Chapter 5:

He then read the message, "It says that he's having a celebration at Kaibaland, next week." Yugi cocked her head to the left. "A celebration?" she asked. Atem nodded. "Yeah, also all duelists are allowed free admission." he finished.

"Sounds like fun!" said Yugi with enthusiasm. Atem on the other hand was not as excited. "Its just another reason to challenge me to a duel." he said with a sigh. "Come on Atem, it'll be fun!" cheered the younger girl. "Besides this will be a good way for Bakura to blow off some steam, that way it'll be easier to talk to him, and he'll be able to think better." suggested Yugi.

Atem thought for a moment, Yugi made a pretty good point. This party/Dueling tournament could be just what everyone needed. For two months Malik's crap, and Atem's secrets were putting everybody involved on edge. Maybe this could serve as a distraction, or even a means to calm the fire. After coming to that conclusion the Egyptian-Japanese boy finally said, "Alright then. Why not?" the tricolor haired Japanese girl smiled wide. She was finally going to watch her crush duel, because we all know her lack of confidence made it impossible for her to actually compete.

She jumped up and hugged Atem's neck in excitement making the love-struck King of Games' face go red.

…

Later after school at the Game Shop, everyone in the group is talking about the upcoming tournament. "I can't believe dat Jerk is havin' a Duelin' tournament!" said an annoyed Joey. "Well it seems interesting." said Yugi. She couldn't wait to see Atem duel in an actual tournament up close, and cheer him on. "Are you going to enter Yugi?" asked Téa. The shy teen girl waved her hands frantically, "No-I-I couldn't. I just want to support my friends." she said.

"Awww come on Yug' you're a great duelist." said the blonde tomboy. "Yeah, You even won against Atem." said Tristan. None of them would ever let her live that down. "That was only one time. I don't think I could handle all that pressure, and eyes staring at me." the tricolor haired girl argued. "All those kids were watching you duel in class." Tristan retorted.

Téa then grabbed the brunette boy by his ear and pulled him down, screaming in pain. "Yugi doesn't have to duel if she doesn't want to." she said before letting go of the boy's ear. "Besides dueling is optional. If you have a deck and a duel disk you have the option to watch or participate." she finished.

Yugi had both the required items, but she was still unsure. She looked down in despair.

"Don't worry Yugi. Just bring your deck and disk with you, just incase you change your mind." said Téa with a comforting smile. The grateful teen smiled a little too, then gave a nod.

"What's this I hear about a tournament?" asked a new voice. It was Yugi's beloved Grandpa. "Oh hey Gramps!" greeted Joey. "There's a dueling tournament being hosted by the head of Kaiba Corp., it's a celebration for the opening of Kaibaland." explained Téa. "Or just a way for Moneybags ta' boost his ego." grumbled Joey. As the brunette girl glared at the blonde, the elder man suddenly sprung over as if his youth had returned to him. "This sounds like my kind of tournament, I want in!" he said with fire in his eyes.

"Grandpa the doctor said you need to take it easy, you don't need to go running around a theme park for thrills just to go putting your back out again!" scolded Yugi. "Oh please Yugi it's been so long since I've dueled!" he whined. "The game was first introduced last year." she said. "Well it feels like a long time to me." whimpered the old man as water falls of tears ran down his face, and he was pushing his fingers together. Yugi loved her Grandpa and all, but sometimes it felt more like she was the grown up instead of him.

"Aw, let him come too Yugi, we'll even help you keep an eye on him." said Tristan. Being the dueling expert that he was, he was curious to how the man who taught Yugi everything she knows about games, would fair in a dueling tournament, besides the poor guy looked like he was gonna end up flooding the place in an ocean of his tears.

Yugi sighed. She was concerned for he grandfather but she knew she couldn't keep him from this. "Fine you can go. Just promise me you'll take it easy." she said. "Don't worry Yugi I'll be alright." said the loving elder man.

With that being settled the group all began getting themselves even more hyped for the huge dueling celebration. Yugi smiled in anticipation, who knows maybe she will duel, if her shyness doesn't take over and make her change her mind.

…

Marik was walking around town brooding. He hadn't seen Atem since the group went their separate ways, and Bakura was just flat-out avoiding Atem and him. He knew the two needed some time to themselves but it was pretty lonely without them.

He wanted to find that Malik girl, who had caused this mess and give her a piece of his mind. The angered wild-haired blonde really wanted to make the Egyptian brat suffer for potentially ruining Atem's and Bakura's friendship. She used Bakura like a tool, and bothered Atem constantly just cause she couldn't take 'no' for an answer, he wanted the Bitch to pay.

Suddenly he caught the sight of said 'Bitch' across the street.

She was skulking around like she was trying to find something [or someone]. Marik's eyes suddenly flashed with anger. Once the sign said 'Walk' the dark teen stomped over to the unsuspecting girl.

Unaware of Marik's presents, Malik was looking around trying to find an address for a building in the area. She found out from one of her admirers where Bakura lived but she was having some trouble finding it, so she looked at her paper again. "Maybe I misread a sign somewhere." she said out loud. Suddenly she was being roughly turned around, and forced against the wall of a building.

"AH!-Hey what do you think you're doing?!" she demanded. "Shut Up!" snapped Marik. Malik was surprised that it was him. She had seen him in Atem's group of friends before but he seemed to be even more of a psycho than Bakura. He intimidated her quite a bit which was the reason she chose to flirt with Bakura.

"W-What do you want?" she asked. She tried to seem angry, but to be honest the look in the Egyptian boy's eyes terrified her. "I want you to leave Bakura alone." he said, "I don't like seeing my friends being used." Malik was scared. She immediately put on her innocent face, "What? I'm not using Bakura." she said. "I know your game Whore!" Marik quietly growled into the girl's face.

He had her by her shirt, her face dripped with sweat, and her eyes were filled with fear. "I-I'm not-…" she tried to get out. "Don't lie you little Bitch! Atem told us everything. It's been pretty obvious what you were trying to do." he said. The blonde Egyptian girl had no idea how to get out of this one. She tried to play innocent again, "I'm not using Bakura I swear!" she cried. "I admit I was using him to get Atem before, but I'm over him now. I really do like Bakura, Honestly!" she nearly sobbed.

Marik stared hard at her. He was looking for any sign of falsehood in her eyes. She wasn't showing any. He didn't want to believe her, but it was no use. He saw no reason to disbelieve her, but that didn't mean he actually bought it. He made a low frustrated growl before saying, "…If you try anything with Bakura, to upset him or Atem you are going to wish immensely, that you had stayed in Egypt." he said darkly before violently shoving her into the wall, and walking off.

Malik sat there with her head low. She looked up with a defiant scowl thinking, 'Bastard! Nothing is going to stop me from getting what I want.' she then got up and dusted herself off, then crumbled up her paper with Bakura's home address and directions. She tossed it into the trash, then turned to go home.

…

The next day at Domino High students were all overly excited about the tournament celebration, much like Yugi and her friends. It was lunch time, and the little tricolor haired girl was sitting on a bench, reading a book.

Soon Atem, Ryou, and Joey all walked in. "Hey Yug' you wanna come n' play duel monsters with us?" asked Joey.

Yugi automatically lit up, "Yeah! That sounds great!" she said. The teens all went to a vacant table and the two girls began playing with Atem, and Ryou as the spectators. As Yugi shuffled her deck she glanced up to see a disappointed looking Ryou. 'I wonder what's up with her?' she thought. She then took the time to notice that Atem's dearest friends were missing. "Where're Bakura and Marik, Atem?" she asked.

Ryou looked up blushing at one of the names that had just been said. Atem looked down slightly saddened, "I haven't seen Bakura since yesterday, and Marik said he'd catch up later." he said. Yugi hummed in wonder. Her eyebrows furrowed, as she looked to Ryou who was looking back at her with surprised eyes.

"What's going on here?" said a voice. Everyone looked back to see that it was Kaiba. Atem was the first [and only one] to greet the young CEO. "Hey Seto! How are you?" he said with a friendly smile. The older boy just scoffed. "Whatever. What are you losers doing anyway?" Joey fumed as the cruel brunette spoke, she hated how he always acted so high and mighty. "For your information, we're 'bout ta have a duel, so get lost!" shot the blonde. Yugi groaned knowing that his was not going to end well.

"Actually I'd like to stay and watch. It'll be amusing to see you loose to this twerp." he said. Joey growled in anger, Atem silently glared annoyed by Kaiba's insensitive comment. The blonde Brooklyn teen violently got up and stomped toward the cold senseless CEO. "Don't talk 'bout Yugi like that ya creep! She's a great duelist so you better watch it!" she yelled. The small shy girl blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sure she is, it's you that I doubt." Kaiba clarified.

The fiery blonde was fuming now making Yugi afraid of where this would lead. "Uh…Joey?" she tried getting the taller girl's attention but it didn't work. She growled, pissed off beyond words, veins throbbing on her fist and forehead. The Brunette boy didn't even flinch. "That's it!-I've had it with you Rich Boy! You and me-Right now!" she raged. Yugi was even more worried 'Is she trying to fight him?' she thought.

"It was unsure to everyone [including the other students watching] what Joey had challenged the CEO to, until she dramatically pulled out her deck and activated her duel disk it turned out the blonde wanted to duel.

Yugi just stared with a blank face. She couldn't decide if she was still worried, or if she was relieved. "If you insist mutt. Just don't get mad when I beat you in front of the whole school, and finally put you in your place." boasted Kaiba as he too activated his disk.

"Lets Duel!" exclaimed the two teens simultaneously. Soon the duel began and every one in the cafeteria gathered to watch. During all the commotion Marik walked in looking for his friends.

What he found was a crowd of people watching a pretty intense duel between a hot-headed Brooklyn girl, and a cold-ass Teen CEO he wasn't amused. He walked over to Yugi and tapped her shoulder. "Hey, I need to have a word with you." He said.

The small tricolor haired girl looked over to Marik, a little shocked that he wanted to talk to her. "Uh sure." the normally sadistic and crazy teen lead Yugi to a private spot away from the duel, and the other students. Ryou watched as the two left, making her wonder what was up.

"Is something wrong Marik?" asked Yugi with concern. "A little." he responded. "I had a bit of a run-in with that Malik girl." he admitted. Yugi's eyes widened in shock. "Really?-wait, you didn't do anything stupid did you?" the smaller girl asked with a warning tone. "Of course not. Its just…when I accused her of using Bakura like you and Atem theorized, she said something troubling." Yugi hummed questioningly. "She said that she's not." Marik said.

Yugi didn't want to believe it. "Well of course she'd deny it." she retorted. "That's what I thought. But she didn't deny it." Yugi was now confused. "She did admit to using him two months ago, but she claims that now she genuinely likes Bakura." Yugi gasped at this news. "Really?" she questioned. Marik nodded. Yugi looked down with worry poor Ryou was already having trouble trying to confess to Bakura, the last thing she needed was a rival. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked. "Because Malik is the reason Bakura isn't here right now. Her childish antics have caused a rift between Atem and him." he said. "Yeah I know. Atem told me about the fight." Sighed Yugi.

"Also…I don't think she's serious about liking Bakura." he added. "You think she's lying about it?" Yugi questioned. "Sort of. I'm not sure if she really has feelings for him or not, but if she doesn't she might hurt him worst than he his now." Marik explained.

Yugi now understood why the blonde Egyptian boy wanted to talk to her he was worried about his friends. Yugi could definately relate. "Don't worry Marik. I'm going to talk to Bakura." she said. "Huh? You are?" questioned Marik. "Yeah. When Atem told me about all this I volunteered to speak with him, to help him cool down." she explained.

Marik sighed as he looked away in distraught. It was great that Yugi was going to help, but would it help? Would the young wide amethyst-eyed girl's words be enough to calm down the angry Brit? "I hope you know what you're going to say, because it won't be easy." he warned. Yugi gave a light giggle, "You should try talking to Joey when she's in a sore mood." she half joked.

Marik gave a small smile before walking over to Yugi then he continued to playfully ruffle up her hair. "I'm glad for your help, I really hope you'll be able to talk some sense into that sour-sack." he said. Yugi smiled up to the playful Egyptian boy. "No problem, and I'll do my best. I consider Bakura a friend, just like you." she said. Marik's expression became slightly shocked after hearing that.

"We'd better get back to the duel." said Yugi, as she turned and sauntered back into the cafeteria. 'Hm…she's a really great person. With any luck, Yami might actually have a thing for her. He'd be stupid not to.' thought Marik as he smiled after the girl.

Inside the lunchroom the duel between Kaiba and Joey was fierce. The two were almost evenly matched. The cold CEO would manage to bring her down, but Joey always had something up her sleeve to counter attack with. Using her miniscule amount of dueling skills, and luck the blonde tomboy managed to go a pretty long way in the duel.

"Where did you go?" asked Atem. "Oh, Marik wanted to talk about something Malik related." Yugi answered with a sigh. "So what's happening so far." she asked. "Joey managed to bring Kaiba's life points down to 300. She's not that far behind herself but she's making quite a bit of progress." Atem said as he and Yugi continued watching the match.

"Okay Red-Eyes wipe that blow-hard off the field!" called Joey as she made her holographic monster attack her opponent. Kaiba then held out a hand and declared, "Not so fast Wheeler." this made Joey hum in confusion. "I activate my trap card, Negate Attack!-Which blocks your dragon's blast! I also reveal my trap card; Bottomless Trap Hole! When you summon a monster with 1500 or more attack Points, this card automatically destroys it!" he explained. The in-shocked blonde gasped, before her monster was sucked into a dark pit on the field.

"And now, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, destroy the rest of her life points!" he called. The dragon blasted a blinding force of energy right at Joey, which instantly drained her life points to 0. The Brooklyn girl fell to her knees. "You loose Wheeler." said Kaiba as he stood at his end of the battlefield with his arms crossed, and a triumphant smirk plastered on his face. Everyone was shocked, not by the outcome, but more so by how ruthless Kaiba was when he dueled.

Joey just sat there not even looking up at the cold brunette. Yugi and Ryou immediately ran over to the silent girl. "Joey! Are you okay?" asked a worried Yugi. Joey looked up with her usual goofy smile. "Yeah! I'm fine Yug'-" she said. Kaiba gave a surprised look, "…although dat last blow felt pretty real. It almost knocked the wind outta me." she continued as she got up and rubbed her head.

Kaiba just stood there wildly confused, of how someone could be so chipper after such a humiliating defeat. "Are you sure you're alright Joey?" Ryou questioned. "Yeah. I'm good." she answered sincerely. The smiling Blonde wasn't the least bit phased by her loss. She strode over toward the exit of the cafeteria with her two friends behind her, then stopped at Kaiba. She waved a hand while still wearing a never failing smile, "Great game Money-Bags, but next time you won't be so lucky!" she said before leaving with Yugi close behind.

Kaiba just followed his gaze after her he was still shocked by her reaction to losing. Even though she just lost in front of everyone, she still had her head up.

All the other kids who were watching cheered. The duel was like a kickoff for the celebration to come, and it just got them all even more pumped up for it. Joey smiled as she walked out of the cafeteria. She wasn't going to let one loss Keep her down she left with confidence that she'd win next time.

…

Later outside of the school Bakura sat on one of the benches, moping. He still hadn't spoken to Atem since the argument. He knew it was stupid to be mad at his dear friend over one girl's actions, but he just couldn't help it. All those feelings of jealousy have finally found their way to the surface and it was slowly eating away at him.

Just then Yugi and Joey were walking by. "I can't believe how calm you were Joey. I would've expected you to go off on Kaiba after a defeat like that." said Yugi. "Well I wasn't 'bout to let that Jackass get the best of me. He may have won the duel, but I ain't lettin' him get my spirit to." she said as she lounged back on her arms like she usually did.

"Besides I'll beat him next time." she said with confidence, Yugi looked to her taller friend with envy. How she wished she had a little bit of the same confidence she had. If she did she might actually want to participate in the tournament that was coming up. She looked away wondering to herself, 'How does she do it. How is it that Joey can be in the lowest place possible and still have the courage to go on?' she thought. It was a mystery but still, she smiled knowing that, it was just the way Joey was it was a pretty great quality.

The young Japanese girl then looked up and hummed with question seeing Bakura sitting alone and seemingly distraught. Yugi then turned to Joey. "I'll catch up later, there's something I need to do." she told her. Joey blinked in wonder. "Uh-okay sure Yug', see ya in class!" she called out as she walked off.

Yugi then took a deep breath and walked over to the depressed looking Egyptian-Brit. Bakura sighed in despair as he ran a hand through his long silver locks. "Bakura." said a small voice. The semi-tanned boy turned and saw that it was just Yugi. "Oh, hello shrimp." Yugi rolled her eyes at the nickname. Apparently the boy still had his enthusiasm. "I heard about what happened, with you and Atem." she said as she took a seat next to him on the bench. The male teen grunted, "Let me guess; he said that I just blew up for no reason?" he said in an irritated tone.

He was positive that Atem had placed the blame on him. "If you think about it from his point of view that is what it seemed like." Yugi responded nonchalantly. Bakura was about to growl something, until he realized Yugi was right. "He shares some of the blame in all of this you know. For not telling you right away, and waiting until now to do so, and he admits to that." she stated. The older teen let out a deep sigh, "I know. It's just…when we were in Middle school, it didn't bother me because I knew none of those girl had any concern for me. I was okay with that." he said, then frowned even more.

"Now someone has actually given me that attention, and it was all just to get him." he finished.

Yugi just looked at Bakura with pity, he really was jealous. "I don't even like her that way, but it still upsets me and I don't know why, I'm so-…so…" he tried to get out. "Jealous?" Yugi finished for him. Bakura looked up in surprise. He wanted to deny it, but it was true. The guy was painstakingly, gross-green-in-the eyes jealous of his best friend. "Don't worry, it happens to the best of us. I can understand your envy, what with Atem having so much to be envious of, it was only a matter of time before you realized it." Yugi explained. "I guess I shouldn't hold so much against him, huh?" Bakura asked with sad smile. He felt really foolish for letting this get to him so. If he was going to get over this stupid jealousy he had to realize that he was wrong to blow up on Atem the way he did. Yugi could see the indecision in the boy's dull brown eyes. He was finally thinking things through. The short younger girl then got up after giving a long sigh, but not before she delivered a word of advise.

"Bakura listen, you have to ask yourself; are you really willing to let a girl, who used you and annoyed you for two months ruin a friendship you've had with Atem for over four years?" said Yugi. "I'm not going to tell you to go and talk to him, even though you should that's entirely up to you." she continued as she got up to leave.

"Just figure out what is more important. Only you can decide that." she finished before leaving for class. Bakura smiled a bit. As wimpy and small as she may be, Yugi really knew how to talk some sense into a guy. "Thanks shrimp." he called out, making Yugi turn back and wave with a bright smile.

Bakura then got up to leave himself. He had some stuff to sort out before he was ready to face Atem, like where all this jealousy of his even came from in the first place, and why did it surface now and such. He gave a small sigh before leaving to go to his private thinking place just as soon as he found the janitor.

…

A week later, it was the day of the tournament. Yugi stood in her bedroom, in a white T-shirt, and blue pants, with a vexed frown. She was freaking out over what she should wear, to the dueling celebration. Normally she didn't care too much about what she wore, but that was before the 'love signals' in her brain started making her a bit more aware of her appearance. She was going to see the love of her life duel in an actual tournament, which meant she'd get to see him in action, and cheer him on. She had to choose the perfect outfit; something that made her look more feminine.

Although she had a growth spurt, she still lacked much breasts, and she had a scrawny figure. Seriously she could've passed off as a Junior High student, or a first year student at the most. She groaned realizing how dumb this was, to be so worried about her clothes. As she looked through her shirts and jackets, she groaned.

Nothing she owned was good enough to be worn for this day. Just when she was ready to give up, someone knocked on her bedroom door. "Come in!" she called. "Hello Yugi!" called a soft British accent. "Hey Ryou." Yugi answered in despair. "What's the matter?" asked the white-haired Brit. Yugi looked back at her with sad wide amethyst eyes."I can't find anything to wear!" she cried. Ryou just looked at her with confusion.

"Is that all?" she asked. "What do you mean by that?-this a huge deal Ryou!-I'll get to watch Atem duel in a real tournament. It's important that I look perfect!" Yugi whimpered. Ryou then gave an amused giggle before walking closer to the troubled tricolor haired girl. "It's okay Yugi, I'll help you." she said. The smaller girl had her head down, and cutely pouting, while her big purple eyes were looking up to Ryou, pleading for her help.

The kind whitenette looked through the clothes that were on the bed. She then paused with a hand to her chin in thought. She hummed a little, then started separating the clothing: shirts, pants, etc. she then looked through each category and picked out the best combinations, then turned to Yugi who was sitting at her desk. "Okay, come see what you like best, then make your decision." she said. Yugi got up and went over to see the choices.

With the consideration of where they were going, Ryou had picked out three sets that would be perfect. Yugi looked through her options carefully: there was a black short sleeve shirt with a small purple quarter-sleeve jacket and a pair of denim Capri pants, a black quarter-sleeve shirt with a grey vest, and blue Capri jeans, and a white short sleeve shirt with a fuchsia pink leather quarter-sleeve jacket and violet-blue shorts.

Yugi took a minute, but she finally picked the pink leather jacket and shorts set. "This one." she said happily. "Good. Now all we need are shoes to match." said Ryou. The smaller girl went into her closet and pulled out a pair of black boots with silver studded straps across the top, and some dark grey thigh-high leggings. She then complimented the outfit, with some accessories; a black belt triple strapped with silver studs on her waist, and matching wrist bands and a choker for her neck. Soon she was ready to go. "Thanks Ryou!" she said hugging the other girl. Ryou smiled, happy to have helped out a friend.

…

Solomon was in the shop watching the news. They seemed to be doing a story about Kaiba's tournament. He was so excited to finally be able to duel again. He was so filled with anticipation he hoped it wouldn't give him a heart attack.

"In other news Seto Kaiba, the head of Kaiba Corp. is hosting a Celebration Tournament for the newly opened Kaibaland. Anyone who is participating in the dueling is given free admission, so if you're a duelist and looking for a challenge, this is the place to find it. Anyone who's coming to observe and enjoy the festivities is being charged half off of the normal admission fee. As you can see this line is stretched out as far as the next block, with fans and supporters, from all over…" said the news reporter, and she wasn't kidding. On the T.V screen there was a line going on down an entire side walk, and wrapped around the corner of the street.

"There sure is a lot of competition." Solomon said out loud to himself. As he continued watching T.V the girls came down. "Grandpa we're ready!" called Yugi. The old man turned to see the two. "Ah! Finally. Come on we have a tournament to get to-… Ow!" he was cut off by Yugi pulling on his ear. "Oh no, you promised you'd take it easy!-so don't go getting all excited just yet!" Yugi scolded her Grandpa. The three then left shortly to meet the others.

…

In Kaibaland, a young dark haired boy with dark blue eyes is seen running down a hallway. One of the people working the hall greeted him as he sprinted past him. "Hello Mokuba." he said. The boy smiled back and waved. "Hey Lans! Have you seen my big bro?" he asked. "Yes. He's in the control center for the rides." said Lans.

"Cool, thanks!" said the energetic kid as he continued toward an elevator and pressed a bottom floor button. Soon he ended up right where Lans told him to go. Mokuba walked in and immediately found his brother supervising some of the system checks in the database, to catch any problems in the controls for the rides, and prevent any 'potentially unfortunate' accidents.

When Mokuba found his brother he immediately greeted him. "Hey Seto!" he said cheerfully. The cold older boy gave a particularly warm smile and put a hand to the younger one's head. "Hey Mokuba. We're almost done checking the systems." he told the boy. "Okay, hey I heard some kids form your school talking about your duel at school!" he said with enthusiasm.

"Yes I did have a duel. However I don't want to talk about it." he said rather bluntly. "Huh, okay. Well I'm gonna go and see how the set ups for the dueling fields are coming along. I just came to tell you that once we get some stuff finished, we'll be all set." said the dark haired kid. "Very well." said Kaiba.

As his little brother ran off with a smile of excitement, Kaiba's smile then went back to his serious frown. He began to think back on how calm and laid back the blonde Brooklyn girl was about her loss. 'It was a humiliating defeat, witnessed by everyone in our grade. How could she be so confident and expect a rematch?' he thought.

Kaiba was determined to put the loud mouthed girl in her place during this tournament. Then once he was done with her he would move on to defeating his arch rival: Atem.

…

Meanwhile Téa, Tristan, and Joey were already inside the theme park. They were waiting on Yugi, Ryou, Atem, Marik and Bakura. "Where the heck are they? The tournament's gonna start soon." complained Joey. "They'll be here Joey, Yugi said that she, Ryou and Grandpa are on their way now." said Téa. The impatient blonde groaned. She was ready to go find the nearest food stand so she could pig out! However Téa insisted that they all wait for everyone else.

"Come on Joey you'll live." said Tristan, earning himself another irritated groan. Just then Atem and Marik showed up.

Atem was decked out in a form-fitting black sleeveless leather top, a pair of dark blue leather pants, black shoes, a black double strapped leather belt with silver studs on his waist, matching wrist bands, and a choker. He also had a long-sleeve Jacket that matched the pants, buttoned around his neck like a cape. He had a holster on his belt which contained his deck, and on his right arm was a duel disk. Marik was behind him, wearing a form-fitting black tank top, beige pants, a dark purple belt and black shoes. He also wore gold jewelry on his ears, forearms, and very noticeable biceps, a long dark purple cape with two gold chains holding it together and a duel disk on his right arm.

The two walked over to the group with confident smirks. "Why do ya two look like Halloween just came early?" Joey asked bluntly. Tristan instantly pulled Joey over to silence her. "Just ignore her guys." Téa said smiling. "So I take it you're both gonna duel, huh?" she questioned, as she noticed the duel disks.

"Yes, we are." Atem answered. Joey had just pried herself away from Tristan, when she said "Ah!-can we go eat now?!" she cried. "No!-we still have to wait for Yugi and Ryou!" Téa scolded. Joey began arguing with her while Tristan took the time to notice that someone was missing in Atem's party. "Bakura didn't come with you, huh?" he asked. The Egyptian-Japanese looked up in surprise, then rubbed the back of his head reluctantly. The group knew that he and Bakura hadn't been hanging out lately, so it wasn't too shocking that he wasn't there.

"I hadn't seen him since last week. He just needs his space right now." he said. Tristan nodded in understanding. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on between the two teens, he just hoped that they'd work it out soon.

Suddenly a female voice called out from behind Atem. "Guys we're here!" called the voice. Atem turned around, then gasped when he saw Yugi running toward them, with Ryou close behind, and her grandfather walking behind them.

Ryou was wearing a light sky blue short sleeve jacket with a folded-down collar on top of a horizontal striped white and light blue T-shirt, lighter blue denim Capri jeans, white socks, and black and white sneakers. It was a nice outfit, but Yugi's outfit was so adorable. It was the most perfect blend of casual, cute, and punk style, he had ever seen. It warmed his heart to know that the two had somewhat similar tastes.

Atem turned with a smile, "H-Hello Yugi!-how are you today!?" he said, then mentally slapped himself for sounding like some overly formal dork.

"Hey Atem! Hey everyone!" said Yugi. She and Ryou walked up to the group happily. "Wow, Yug' nice get-up! I didn't think you owned somethin' like that." said Joey. Yugi blushed at the comment. "Well, Ryou picked it out." she said. Ryou smiled with confidence, but she wouldn't truly be satisfied with her work until she knew what Atem thought.

"Oh I just provided the choices, Yugi picked out what she felt was best." Ryou said. Atem smiled, "Well I think you made a brilliant choice Yugi." he said. Yugi blushed profusely while Ryou's smile became even more triumphant. The tricolor haired girl looked down, stuttering her words. "U-um-Thanks A-Atem" she said.

Téa looked at the smaller girl with a curious face, picking up on something that the others obviously didn't.

Before she could process on the matter, Joey stepped in and asked, "Hey did ya' bring your deck and disk Yug'?" she asked excitedly. Yugi took surprise to Joey's sudden interruption. She then slid her yellow backpack off her shoulders and opened it. "Yeah, I brought it." she said as she showed them her disk. Atem gasped in surprise. "You're planning on dueling, Yugi?" he asked. "I-I…maybe." she said with uncertainty. She hugged the disk to her, making her look so adorable that Atem blushed. "I just…I thought I'd give it a shot, just this once…maybe-I-I'll think about it." she said. The shy Japanese teen girl had thought about the possibility of dueling. She still wasn't sure she'd actually participate, but she took Téa's advise and brought her gear just incase she changed her mind.

Just then all the people were startled by a sudden rush of wind, and the sound of a rocket. Then, in the center of the park a metallic platform appeared, and Kaiba came in on a jetpack wearing a white suite, pants, and tie, black dress shoes, and a light blue collared shirt. He landed on the platform with a microphone in hand. The group looked up with hands blocking the light, all accept Atem and Marik who looked up with mild surprise. "Show off." grumbled Joey as she squinted up toward the sky, both to block the light, and in annoyance.

"Welcome Duelists!" started the smirking CEO. "Today we celebrate the grand opening of the new Kaibaland!" he said through the mic. Everyone applauded happily all accept Joey who pouted angrily. "Yeah and the boost of your damn ego." she grumbled. Téa immediately shushed her.

"…to those who're participating; every dueling field is themed depending on the rides or attractions. Participation is optional to anyone with a deck and disk. Everyone else may support, or indulge in the festivities. The rules of the tournament are as followed: every major part of the park can be used as a field. When the duel is complete, the winner will collect the loser's strongest card. Every duel disk is programmed into the park's data base, once you begin dueling your name will be posted, and rated by the number of wins you have." he said.

Yugi gulped as she looked around. There was a lot of competition, and it scared her a bit. She began to tremble until Atem put a hand to her shoulder, "Yugi, are you alright?" he asked. Yugi smiled and nodded. "Finally…" Kaiba continued making the two look up again. "…the final round of the tournament will begin at 4:00, this afternoon. Which ever two duelists rank 1st and 2nd will compete for the title, King of Games!" he announced, Yugi then gave a worried glance toward Atem.

"Begin activating your duel disk, so that you will be added to the data board." Kaiba added as he gestured toward the large board on a jumbo-tron behind him, "and remember if you lose a duel before making it to the finals, you'll be pulled from the ranks and out of the tournament!" this just made Yugi swallow hard, with more worry. "Now, start your disks, and let's duel!" said the brunette teen as he dramatically activated his disk.

Soon other duelists followed suit. All accept for Yugi of course, who was still unsure about dueling. "Come on Yug', you should join in!" said Joey as she activated her disk. Yugi looked down in discouragement she didn't think she could handle the competition. "I-…I don't know." she said. The poor Japanese girl could feel the pressure coming on. Ryou put a hand to he shoulder in comfort.

"I still need to think about it." she said. Joey smiled sympathetically and nodded her head, earning a thankful smile from the smaller girl. Just then Solomon piped up and cheered, "Finally, we can duel!" Yugi immediately scolded, "Grandpa!" the old man shrunk back obediently.

…

Meanwhile Bakura had just arrived. He was wearing a dark blue and white stripped T-shirt with jeans, black and white sneakers, and a black trench coat with the collar flipped upward.

He too had decided to participate in the competition. He had his duel disk and deck ready on his right arm and he was looking around for a good opponent. Already people started dueling and he noticed how amateurish some of these duelists were. The ex-thief could care less about them, he was still thinking about what he and Yugi had talked about last week. He knew his friendship with Atem was far more important to him than his pride, but what could he do? How the hell was he gonna fix this rift he put between them? Bakura rarely talked about his feelings, so it wasn't going to be easy for him to admit his faults.

Also there was the matter of dealing with Malik. He would have to confront her at some point but he had been avoiding her too. Now that he knew what she was really after in all of this, he was determined to stay away from her more than ever, she even tried to invite him out to the celebration for a date, and he sure as hell wasn't going to give her the chance.

Just the thought of the annoying girl irked him.

As he continued on he remained deep in his thoughts, and he stumbled upon the haunted tunnel [an attraction in the park]. He liked scary, ghost related things so he decided to go in. As he walked through the tunnel someone called from behind.

"Hey fluff ball, you lose your mommy!?" said the smug voice. Bakura turned to face the idiot that dared mock him. "I assume that you're referring to me." he said bluntly. The guy who called had called him out was a shorter looking kid who's complexion and hair almost made him look like a zombie. He was accompanied by a taller red-head guy with glasses and another guy with pale skin, black eyes and spiky hair.

"Heh, who else would I be talking to? I bet we could take you out in one turn." he said. Bakura smirked evilly. A duel was exactly what he needed to ease his frustrations. He activated his disk and said confidently, "If you insist, but I must warn you, you're in for quite a horror show if you're fool enough to challenge me." he then chuckled darkly. The zombie looking kid was a little intimidated but he attempted to keep his cool. "Enough talk, let's do this!" he said.

Soon the field was set and the game began with the two duelists calling out, "Let's Duel!"
The Egyptian-Brit then dueled the three thugs relentlessly.

Yes!-another chapter down! Keep reading if you wanna know what happens next. See you next time!

-Anjie-Kun Out!