善良妈妈的朋友

Chapter 69

"Juuuuust one of the many perks of being related to a champion!" Joey said with a boisterous laugh.

"You call yourself a champion, Wheeler?" Seto declared, causing the Wheeler siblings to turn and stare at his smirking features. "You\'re here as a fluke."

"eh, just keep walkin\', pal!"

"Enjoy this while you can," Seto said, shutting his eyes. "And I wouldn\'t get your hopes up too high... because it\'s a long way down from up here. Isn\'t that right, Edwin?"

For my part I was sitting WELL away from the window, back turned towards the inside of the blimp, Mai rubbing circles along my back. "Ha fuckity ha, Seto," I muttered.

"Are you okay?" Mai asked gently as Seto headed out. "I forgot you\'re scared of heights."

"I\'m not scared of heights," I retorted bitterly. "I\'m scared of falling to my death."

"That\'s actually a good way to think of it," Brom said, walking over to us. "Healthy too."

"is it?" I asked grumpily before taking a long, slow breath. "Sorry... stressed."

"Understandable," the large man said with a smile, taking a seat on the armrest of the sofa Mai and I had claimed as our own. "People react in different ways when dealing with difficult situations. Even eliminating this tournament you are still dealing with a fear. Trust me, I have seen far worst in my patients than you barking at me."

Mai shook her head. "I don\'t get it though... you don\'t have a problem at your condo."

"It\'s the windows," Brom stated. "At your apartment you are in an enclosed room, with a tall wall coming to your... hips?" I nodded. "To your hips. You know that even if someone shoved you there is a good chance you\'d be able to grab the sill and stop yourself from falling. Here... a full glass wall? That bothers you, doesn\'t it?"

I nodded. "I\'ve actually shingled roofs. One time about 3 stories up. I didn\'t mind doing it... never had a problem... except the ladder."

"Because you were actually at the edge. Like you said... it isn\'t the height that bothers you, it\'s the fear of falling." He smiled and patted me on the shoulder. "If you want- oh... I\'m sorry." He quickly pulled his hand away when he saw me tense.

I grimaced. "I don\'t like to be touched," I admitted.

"Unless he knows the person well," Mai added, still rubbing my back.

"I apologize. I should have thought of that. See, we can all learn. If you wish for my help or if your fear really begins to get the better of you just give me a ring, okay? We might be competitors in this tournament but I am still a psychologist."

"Thanks."

"Making new friends?" Renard asked, carrying a few glasses on punch he\'d gotten the servers. Yuri brought some for Mai while I accepted the one from Renard, sipping it slightly. "Brom\'s a good man... I selected him myself to be an Eliminator at Duelist Kingdom."

"I always seem to forget you were an Eliminator," Mai admitted.

"The head one. Or I was supposed to be but Pegasus tended to stop listening to me at the end, choosing the likes of PaniK." He watched Brom as he went to talk with Joey, who was still fuming over what Seto had said. "He\'s not going to be a push over, you realize that right?"

"Of the rogue elements we don\'t know of?" I asked. "Yes... Brom is the wild card."

"What do you mean?" Yuri asked.

"Duel monsters," Mai said, "is a game that is just as much about the battle taking place outside of the cards as it is on the field. Mind games, intimidation, deflection and distraction. That\'s what helps you win. Haven\'t you ever wondered why so many duelists dress up in wild outfits and give long speeches? Its all about getting into your opponent\'s head."

"Words win wars," I replied.

Yuri looked over at Brom. "And because he\'s made his career out of digging through people\'s thoughts..."

"He\'ll be a hard nut to crack," I stated.

"Of course that can be said of all of us," Renard pointed out. "Yuri is a detective, used to reading bluffs and lies and getting to the truth. Mai and you know mind games and I am used to dealing with the underhanded. All of us on this blimp are dangerous... we wouldn\'t be here if we couldn\'t. Even Mokuba will weaponize his age and his cuteness."

"Don\'t let him hear you call him cute," Mai teased.

"Still... he\'s right," I muttered. "This is going to be interesting."

"Duelist Kingdom is far away," Seto said, cutting through our chatter. I turned to see him just laying into Yugi, nearly vibrating as he declared his intent. "And as long as you are up here with me you are playing my game by my rules. Now, if you\'ll excuse me... I have a tournament to run."

"Doing a bang up job of it, Seto!" I called out, rising from my seat. "You know Duelist Kingdom only ended with 2 kidnappings..."

"I\'ll be dealing with that soon enough," Seto snapped.

"Good. And since we are doing bold proclamations allowing me to make one of my own." I walked right towards him, forcing him to for once not look down at his opponent but right in their eye. "Any man that must screech "I am the king" is no king. Yugi and Joey and all the rest of us have heard plenty of duelists give oh so bold proclamations of how they were \'going to win\' and \'destroy us forever\' and all that garbage. And the thing you need to ask yourself is... what happened to them?" I leaned in and whispered, "Until you can actually back up your little boasts I don\'t want to hear them anymore."

"Big talk for someone who cowers over looking out a window."

"As opposed to a coward who threatens to kill themselves in order to cheat a victory?"

Seto leaned back, eyes wide at that reminded of what had happened at Duelist Kingdom.

"You-"

"And opposed to the weakling that needs a big blue god to protect him."

Seto\'s jaw set at that.

"Don\'t you have a tournament to run?" I asked.

Seto glowered at me before storming off.

"You didn\'t need to do that," Yugi said. "Sometimes it\'s better just to stay quiet and let them get it out of their system."

"Oh, you are 100 percent correct. That said... admit that it didn\'t feel good to see that asshat get taken down a peg."

"I-"

"Heck yeah it did!" Joey exclaimed, leaping over to me and wrapping an arm around my shoulders, giving me such a hard shake I swore I could hear something rattling in my head. "Now come on, let\'s check out the rest of the blimp! I wanna see what our rooms are like!"

Seeing as there was nothing better to do we all began to drift about.

"Hey Duke?" I called out. "Tristan?"

"Yeah?" the two teens said, peeling away from their pursuit of Joey\'s sister when my tone made it clear for them to come over.

I smiled sweetly at them both. "Serenity is only 13 years old. I catch you doing anything uncouth to that little girl-" I grabbed them both by their shirts and pulled them in close, "-and the Big Brother Rule activates. And you remember that rule, don\'t you Tristan?" He gave a quick fearful nod. "So we all understand? Treat the girl right."

"...mmmhmmm," the two said nervously.

"Good," I said cheerfully before shoving them away. "Come on, let\'s find our rooms," I told the others.

~MC~MC~MC~

"It\'s all set," the doctor told Ishizu, looking at the taping he\'d put on her nose. "You\'ll need to ice it about 4 times a day, to help reduce the swelling. We can look it over to see if anything else needs to be done with it tomorrow."

"Very well," Ishizu said, trying to sound regal and proper thought her voice sounded slightly distorted in her ears thanks to the damage that had been done by Tea\'s punch.

"Have a good day, ma\'am," the doctor said, gathering his bag and leaving Ishizu\'s room.

The Egyptian woman frowned and turned to look out the window, fighting the urge to reach up and touch her damaged nose. The ache was only making the headache that had been building all day far more worse and she wondered if she shouldn\'t just turn in early. It was late after all... and she knew that Kaiba would want to start bright and early the next morning with the finals.

\'No,\' she thought to herself. \'No, I can\'t sleep yet. I must find my Pharaoh and talk with him. Undo the damage those around him have done. They have dripped poison into his ear, causing him to believe that I am a danger to him. I must get him to see that I am the only one on this blimp he can trust... that must be obvious now! Yugi Muto\'s friends... they have become blinded by their own ambitions. They should have forfeited their spots in the tournament so the Pharaoh could quickly move to facing my brother. Instead they are going to drag this out. The longer that Marik refuses to do his duty the more the world finds itself slipping into the shadows. The Pharaoh must understand-\'

"How the mighty have fallen."

Ishizu whipped around, staring in shock at her brother as he stood in the doorway of her room.

"I suppose it is too much to hope that you wear those robes because you wish to return to your destiny," Ishizu said, eyeing up the purple robes that her brother was wearing.

"Hope is a fool\'s last refuge," Marik retorted. "I learned that when I hoped to find a way out of the prison the Pharaoh made for us. Hope did not save me from father\'s beatings. Nor did it save me from that vile ritual-"

"There is nothing vile about our heritage," Ishizu argued. "You just failed to understand its importance."

"You would have us bow and scrape to a man long dead, who exists by taking over the body of a weak little boy."

"I would have you honor your pledge to your pharaoh."

"He is not my Pharaoh," Marik snapped. "And I made no pledge."

"You made it the moment you opened your mouth to cry out. The day you were born... the day you were conceived... you pledged your life to him."

"You mean I was forced to be his slave," Marik growled low, though he didn\'t raise his voice. "You might be fine with being wrapped in chains for him-"

"Yes, if that was what was required," Ishizu said, cutting him off. "Have you forgotten so easily in your own self-centeredness that you were not the only one who suffered? That you weren\'t the only one in the dark?" She turned slightly, running her fingers along the small of her back. "That you weren\'t the only one undergo a ritual?"

Marik stared at her for a long hard moment and Ishizu began to feel hope well inside of her. \'Do you understand now, brother? You weren\'t the only one who knew pain. But you have only prolonged the pain by denying your duty and what all of it meant. You made it worthless by fighting against its meaning... but there is still hope. Embrace your destiny and-\'

"You went through it... knew the agony of that hot blade searing the flesh... melting it and carving into it. How the fear and terror of being too young to understand..."

"Yes," Ishizu said, a smile on her face as she took a step towards him. "I did. And I-"

"And you let it happen to ME?" Marik snarled through grit teeth and Ishizu nearly stumbled.

"Brother-"

"You swore to protect me... to love me... and yet knowing every single thing I was to go through... you still let him do that?! Still let him torture me?"

"It had to be done. For the good of the world and the Pharaoh-"

"Fuck the world!" Marik thundered. "And fuck the Pharaoh!"

At once Ishizu was upon him, so quick she didn\'t even realize she had moved, and her arm came up, hand open to slap him across the face, only for Marik to block the blow.

"You are no better than him," Marik snarled.

Ishizu narrowed her eyes. "And you damn every single person who lives on Earth because of your pettiness."

"My pettiness?" Marik snapped. "Mine?"

"Yes. Yours, brother. You believe you own the sole right to pain and suffering. That what you went through means that all others do not understand grief and agony and thus you are justified in all that you do. You act so grown up... but you are just a child still, screaming in the dark."

"I scream in the dark because my \'beloved\' sister did nothing to help me."

"I am helping you. And I will continue to help you. By the time this tournament is done you will see the error of your ways, brother. You will return to the fold and you will help me save the Pharaoh and in turn the world."

"And what then... what glorious life do you see for yourself, sister?" Marik sneered. "Do you imagine he will honor you? That he will make you his queen and your body will house his children? I can see it in your eyes... you lust for him. Desire him like a whore hungry for cock. He\'s dead... his seed dried up. You can\'t fuck a ghost."

"And you can\'t blame one for your crimes, brother."

The two Ishtar siblings pulled away from each other.

"Well... let this tournament settle things then," Marik stated.

"Let it," Ishizu whispered.

~MC~MC~MC~

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

I pounded on the wall. "Damn it Seto, I can hear you cackling!" I shouted. "Keep it down, I\'m trying to get some sleep."

"Screw you, Chaos!" Seto shouted back.

"You can only do that if you suddenly gain a pussy, Seto!"

"That\'s good to know," Mai said as she came out of the bathroom, running a towel along her hair. She quietly padded over to me, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from the wall. "Besides, I don\'t want you spending the night tormenting Kaiba. As fun as that might be."

"For a man that is so smart he is rather stupid when it comes to setting himself up," I admitted with a smirk as Mai moved towards the vanity, leaving me to sit down on the bed. "So," I asked as I removed my shoes, "who did you give your room too?"

"Joey\'s friend Koyo. I thought it unfair he have to sleep with Joey and deal with those snores."

"Joey snores?" I asked.

"That\'s right, you slept through that. I always forget you are a deep sleeper."

"Which is odd because I need it utterly silent to fall asleep." I got up and set about removing my jacket and dress shirt, the vest going too. "God, this is probably the longest I\'ve gone in formal wear... thank god Earth-2 made it comfortable."

"Put it all in the bag. According to what I read Seto is going to have our clothes cleaned and pressed each night."

"Seriously?"

Mai chuckled, using the mirror to look at me. "Apparently he has a small town in this blimp."

"Leave it to him to burn money just to show off."

"Just because you are a cheapskate..." Mai teased.

She began to brush her hair and I couldn\'t help but stare at her as she did so. Normally Mai\'s hair had a ton of body to it, much like every other Yu-Gu-Oh! character in existence. It was part of the reason why I had taken to keeping my own hair very short; I preferred it that way, of course, but I also got a dark sense of pleasure in wondering how the anime gods were handling not being able to poof me up like one of those marshmallow character pillows. But after her shower Mai\'s hair was utterly straight and lying flat... like Selene.

\'God, she really is her,\' I thought to myself. \'It\'s one thing to see the transformation but that\'s... that\'s just like Yugi and the Pharaoh swapping. You know that the change has come so you can see them as two different people. But this... I can tell that Mai is Selene. A different Selene. One that actually learned that the world doesn\'t revolve around her which is admittedly odd because the moon revolves around the sun and dear lord Edwin you are rambling in your own fucking head.\'

"What are you thinking about?" Mai asked, staring at my reflection intently.

"Just how nice it is that you can be casual with me," I lied. I didn\'t want to poke that button if I had too.

"Don\'t go thinking you\'ve corrupted me with your slobby ways," she teased.

"I am not a slob," I complained. "I don\'t lie on the couch eating pork rinds and stinking up the place. I am just not as... rigid in my need to put up appearances."

"I suppose it is a victory that I got you to wear that suit rather than your normal hoodies and blue jeans," Mai admitted.

"And it\'s a victory that I got you to realize that it\'s nice to be comfortable around people," I said as I began to walk towards the bathroom. "I\'m going to grab a shower... hopefully this blimp has enough hot water."

"It has enough hot air, what with Kaiba on board," Mai retorted.

I chuckled at that before letting out a groan, rolling my shoulders. "God it feels like I haven\'t had a soak for ages. Was this really only one day? It feels like it\'s been months."

"We certainly did have a lot of bombshells dropped on us." Mai suddenly turned, staring at me intently. "Edwin... you are okay, aren\'t you?"

"Hmmm?"

"About what happened with Marik... and everything else." She sighed. "You were kidnapped twice. That had to be stressful."

"The first time not so much," I admitted, pausing in the bathroom doorway. "Thanks to the key I knew I was safe so there was no reason to panic. The second time was a bit worrisome at the beginning but once I got to the actual warehouse it was more annoying than anything else." I stopped, blinking as I remembered my duel with Sheppard. "Did you know my past self set up a cult?"

"What?" Mai asked, half startled and half bemused.

"Well, they wouldn\'t call it that... more like a gentlemen\'s club probably. But a cult all the same. They believe in battling not with fists but through games, so that they can get aggression out that way. It would be honestly really interesting if I didn\'t get the sense that they were looking towards me taking the damn thing over. We have enough cults with the Rare Hunters, thank you."

"I don\'t know... siccing them on the Rare Hunters?"

I considered that before shaking my head. "Marik is taking things in his own hands. Honestly unless Rex or Brom Bones has joined the Rare Hunters I think we can put them out of our minds for the rest of the tournament."

"You seem to be taking that all in stride."

"What part? Marik and the Rare Hunters or the cult?"

"Both."

"The latter is easy because I honestly forgot about it," I admitted. "I didn\'t get to talk to the man that much so it really hasn\'t sunk in. And being kidnapped and then having to save Solomon and Serenity kind of made me forget all about it. Of course there was saving the multiverse-"

"Which you promised to tell me more about," Mai reminded me. "There is really a world where I am as rich as Kaiba?"

"And apparently Tea\'s rival, as she is the one with a mystical item. There\'s also a world where you\'re a man." I grabbed my phone and pulled up the photo that Edna had shared with me of her group.

"...holy shit I\'m built like a brick house!" Mai exclaimed, staring at her male counterpart who looked like they could be a pro wrestler. "And Joey still manages to look insipid even as a woman." She chuckled as she finally settled on Edna. "You\'re pretty."

"I try not to think about it. My dad is treating her as my new sister." Mai raised an eyebrow at that. "I\'ll explain later, promise." I took the phone from her grasp and opened up Youtube, looking for some video to begin listening to while I showered. Linkara existed in this world so his videos would be good... though it was odd that he ended most of his storyline segments with him dueling his foes. "As for Marik and all that... like I said, I\'m not from this world. A lot of the twists that are gonna startle you guys are nothing to me."

"It\'s so weird to think that you have all that future knowledge about us. Anything I should worry about?"

"...not anymore," I finally said.

"Oh?"

"Original timeline you fell into a bit of a depression after Battle City and ended up working with some bastard named Dartz."

"Do I even want to know?" Mai said, no longer interested in combing her hair.

I sighed. "You basically were like the Eliminators in Duelist Kingdom... except you used a card, the Seal of Ori something or other, to steal souls."

"...shit," Mai whispered.

"Yeah. Joey got through to you in the end but it was a dark time for you. Which is why," I walked over and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "I plan to pamper you when this damn tournament is over. We\'ll have a few months before Dartz shows up so I\'m thinking we take a vacation."

"Tour the world?" Mai asked.

"Whatever you want. Fuck, if you want to just stay home and have me rub your feet while you catch up on your binge watching I\'ll do that."

With that I moved back towards the bathroom... only for Mai to suddenly come up behind me and spin me around, wrapping her arms around me and giving me a searing hot kiss.

After several moments or minutes, I honestly lost track of time, she released me before grabbing my hand. "Time for our shower."

"You just had a shower," I reminded her.

"That was to get clean," she told me. "I plan for us to get very dirty now."

~MC~MC~MC~

"What do you think?" Yuri asked as she stepped out of the bathroom, a plastic wrap covering her shoulders.

"That\'s a statement!" Tea exclaimed, staring at her sister\'s newly dyed hair. Gone were here black locks and instead her hair had a vibrant blue color, like an electrical current.

"I could do yours," Yuri offered.

"I think I\'m good," Tea said from her spot on the bed. While she had her own room she\'d decided to break away from the others and spend some time with her sister before getting so sleep. "Is that going to be it?"

"Well I\'m going to style it into a faux hawk tomorrow... no reason to do so tonight. Might see if I can do some streaks of color in it but probably wait till we get back unless Kaiba has a hairstylist on board... which he very well might, knowing him."

"Knowing him," Tea echoed. "So... just doing all you can to spite dad, huh?"

"Honestly? I haven\'t thought about him in a while. And this has nothing to do with him." Yuri touched her hair, confirming that it was dry enough that she wouldn\'t leave droplets of blue all over, and set about removing the plastic wrap. "I only gave all this up because I wanted to be a cop. Now that I\'m not going to be one anymore I can get back to doing what I like... looking how I like. And honestly? I like looking like this." She chuckled. "I like the stares of shock. I like people\'s eyes going wide when they see me." She shot Tea a sneaky look. "It\'s a turn on."

"Yuri!"

"Oh come on!" Yuri said with a laugh. "I know you aren\'t a prude."

"I don\'t know what you are talking about," Tea said with a sniff.

"Sure, and that box you keep tucked in your closet only has a-"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!" Tea screeched.

Yuri chuckled. "I\'m a cop, Tea."

"You were a cop."

"Which is why I don\'t have to worry about being polite when we talk about your-"

Tea quickly cut her off. "So why blue?"

"Primary colors," she stated. "Edwin and Mai have yellow taken care of, Renard has red-"

"You mean his hair? It\'s kind of red..."

"And I\'ll be blue. It helps us stand out from everyone else. Plus it looks good with the whole goth look I have going." Yuri moved about the room, debating just how much she wanted to unpack. When they\'d arrived Edwin had instantly opened a portal back to his place where her luggage had been waiting, so she now had a suitcase full of stuff. Edwin himself had decided against even doing that, figuring that it was easier just to pop back and forth between his condo and the blimp using the Millennium Key. She however didn\'t want to keep bothering him so she\'d be living out of a suitcase... unless she wanted to unpack. She was undecided. "Now then, stop trying to get off topic." Yuri looked over her shoulder at her sister. "You planning to take advantage of all this?"

"What do you mean?" Tea asked.

"Come on... we\'re on a blimp that is basically a large flying hotel. Everyone is going to be all competitive and dueling hard... that will get blood pumping." She smirked. "You haven\'t considering sneaking into Yugi\'s room-"

"YURI!" Tea screeched again, cheeks growing pink. "I... I would never-"

"Why not?" Yuri asked. "This isn\'t the 1800s. A man and a woman can be together. You two are dating, aren\'t you?"

"Yes... kind of? I mean we\'ve only been on one date."

"But you spend so much time together... you basically have been dating for a while you just haven\'t made it official." Yuri shook her head, deciding to slip into her pajamas. "I\'m not suggesting he walk into his room finding you lying on his bed showing how far you can get your ankles past your ears."

"Oh god," Tea said in embarrassment.

"But that doesn\'t mean you shouldn\'t take advantage. After Edwin defeats Yugi he\'s going to need some comforting. Maybe you guys have a heavy make out session... let him see what you are hiding under your jacket..."

"Well that\'s not going to happen," Tea said. "Because Yugi is going to win this tournament."

"Oh?" Yuri asked. "Not you?" Tea blinked at that. "You... do remember we\'re both in this, right."

Tea flopped back onto the bed while Yuri began to change. "Oh. Oh... I\'d completely forgotten! I mean... my duel disc is right over there and I still forgot that I\'m in this tournament!" He shut her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "We\'re in the Battle City finals."

"Yup," Yuri said, popping the \'p\' in that word. "And I think we have a good chance to win it all."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

~MC~MC~MC~

"Well... we made it Pharaoh," Yugi said softly as he settled down onto his bed. After Kaiba\'s threats about what was going to happen when they next dueled each other Yugi\'s friends had quickly realized that he simply wasn\'t in the mood to hang out anymore and had let him go off to his room. He\'d removed his jacket and his shoes as well as his choker before finally settling onto the bed, his deck box clutched in his hands.

"Perhaps it would be wise to order something to eat," the Pharaoh said, his ghostly form appearing beside him.

He\'d found it so interesting that the Pharaoh could do that; it wasn\'t like he was a ghost, able to travel wherever he wanted. Yugi had asked him once how far he could go only for the Pharaoh to be... confused. He had never considered travelling more than a foot away from Yugi. The one time they\'d attempted having the Pharaoh move away from Yugi for more than a few feet had ended with the Pharaoh simply dissipating away. He\'d still be in Yugi\'s head, able to speak with him... it was just he found himself unable to appear as a true spirit. He couldn\'t appear outside of Yugi\'s eyeline either... or possible eyeline. He could appear behind Yugi but couldn\'t turn and face the opposite direction. He couldn\'t appear in a closet. If he was in front of Yugi it truly didn\'t register to him what was behind Yugi, seeing instead just... Yugi himself. And as for sleeping-

"Yugi?" the Pharaoh said softly, jolting in from his thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... sorry. I... my mind was wandering."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Yugi said with a slight smile.

"Hmmm." Sitting down next to him the Pharaoh looked at the room. "I still believe you should eat something, Yugi. Today was a... trying day."

"Yeah," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Though i don\'t think I want anything too filling. I\'m not sure if my stomach could handle it."

The Pharaoh let out a sigh as Yugi reached over to check out the room service menu. "It is important for you to keep your strength up, Yugi. While today was stressful tomorrow does not look like it will be getting any better."

"I know that-"

There was a knock at the door.

"Wow," Yugi said, eyebrow raised, "that room service was quick! I didn\'t even get a chance to order anything." He got off the bed and made his way into the living area of his room, opening the door to find there was indeed some food waiting for him in the form of several spicy smelling pasta dishes... only instead of one of the blimp\'s crew members holding it was-

"Hello Yugi! I thought you could use a pick-me-up!"

"Grandpa!" Yugi said with a grin, quickly moving so his grandfather could come inside. "Thank you... I was just about to order something!"

"Ah, then I must be psychic." The old man chuckled. "Add that into amazing things we\'ve witnessed happen just today."

Yugi\'s smile fell a bit, though not too much, as his grandpa puttered about the table that was in the main living area, setting up plates and utensils before opening up the containers he had. There was a noodle dish in brown gravy with beef tips and another that had a medley of vegetables. The final container had some warm buttery rolls which already had Yugi\'s mouth watering. Despite his worries not moments earlier that he wouldn\'t be able to handle any rich or heavy food he suddenly found himself ravenous. It was only because of the proper manners his grandpa had instilled in him that Yugi kept himself from rushing the table and shoving the food into his mouth straight from the containers.

"I also thought," his grandpa said as he ambled over to the mini fridge and pulled out two bottles of water, "that you and I could use some times, just the two of us."

"Right," Yugi said softly as he took his seat and began to spoon some beef and noodles onto his plate. "Grandpa, I am so sorry for what happened. If-"

"There is nothing to apologize for, Yugi." The old man shook his head. "Honestly it was my fault... the Rare Hunters tricked me. Lured me out with a rare card."

"They... wait, what?" Yugi said.

His grandpa laughed.

"You always forget that you aren\'t the only duelist around, Yugi. I was one of the first people lining up to get Duel Monster packs when Pegasus put them out a few years ago. You used my deck, remember?" He chuckled again as he dished out his food. "Come now Yugi, if our positions were reversed would you stop dueling just because you lent me your deck?"

"No... no, I guess not."

"See? And like I said it wasn\'t your fault at all. Mine for being silly." He sighed, stirring around his vegetable dish. "I couldn\'t even get the card... perhaps I should just bite the bullet and ask Edwin or Mai or maybe even Duke to find it for me. I\'ve been trying to barter, to go in cheap... that deal should have set off all my alarms and bells and all that. Oh, back when I was your age I\'d never have fallen for such a clear scam." He brightened slightly. "Besides, I sold so much today that I can more than afford it. Next tournament I might even be taking you on, Yugi!"

The young man stared at his grandfather for a long moment before finally asking, "Grandpa... how can you... what you went through today..."

"How can I bounce back?" his grandpa asked. "I\'ve lived a long life, Yugi, you know that. I\'ve... seen things. Done things. Many I\'m proud of... and just as many I am not. And the thing I\'ve learned is that it does no good to dwell on the bad breaks. The mistakes you\'ve made? Oh, learn from those of course! Figure out what you did wrong and how to not do it again. That is fine. But brooding over every little error you made and going over a thousand times the what-ifs? No... that won\'t ever let you move forward. The past... it is a chain. And chains are good Yugi, they are very good sometimes. They can give comfort and security. But they can also hold you back and weigh you do. The past is just like a card in your hand... you know when you hold it but also know that sometimes you have to take the risk and play it."

"I... I guess so."

"Come on now, Yugi!" his grandpa exclaimed, throwing out his arms. "Look at us! We\'re both alive! You are in the Battle City Finals! And we are eating on Kaiba\'s dime. Let\'s enjoy tonight!"

Yugi smiled. "Okay."

~MC~MC~MC~

"You guys took your sweet time," I said as Yugi and the rest of his friends came into the dining room (if it could be called that... with how sterile it was it felt like eating in a lab) where Seto had set up the tables filled with food for lunch. "Some of us have been up for hours."

"You have been up for hours," Mai replied. "I was enjoying my beauty sleep and went in for a cuddle and you were gone."

"You guys had to share a room?" Joey asked before shooting a glare at Seto. "Of course the cheapskate over there wouldn\'t have an enough rooms for everyone and force ya ta have a roommate."

"Yes, that was it," Tristan said with a snicker.

Joey huffed. "Probably made Ed sleep on the floor."

"And the couch, and in the bathtub, against a door..." Mai said with a naughty little grin.

"What were you doing, Edwin?" Yugi asked. "I\'d have thought you\'d want to rest up after everything."

"When I wake up I tend to stay up," I admitted. "I plan to squeeze in a nap later."

"Feel free to nap during my duel, Edwin," Seto replied. "That can be your gift to me: not talking during it."

Joey rubbed his hands together. "So what do we got here?"

"This and that. Its nearly noon. Breakfast has come and gone but you can eat lunch."

"We got to bed late," Tristan admitted. "We were amped up from everything that happened."

"I know, right?" Tea said, moving to grab a plate. "Even when I went to bed I found myself staring at the ceiling half the night!"

Yugi let out a little yawn. "I kept wanting to look at my deck."

"What about you, Ed?" Joey asked. "You have trouble sleepin\'?"

"No," I stated. "We were out pretty quick."

"We?" Duke said, looking between Mai and me. "Ah."

"Yes, ah. And you\'ll keep it at that with young ears around," I said darkly, glancing at Mokuba who was standing next to his brother and then Serenity who was quietly asking Yuri if she had any idea what a certain dish was.

"Don\'t want to brag?" Duke laughed.

Mai came up and shot Duke an annoyed look. "A real man doesn\'t have to brag, Devlin. Edwin has nothing to prove to you children."

"Be nice," I said softly to her and Mai rolled her eyes but remained silent. "Renard, you sleep well?"

"Well, captain," he confirmed. "It is nice to be in the air again. It\'s been a long time."

"So long as we don\'t catch Bruno trying to cloud surf at us," I muttered.

"Well I for one had a lovely night\'s sleep, all things considered," Pegasus said, ambling up to us with a plate of cheese in one hand and a wine glass in the other. "Thank you Edwin for retrieving my suitcase from my hotel... Kaiba didn\'t think to provide pajamas and only a barbarian sleeps in their clothing."

"I didn\'t expect so many freeloaders," Seto replied.

"Come now, Kaiba-boy... you, Edwin, and I are business partners, remember?"

"I try to forget."

"I am here not as a mere observer but to represent our company! Since you are dueling and Eddy-Boy is aiming to win this tournament both of you will be much too busy to do much. I can handle the business part so you two can duel."

"Edwin might be aiming to win this tournament but that doesn\'t mean he will."

Pegasus chuckled at that. "Yes and I assumed much the same at Duelist Kingdom and we all saw how that turned out."

"I should set up an office," Brom said, selecting some puff pastries, "offer my services. From what I\'ve seen in the last 10 minutes I could buy a nice place in Boston from this tournament alone."

I nodded. "We are a gaggle of dysfunctionals." I scoffed as I saw Ishizu enter from one door, her veil up to hide her broken nose, while Marik came from the other one, smirking as he stared us down. "Speaking of... hey Marik!" I called out. "If you want to check out Yugi\'s ass you should know he\'s dating Tea and she doesn\'t share! Ishizu is proof of that!"

"Now who\'s not being nice?" Mai asked.

"Edwin Chaos," Marik declared. "This tournament will-"

"I\'m gonna stop you right there," I said, cutting him off. "We\'ve all had a really long day yesterday so if no one minds I\'m going to just do everyone\'s threats right now, get them out of the way, that way we can move on. No offense but I\'m the only one that can be a long winded gas bag because I am hilarious when I do it." I pointed at Marik. "You will pay for trying to interfere with my vengeance against the dead Pharaoh I never met!" I gestured at Bakura who had just walked into the room. "You will pay for interfering with my vengeance against the dead Pharaoh I\'ve actually met!" I waved my hand at Ishizu. "Something Something Prophecy. Something Something Evil. Something Something Dark Side." I turned to Seto. "With my god card I will defeat you Chaos! Also did you remember to sign that paperwork I gave you?" I paused. "Yes, I did Seto."

"Hmmmpf," he muttered.

"Well, that was-" Joey began but I was on a roll.

"Yo Ed, I\'m gonna win this tournament!" I said in a Brooklyn accent. "No, I will! I have to do this to prove myself!" I said, pointing at Tea, before shifting to Tristan. "My voice gives me super strength!"

"I don\'t sound like that," Tristan complained.

"You used to, it was weird." I jabbed a finger at Rex. "Win or lose you wanna do a Jurassic Park marathon after this?"

"I... was going to ask that, admittedly."

"Hmmmm," I said as my only comment for Odion before looking at Mokuba, Brom, Renard and Yuri. "I got nothing for you four." I spun towards the Pharaoh and dropped my voice a touch. "Edwin... you have no idea the dangers we face! You must let me win this tournament! And then I will go off and be the voice of a talking pi?ata!" And finally I looked at Mai. "Edwin, thank you so much for coming in second place. I dedicate my win to you."

"Really? That\'s what you think I\'ll say?" Mai asked, bemused.

"Mama didn\'t raise no fool."

Marik, who had been stewing, took a step forward. "Now that you are done I will-"

"Chaos is right, the time for useless threats is over," Seto said, cutting him off. "It is time for us to determine just who will be facing who in the next round of the tournament. Each match will be determined by random draw using this!" Seto shot out his hand and in the center of the room the floor parted revealing a large glass dome perched on the back of a Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. One of the heads was inside of the dome while the other two were on the outside with the wings spread wide to hold the dome in place.

"Leave it to Kaiba to be utterly subtle," Yuri snarked.

"To determine each match this bingo machine will spit out two of sixteen balls, each of which have-"

Seto stopped.

"Who... drew... on my balls?" Seto asked slowly, Joey snickering at the comment before steeling his features when Serenity looked at him in confusion over the comment.

I walked over to the bingo machine, rubbing my chin in thought. "It appears some fiend has sketched crude caricatures of all 16 finalists onto these ping pong balls." The others leaned in, seeing that sure enough one each ball was someone\'s face, including Joey\'s with a voice bubble saying "Badabing!", Marik with stink lines coming off of him, and a scowling Seto. "I would say from the way the culprit did the art work they must be a rather handsome devil. One good with keys and locks!"

"Chaos..." Seto warned.

"Cool!" Mokuba exclaimed, spotting his ball. "That\'s so neat! Isn\'t it Seto?"

"...sure," Seto finally said though the glare he shot my way made clear he didn\'t think that in the slightest. "Let us determine who will be going first."

The machine began up, the balls bouncing all about, and everyone waited to see just which two duelists would be selected.

"Any spoilers?" Mai asked.

"This time no, honestly," I admitted. "There were only 8 people who made it to the finals... my arrival has changed things."

"Who made it?"

"You, of course."

"Naturally."

"Yugi. Joey. Odion and Marik. Ishizu. Bakura. Seto."

"Only them?" Mai said, surprised.

"Tea and Tristan didn\'t have dueling knowledge in their heads, Yuri was most likely still part of the police, Renard must have remained in Europe, same as Brom. Mokuba wasn\'t a duelist and Rex washed out because he never learned that everything didn\'t have to always be all or nothing."

"That sounds... rather boring," Mai admitted. "Tristan and Tea standing on the sidelines like they did in Duelist Kingdom... and no Renard or Yuri?" She shook her head. "I can\'t imagine life without either of them. Isn\'t that odd?" She paused and took my hndd. "Though I can\'t imagine life without you..."

A ball flipped into the middle dragon\'s mouth and then rolled down to the left head\'s jaw.

"Renard Volpe will be the first duelist!" one of Seto\'s servants declared. "He will challenge..."

Another ball, this featuring a man with brown hair and dollar bill signs for eyes and a scowling mouth, appeared in the right mouth.

"Seto Kaiba!"