his eyes as his tongue skated across his lips again. 'So do you think we should be looking for some kind of clue or something?'

'I don't think that'll be necessary,' Yugi placed a hand against the glass of one of the mirrors causing it to ripple. 'I think we simply have to choose a mirror to walk through.'

'And how exactly did you work that out?'

'No one said the gates actually had to look like gates, did they?'

'True...' Jay pulled a face, 'but it still doesn't tell us which one we're supposed to walk through; presuming only one of them is the right choice of course.'

'Don't be so silly Jay,' Catilin grinned at him, 'we go through the one showing the right reflection.'

'The right reflection?' Jay cocked an eyebrow. 'And pray tell me which one is the right reflection here?'

'I think that's the whole point,' Yugi gave a slight cough. 'I mean, we've all been aware for a while now that we're not really who we think we are. Or rather, that there's a possibility that we're not really who we think we are. So what if this whole challenge is about getting is to acknowledge our real selves. See one mirror shows us to be who we think we are and the other shows us to be who we really are. And we have to decide which reflection is showing the real us.'

'My bets on that one,' he pointed towards his own reflection, 'I may only be thinking I'm Jay; but if I think I'm Jay, doesn't that really make me Jay?'

'As much as I'd love to agree with you there, I don't think it's that simple,' Joey shook his head. 'As much as I hate admitting this, we've all been showing traits of who we really are. So I don't think just thinking and believing you are someone makes you that person. On top of that the mirror showing me to be Mai shows me as a pregnant Mai, which is how things are supposed to be. As much as I don't want to admit rich boy is right about us being the body swappers...' he made an almost exasperated noise as he trailed off.

'But I don't want to be SK, I want to be Jay,' he folded his arms as his tongue skate across his lips once more. 'And not just because that's who I think I am. It's because he's just so... neurotic. He's always several steps behind and he has no confidence in himself. Why would I want to believe I'm really him, when being me is so much better?'

'I think that's supposed to be part of the challenge here,' Mai placed a hand on his shoulder. 'For some of us who we think we are is preferable to who we actually are right now. But for me personally, I'd sooner think that Joey was really me or I was really him or however this is supposed to work; because at least then my baby would be where she's supposed to be.'

'Why does your argument have to make so much sense,' Jay rolled his eyes.

'Because it's the most logical,' she shot him a slim smile, 'and I think we all know its right.'