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"No."

"Aw c'mon Skye, you 'aven' even 'eard me out—"

"No."

"Please?"

"No. That's been my answer for the past hour, and it won't change."

"Raph—"

"She's her own person, Valon. I can't control her."

"Please? Pretty pretty please with tons of sugar and Raph-shaped sprinkles?"

There was a long pause.

"…As tempting as that is, Valon, my answer is still going to be—"

"YES!"

The three of them jumped as Lola started bouncing around, her cell phone in hand; Serenity and Joey had gone home an hour ago, once Joey had been thoroughly seen to, and that left Lola, Skye, and the bikers in the house.

Alister raised an eyebrow and said, "You seem remarkably happy. What is it?"

"I just got a text from my family. I got a KaibaCorp letter in my mailbox and it's an invite to his tournament! I get to go with Alister!"

Skyler did not miss the slightly worried frown the red-haired biker gained, but wisely said nothing—it was still far too soon to bring up the most recent bump in the road between them and she suspected Alister would be keeping an especial eye on Lola.

Lola bounced in front of Skyler and grabbed her hands, still bouncing up and down on her heels. "You have to participate, now that I'm in it! Pleeeease?"

Skyler scowled. "You're just as bad as Valon."

"So is that a yes?"

"No."

When Skye caught sight of the puppy dog look that Lola was currently giving her, Skyler growled and looked away. "Fine. I'll do it."

Skyler glanced at the taller blond man and asked, "That won't bother you, will it?"

"It's your choice, Skyler. I'm not changing my mind on the matter, but I'll still be watching from the sidelines," Raphael replied with a shrug. He stretched and headed for the stairs. "I suggest going to bed—tomorrow is going to be a long day."


The following morning found Lola, Valon, Alister, and Skye inside a small locker room, located in a stadium that had been rented by KaibaCorp; they'd had to sign in at a different entrance and as Raphael was not dueling he had gone separately from them.

"So 'ow you reckon Kaiba's gonna show up?" asked Valon, stifling a yawn.

"That depends. In Battle City Kaiba announced the tournament from a helicopter, followed by sending a blimp around that broadcasted the rules. In the Grand Prix he came into the stadium via jet pack. Knowing him, he'll pick the most dramatic entrance he can," Skye replied flatly. "We'll know for sure in about five minutes, when the opening ceremony starts."

"Hey! Skye!"

The trio jumped at the child's voice and Valon peered over the throng of people in the locker room. Spotting a familiar mop of black hair, the Australian lifted his hand and called out, "Over 'ere, mate!"

There was a pause and then Mokuba slipped through the crowd. His face lit up in relief and he said, "Thank goodness I found you! I've got to ask a favor from you and I know that you're probably going to say no—"

"What's happened, Mokuba?" asked Alister, frowning at the distressed look on his face.

The black-haired child shifted uncomfortably before glancing furtively around the room. He leaned in close, prompting the small group to lean forward as well. "Well," he began, "the tournament hit a small snag. One of the duelists just called in, they have mono and they had to back out."

"So what's the problem?" Lola replied. She pushed an errant part of her hair back over her shoulder. "I mean, you have plenty of people to take their place, don't you?"

"Yeah, but this tournament was invite only," Mokuba explained. "My brother didn't want any repeats from his other tournaments and checked the backgrounds of everyone invited. The favor I've gotta ask you involves Raphael. I was wondering if he was in the stands today—"

"Forget it."

"Tha's not gonna work, chum."

"He won't agree to it."

Alister's, Skye's, and Valon's replies were made almost simultaneously. At the surprised looks that Lola and Mokuba shot them Skye huffed and said, "He's already turned down the invitation, Mokuba. If he says no, he almost always means it."

"But Skye, we don't have anyone else and the tournament match-ups will be off. Kaiba Corporation has a reputation for running events smoothly, so if one person isn't there…"

Skye bit her lip. "How soon do you need to know Raphael's answer?"

"Before the opening ceremony—ten minutes, in other words. We have spare duel disks on hand," added Mokuba helpfully. "Please, guys, you've gotta help me out."

"What about Yugi and his friends?" asked Alister, tipping his head toward where he could see Joey and Yugi. "Surely someone they know could fill in the requirement better than Raphael."

"I already asked them. You guys are my last hope. Please, Skye?" Mokuba begged. "He can even throw the first match if he doesn't want to compete, but we need him long enough to keep the match-ups even."

"I sincerely doubt he'll throw a match deliberately," muttered Alister under his breath.

Skye shifted uncomfortably in place before reaching for her cell phone. "I'll try. I won't guarantee Raphael deciding to join the tournament, though."

"You won't guarantee what?" a gruff and familiar voice asked, startling the duelists.

Skyler recovered first, a broad smile growing on her face. "Hey Raphael," she said, turning to face him.

"I thought you were already in the stands," Valon commented, visibly surprised. "Wha' brings you 'ere?"

"Skye forgot her phone," the older man replied, handing the shorter girl her phone. "Now what was it you can't guarantee?"

"Well…see, one of the duelists had to back out at the last second and now we have an uneven lineup," Mokuba explained. "Since the tournament is invite only, there's not a lot of people we can call to fill in the empty spot."

Raphael frowned and then shook his head. "I've got a pretty good idea of where this conversation is heading. I'm sorry, Mokuba, but I won't enter the tournament."

Skye gently rested a hand on the burly man's arm, catching his attention. "I know you aren't comfortable with being in the spotlight, but can't you—?"

"Not this time, Skyler," Raphael said gently. He bent down and gave her a quick kiss. "Good luck."

The blond left the room after that, leaving behind a disappointed Mokuba and two shocked girls; Alister and Valon both exchanged knowing looks but said nothing.

"Chica, I think that's the first time I've ever seen Raphael say no to something you asked," Lola said at last.

Alister shrugged. "Not surprised. Skye might be his girlfriend, but when Raphael says no he generally means no."

Mokuba's shoulders slumped. "I guess I'll go inform Seto about the opening in the roster. He's not going to be happy—"

"No you're not," retorted Skye, her face darkening. "Raphael is joining in this tournament."

Valon looked surprised. "But Skye, Alister already told ya tha' Raph doesn' change 'is mind. I don' agree with Alister on anythin', but this is one thing I do think 'e's right about."

"I know. But you all forget that Mokuba and Seto aren't the only Kaibas here. I can be just as stubborn as Seto when I have to be. I'll get Raphael to join—I didn't even want to duel in the first place, but if I'm doing it he's doing it too," Skye retorted, heading for the exit. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"…I didn't like that look in her eyes…" Lola said, looking at the others. Alister nodded in agreement, though he refrained from speaking.


The duelists soon entered the arena, waiting for the pre-tournament ceremony to begin; two minutes before they'd had to enter the stadium Skye returned with Raphael following behind her. Mokuba ushered them out the doors and to the platform in the middle of the stadium. Once there, Mokuba beamed at them before climbing off the stage and disappearing from view.

Alister looked up at the blond with arched eyebrows. "How'd she get you to do this?" he asked.

Raphael did not look at him. "I'd rather not say," he replied evenly.

"So any ideas of what he's doing?" asked Lola, catching the attention of the duelists around her.

"I already told you, I don't know. My cousin is probably going to do something everyone will be talking about for months afterward—when he hosts events he makes them memorable," Skye replied. "It's partially why people want to sign up for a KaibaCorp event, since they have a greater chance of being remembered by participating in one of my cousin's tournaments."

Abruptly there was an ear-shattering roar from behind them all. Everyone on the platform jumped and whirled in place, trying to find the source of the roar; they were not the only ones, as Skye caught glimpses of the audience trying to see what had just roared.

It was Raphael who spotted it first, pointing to the opposite side of the stadium. "Up there," he said, and Skye followed the direction of his finger to the rim of the open-air stadium they were in. Her breath caught when she saw what the man had.

The Blue Eyes White Dragon was perched on the rim of the stadium, its muscles bunched as if it was readying to take flight. It roared again, its eyes not on the crowd below but on the other side of the stadium.

On a hunch, Skye turned around and spotted the identical White Dragon directly across from its sibling. "There's another one!" she cried, pointing.

Alister did not turn around. "And three makes a crowd," he announced, looking to the far right. The only place in the stadium where there wasn't a dragon was the side directly in front of the platform.

The three dragons roared simultaneously then, their scales gleaming in the sunlight; Seto's Solid Vision hologram system had been so perfected that Skye honestly believed she was looking at three real dragons, and she knew the others around her were thinking the same thing. Even Alister, who still only just barely tolerated Kaiba, was impressed.

It seemed, however that the dragons had a purpose in being at their posts—and Skye gasped as all three dragons launched themselves into the air, circling high above the stadium. By now, both the by-standers and the duelists were looking high overhead as the dragons weaved their way through the air above, executing several aerial stunts and flips through the air.

The dragons performed for only a few minutes before starting to descend in a deep dive directly over the platform, and Skye could see the lightning building in their jaws. She realized with a jolt what was about to happen, as did several of the other duelists, and out of instinct ducked as the dragons pulled out of the dive just before they would have hit the platform; she heard Joey yelp as he fell over and Lola shrieked as she barreled into Alister, as the dragons had very nearly hit the platform.

All three dragons let loose a White Lightning attack in the area directly in front of the platform, temporarily blinding those closest to the attack zone. In the chaos Skye barely noticed the dragons vanish, as she had to shield her eyes from the light—her cousin could have warned her about this.

She caught sight of a smaller metal platform rising through the fading light of the dragon's attacks and squinted. Lightning danced and crackled along the railings of this platform; Skye suspected it was an added effect from the White Lightning attacks.

Standing in the middle of this electrified platform was none other than Seto Kaiba, clad in a white suit; he looked perfectly at ease in the middle of the electricity crackling all around him. From behind him came one last triumphant roar and the Blue Eyes White Dragon reappeared behind him, its large wings opening and flaring out around the smaller platform.

Skye could not help but laugh at the dumbfounded expressions on her friend's faces. "I told you he liked showy entrances," she said.