Here we go, another update with the next chapter probably for this weekend. :P Anyway enjoy, have fun and don't kill me for any fans of a certain someone. This chapter is a bit shorter…. Actually a lot shorter than my usual chapters, but rest assured that my next one will be much longer, more than likely doubled in words than this one.

Chapter 9

Final Battle for the Duelist

Thursday, November 9th, 2011

"And now, our first guitarist is Joey Wheeler!" Devin's voice echoed the stadium as Joey walked out of the walk way.

Regan watched from the stands along with everyone else, "Go Joey!"

"As if he was picked to be in the last opening games," Tristan stated.

"Who knew he would have actually got this far." Seto said. "I'll give him some credit for being a duelist, but this tournament isn't about just dueling, it's a whole lot of other games and if I remember correctly, he isn't very good at them."

Regan wanted to say something, but her brother did have a point, games weren't really Joey's thing, Duel Monsters, sports and street fighting were his thing. She also was surprised that he had made it to the final day. She just hoped that his luck wouldn't fry out on him. "I'm sure he has become a much better game player since we got here."

"True, but getting good doesn't mean you're great."

"Yea," Yugi sighed next to her. "But Joey will be okay for this game, like he said a couple of days before; he really is good at this game."

"Now his opponent, Starlling Halcro!"

"Halcro?" Regan questioned.

"You know that name?" Yugi asked.

"Yea, I use to go to school with a girl that had the last name Halcro, I think this is her sister, but."

"But what?"

"Starling, according to her sister had a huge crush on a Joey Wheeler, I wonder if this is the same girl going against our Joey or it could have been another Joey Wheeler or a different girl."

"Stop it, you're confusing me." Tristan complained.

"Sorry."

The girl came on stage with bright red hair, but Regan could tell it was dyed and then there was a really loud high pitch scream.

"JOEY!" The girl screamed in excitement drowning out the crowd and ran over to him almost tackling him to the ground. "Oh my god, oh my god, I can't believe I get to see Joey Wheeler! This is a dream come true. Oh my god, I'm holding him!"

Joey looked like he was going to die as he tried to get the girl off of him, but the girl held on tight and Regan suddenly heard Seto burst out laughing.

"Shut up Kaiba!" Joey yelled from below somehow hearing him with his super hearing.

"Seto, that's not very nice." Regan tried to make him stop.

"No this is priceless!" Mokuba joined in the laughing.

"Starlling, please let go of Joey so we can start our game." Devin ordered somewhat nicely and Starling looked up at him.

"Right sorry," The girl responded taking a step back away from the blond. "Let's start this thing, so when I defeat Joey I can say I defeated my hero."

"Is this chick serious?" Mai asked in disgust.

"How old is she?" Yugi asked.

"Thirteen," Regan answered as Devin gave them each a guitar.

"Now guitarists, get ready to start!" Devin shouted as the lights dimmed down like they had with the DDR game.

A hologram came up of the guitar bars and then the song title appeared across the screen, How Far We've Come – Matchbox Twenty

"This should be good!" Regan said in excitement. "I love Matchbox Twenty …. And a whole lot of other bands and singers."

"Why do I have the feeling you are going to sing it as they go?" Yugi asked her.

"Because, I know the lyrics by heart."

"Have fun." Yugi smiled and then they turned their attention to Joey and Starlling.

As they played, Regan sang quietly to herself as the drums notes flashed by at speeds she probably wouldn't try to comprehend unless she was the one playing.

They both seemed to be playing bass and Regan realized there wasn't much of an acoustic part to the song. As she watched and sang she flinched every time Joey had missed a note, but cheered when Starlling missed her note. The score were pretty much tied as they continued to hit the notes. Then the guitar switched over to the acoustic version and then back again as notes appeared on the screen.

"This is the most interesting game I have ever seen." Mai told everyone. "I didn't realize that they took the two song parts and stuck them in the same round."

"A little weird, but it at least gives it more of a challenge." Tristan replied and they all turned back to the show.

Eventually, the song ended and both guitarists looked tired.

"Maybe it was a good idea not to make Joey and his opponent play, Through the Fire and the Flames." Seto stated.

Regan turned around to look at him in shock. "You were going to change the song?"

"I was, and then I saw how hard it was and most people didn't get past the seven percent mark, so I decided to be nice and give the dog a bone."

"Thank you, I guess." Tristan rolled his eyes as the lights came back on.

"My oh my, what a show these last two days; yesterday with our Two Move Kill and today with these scores, unbelievable!" Devin yelled in shock as he looked at the screen in front of him. "Our winner of this final challenge is Joey Wheeler, by a one point difference!"

The audience exploded with cheers and Joey looked shocked while Starlling look a little angry, but not drastically angry. Not that Regan could blame her, losing by one point. She would have called for a rematch.

"Great job Joey, even though I lost, I am glad that it was to you and not someone else. Good luck in the final elimination round." Starlling congratulated with a smile.

"Um thanks, that was a good game." Joey stuttered and Starlling walked off stage.

"Well this is it ladies and gentlemen, we have our elimination round after lunch and then tomorrow I would like to tell all our competitors that you have the day off to practice your songs, eliminations are still happening and you need three points before four pm, but you have all day to do so. Tomorrow is a practice day for your bands as there is a show that everyone must contribute to starting at supper and ending when it ends. Only one song is needed for the show, so choose wisely as it will be a vote by audiences around the world." Devin explained.

Joey turned to him. "You mean the shows are going to be live?!"

"Why of course, just like everything else in this tournament is all on live TV."

"Ah," Joey nodded like he was just playing around. "Gotcha."

Everyone left the stadium as there weren't any more votes to complete. Regan went back to the room to get ready for her fast three star win. She didn't want to waste any time as they had another practice at three. She went to her bedroom which was now with Mai and Téa and grabbed a pair of latex gloves. She placed them on and pulled out her right sword. It didn't glow as it usually did, but she wanted it to be like that, so she could wipe them of any dust or dirt that might have been on the blade. After she was done cleaning them, she took off the gloves and the swords glowed brightly. She smiled as she put them back in their sheaths. Regan opened her deck box on her belt and made sure all her cards were there and no one slipped anything in and then placed them back in their box. She walked out of the room and found Yugi coming out of his room.

"Hey Yugi." She called to him.

"Regan, I didn't know you were here." He told her in surprise.

"I came back to make I had everything, I wanted to get those three points quickly so I could watch you get yours, since you do have a hard time finding opponents."

"And our game of signal in the casino chased away all partner gamers for the entire tournament." Yugi grinned.

"Maybe we'll be able to play another game with some non-gamers later." Regan smiled. "I still can't believe that they couldn't figure out our signal. It was rather obvious."

Yugi laughed. "Yea, I know."

"So want to go get lunch somewhere?"

"Sure."

Regan slipped her hand into Yugi's and they walked out the door. They were about to head to the lobby when Starlling came up to them, panting.

"Can we help you?" Regan asked her.

"Yes, Joey got into this fight with some hooded guy and now I think he might be in trouble!" Starlling said as she started to recuperate.

"What do you mean trouble; there isn't any real danger around here." Yugi said with concern in his voice.

"He just told me to find you, Yugi. He said something about needing backup."

"Dammit, where is he now?"

"I think they were heading over to the stage on the second floor, the hidden one that nobody really knows about."

"Okay," Regan said and the three of them started running to the stairs.

They ran up them and then back into the hallway. Starlling was originally in the lead to show where Joey had gone off to, but Regan and Yugi quickly past her.

"Why were you with Joey in the first place?" Yugi asked her in their run down another hall.

"Well I wanted to apologize for my actions and then we started talking and then this guy comes up behind him and tried to throw a punch at him. Joey and he got into a physical fight with no real winning side as each time they tried to take a swing the other would dodge, so the hooded guy stopped the fight saying they should battle it out at the hidden stage. That's when he told me to find you."

Yugi nodded as they turned a corner, barely avoiding a few cleaners that appeared out of nowhere. Yugi came to a stop at the end of the hall and Regan looked behind them to make sure no one was following them. If the guy was really up to no good, the less people the better. She looked at Starlling and gave note that she might get in the way.

"Hey Starlling, can you stay out here, that way no one can come in here and if someone comes looking for us you can tell them where we are." Regan asked her, like it was the most important thing in the world.

Starlling smiled, "Of course, I will make sure the job gets done. You can count on me."

"Thank you." Regan said and Yugi pushed on a little part of the wall.

The wall opened and inside was a room covered in complete darkness.

Yugi turned to her. "Ready?"

"Let's go see what Joseph has gotten himself into now." Regan answered sarcastically and they walked in. The door closed shut behind them and then locked. "That isn't good?"

"No I don't think so either."

Regan took out a blade and gave it to Yugi. "Here, this will work as a flashlight and as a weapon is need be."

"Thanks."

They walked farther into the room and then the lights on the stage came on with Joey and a hooded figure standing on the stage. They both were holding guitars and it seemed like the hooded figure was choosing a song on the game. Regan looked at the screen and realized that there was something different.

"This isn't Rock Band," Yugi stated what she had realized as he gave back her sword. "This is Guitar Hero."

"Hey Yugi, glad you came." Joey said, but from his tone he didn't seem all that pleased. "As you can see, this guy is being a bit of a dick."

"Does this guy have a name?" Regan asked. "Because if he doesn't I'm going to name him Hooded Vandal Number Two."

"Good question, do you have a name?" Joey questioned turning to the hooded guy.

Regan face palmed herself. "You walked into a room where it is hidden and you don't know who the guy is, let alone their name."

Joey waved her off. "So are you going to answer or not?"

"Jacob." The hooded guy answered. "So are you ready for our battle?"

"What do you mean battle?"

"I am a member of this tournament. And accorded to the rules of the tournament, if two competitors play one of the games provided then who ever loses is out of the tournament. Since you already have agreed to play the game, I'm asking if you are ready to battle."

"You're on!"

"Joey, what if you lose?" Yugi shouted at him.

"Well then I lose, but that's not going to happen." Joey smirked. "Pick a song already."

"Fine, I chose Stricken by Disturbed." Jacob announced as he choose the song.

"You are disturbed." Joey joked.

The notes came on the screen and then Regan noticed it wasn't a regular VS mode. "Joey, this is an actual battle, you can't miss the notes that have those battle symbols, and you need them to win."

"What are you talking about?"

"I though you said you've played this game?"

"I have, against Tristan."

Regan sighed. "Instead of having Star Power, you have power notes to get the battle items which you fling onto your opponent to try and make them lose their focus."

"And how are you to do that, what I suppose to do, hit him?"

"You raise your guitar like your activating star power." Yugi answered him just as Jacob threw a broken whammy bar at him.

"Shit." Joey replied in annoyance as he hit the whammy bar repeatedly.

"Good job Joey!" Regan cheered.

The two went back and forth at throwing battle attacks at each other. Each time Joey almost missed a note or got attacked, her heart skipped a beat. If he did mess up, she cringed and gave him a moral boost. Each time Jacob messed up she cheered loudly with Yugi by her side.

Regan watched as the notes came flying at both of the screens and she bit her lip. 'This song is one of the harder songs on the game, but Joey seems to be handling the song well.' She smirked as Joey slipped past Jacob. 'And he seems to have the hang of it now. There's no doubt that he will win, I know he will.'

The final bridge was coming up and it was a faceoff of notes. Battle items were being thrown back forth as the two guitarist finished up the song. Regan jumped up and down along with Yugi as she read the final score 175 560 Joey and 158 065 Jacob.

"Ya! I am a guitar hero!" Joey cheered with his funny face of victory.

"Nice job Joey!" Yugi called up to him.

"You might want to look at the score again." Jacob said smugly.

"What are ya talking about?" Joey asked as he looked at Jacob.

Regan gasped as she looked at the score again. "How-Joey lost!"

The score switched around to 158 065 Joey and 175 560 Jacob.

"Dammit, I was in the lead how did I lose?" Joey questioned in anger. "Wait, how did the scores switch around?"

Jacob started to laugh. "Well would you look at that. It looks like you're out of the tournament. Too bad."

"Jacob you rigged the system, this match doesn't count." Yugi stated in annoyance.

"Says you, but the competition participate list says otherwise." Jacob told him. "Look it up for yourself if you don't believe me."

Regan grabbed her phone from her pocket. She tabbed the screen of letters to get what she wanted and sighed. "He's right and by the looks of it we really can't do anything about Joey's elimination."

"Shit, I was kicked out by a cheat and here I though Weevil was bad for that."

"I still have something that can solve the problem." Regan stated as she glared at the Hooded Vandal Number Two. "Jacob, the elimination round is next and I hope you are ready because I personally will make sure that if you do make it past it, it will be by the skin on your teeth."

"And what happens if I do make it?"

You aren't going any farther then the first round."

"We'll see about that." Jacob laughed as he started to exit the room. He stopped and then turned to Joey. "You're lucky Joey Wheeler, if your friends had not shown up; I would have showed you the consequences for losing were."

"Go get a life you weirdo, I doubt your consequences were that terrible anyway." Joey scowled as the hooded man left. "What is that guy's problem anyway?"

"I don't know, but after lunch I'm going to make his next three points living hell." Regan told him.

"You mean like the Shadow Realm?"

"What no, I can't conduct a Shadow Game and besides, I'd sooner have blood on my hands then send a human to the Shadow Realm."

"What about a Penalty Game?"

"What part of 'I can't conduct a shadow game' did you miss?"

"What's the point of having a Millennium Item if you can't conduct any type of Shadow Game?"

"Same reason why she can't use her aura to the complete extent and I couldn't use Shadow Magic in the beginning, it's because it takes time and training."

"But she's related to Kaiba, I thought she would have everything down by now."

Nile decided to join the conversation and Regan allowed her to borrow her body. Regan stood next to Yugi in spirit form. "Joey, just because she's a Kaiba doesn't mean they learn everything on the spot. It takes years to become an aura master and just as much time to master the Shadows. Now unless you are willing to publish the book: How to be a Full Aura User and Master Shadow Welder in two months, keep out of things that you don't know and just go with what answers you have received."

"I can't tell if you're mad at me or you are giving me a lecture that isn't harmful."

"Have I done anything to be harmful yet?"

"Not yet."

"Then use your own brain to figure out your question." Nile retorted. "Besides, her skill of becoming a full Aura Master is leveling up faster than a normal aura user, so there's your little victory of her being a Kaiba."

"Why so grumpy?"

"I'm hungry." Regan answered, but then she forgot that Joey couldn't hear her.

"Regan's hungry which makes Nile grumpy." Yugi told him.

"That makes sense, wait." Joey started and then his eyes went wide. "Oh I'm sorry I forgot its lunch time and yea go I'll solve this problem while you guys are out. Be careful and everything."

Nile just shook her head and disappeared giving Regan back her body.

"See ya, and don't get into trouble while we're out." Regan said and Yugi walked her out leaving Joey on his own. They walked out and noticed Starlling was gone. Regan narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Do you think he should be on his own?"

"I don't know." Yugi answered with a sigh. "I'm sure he'll be fine, but I wonder what happened to Starlling?"

"That's the same thing I was thinking. Do you think Jacob was a demon and maybe took her away for a snack?"

"I doubt he is a demon, she probably got side tracked." Yugi told her, but she heard the doubt in his voice.

"What are you really thinking?"

"I think- never mind, there's nothing really for me to come to conclusions. Come on, let's to see what kind of restaurants are nearby."

Regan looked up at him curiously, but couldn't get anything from the mind link, his aura, or his facial features. She wasn't sure if she was fine with that or maybe a bit scared. "Alright, let's go walk around for a bit, the games don't start until two anyways."

"A cab ride back will do the trick." Yugi smiled and Regan smiled back and nodded.

Regan walked into the hall where they had been practicing, slightly annoyed. "Have you guys seen a hooded figure named Jacob?"

"You mean you haven't seen him either?" Yugi asked looking back at her.

"No and it bugs me that he disappeared, hey wait a sec, you mean you four haven't seen him either?!"

Téa shook her head. "No, we haven't."

"We can't be worrying about something as pathetic as that thing; we have a practice to complete." Seto growled in his usual, I'm bothered as well but I don't care about it at the moment, tone.

"Fine, you can have your hunt later." Regan rolled her eyes and grabbed a microphone. "I hope you know that doing singing and playing guitar is insane."

"I don't see a problem with it." Seto responded sitting behind the drums.

"I'm sure Yugi does."

"It's fine Regan, we've been practicing for a while and I'm quite good it at. Plus we have to have two guitars, one bass and one lead." Yugi answered her placing the guitar on him.

"I know, for some reason I just want to start something."

"How about we have a DDR game afterwards, that way you can unwind your fighting spirit." Téa suggested and Regan lit up.

"That would be great."

"I got another way you could unwind-"

"Atem, if you say another word on what I know you were going to say I will rip your tongue out." Seto interrupted Atem with such force, Regan flinched.

Atem just chuckled, "Whatever Kaiba, Yugi would you have the honours of starting up our opening song?"

"Sure thing, you still up to playing this one?" Yugi asked everyone.

"Yea, let's do it!" Regan shouted with excitement as everyone nodded.

Well, Joey's out of the tournament, but that doesn't mean he's out of the band. Next chapter will be the final chapter of this volume so it will be the volume finally, but definitely not the last chapter of this series.

So Review, follow, favorite or all three