Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
(Note : I watched the episodes with Tristan and Joey dueling, and when Joey dueled Rex for Mai but I decided to skip it due to its not too important at this time. I'm trying to get to the real drama that's coming up very soon in the series! XD)
Chapter 11
Gaining Trust
~Everyone's P.O.V.~
After Joey dueled Rex, took his star chips, and gained a new card; Yugi and the Gang decided to stop and set up camp somewhere since it was starting to get dark. Yumi kept very close to him since she was slightly afraid of being in the dark forest.
"It's okay Yumi. No need to be afraid. I'm here." Yugi smiled at her, as she held tightly onto his left arm out of fear.
"I just don't like the dark...It's scary at times." She whimpered
Serena out of the blue screams at the top of her lungs and jumps into Darien's arms. She freaked out everyone as they froze.
Yumi then hid behind Yugi, shaking.
"What is it Serena?" Darien asked her, calmly.
She pointed to a few bushes that were nearby. "I heard something rustling in the bushes!"
Luna who has been quiet throughout the journey so far, popped her head out of the bushes and meowed.
Everyone sighed in relief and glared at Serena for scaring them.
She shrugged and rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Hehe, oops sorry. I just got a little carried away."
Luna's red eyes rolled in annoyance at Serena and she rubbed her head against Yumi's leg, since she noticed she was still hiding.
"Oh thank goodness it was you Luna." She giggled and picked her up in her arms.
"Alright, lets keep going." Joey said, and everyone started to walk again.
After walking a few moments in silence, Tristan noticed that Tea looked around nervously throughout the forest.
"You're not scared are you Tea?" He asked.
"We're here to protect ya." Joey said proudly.
"Yeah. But who's protecting you guys?" Tea said
"Hmmm." Tristan thought outloud. "Good point, lets just set up camp."
"Relax guys, there's nothing in these woods but crickets and squirrels." Joey laughed a little.
Yumi smiled at Joey's humor and felt a little less afraid than before. Lita, Mina, Raye, and Serena were right behind her, along with Darien.
Finally they found a stop to set up camp. Darien finally stopped carrying Serena and placed her onto her feet on the ground.
Everyone sat in a circle and began to listen to Tristan tell a "scary" story for entertainment.
"And when they finally pulled over to look and see what was in the backseat of the car..." Tristan trailed off to sound mysterious. "It was over 20 pepperoni pizzas with double cheese and meatballs!"
Yumi, Mina, Lita, Serena, and Raye then bursted out in a fit of giggles at Tristan's story. Darien and Yugi on the other hand just shook their heads and chuckled.
"Oh please! Tea said "What kind of ghost story is that supposed to be?"
Joey then growled and yelled at the sky right at the moon. "Ah! If I dont get any food in me imma be turnin' into a ghost!"
Serena nodded in agreement. "I agree with Joey. I can see it now, dying of hunger." Just then her stomach growled and she had anime zig-zags in her eyes as she fell down onto her back staring up at the moon also.
"Those two and their stomachs huh Yugi?" Tea smiled and turned to Yugi.
Yumi looked at Tea and Yugi while she didn't pay attention to her and felt a tiny ping of jealousy.
Does Tea like Yugi? I hope not. If she does this will make things very awkward....
"Heyyyy!" Joey exclaimed and stared down at a spotted mushroom on the ground. "Somethin to eat! I'm takin' it!" He grinned and started to bite down on it. But Tristan grabbed him before he could.
"No!" He held Joey by his right arm.
"Wild mushrooms are poisonous Joey!" Yugi said to Joey who was still fighting to eat the mushroom he saw.
Serena who also spotted a mushroom and was about to eat it from her hands gew wide-eyed and dropped it. Yumi snickered and shook her head at her.
"See Serena. Yugi's right. They're dangerous."
"So do us all a favor and let him eat it." A female voice said jokingly. Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Yugi looked in the direction of the voice.
It was Mai Valentine. Again.
"Now what do ya want Mai?" Joey groaned.
Mai then pulled out a candy bar and started to eat it, looking at everyone at that moment. Everyone was so focused on she was eating.
Mai had food!
"Dat's it!" Joey exclaimed and glared at Mai. "You can duel me, You can insult me, but no eatin' in front of me!"
Mai smirked at him and stopped. "Oh so you're hungry are you? Okay then, give me your star chips and i'll give you some food."
Joey groaned and drooled at the candy bar she was eating, but he shook his head to snap himself out of it while Mina scowled at her.
"Forget it!" Mina said to her. "Joey's starchips are priceless!"
"I was just kidding Joseph." Mai said calmly. "I'll be happy to share if you ask politely like a gentleman."
He frowned. "Right so you can go ahead and make fun of me for that too?"
"Look..." Mai started to explain. "Tommorow I'll have entrance to the castle, so there's no point to me keeping an entire knapsack full of food."
Joey and Serena then started to stare at the back she was holding on her back and groaning, dying to eat whatever she kept in the bag.
"It sure would be nice to not have to duel tommorow on a empty stomach." Yugi said with a small smile.
"Wait!" Joey folded his arms across his chest and glared at Mai. "Who do we know this isnt anotha trick? Give me just one good reason to trust you."
Mai smiled and took the bag off her back. "Cuz its either me or that posionous mushroom."
Everyone groaned, knowing that she was right.
A few moments later Mai took all the food out of the pack and had it out on a blanket for everyone to share.
"Look at all this stuff!" Yugi cheered. "Candybars..."
"I call dibs on da Candybars!" Joey cut him off quickly.
"Chips..." Yumi said softly
"I call dibs on the chips!" Tristan exclaimed
"Canned fruit....Soda.." Lita said while eyeing everything laid out.
"I call dibs on the Soda!" Joey exclaimed once again.
"Sorry boys no dibs on everything yet. Until you complete your chores." Mai said, and looking down at them while they sat on the ground. "I want Yugi to look for some firewood."
"Sure." He nodded.
"And you three boys can fetch me some water." She said to Joey, Tristan, and Darien.
"You bet." Tristan agreed and began to shove Joey forward who held a bucket.
"If she's not slinging insults, shes barking orders." Joey said flatly.
"I'm willing to swallow my pride if it means swallowing some food." Tristan said with a grin. Darien chuckled and followed behind them.
"I'll go and gather up that firewood." Yugi stood and turned to Tea, Yumi, and Mai.
"I'll go with you Yugi." Yumi said, flatting out her shorts a bit while standing up.
"Okay." Tea said, and watched Yugi and Yumi leave for the firewood.
Serena, Lita, Raye, Mina, and Luna stayed behind and sat in a circle and talked to one another till they all came back.
Mai turned to Tea, her purple eyes staring at her.
"Whats your name? Tea...is it?" She asked.
"Mm-hm." Tea nodded.
"Well Tea if you want to freshen up a bit, there's a make-shift shower just over there." She pointed to towards the east to the shower.
"Oh. Well thank you Mai." Tea thanked her sweetly.
"Hanging out with those boys doesnt mean you have to smell like them." Her eyes softened a bit at Tea's blue ones.
Mai looked over at Serena, Mina, Raye, and Lita walked over to them and told them there was a shower over htere just like she told Tea. They decided to wait until Tea was finished.
~Meanwhile~
Yugi, Yumi, Joey, Darien, and Tristan finally came back with water and firewood. They started a fire and everyone gathered around the fire while Mai stood guard was Tea was starting to use the shower.
Mai sure is a hard gal to read.. Tea thought as she began to unbutton her pink vest and yellow long sleeved shirt. One minute she's starting trouble with us and the next she's sharing with us and helped started a campfire.
"Look at you Joey. The only thing missing is a Chef's Hat." Mai said teasingly at Joey. He shut his eyes for a moment and then grinned.
"And a cute apron.." Mai added with a smirk.
Mina's ears perked up when she said that, and stared at Mai; her blue eyes turned into slits.
"Jeez alright already...!" Joey whined at Mai.
"Now keep cooking!" She ordered.
Tea finally got her shirt off and only had on her strapless white shirt and her skirt. "Wow youre tuff Mai!" She called from the shower.
"Us glas have got to look out for each other." Mai called over her shoulder and then looked at Yumi, Mina, Lita, Raye, and Serena who looked at her in awe. "Especially with a bunch of bosos like them around." She mummured under her breath, causing Tea's ears to perk up.
"I don't even see why you bother in hanging out with them." Mai commented.
"That's easy Mai." Tea defended. "They're my best friends."
"Those goofballs?" She asked confused. "From my experince their type is only good for moving furniture or fixing cars."
"Hey Mai..." Tea started to say, but she heard a noise come from the inside of the curtain and screamed. She clutched the towel she wrapped in tightly to her body.
Mai came in the shower. "What's wrong?"
"I heard something moving around right outside." Tea explained with a nervous voice. Mai poked her head out of the purple curtain. "Hmmmm..." Her eyes looked around the woods carefully. "Well its gone now."
Yugi and the others who were around the fire watched as Joey finally got the food to cook in a pot.
"It sure smells good." Lita said with a smile. "Good job Joey."
The food that was cooking in the pot was curry rice.
After all the food was cooked, everyone sat around the campfire with their plates and silverware in hand, ate their food, and drank their sodas.
"Mmmm Tasty." Tristan and Lita said at the same time.
Joey sighed in relief and smiled. "Yeah thank you very much!"
"Not bad." Yugi complimented. "How's yours Tea? Yumi?"
She swallowed and smiled. "Four stars."
"It's really good." Yumi said, softly and kept eating.
"Speaking of stars, I heard you won a few Mai. How many do you have, eight?" Yugi asked her as she stopped drinking her Pepsi soda. "Or is it nine?" He continued to ask. "For many it sounds like you're in the zone."
"Ha." Mai smirked. "Dont think you're gonna fool me with your nice guy routine Yugi."
He blinked in surprise and confusion at her. "It's a matter of time before you-"
"Can't we forget about the tourdament for one night?" Yumi said pleadingly. Tea looked at her in surprise because she was about to say the same thing.
"Let's make fun of Joey instead." Tristan suggested. "That's always good."
"Okay..." Mai trailed off. "As long as everyone understands this crystal clear about one little thing." Her glared at everyone with a serious stare. "Any duelist in my way is going down."
Everyone looked at her in shock with their mouths open wide. She got up and then decides to take a walk.
Joey then sighs. "What a way to ruin a meal."
"You can say that again." Mina said, and took another bite of her rice from her spoon.
~Mai's P.O.V.~
I should've never sat down with those losers. Even though their nice losers...and friendly. And...No! I can't afford to go soft now. I'm a duelist first and that means everyone is an enemy.
"So that means no friends for me and i'll do it all alone." I said outloud while staring at the ground for a moment.
Just then a hand covered my mouth and I started to scream but it was no use. A man started to drag me off into the woods, and I had no idea what was going to happen to me now.
~Back to Everyone's P.O.V.~
~Around the campfire~
"Man oh man." Joey yawned and stretched his arms out over his head. "I'm fading fast here."
"Don't you think we should check on Mai?" Raye suggested. "Make sure she's okay?"
"Good idea.." Yugi agreed.
"She has been gone for awhile." Darien looked off towards the water where Mai walked off.
"It's probaly another trap." Joey said.
Tea sighed and then behind her the bushes started to move, making her yelp. Yumi who was calm moved towards Yugi a bit and Luna curled into her lap and glared at the bushes.
"What was that?" Yugi said as Joey, Tristan, and Darien got up and ran towards the moving bushes ready to defend the camp.
"Yep, betcha she was waiting there the whole time." Joey said. "C'mon out Mai!"
A boy then walked out of the bushes who wore a white sweater with a blue stripe at the top and a light blue undershirt, grey eyes, and White hair.
Tea, Tristan, Yugi, and Joey gapsed.
"It's Bakura." Yugi said, in surprise.
"See I told you!" Tea exclaimed. "I have'nt just been seeing things."
"What are you doing way out here Bakura?" Joey asked him.
"Same as you guys I guess." Bakura looked innocently at him.
Serena, Yumi, Mina, Lita, Raye, and Darien all looked at each other and back at his boy.
"You gave us a scare from sneaking out of those bushes." Tristan said with a slight friendly smile.
"For a minute there we actually thought we all had something to worry about." Joey grinned a bit and chuckled. "Pretty silly huh?"
Bakura didn't say a word but gave a smile. And then looked towards Yumi and the other half of the group. "Oh! I didn't see you guys there. I'm Bakura. Nice to meet you all."
Serena, Raye, Lita, Raye, Mina, and Darien gave him a smile and a short wave. Yumi sat there and just smiled shyly.
"I'm Lita." Lita said pointing to herself.
"Mina." Mina said with her blue eyes giving off a friendly vibe.
"I'm Serena. And this is my lovely boyfriend Darien." Serena smiled and leaned on Darien's shoulder. Darien chuckled and held her hand that landed in his lap.
"And I'm Raye." Raye said, with a small wave.
"And the shy one is Yumi holding our cat Luna." Serena pointed to Yumi who was looking down at her lap at Luna who was purring as she pet her softly.
Bakura smiled. "Great. You all must the new students I heard about at Domino before the tourdament. May I join you all in your camp?"
"Sure Bakura." Yugi said.
Bakura, Yugi, and the rest of them sat down by the fire and chatted for a bit until Mina finally snapped out of the conversation and looked to Joey. Who was staring at a card for awhile now.
"Joey you've been staring at the card for hours now. What's up?" Mina said curiously.
"Well...just don't laugh." Joey warned. "Sometimes..when i'm in a duel I pretend its me out there in the field swapping blows with whateva card that is out. Isn't that dumb?" He rubbed the back of his head with a grin.
"Well if you were, which card would you want to be Joey?" Bakura questioned.
"Uhhhhh..." Joey stammered. "This one." He held up the Flameswordsman. "The Flameswordsman! He kicks everybody's butt!" He stood up and pretended to slice the someone with a sword. "HA!"
"Not so fast guys!" Tristan stood up with a card in hand. "The Cyber Commander!"
"You boys and your cards are hilarious." Tea giggled.
"I think everyone has a card they can Identify with." Yugi smiled. "You should see and pick one for yourself Tea." He looked at Serena, Darien, Mina, Raye, and Lita. "You all should too."
"Yeah." Lita said. "Well I'll think about it. I'm not into dueling that much but I'll look later on."
Everyone else in that group nodded except Yumi.
"Okay." Tea began to pick a card along with the rest of the group. "I pick this one." A girl with purple hair with a Cresent moon staff in her hand was on her card. "Magician of Faith."
"What you gotta be kidding me." Tristan and Joey looked at Tea's card.
"More like the Magician of Freaks." Joey commented.
"Shut up!" Tea yelled and made the two of them scared.
"Tell me which one you identify with Yugi." Bakura looked at him.
"Oh, thats easy." Yugi held up his card. "Dark Magician, hands down."
"How about you Yumi?" Bakura turned his attention to her.
She looked up at him and blushed a bit. "Dark Magician Girl."
Yugi and her shared a glance at each other and turned away quickly with blushes covering their faces.
"Maybe im just out of the loop but maybe don't you guys think it's a little silly to be comparing ourselves to playing cards?" Tea suggested and looked around at everyone who held up a card.
"Maybe a little, but it's just like Grandpa says." Yugi explained. "It's not about the playing cards it's about putting a little bit of your heart into anything you care about. Ya know?"
All of them excpet Bakura nodded.
"So which card you care about most Bakura?" He asked him.
Bakura held up a card. "This one is my favorite."
Yugi and the gang gasped. "Isn't that the Change of heart card?"
"Kind of a weird lookin' picture dontcha think?" Joey eyed Bakura's card curiously.
"If you wanna see how it works we can have a duel right now." Bakura suggested with a small smile. "Not for starchips, just for a little fun."
"Sure." Joey looked at Yugi, Tea, Tristan, and Yumi. "I'm down with that, after all the starchip stuff it would be nice to have a duel without strings attatched."
"I agree." Yugi said. "A regular Duel sounds like a great idea."
"Why don't you guys put your favorite card into Yugi's deck so it will be like we're all playing."
"Thats a good idea." Yumi smiled and gave her card to Yugi. "Here Yugi."
"But I should warn you with this all-star team of cards we'll be tuff to beat!" Yugi exclaimed with confidence.
"True. But maybe i'll surprise you." Bakura said calmly.
"This'll be fun." Tea cheered.
Yugi and Bakura say on tree stumps and placed their decks on the bigger stump in front of them both.
"Alright. The cards are all shuffled." Yugi said, feeling a bit excited.
"You don't sure you don't mind playing alone?" Yumi asked sweetly.
"Don't worry about a thing Bakura we'll go easy on ya." Joey winked at gave a thumbs up to him.
"Great. Let's get this show on da road!" Joey cheered and sat to stare at the cards.
Just then Yumi noticed something different about Bakura, his whole innocent face thing changed. It looked like he was smirking.
"Before we get started, there's a little something I'd like to share with you all." Bakura trailed off and stared at Yumi and Yugi then at the others. Serena, Darien, Mina, Raye, Lita, and even Luna gathered around to watch the duel.
Tristan gave Bakura a confused look.
"Especially you Yugi." Bakura said with a smooth voice.
"Huh?" Mina was confused. "Whats that?" Joey asked.
"What's he doing?" Raye asked and looked to Yugi.
Bakura began to hum and Joey began to look freaked out. "This is getting freaky...!"
Suddenly a Millenium item appeared around Bakura's neck causing Yumi and Yugi to gasp.
"It can't be!" Yumi said. "Its a Millenium item."
"Yes!" Bakura exclaimed, his voice changing into a deeper tone. "And the Millenium ring will take us to the Shadow Realm!"
"Man...I hate magic!" Joey said nervously. Mina held onto him tightly. "Ditto!"
"Why are you doing this Bakura?!" Yugi demanded and was afraid of the look on Bakura's face.
"You have something I want Yugi!" Bakura said telepathically.
The ring around his neck started to glow and it flashed a bright light.
"And I intend to take it!"
Just then Yugi's, Joey's, Tea's, Tristan's, and Yumi's souls were detatched from their bodies and into Yugi's deck while the power coming from the item knocked Serena, Lita, Darien, Mina, Raye, and Luna out.
Everyone's bodies fell backwards onto the ground and Bakura just laughed.
"That wasn't too difficult." He said with a smirk. "Their souls have been locked away and now after waiting for countless centries the legendary Millenium puzzle and Braclet is mine!" He began to reach towards Yugi's puzzle and Yumi's braclet.
A flash of light came from both the puzzle and the bracelet, making Bakura take a step back in surprise and cover his eyes.
Yami-Yugi and Ami-Yumi then took control of Yugi's and Yumi's bodies.
"No!" Bakura yelled as they both opened their eyes.
"You want my Millenium puzzle?" Yami asked in a serious tone. "You'll have to duel me for it. But if I win, you'll release my friends and send us all back."
Ami nodded and looked at Bakura with curiousity.
Bakura laughed. "I agree to your ridculious battle, but I promise you, there is more at stake here than you both can comprehend. This is one Shadow game you can not win!"
Ami stepped forward and looked at him. "We'll see about that."
Bakura then turned his attention to Ami. "Ah, yes. The beautiful girl I tried to claim as my own. Tell me, do you remember me?"
"Remember...?" She said confused and then shook her head. "I dont know what you're talking about."
"Hn." He smirked. "You will someday."
"Enough small talk! It's time to duel!" Yami pointed at him.
And so the duel began...
And...I'm stopping here! Will post as soon as possible! ^^ See ya!
- Animegirly