p class="MsoNormal"strongHey! Sorry for the extra long hiatus. I just got really busy. I know everyone who goes on hiatus says that, but really I got busy. Sorry if this chapter isn't what you were expecting after such a long time, but I'm doing my best. So thanks for the read!/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong_/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong*Joey's POV/strongbr / I'm so glad that Yugi was here to help get my card back from that creep, the Rare Hunter. It's too bad that it turns out that he isn't the only rare hunter, and that an even bigger creep is behind all of this. I just wanted to have a normal tournament for once, is that too much to ask for? I can't imagine how Yugi must be dealing with this, poor guy. He seems pretty confident though, so he'll definitely be all right throughout this. Even though I don't have my card any more, there's no one else I'd rather have it than Yugi. He deserves it, and I hope having one of my cards in his deck will make him an even stronger / "Well, Yug', what are you planning on doing now?" I asked. We were walking away from the scene of the duel with the rare hunter. br / "I was thinking that we should split up and continue to duel. If we want to get into the finals, we have to get those locator cards as soon as possible." Yugi responded. He's right, we have to get our asses in gear if we want to actually get anywhere in this / "You're right! Thanks again for the help with the rare hunter, Yug'. I'm gonna head off, if anyone wants to tag along!" br / "Oh, I'll go with you, Joey." Za said. She's been acting a little weird since the duel, but she said she was fine. I know she isn't, but I don't know if I should prod at her about it. Well… she did slap me in the face before… she gave me a pep talk when I needed one. Maybe I should ask her about it more. br / "I'll go with you too, then!" Ryou added. It's always nice to have friends tag along. Mana looks set on going off with Yugi, I bet they'll make good friends. I have to say though, I can't put my finger on it, but there's something off about her. We just met, and I don't want to offend her or Yugi or anyone, so I'll give it some time. Might just be me, after / "Good luck, Joey. See you later!" After a quick thanks, I headed off with Za and Ryou. It was pretty quiet, which was awkward considering how much Za usually has to say. I'm gonna say something to her, I don't want her to deal with this on her own. She's been nice to me, and with her support with my crisis, I owe it to her to - br / "Za, are you sure you're all right?" Ryou asked. Well, I guess he beat me to it. Glad I'm not crazy though. br / "What? Oh, yeah. I'm – "br / "'totally not fine and doing an awful job at lying to my friends about it'." I interrupted. Call me petty, but she's the one who slapped me for not wanting to have my little emotional epiphany. Za sighed and gave a half-hearted / "Well it's just – I can't really explain it – It's complicated."br / "All ears here, Za. " br / "I can't shake the feeling like I know this guy from somewhere."br / "Who Ryou? Yep, you know him all right. From right here." I said, trying to lighten up the tone. I don't want her to get too bogged down by this. Thankfully, she laughed, and so did Ryou. br / "You got me Joey. I just couldn't figure out where I knew Ryou from. I'm red-handed." I was about to bring things back to being a bit more serious, but then we came across a huge crowd of people. A voice sounded familiar in the / "That's funny, for a second I thought I heard the dorky voice of –"br / "Rex Raptor lost the duel!?"br / "I can't believe it!"br / "This guy must REALLY be a psychic!" The crowd started yelling their amazement at the outcome of a duel with Rex. We moved up closer and we could see that Rex had been beaten by some guy with green hair, but I've never seen him / "This can't be possible… How did you know what cards I was going to play?!" Rex / "It's simple, I'm a psychic! Now, hand over your locator card and your rarest card!" Psychic? No way. That's too far-fetched for me. br / "Now, who to duel next…" The green-haired guy started scanning the crowd. People started backing away and leaving, I guess they're too afraid to duel. He locked eyes with / "You! How about it? Are you too afraid to duel me?" Oh, yeah. Easy enough to find someone to duel, he seems pretty strong, too. The only way to get stronger is to duel people who are stronger than you / "You can't duel him, Joey. He's a psychic; he'll know what you're going to play before you do!"br / "I'll duel him. After all, I beat you at Duelist Kingdom remember? Besides, I make my own rules: never back down from a challenge, and duel people with special dueling strategies." Rex looked offended that I had brought up my victory over him at Duelist Kingdom, but serves the little twerp right for doubting me so early on, before I even accepted the challenge. br / "Hey, you're Joey Wheeler, a runner-up from duelist kingdom! My name is Espa Roba, I'd be honored to duel you." br / "That's more like it! All right, let's duel!" br / "Good luck, Joey!" Za and Ryou yelled. If this Espa Roba really is psychic, then I need all the luck I can get. br / _br / strong*Yugi's POV*/strongbr / While walking through the city, I heard a bunch of people getting excited about a duel between Joey and someone named Espa Roba. They say he's a psychic, and that anyone who has dueled against him has lost because he always seems to know what cards they'll play and when they're played. I think I'll go check it out. br / "Hey, Mana, do you want to go watch Joey duel? It'd be nice to take a break." She / "Of course! I'd love to see him duel again." Wait, "again"? When did she have the chance to see it before? br / "Again?" She seemed a bit frazzled at that. br / "O-oh did I say 'again'? I didn't mean that, I mean I've heard of his duels and stuff at Duelist Kingdom, it was a mistake, sorry! I'm just a little spaced out, I think." That's fair, she probably just had a moment of affiliating his duels in Duelist Kingdom with his duels here. It was probably just a mistake, like she / "Anyways, let's go watch Joey! You lead the way, Yugi!" We followed the people who were talking and gossiping about the duel. I didn't want Joey to see us and get nervous or something (and I also wanted a better view of the whole duel), so I brought Mana up to a roof nearby the duel. The graphics of the duel disks were incredible, and the duel seemed really intense. br / "You can do it, Joey. We believe in you!" I said to myself. Mana and I discussed some of the plays in the duel, and we eagerly watched our friend duel this alleged psychic. br / "Hey, don't look now, but I think those kids over there are Espa's brothers? Cousins? Relatives? The point is I think they're watching Joey's cards through those binoculars and telling Espa what cards he has." Mana pointed to the kids. So, Espa Roba isn't a psychic after all. I was just about to put an end to their cheating, when Mokuba ran up onto the roof and blew his / "You! You're in direct violation of the dueling rules!" The kids all scrambled as they tried to escape, but Mokuba wasn't having any of it. A short ruckus later, and Mokuba and the kids were watching the reast of the duel. Without the kids telling him what the cards were, Espa Roba lost the duel. br / "Wow, Joey sure is a strong duelist," Mana started, "I guess that's why he was runner-up at duelist kingdom." I smiled. I really enjoy Mana's company and support for Joey, even though they just met. The kids left the roof, probably to run down to their / _br / strongJoey's POV/strongbr / "Brother, you had an amazing duel!" Some kids who look just like Roba ran up to him. Must be his brothers. br / "But – I lost –"br / "You're still a winner to us! You did a good job even without our help!" This makes sense to me now. Roba was dueling for his brothers. He's not such a bad guy, even if he did cheat. I'm glad he duels for his brothers the same way I duel for my / "Joey… I'm sorry for cheating in our duel. Here's my Jinzo and my locator card. Thanks for the duel!"br / "Anytime! Smell you later!" I turned around and headed for Za and Ryou, who were both very happy for me and congratulating me for beating Roba. As we were walking down the street, we ran into Yugi's grandpa and Tea, who had run off instead of going with Yugi. This tournament is starting to shape /_br /strongI hope this was worth this wait! Please give your comments! It helps! Thank you!/strong/p