Wolfie: I do not own anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh. All I own is my oc Yuki and some of the words I make her say and some of the things I make her do. Also I recommend rereading chapters 1-10 because I did edit and change a few things slightly. I also don't this I ever mentioned this but Yuki is a Japaneses name that means snow. One last thing is that Tea isn't exactly my favorite character so at some point in time this may become a Tea bashing fic as well. Sorry to those of you who actually like Tea though. Now please read and review.
Chapter 11: First Duel part 1
Inside the lavish palace in an ornate dining room sat Maximilian Pegasus was sitting at the head of the table looking down at a seemingly old silver pocket watch. The clock face held withing the polished silver casing showed that it was well past a half hour since the duels started. The billionaire card maker didn't even have to lift a finger as he knew his men and his pawns would thin out the herd of duelists. The other duelists will also contribute to that as well in their quest for obtaining 10 star chips in hopes to gain a spot in the finals. They would pluck out the weak leaving behind no one but the strongest out of the hundreds of duelists that had been brought to his island.
The rest would be sent back to the boat that is anchored a mile off shore and would be sent home till all of the remaining duelists came to him for the finals. Pegasus did hope that Little Yuki would be among those who made it to the finals but of course he has to test her for she has the Millennium Puzzle. Those who have Millennium Items cannot be weak and he was going to test every ounce of strength that she has in her body. As seeing her succeed only to have her fail to beat him would make crushing her all the more enjoyable.
"All over the island, my unwitting pawns are in place. The duels have begun, and by now... The slow process of elimination is well underway." Pegasus said whilst closing his pocket patch with an audible click as he stared off into the distance. "Only the strongest Duel Monsters players will survive, and those of insufficient skill will fall by the wayside." He said as despite the fact that he was alone he insisted on talking to himself.
Outside of the castle Yuki, Yugi, and their friends walked out of the forest to a grassy cliff over looking a mixture of different landscapes with dueling arenas everywhere. They of course were nor close enough to see said arenas yet but they were there nonetheless. Every 30 to 40 feet there was a dueling arena currently occupied by two duelists fighting for the other's star chips in hopes of getting closer to having 10. It was quite the sight to behold as everywhere they looked there was always a duel happening as it seemed to be never ending. It was obvious that people were dueling even if they could not see the duels that are currently going on at the moment. If it weren't for the fact that this was a tournament to see who could be the King or Queen of Games Yuki would've loved to watch a few duels.
Yugi also would've loved to just stick around and watch a few duels but he was here to support his sister and that is it. They were currently just walking around either waiting to find the right opponent or were waiting for the opponent to find them. Since Yuki already had her first official tournament duel she was content to sit this round out and let Joey duel for a bit. After all it's not fair if she gets to have more duels than him and it's even more not fair if she gets more star chips than him. They came here hoping to get to the finals together so what better way to do that than to progress through the tournament at the same pace? Then when the time comes for them to need to head to the castle they both can get in at the same time. After that all they would need to really worry about was who their opponent's in the finals would be.
At the moment Joey was at the front of their little group as he stopped walking which made the rest of them stop as well. The tall blonde was honestly more than ready to duel so that he could get more star chips just like Yuki. He wanted to pull his own weight while they are here on the island and he can't do that if he doesn't duel and get star chips. Despite being a newbie to dueling he was confident that he could do it plus he knew that Yuki would try to help him out. After all he didn't think the rules had anything against helpful tips and coaching from the sidelines.
"Ok. Bring 'em on. I'm itchin' to duel, and I'm takin' on the next player we see." Joey said as he had smacked his glove cladded fist into his palm before running up to the nearby cliff ledge.
"You know, I'm not so sure Joey's up to this." Tea said skeptically as she watches Joey from her spot behind Yuki and Yugi.
"Yeah, there are tournament-level players here. But don't you think he's smart enough to realize-" Tristan said just as skeptical as Tea but was cut off by Joey who had stopped running and half turned towards his friends.
"Here I stand, the next Duel Monster's champion!" Joey exclaimed whilst raising his hand to the air causing Yuki and Tea to sweat drop at how he's acting.
"Oh, he needs a reality check." Tea stated with a deadpan look on her face as she continues to sweat drop at her friends antics.
"Guess he's about as smart as he looks." Tristan said as he had a small almost nervous smile on his face.
"If he's the next Duel Monster's champion then I'm Seto Kaiba." Yugi mumbled as he watched the tall blonde who had turned his back to them.
"I'd better be the champion..." Joey said to himself as a serious look washed over his face. 'For Serenity's sake. She's always counted on me. Even when we were kids.' He thought as he remembered one of his memories with his sister from when they were kids.
Flashback beginning
A green bus came to a stop and let a young Joey and Serenity off before driving onto the next stop that was on the route it was going. As they watched the bus leave the two siblings stood side by side holding each other's hand as they were in normal close. The stop the two siblings were at was one that was close to the beach but that information was only known by the older sibling. After all this was meant to be a surprise for his sister to help get her mind off of their parent and their near-constant fighting. Joey felt that his sister deserved to have a day out and to have fun and what better place to do so than a beach?
"Where are we, Joey? Where have you taken me today, big brother?" Serenity asked as she looked up at her older brother curiously.
"To the beach. That's what you said you wanted." Joey said whilst looking at her smiling as he told her where they are causing her to laugh.
With their destination now revealed the two siblings walk hand in hand down the side of the road. For while they were silent and were just content with each others company as they slowly inch closer to the beach. Besides it's not like they were in that much of a hurry to get down to the beach. It really was too much of a nice day to want to rush things along especially when anything was better than being at home right now. Their parents were fighting as usual and would probably be fighting for the rest of the day. Which mean that neither adult would necessarily notice the two children being absent from the home.
"Hey, Joey?" Serenity suddenly asked as they were walking.
"Yeah?" Joey asked wondering what his sister wanted to ask or say to him.
"You're the world's best brother." Serenity stated happily with a small laugh causing him to laugh as well.
It didn't take much longer for them to get to the steps that lead down to the soft sand of the beach. The two siblings went down the stairs and took of their shoes and socks as to feel the sand between their toes. Due to the fact that they were here during the middle of the week they basically had the beach all to themselves. As a result there was nothing but sand, shells, water, and a light house that could be seen. The youngest Wheeler sibling was looking around in complete awe as she was extremely happy that her brother brought her here.
"Oh, Joey, it looks so pretty!" Serenity said as she looked out at the calm blue ocean infront of her.
"And so cold!" Joey exclaimed and when Serenity looked at him she saw him laying on the sand as a small wave coming to shore washed over him causing him to scramble away.
She couldn't help but laugh at how goofy her brother was as he laid on his back panting with his eyes closed. They ended up staying at the beach for hours just talking and playing in the sand. As the sun began to set and tint the sky orange the two siblings were sitting together making a sand castle. Both siblings honestly wished they could stay here like this forever with nothing to worry about. Sadly though they would have to go home before their parents actually start to notice that they had been gone all day.
"What a great day! We gotta come back here!" Joey said with a smile as he looked across the sand castle to his sister.
"But how?" Serenity asked whilst frowning as she was nervous that they'd never get to do stuff like this together ever again.
"Don't worry. Even if mom and dad do get divorced and we have to live apart, I'll still bring you back to this place someday." Joey said as he had been working on the castle before pausing so he can look at his sister.
"You promise?" Serenity asked with a smile as she held out her pinkie finger wanting her brother to give her a pinkie promise.
"Yeah, I promise." Joey said as he hooked his pinkie around hers giving her a pinkie promise like she wanted.
Flashback ending
'I'm your big brother, Serenity. I'm supposed to take care of you. I'm gonna win this tournament and the prize money. I'm gonna make sure you don't lose your eyesight and show you that beautiful ocean one more time. I promise.' Joey thought as he still had that serious look on his face and then he was poked in the ribs causing his train of thought to get broken.
"Hey, why so serious?" Yuki asked with a small smile as Joey looked down at her but she then realized what was on his mind. "Thinking about your sister?" She asked before he could answer her first question causing him to nod slightly. "Don't worry J, one of us will get her that prize money, I promise." Yuki said causing Joey's eyes to widen in shock at what she had said.
"You mean it Yu? But, wouldn't you want the prize money for yourself if you end up winning it to?" Joey asked with a small frown wondering why she'd give the money to his sister if she won it fair and square.
"Oh please Joey, what would I do with 3 million dollars? I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd end up wasting it on a floor length white mink coat, cheese burgers, my own arcade, and a jet. At least with your sister the money will be going to a good cause." Yuki said as she crossed her arms causing Joey to sigh in defeat as she has obviously made up her mind.
"Alright. Man, you don't how how much it means to me to know that no matter which one of us wins my sister is gonna get the money." Joey said with a smile and watery eyes as he was so happy that he was close to tears.
"Yea yea, I know. Don't go crying on me though Wheeler." Yuki stated as she gave him a playful pointed look causing him to laugh.
After that little conversation between Joey and Yuki the group of five were sitting or standing depending on the person on the the cliff for now. They were really just resting after all the walking as they were just waiting for something. Yuki was sitting on the ground with her brother helping him solve a Rubik's cube that he had brought along with him. Everything was quiet until cheering could be hear to the left of them down below the small cliff they were sitting on at the moment. Tea however was the first one in the group to look over and see what all of the cheering was about.
"Look there." Tea said drawing everyone's attention to what she was looking at.
"Duel Monsters stadiums. Look at 'em. They're all over." Tristan said as they looked around in awe at all of the occupied dueling stadiums.
"Yeah, seems there's lots of dueling going on right now." Yuki said as she smiled since the duelist seemed to be having fun despite the fact that these are duels for a tournament.
"Big sis look at all the cool monsters, trap, and spell cards!" Yugi said excitedly as he saw one duelist use a card that he hasn't really seen before as Yuki smiled at him.
"Right. I'm goin' in." Joey suddenly said causing everyone to look at him out of confusion.
"You sure you want to do this? If you lose, you give up your only star chip." Tristan said as Joey had to be cautious about who he was going to duel.
"That's right." Tea added causing Joey to groan and fall to the ground in shock in a comedic sort of way.
"Jeez, two negative opinions from the peanut gallery and he's already panicking." Yugi said gaining slightly annoyed looks from Tea and Tristan when he called them the peanut gallery.
"Don't panic. Remember, you can do this Joey. You do know that, right?" Yuki asked as she looked at the tall male who was laying on the ground with a panicked look on his face.
"I hope you're right, Yuki. This'll be my first official duel, and I can't afford to get knocked out at the start." Joey said with a slight smile as he looks at the heterochromic eyed girl.
"That's true, but not everyone here is going to be a pro. I'm sure you can find someone here who is on your level." Yuki said as she glanced over at all of the other duelists and their duels for a brief moment.
"Go find someone easy, Joey." Tea suggested as a way to add onto what Yuki had said whilst Joey was kneeling on the ground looking at his cards.
"And I guess I should think about what kind of field my cards are best suited for. They're mostly monsters and fighter types. Eh, I guess that makes this meadow region my kind of turf." Joey concluded as he was looking at one particular card that he had pulled from his deck.
"Yup, that's right Joey. See? No need to worry, you know what your doing." Yuki reassured as she was glad to see that the limited training he got from her grandpa was paying off.
"You lost, crybaby. Now give me your star chips." Mai demanded in her high shrill voice off to the right of the group of five causing them to look over in utter confusion.
"A voice that annoying can only belong to Mai." Tea said with a frown as she was already getting annoyed without even talking to said female who was laughing as she put the new star chips in her glove.
"It's not fair. You cheated somehow. How could you know what your cards were when they were still face down?" Her opponent asked as he looked at a laughing Mai with a frown whilst they stood their next to the stadium they'd been dueling on.
"I'm psychic. And you're done." Mai said whilst looking at her opponent over her shoulder and gave him a wink as he started crying as he left causing her to laugh more.
Though Mia then gasped and stopped laughing as she noticed Yuki, Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Yugi a few feet away from her watching what she was doing. Them being here could only mean that the two duelists were looking for some duels just like every other duelist. She honestly felt sorry for whoever had to duel one of them and have to suffer through the groups annoying cheerleading. Honestly the first time around it had made Mai want to rip off her ears just so she wouldn't have to listen to it anymore.
"Well, look who's here." Mai said as she looked at the group of five with her hands on her hips.
"Wow. Mai's already won 2 more star chips." Joey said as he looked at Mai and saw how many star chips she now had.
"Mmm... Hey, Yuki, are your duels going well?" Mai said as she approached the smaller female whilst putting on a sweet and friendly act.
"Uh yeah, I'm making some progress." Yuki said as she blinked slightly at the fact that Mai was acting so sweet and friendly towards her.
"So you have 3 star chips, do you? I might be up for a duel myself." Mai said as she suddenly grabbed Yuki's hand that the dueling glove was on in order to look at the star chips.
"Take her!" Tea quickly whispered to Yuki with the creepiest look on her face that anyone could ever muster.
"What?" Yuki whispered back wondering if she heard her friend correctly.
"Knock her out of the contest and off the island!" Tea urged as she wanted Mai to be beat in a duel in order to be knocked down a few pegs.
"Hmm. You know, I'm definitely in the mood for a duel right now." Mai said as she stood up straight as this caused Yuki to have a slight deadpan look on her face.
'God I swear if Tea just jinxed me I'm not gonna speak to her for a month.' Yuki thought in irritation because she didn't want to duel right now and especially not against Mai.
"So get ready because I choose to challenge you, Joey!" Mai said as she pointed a finger at said male who suddenly became very confused.
"What? You challenge me?" Joey asked wondering if Mai was just trying to mess with him and that she really didn't mean she wanted to duel him.
"Do you have the guts to accept?" Mai asked in a way that makes it sound like she's challenging Joey's pride as a duelist. "Get it? I want to play you, kid." She said as she was not about to back down from wanting to duel him.
"Ha! Guess you heard about my skill." Joey said smugly with his eyes closed trying to play off that he's alot stronger at dueling than he actually is.
"Don't flatter yourself." Mai said causing Joey's face to contort in shock as he gave her a side glance. "I overheard you and Yuki talking on the boat, and I know she gave you the only star chip that you have. My motto is, "take out the weakest players first". And considering that you wouldn't even be here if Yuki hadn't given you one of her chips, you've got to be the weakest duelist on the island." She concluded in a very insulting way as she was mainly looking at Joey whilst talking.
'Man I am really starting to hate this girl...' Yuki thought as she couldn't help but glare in response to Mai being so insulting to her friend.
"Hey, do you have to be so insulting?" Joey asked wondering why Mai insisted on making the people around her feel so small and insignificant.
"This time she was being truthful." Tea chimed in from next to Joey as it was obvious he hadn't gotten the true message.
"Jeez Tea, nice job at being subtle..." Yuki mumbled sarcastically as her brother nodded in agreement.
"Huh?" Joey asked his eyes wide in shock as he couldn't believe that Mai had actually been telling the truth.
"Mai's ruthless. Don't duel her first." Tea advised whilst ignoring what Yuki mumbled as she didn't want her friend to run off sobbing like the last guy who dueled Mai.
"Don't you get it? If you lose this contest, you're out for good." Tristan said as he also didn't want to see his friend run off sobbing after getting his ass kicked in a duel.
"Yuki, stand up for Joey. You have to fight her in his place." Tea said to Yuki as said girl looked up at her with a raised eyebrow as she then began to glance between Mai and Joey.
"That's a big no-can-do, Tea. This is his decision to make not mine." Yuki said catching Joey's attention as she gave him a big smile. "Go ahead and show Mai what you're made of Joey." She urged as she knew that if her friend put his mind to it he'd be able to win.
"Right. She thinks I'm a pushover, but she'll see." Joey said with a smile as he was glad that his best friend was being supportive of him right now.
"Yuki!" Tea hissed out in disbelief at the fact that the smaller girl was going to let Joey duel Mai.
"Oh would you just get off my sister's case about this!" Yugi snapped not liking how Tea was getting mad about this when she's not even the one who has to duel.
"You can't be serious, Joey." Tristan said also in disbelief but at the fact that Joey was actually considering dueling Mai.
"I've never been more serious. Don't you see? This is my chance to prove myself... To show everybody. Don't forget, Gramps trained me. I mean, sure, Gramps didn't get a chance to finish my training. And granted, I wish I'd had a chance to practice more before getting thrown into a tournament this huge with so many heavy hitters. But honest, I think I can take her." Joey rambled as he tried to reassure his friends that he would be able to do ok in this duel but it really didn't work.
"Oh, man. You'd better be right- for your sister's sake." Tristan said giving up on making Joey see reason as he looked down at the ground slightly.
"Yeah, you better not screw this up, Joey." Tea said in a not so friendly way almost like she kind of expects Joey to fail or at least nearly fail.
"I accept. Let's duel." Joey said to Mai who had been standing off to the side silently watching his conversation with his friends.
"Get ready to lose." Mai stated with a smirk as she was glad that Joey was stupid enough to accept her challenge as they both get up to their respective sides of the stadium.
"Go get her, Joey!" Tea called up to Joey who looked over at her, Tristan, Yuki, and Yugi.
"Kick her ass!" Tristan called out as well as to give his friend his support just like Tea had.
"Yeah!" Joey exclaimed with a grin as he was glad they were finally supporting him rather than making it seem like they don't think he can win.
"He'll do fine, I know he will." Yuki muttered to herself as she looked up at Joey since she was confident he could succeed in this duel.
"Since you only have one measly star chip, I only have to bet one of mine against you." Mai stated as she pulled out a singular star chip from her glove as she spoke.
'At least this region will give me a field advantage.' Joey thought as he began to pull out his only star chip when he noticed what the field looked like. "Huh? Oh, no! What are all those mountains doing on my field?" He asked in shock as he noticed all of mountains and the almost nonexistent meadow area.
"The field we'll battle on is 40% forest, 40% mountain, and the last 20% is meadow. So deal with it or surrender." Mai said as she knew there weren't alot of monster's that thrive in the forest or the mountains.
"Keep a cool head, Joey. You'll be fine. The meadow area will still give your monsters a field power bonus." Yuki said as she didn't want her friend to panic over something like the playing field.
"Oh, yeah." Joey uttered clearly having forgotten that his monsters do good on the meadow part of the field. "Listen, Mai, not for nothing, but I gotta ask you one question before we duel." He said since he was honestly curious when it comes to Mai and why she joins tournaments.
"Hmm? What?" Mai asked in confusion since she thought they were just going to jump right into the duel.
"Why did you decide to take part in this tournament? Tell me Mai, why is it you duel?" Joey asked finally voicing the question that has been on his mind ever since they first met on the boat.
"Why do I duel?" Mai asked as her eyes seemed to narrow slightly in response to that question. "For all the comforts that I crave: designer clothes, travel, perks- anything to avoid real work. Hot cars turbo-charged for livin' large." She listed off all of the things happily with her back turned to Joey as she fantasized about said stuff.
"Huh! So that's why you want the prize money? How selfish." Joey said snapping Mai out of her fantasies as she turned back towards Joey in annoyed shock.
"How dare you try and judge me! Who do you think you are you pathetic little snot?" Mai snapped getting pissed off at the fact that Joey was judging her for why she joins tournaments.
"Hey, you're only dueling for things. But for your information, some of us fight for the people we love." Joey stated his face completely serious as he couldn't believe someone could be so selfish.
"I know you'll show her Joey. Show her what it's like when you duel from the heart." Yuki encouraged because she knew that people being selfish would be a touchy subject for Joey.
"Duel!" Mai and Joey exclaimed in unison as they finally got ready to start the duel as they had drawn their hand of five cards.
"Hmm..." Joey hummed to himself as he looked at the cards he had in his hand before pulling one out. "So to start the game off, Masaki, the Legendary Swordsman" He said as a Samurai monster with 1,100 attack and defense points appeared on the field. "The field power bonus will bring his power up over 300 points." Joey explained as his swordsman's attack and defense grew to 1,430. "Hey, I made my first move!" He said excitedly since he was proud of his first move in an official duel.
"Hmm. Mmm..." Mai began humming to herself with her eyes closed rather than making a move right away.
"Huh?" Joey hummed in confusion wondering what Mai was doing over on her dueling platform.
"Hmm?" Tristan and Tea also hummed in confusion is response to what Mai was doing as this as not something that normally happens in a duel.
"Mmm..." Mai continued to hum with her eyes closed as she waved her hand over her cards which were face down the edge just below her half of the dueling field screen.
"What do you think you're doing?" Joey asked more than a little creeped out at what Mai was doing as said girl opens her eyes.
"Divining my card. I have to mystically choose which one of them's the best." Mai said revealing exactly what she was doing over on her dueling platform.
"Huh? What are you, a psychic?" Joey asked and on the side lines a subtle look of realization came to Yuki's face as she had figured out something that no one else had.
"And the best card would be... Hmm. The Harpy's Lady!" Mai called out as she placed the card on the field causing a blue woman with pink hair and bird appendages in a leotard appears on the field. "Her strength is boosted by the mountain's field power bonus." She said as her monster's attack was 1,300 and her defense was 1,400 but it climbed up to being 1,690 attack and 1,820 defense points.
"I'll still take it on. Attack!" Joey ordered despite the fact that the Harpy's Lady was much stronger than his Legendary Swordsman as said swordsman charged at the Harpy with a roar.
"No, Joey wait! Land monsters like your swordsman are at a disadvantage to flying monsters like the Harpy's Lady!" Yuki warned but it was too late as the swordsman tried to attack only to have the Harpy fly into the air to dodge it. "Flying monsters have a magic resistance against monsters who's movements are limited to only walking on the earth." She explained as Joey watched what was going on in shock.
"So Joey blew it already?" Tea asked as she looked at Yuki who was watching the duel unblinkingly.
"No he didn't blow it, he just called out an attack too soon- before he ever thought about what the Harpy's Lady was capable of." Yuki stated as the Harpy let out a screeching noise as she slashed through the swordsman with her claws.
"My Samurai's sushi!" Joey exclaimed as his monster was destroyed as 590 points were deducted from his life points.
Mai: 2,000 Joey: 1,410
"Oh, cards, speak to me! Mmm... And I'll choose again without looking." Mai said as she slid one of her still face down cards onto a space on her screen as a square on the field glows.
"Huh? How's she doing that?" Joey asked getting increasingly more nervous with each choice Mai makes without looking at her cards.