Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ A New Path ❯ Reunion Part 2: Duel on The Deck Of The Celsuis! Kaiba vs. Rikku! ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or Final Fantasy X-2

"Hmph…I've seen better…" Kaiba examined the hallways of the Gullwings' airship, The Celsius, as he then sighed. "How long have you been here, Tea?" He asked coldly.

"About a day now, to be exact..." Tea responded as she took out a Garment Grid and pressed a button. After a flash of light, her "Thief" clothes were replaced with her gunner outfit.

Mokuba's eyes went wide. "Wow! You instantly changed clothes! How'd you do that?" Even Kaiba was interested in how Tea managed to change her attire from a revealing one to a slightly more-conservative style of dress.

"Should we tell them?" Rikku whispered to Tea, who was already in debate with herself with the decision.

She shrugged, "Why not? Besides, what harm could they do, anyway?"

"Yeah, it's not like they're working for the LeBlanc Syndicate!" Rikku stated which caught Kaiba's attention.

"LeBlanc Syndicate!?" He exclaimed. "You actually know those fools?"

"Yeah…they're a big Sphere Hunting faction…and our biggest rivals…" Rikku explained.

"Sphere Hunt-" Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me that you're another one of those Sphere Hunter morons…"

"What are you talking about Kaiba?" Tea asked.

Mokuba explained, "We had a run-in with Logos and Ormi back in Domino, which led to us being here. One moment Seto's trying to protect me from being shot, thanks to his bullet-proof coat, and the next we're in some Inn at Guadosalam. And the worse thing is, they have out ticket home!"

"Home? What do you mean when you say 'our ticket home!?'" Tea was now suspicious as Kaiba looked towards his brother.

"Mokuba don't…" He muttered.

"Seto developed a new version of the transphere than the one he gave you which instead of transporting you to a random dimension, it would open a gateway to wherever you think of." Mokuba said, as the sound of Kaiba slapping his hand onto his forehead in frustration was heard.

'There goes my master plan…' He sighed.

"You mean to tell me that you had another Transphere in the works, Kaiba?" Tea asked, not too happy.

"LIKE I TOLD YOU IN DOMINO, THE SPHERE I GAVE YOU WAS A PROTOTYPE TEA!" Kaiba screamed, obviously stressed out, as he sighed. "You wouldn't happen to have a shower, would you?" He felt that the hot water from the shower would do him good.

The sliding door opened as Shinra walked towards them. "What's all the screaming about?" He asked.

"Don't worry about it, Shinra." Rikku assured. "It's just that one of guests is a little stressed out." A glare came towards her way from Kaiba, as if to say "You think!?" as she then continues, "A-hem…Shinra, this is Seto and Mokuba Kaiba, the guys from the Commsphere at the Farplane. They're Teyi's friends.

"Friends? Hmph…" Kaiba and Tea both said, not exactly excited from hearing Rikku's statement.

"Speaking of which, the Commsphere at the Farplane is having problems. Therefore, it is no longer available to use."

"That's odd…" Rikku pondered. "It was just working fine about an hour ago…unless…" She then eyed Kaiba.

"What now?" Kaiba responded coldly.

"Kaiba…" Tea asked, in a warning type of voice. "You wouldn't have had anything to do with this, would you?" Kaiba didn't respond, thus supporting her suspicions.

"Seto you didn't…" Mokuba said with disappointment and shame in his voice. Shortly after the link was cut-off, He and Kaiba were leaving the Farplane to the Rendezvous point, but Kaiba told him that he'd catch up, as he wanted to see something. It appeared that he did want to see something alright: The destruction of the Commsphere.

"Yeah Seto, don't tell me you busted Shinra's Com-" Rikku was cut off by Kaiba.

"First of all, only a member of my family can call me by my first name!" He snapped. Kaiba told people that he only allowed a few people who were worthy enough to call him Seto, Mokuba included of course. But in truth, ever since being adopted by Gozabouro, he felt that "Seto" longer existed. Only "Kaiba" remained. "And second of all, yes I did bust your precious Commsphere! But what gives you the right to invade someone's privacy? What gives you the right to invade into someone's deepest, darkest secrets? I don't know about your laws here in Spira, but where I come from, we have laws against such low-class behavior. It's called invasion of privacy!"

"Well I have a News Flash for you, Seto Kaiba!" Tea snapped back. "The Farplane wasn't private property, and is considered a public place! So basically, unless you were inside your house, what we did was perfectly legal! Meaning that your secrets were fair game, but you wouldn't know anything about playing fair Seto Kaiba, would you!" Tea was beginning to feel as if she was channeling back to Duelist Kingdom…

Tea was consoling a teary-eyed Yugi, who had loss the duel and the only chance he had of rescuing his Grandpa from Pegasus. He had just stopped his Celtic Guardian from attacking a horribly-weakened Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, which would win him the duel. However, it would've cost Kaiba's life, as he was standing on the edge, trying to get Yugi to surrender.

"It's okay…" She said to the emotionally-crushed Yugi, almost teary-eyed as well. "You did the right thing! You could never hurt anyone. Even it cost your only chance of rescuing your Grandpa. He wouldn't have wanted it that way."

"Well I guess he got what he wanted."

Tea, Joey, Tristan, and Bakura looked toward Kaiba's direction, with his briefcase in hand, as he didn't appear to have any sympathy for Yugi's loss. "If Yugi really cared about his Grandpa, he would've done what had to be done. And then it would be him entering the castle, not me."

"He spared you!" Tea snapped at Kaiba. It was bad enough that Kaiba had to pull that stunt to force Yugi to lose, but for him to be so cold about it was too much. "He showed you compassion, which is more than you deserve!"

"He lost the game!" Kaiba said, feeling indifferently.

"The game? The game!? Yugi may have lost one lousy Duel Monsters game, but he hasn't lost his heart. Not like you, Seto Kaiba!" Tears began to pour from Tea's eyes as she tried to not let her emotions get the best of her. "You spend all you time with your machines that you've forgotten what being human is all about! So what if Yugi loses his only chance to get into the castle, he'll always have friends who'll stand by him. And what do you have Seto Kaiba? What do you have at the end of the day? Tell me!"

"I have all that I need." Kaiba snatched the starchips as he made his way towards the Pegasus' Castle, the place of the Duelist Kingdom finals.

"Keep walkin!' Yugi's twice the man that you'll ever be!" Joey said towards Kaiba's direction as Tea just watched. She knew that Kaiba's agenda was rescue Mokuba who was kidnapped by Pegasus, but he didn't had to be such a jerk about it. He said that he's changed, but as the old saying goes, "Actions speak louder than words" and his proved that he hasn't changed at all.

"When's the last time I didn't play fair, Tea?" Kaiba asked, but then held up his hand, knowing that she'd bring up the Duelist Kingdom incident. "Don't answer that…"

Tea glared at Kaiba, now wishing that they never had found them…well…she wouldn't mind if she found Mokuba. Kaiba has just arrived on the Airship and he was already irritating her. It was a wonder how someone so kind like Mokuba could ever be related to someone like him, even if Gozaburo did treated him like a slave.

"Loser…"

"Jerk…"

"Moron…"

"Tung… (Dork…)"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Brother and Joey both turned around and shouted at each other.

"Here we go again…" Tristan and Buddy both said with a sigh.

"I AUGHTA KNOCK OUT YER TEETH!" Joey snapped.

"FAMM E'S KUEHK DU NEB OUIN DRNUYD UID! (WELL I'M GOING TO RIP YOUR THROAT OUT!)" Brother responded in the same manner.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT DA HELL YA JUST SAID, BUT I KNOW IT'S A REASON FOR ME TA-"

"ENOUGH, WILL YOU BOTH SHUT THE HELL UP!?"

Brother and Joey looked towards Serenity who was having a migraine.

"You both keep on fighting, and for what? Just over some misunderstanding!?" She explained to them both. "Joey, I know you were concerned about me! But I'm not some little girl who can't defend herself! And besides, I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"About time she told Joey not to be so freaking overprotective…" Tristan sighed, hopefully having a better chance with getting together with Serenity than Duke Devlin, without Joey to get in the way.

"Hmph!" Brother stood in triumph, believing that he had won this little argument. Even Joey's own sister was on his side and she believed that he was in the wrong.

Serenity then turned to Brother. "And you, Mohawk Boy! So what if I don't know about the unstoppable Exodia? I'm still new to Duel Monsters! I'm trying to learn about them as fast as I can so excuse me if I don't know that much. In fact, I've only dueled once so just lay off!"

"But…I…"

"She does have a point…" Buddy said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Oui crid ib! (You shut up!)" Brother hissed at his friend as he then sighed, realizing that he was as much at fault for the situation as Joey. "I'm sorry…I sometimes have a bad temper…"

"Heh…join da club!" Joey snickered, "I guess I was a bit sensitive when it came to my sis..."

"Don't you think that she can take care of herself? Jeez, man. How's she going to live and learn through life if you keep babying her?" Brother asked, much to the relief of both Tristan and Serenity, who also felt this way.

"I know that I could be a little overprotective, but c'mon! Don'cha have a sista who you care about?" Joey asked, which caused Brother rub his head.

"Well…yeah…but…"

"Brother's not exactly a candidate for 'Brother of the Year.'" Buddy stated much to Brother's dismay.

"Tu oui ryja du damm dras ajanodrehk? (Do you have to tell them everything?)" Brother hastily whispered to Buddy.

"Kad y kneb! (Get a grip!)" He retorted.

"Umm…Tris, any idea what they're saying?" Joey asked aside to his friend as he watched the two Al Bhed guys argue in their native tongue.

"How am I supposed to know? I'm not exactly bilingual Joey." Tristan replied. "But when it came to the subject on his sister, he's became so defensive."

"It's not like he beats her or anything…right?" Serenity asked, slightly worried about the situation between Brother and his sister.

"I doubt it, Sis. He doesn't look like the type of guy who'd hit a woman…" Joey declared.

"That's nice…" Serenity nodded, thanking god that she and Joey lived with their mom instead of their alcoholic abusive father. "Mom was afraid you'd turned out to be just like-"

"Never…compare me to him…" Joey hissed at his sister.

"Soo…what do you have to hide friend?" Tristan asked the two, wanting to change the subject he was listening from family violence.

"None of your beeswax." Brother declared.

"Brother doesn't exactly live up to his name. In fact, he cares more about his cousin than her...maybe a little more than he should" Buddy said the last part with a grin.

"Hey!" Brother snapped. "Who wouldn't be enamored with Yuna's grace and beauty?"

"Dude, that's incest…well to a degree…" Tristan exclaimed, disgusted. And he thought possible cousin-cousin relationships could occur on the Jerry Springer show.

"You'd be willing to do some incest too if you had a cousin like her!" Brother said, but then looked clueless. "What's incest?"

"And they said that I'm dumb?" Joey rolled his eyes, having overheard Brother, Buddy, and Tristan's comments, along with Serenity who looked on, confused.

"What is incest, Joey?" She asked innocently, which caused her brother to sigh. Apparently Brother wasn't the only one who didn't know what Incest was.

'She can't be this clueless…' Joey thought, thinking that their mom during the time that she and Serenity lived away from Domino must've really kept her sheltered…too sheltered.

"No, my Curse of Dragon!" Yugi called out as his Curse of Dragon disappeared from the field, thanks to Nhilda's Man-Eater Bug's special ability which allowed on monster card to be destroyed. Nhilda placed a face-down card into the spell/trap zone. Things have become worse in the duel as Yugi's life points had dropped to 2800 while Nhilda still had 5500. Bakura, still trying to learn the Al-Bhed language, still supported Yugi despite the events which occurred.

"It's my move…" Yugi drew a card as a smile then grew on his face. "I play Monster Reborn to bring back Curse of Dragon. I then place two cards face down as I now play Polymerization, which I'll use to fuse Curse of Dragon with Gaia the Fierce Knight to form Gaia the Dragon Champion [2600/2100]." The Revived Curse of Dragon and Gaia were then fused together as the fierce knight was now on top of Curse of Dragon's back.

"Gaia the Dragon Champion!" Yugi ordered, "Attack Nhilda's Ryu Kokki!" On top of the dragon, Gaia came Directly at the Zombie beast as it then destroyed it, as Nhilda shielded herself from her monster's destruction as her life points dropped…

Yugi: 2800

Nhilda: 5300

Nhilda began to smile as Gaia the Dragon Champion disappeared as it returned to Yugi's deck. "When you declared your attack, you activated my trap card, Begone, Knave! Now every time our monsters cause damage to each other's life points, they'll get returned to their respective decks. Just like your Dragon Champion."

Yugi sighed, seeing that there isn't anything more he can do, as he had no choice but to end his turn.

Nhilda smiled as she drew her next card. 'After I play this, there's no way he can win…' She thought as she then looked towards her opponent. "I now summon The Immortal of Thunder [1500/1300] in attack mode, which will increase my life points by 3000!" She announced as an aged blue-skinned man appeared

Yugi: 2800

Nhilda: 7300

However, Nhilda's smile changed into shock as the Immortal of Thunder falls into a hole as Yugi grinned.

"You activated my trap card, Nhilda. Trap hole, which instantly destroys any monster with over 1000 attack points, including The Immortal of Thunder. And since it was sent from the field to the graveyard, you lose 5000 life points as part of his special effect!"

Yugi: 2800

Nhilda: 2300

"Fyo du ku, Yugi! (Way to go, Yugi!)" Bakura cheered, which earned him an impressed look from Nhilda, but a confused look from Yugi. "I just congratulated you in Al Bhed! You should learn it."

'Intresting…' Yugi thought as Nhilda was becoming aggravated.

"Just get back to the duel!" She snapped. She was beginning to lose hope that she could win, and if she was going to lose, it would be best to just get it over with.

"As you wish…" Yugi sighed as he drew a card from his deck. 'Just the card to end the duel…' He said to himself. "Since whatever monster I use to attack will just be returned to my hand at the end of the turn, I must make the best of this turn." He then looked at Nhilda. "You've dueled well, Nhilda. But it ends now. First, I play my spell card Emblem of Dragon Destroyer, which allows me to place one Buster Blader into my hand." He grabbed his deck as he then placed the Warrior-Type monster in his hand, then reshuffled his deck. "I now play another Polymerization card as I will now fuse Buster Blader with Dark Magician to form Dark Paladin!

Buster Blader and the Dark Magician both appeared on the field as they were merge together into the supreme magician knight, Dark Paladin [2900/2400].

"Dark Paladin's special ability is to gain 500 attack points for every Dragon type monster on the field and in each of our graveyards. And with Curse of Dragon in my graveyard, Dark Paladin's attack raises to 3400!"

"So…that means…" Nhilda knew it was for sure: She was going to experience her first loss. And of all people someone who didn't have a duel disk or knowing anything about the Al-Bhed language. In fact, she didn't, dare to say it, think that he knew anything about Spira.

"Dark Paladin, attack Nhilda's lifepoints directly!" The permanently-fused Yugi and Yami ordered as the Magician Knight unleashed a direct attack on Nhilda, reducing what was left of her lifepoints…

Yugi: 2800

Nhilda: 0

The Duel Disks were then deactivated as the Dark Paladin disappeared into pyroflies. Yugi removed his deck as he then took off his duel disk. "Here Nhilda. Take your duel disk back. That was a great duel!"

"I'll say." Nhilda complemented as she received the Duel Disk Yugi borrowed. "Man, I almost had you! Until you managed to summon Dark Paladin…"

"Dark Paladin is a strong card with a very powerful special ability. But it's one of the cards that can only be Fusion Summoned." Yugi explained.

"Way to go, Yugi!" Bakura congratulated as he had the book in hand. "That was an excellent Duel!" He then looked at Nhilda who he then gave the book back to her. "You did well too, Nhilda. You should enter tournaments!"

Nhilda smiled at Bakura. "Thanks." Then looks him over... "Y'know…you're kinda cute!"

"Uhh…thanks…" He blushed as Yugi nudged.

"Thanks for the duel anyways, but we're looking for our friend." He said, wanting to get back to the reason why there were there in the first place.

"Right…have you seen a girl with brown hair that reaches to her lower neck?" Bakura asked. "She has blue eyes and she usually wears skirts and platform shoes." He described Tea to Nhilda who just shrugged.

"Nope, haven't seen anyone who fits that description." She apologized to the two. "The only one who remotely does is Lady Yuna, and we hardly ever see her around here."

"Lady Yuna?" The boys responded at the same time, slightly puzzled.

"Please don't tell me you guys have never heard of the High Summoner." Nhilda responded, slightly annoyed. 'Not knowing about the Al-Bhed language is one thing, but not knowing about the High Summoner who defeated Sin was too much.' She thought.

"I'm sorry…but we're not from around here." Yugi explained.

"Obviously…" She muttered under her breath. "So where are you guys from."

"We're from the city of Domino." Bakura answered. "It's a long story, actually…"

Tea and Rikku were in a middle of a duel as Mokuba and Shinra watched as the Celsius flew on Auto-Pilot. Destination: Besaid. After they've managed to pick up Yuna, they were planning on going to Luca to pick up Brother and Buddy.

"I now activate my Trap Card, Solemn Wishes, which will increase my Life Points by 500 each time I draw. And you'll know what happens when that happens, thanks to my Fire Princess' special ability, right?"

"You get to inflict 500 Life Points worth of damage?" Rikku responded.

"Precisely..." Tea grinned.

"Why aren't they using the Duel Disks?" Mokuba asked Shinra.

"To use them they'd have to be on the deck, which is the only place on the ship where they could use them without worrying about space issues. And besides, no one feels like going out on the deck right now, so they're dueling the old-fashioned way…or so I've heard." Shinra explained.

"I see. But this is the old fashioned way. My big brother was the first one to ever come up with the Duel Disk back home." Mokuba looked back at the duel, then asked. "Does it get hot in that suit, Shinra?"

"Sometimes…"

"It's all over Teyi!" Rikku declared. "I play Tribute to the Doomed, which I'll place-"

"RIKKU!" The voice of Seto Kaiba boomed from the door between the Cabin and the bathroom.

"Be right back." Rikku said as she rushed over to the door. "Yeeess?"

"Do you really expect me to wear this? Because…"

"Because what, Kaiby?"

Kaiba decided to ignore the "Kaiby" comment from Rikku as he finished. "Because this outfit's…how should I put this…stupid!"

Rikku's eyes went wide. "Let me take a look at-"

"No! Don't you dare look with those foul eyes of yours!" He shouted as he locked the door, then sighed. "Where did you put my clothes?"

"Hmm…they're being dried out." Rikku chirped. "Now if you excuse me, I have a duel to get back to!"

'How the hell did Tea and those geeks managed to bring Duel Monsters to this place is beyond me!' Kaiba thought as he looked at his 'outfit.' Just as his luck, he not only was wearing a stupid outfit, but it wasn't even regular clothes. In fact, he had to dress up in a mascot costume, which apparently had to be, what Rikku and Tea called, "The Gullwings' Prized Garment." He couldn't believe this was happening. Him, Seto Kaiba, was reduced to dressing up like a mascot in a world where he's not the richest and most powerful man in Domino but a mere…ugh…commoner. And the worse part of it all: Tea knew Yugi, and even worse, Joey. Yugi, at least wouldn't had made a big deal, but for Joey…let's just say that he'd be having a field day at this. Fortunately, he wouldn't find either of them here. Good riddance.

"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted…" Rikku narrowed her eyes at the door Kaiba was behind. "I play Tribute to the Doomed, which I send one card from my hand to my graveyard, but not until I choose one of your monsters. And since Fire Princess is the only one on your side of the field, she's outta there!

"So you took my Fire Princess out, but I still have 2950 Life Points while you still only have 1400." Tea reminded as she placed her Fire Princess card in her graveyard card pile. "And next turn, I'm going to have 3450 Life Points."

"Sorry, Tea…" Rikku apologized. "There isn't going to be a next turn, because now I play Monster Reborn! And who do I plan to bring back? The monster card I just sent to the graveyard! My Blue Eyes White Dragon!" She said as she bought back the same card she just placed in her Graveyard pile into her hand.

"BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON!?" Both Mokuba and Kaiba, who opened the door and stuck his head out, replied at Rikku's statement, as she placed the said card on the board.

"Looks like I win!" Rikku chirped.

"Rikku…" Mokuba asked. "How did you get a Blue Eyes?"

"Well…let's just say that I had first dibs at the cards." She explained, as Kaiba then grew an evil smile on his face. Perhaps he could form Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon again after all, and Rikku would be the key…

"Heh heh heh! Check it out!" Joey showed his hand of card he received from trade: Summoned Skull, Meteor Dragon, Meteor Black Dragon, The A. Forces, United We Stand, and Mage Power! "Today's my lucky day!"

"Heh…not bad, but get a load of this!" Tristan smiled as he held up his new cards: 2 Giant Orcs, 2 Second Goblins, and two Axe of Despairs.

"Finally, something that'll replace your Goblin Attack Force cards." Joey smirked as Serenity just smiled. "If ya play them right, you can avoid losing your Giant Orcs just after they're summoned."

"And now you can summon Black Skull Dragon without Yugi to help you!" Tristan responded back.

Brother, meanwhile had a huge smile on his face. He looked at the cards as he smiled. In his hands were Painful Choice, as well as Backup Soldier and the card he came to get: Graceful Charity. He also had two cards which hid behind the first three. "Rikku fuh'd payt sa hud fedr draca lyntc eh so talg. Exodia femm pnehk ran du ran ghaac! Ran yht ran Blue Eyes!" (Rikku won't beat me now with these cards in my deck. Exodia will bring her to her knees! Her and her Blue Eyes!)" He said to himself.

"I know that you feel that you now have the tools you need to win, but take it easy…" Buddy said to his friend.

"Silence!" Brother responded. "Rikku needs to be put into her place, and now I have the cards to do it!"

"Hey…guys!?" Joey called out to them, but they, or Buddy rather was too busy in bringing Brother down to Earth.

Suddenly, Tristan couldn't take it anymore. "Hey! Blonde guys!" This caught the attention of not only Brother and Buddy, but a few more Al Bhed as well

as Joey(Hey, he's blonde too!) "I don't mean to pride, but we're looking for someone."

Serenity added. "She had brown hair, blue eyes, has a tattoo-"

"Tattoo!?" Joey and Tristan responded in shock of what Serenity has just said.

"Yes guys, she has a tattoo." She confirmed.

"Tea never told us she gotta tattoo!" Joey stated.

"Yeah, I thought we were closer than that." Tristan added.

"That's because she felt that you guys would've made a big deal about it." Serenity explained. "I mean, let's be honest Joey. You make a big deal if Tristan actually calls me."

"She got a point there, Joey." Tristan agreed as expected.

"Tea?" Brother asked. "You're looking for Dancing Goddess?" Ever since Tea danced in Yuna's place on top of the Celsius, Brother had kindly gave her the nickname "Dancing Goddess."

"Dancing Goddess?" The three young people from Domino replied in unison.

"Ignore him." Buddy pushed him aside. "So you're looking for Tea, am I correct?"

"Yeah…well us and our other friends, Yugi and Bakura." Tristan explained.

Brother, meanwhile, looked at Serenity with a bit of resent now that he knows who they are. During Tea's time with the Gullwings, Brother has developed somewhat of a crush on his "Dancing Goddess," but still would choose Yuna over her. Like with his crush on Yuna, Rikku was quick to stop him from even remotely flirting with her. Usually it was with a kick to the ribs or, if it came down to it, a kick to the…y'know.

"Cu oui'na dra rusa fnalgehk pedlr fru rind Tea…" (So you're the home wrecking bitch who hurt Tea …)" He muttered, which lead to a glance from Serenity. "Oh nothing, I was just practicing my Al Bhed…"

"Uh oh…" Buddy muttered, having heard what Brother said. Then tugged Joey close to him.

"Take it easy, Man!" He protested, straitening the shirt Buddy tugged on.

"Friend, I think you'd better make sure your sister keeps her distance from Brother."

"What's that? It's not like as if he…" Joey then realized, or so he believes. "Good call. I already have Romeo over there to deal with." He points to Tristan.

"No, it's not that he's in love with her, it's…" Buddy decided not to tell him about Brother's newfound hatred for Serenity. "Now you're looking for Tea, right?"

"Right, but we gotta get our other friends first!" Joey reminded as he look towards his friends. "Tristan, Serenity, let's find Yuge and Bakura!"

"Right behind you!" Tristan followed, along with Serenity who was oblivious to Brother's glare.

"You coming?" Buddy asked his fellow Al Bhed.

"Yeah, I'm coming…" Brother muttered as they both tried to catch up to the three.

Back at the fountain near Luca Stadium, Yugi and Bakura sat down on a bench, pondering which step they should take next.

"So Yugi, we've looked everywhere for her. Maybe she's not here." Bakura stated.

"She's here. She just has to be here!" Yugi assured. "It's like I have this feeling that I can sense she's nearby…"

"You and Tea must be really close, like the bond you and your Yami had before the…incident."

"Maybe…" Yugi sighed, "I just hope she's okay." He had a strong feeling that Tea was in Spira. But now he's not so sure. So far, no one has even seen Tea, let alone made contact with her. Perhaps she was in another world.

"She's fine, Yugi!" Bakura assured, hoping to cheer up his friend. "I'm sure of it…" Suddenly, few voices shouting caught his, as well as Yugi's attention.

"Hey Yuge!" A familiar Brooklyn-Accented voice shouted as three of their friends, as well as two new ones, came towards their way.

Yugi and Bakura ran up to them, smiling. "Joey, Tristan, Serenity!"

"What's up, guys?"

"I think we've finally found Tea!" Tristan explained.

Yugi blinked, "Really Tristan?"

"Dat's right!" Joey nodded with a grin as he pointed to their new Al Bhed friends. "These guys just happened to met Tea! Brother and Buddy offered a lift on their Airship."

"It's no problem! We're glad to lend you guys a hand!" Buddy explained.

"That's right! After all, as the leader of the Gullwings, any friend of Tea's is a friend of mine!" Brother stated as he then glanced at Serenity as he muttered under his breath, "Yht yh ahaso uv Tea ec yh ahaso ec seha! (And an enemy of Tea is an enemy of mine!)"

Bakura's eyes went wide as he managed to overhear Brother. "Oh my…" He said to himself. Even though he only managed to partially learn the Al Bhed Language during Yugi's duel, it was easy to figured out what Brother said wasn't exactly positive.

"What is it, Bakura?" Tristan asked, but Buddy stepped in.

"It's nothing." He assured. After seeing how Joey got riled up over the most trivial things when it came to situations which involved his sister, a potential death threat to Serenity was the last thing he needed to hear.

"So, about this airship…" Serenity began to ask. "How big is it?"

"Heh…just see for yourself." Buddy smiled. He had put great pride into the Celsius and believed that there was no other Airship like it. He began to use his comlink to contact Rikku, Tea, Shinra, whoever was on board. "Buddy to Celsius! Buddy to Celsius, can you read me?"

"We read you Buddy!" Replied a feisty, female voice. It was Rikku. "What's up? You guys got what you need."

"That…and a bit more." Buddy glanced at Yugi and co.

"Okay, we'll be in Luca in about two-"

"The hell we are!" Replied a cold, male voice, but somewhat familiar to Yugi and co, cutting Rikku off. "We can pick up your pathetic friends later! Right now we're going back to Guadosalam! I have a score to settle with those Syndicate Fools!"

"Waitaminute…" Joey blinked, much to his or anyone else's (in Yugi's group) disbelief. "Was that-"

"No way, it couldn't be!" Tristan responded as well.

"Look! We can go get the sphere later!"

"NO! We're going to Guadosalam, now! On the way, we're going to have duel!"

"Hey! Wait a second! Just who do-"

"You can't deny my challenge Rikku! Duel me, so I can win your Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

Brother and Buddy watched on in amusement with Rikku and, apparently, her guest as Yugi and the others didn't know what to be shocked about more: Seto Kaiba in Spira, or the fact that there was another Blue Eyes White Dragon other then the four back in Domino.

"Alright…let's compromise: We'll go to Luca, but on the way there, we duel!" Kaiba decided.

"Hmm…sound fair, but why should I accept your challenge in the first place?" Rikku asks, as everyone listened on the comlink.

"Because…how would you like to have another Blue Eyes White Dragon?"

"What? You mean…"

"That's right! We are going to duel on the deck of this airship, using your own duel disks."

"Don't do it Rikku!" Another female voice spoke, but in a warning tone. This voice confirmed to Yugi, as well as his friends, that they've found who they were looking for. It was Tea, who was apparently warning Rikku not to accept the duel. "Trust me you're making a big mistake."

"Stay out of this, Gardner!"

"Don't do it Rikku. If he beats you, he'll just rip your Blue Eyes into two."

"Why would he do something like that, Teyi?"

"Teyi?" Joey had a confused look on his face, but shrugged. "It could've been worse…"

"Because Kaiba's so much of an egotistical spoiled jerk that he wouldn't want his monster used against him, isn't that right Kaiba? That's the reason why you ripped Yugi's Grandpa's Blue Eyes, wasn't it?"

"So I made a mistake. Sue me! I was…I didn't-look, just accept the duel Rikku!"

"Alright alright, fine!"

"Wise choice…but then again. Maybe it isn't…"

"What do you mean?"

"After the duel's over, you're Blue Eyes will be in my deck." Kaiba said in his trademark vindictive tone.

"Oh we'll see Mr. Unstoppable." Rikku retorted, as everyone back in Luca had a mixed reaction. Buddy was intrigued with the duel, as Yugi, Serenity, and Tristan was worried about Rikku, knowing what cards Kaiba had in his deck. Joey hoped that Rikku would beat Kaiba and vice-versa in Brother's case.

"The duel will begin, as soon as I get out of this damn Mugo outfit."

"Moogle outfit. But come on! You look so adorable…"

"Look, just bring me my clothing!"

Joey's eyes went wide as smile then grew wide on his face. "Kaiba in an embarassing outfit? This I gotta see! Oh, I can't wait to get on him about that…"

"It must be very humiliating for Kaiba. I should've brought a camera." Tristan commented, which caused a sighs from Serenity, Yugi, and Bakura.

As the Celsius was now en route to Luca, Kaiba and Rikku were in the elevator which would take them to the deck, each with the duel disks on.

"So…" Rikku began. "Good luck! Sorry that I'm gonna have to take your Blue Eyes."

"For one, luck's for 2nd-rate amateurs. And second, if there's anyone who's going to gain a Blue Eyes White Dragon, it's going to be me." Kaiba replied coldly as the elevator then arrived to deck level.

Kaiba and Rikku then got in position as they then activated the duel disks, each having 8000 Life Points. There wasn't any need of an audience since, in Kaiba's arrogant opinion, this duel wasn't going to last long.

"Let's Duel" They both shouted as they each drew five cards.

"Amateurs first..." Kaiba stated as he proceeded to think up a quick strategy.

"Alright then…" Rikku smiled as she drew one card. "I'll place one monster faced down in Defense Position, as well as two cards in defense mode, then I end my turn." A card materialized on the field in defense position as two other facedown cards behind.

'Typical amateur move…" Kaiba retorted as he then drew a card. "I place two cards face down as now I play Dark Zebra [1800/400] in attack mode." The pyroflies merged together as a Zebra with a unicorn-like horn on top of its head then appeared on the field. "Now Dark Zebra, attack Rikku's facedown monster!" Kaiba ordered as Dark Zebra charged at and destroyed the facedown monster, which was revealed to be Cyber Jar [900/900] as Rikku smiled.

"Thanks Setty!" She chirped as Dark Zebra was then destroyed. "Now we-"

"I know what Cyber Jar's special ability does, you fool! We now draw 5 cards and if they're level-4 monsters we placed them on the field. And don't call me 'Seto,' much less 'Setty!'" Kaiba interrupted, irritated as he drew 5 cards but placed the following in attack position: Vorse Raider [1900/1200], X-Head Cannon [1800/1500], Y-Dragon Head [1500/1600], Z-Metal Tank [1500/1300]. He also placed another card in defense mode.

"Now it's my turn." Rikku drew 5 cards, but wasn't as luck as Kaiba, as she placed two monster cards faced down in defense position. "Man…"

"Just what I thought…" Kaiba smirked. "There's not a card in your deck that can beat me. Now Vorse Raider, attack her face-down monster!" He ordered as the Beast-Warrior tossed its blade towards Rikku's facedown monster card…

"I don't think so!" Rikku declared as she activated one of her face-down cards, a trap card. "Activate Mirror Force! Say goodbye to Vorse Raider and your machines!" The blades hit the Mirror-like barrier as the attack then bounced off and not only hit Kaiba's Vorse Raider, but his X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank.

Kaiba growled slightly. 'Looks like I've underestimated this greenhorn duelist. But then again, maybe she just got lucky.' He looked at the cards currently in his hand as he then stated. "I end my turn."

"My Turn!" Rikku drew a card. "I'll sacrifice my face down monsters to summon the strongest monster in my hand!" She announced as the cards vanished from the field. "Say hello to…dun-dun-dun-dun…The Blue Eyes White Dragon!" As the pyroflies came together, the strongest normal monster card appeared on the field, much to Rikku's delight. "Now, my Blue Eyes! Attack Kaiba's facedown card directly!"

'Just what I wanted you to do…' Kaiba smirked. "Activate Trap card Ring of Destruction! Which will take our, for now, your Blue Eyes." A ring with a detenation device was then placed onto Rikku's Blue Eyes.

"You know that we're both going to lose major Life Points, right?" Rikku asked, slightly confused as to why he'd flush 3000 Life Points just to avoid being attack by a Blue Eyes. Maybe Tea was right about him when it came to a Blue Eyes White Dragon, She thought.

"Exactly why I play my Spell card, Defense Wheel, which will protect my Life Points from the effects of my Trap card." Kaiba declared as a green machine-like rotating barrier appeared in front of him as the ring around BEWD's neck exploded. Rikku felt the effects of the attack as her Life Points began to drop…

Kaiba: 8000

Rikku: 5000

"Now with no monster's on the field, you're pretty much open for an attack!" Kaiba stated with a grin.

"Don't count your chocobos before they hatch, buddy!" Rikku warned, which received a confused look to Kaiba from the "chocobo" reference, as she ended her turn. Meanwhile, the deck door opened as Shinra, Tea and Mokuba walked out from the elevator to watch.

"Who's winning?" Shinra asked.

"I bet it's Seto!" Mokuba said with pride as Kaiba drew a card. "Rikku may be great, but let's face it: She's no match for my big brother!"

From the look on his face, Kaiba was satisfied with the card he drew. "I reveal my facedown monster! Lord of Dragons [1200/1100]." Kaiba announced as the card flipped face up, summoning the Spellcaster dragon lord. I now play my spell card Flute of Summoning Dragons. Any 2nd-rate amateur knows that when played with Lord of Dragons on the field, a duelist can summon 2 dragons to the field! Unfortunately for you, I have two of the cards that will lead to your defeat. Now I summon two Blue Eyes White Dragons to the field!"

Lord of Dragons, with the Flute of Summoning Dragons in his hands, proceeded to blow on the horn, which caused two Blue Eyes to appear from the pyroflies, much to Rikku's shock.

"He got two of them on the field in one turn." She whimpered.

"And now there'll be three," Kaiba added, "Once I play this!" He then placed a card on the spell/trap card zone of the duel disk. "Monster Reborn! This allows me to recover any monster sent to the graveyard, even if it's yours! Take a guess which monster I'll choose!"

"Oh no…" Rikku knew exactly which monster he was going to pick, and the worse thing was that she couldn't do anything to prevent it.

"Oh yes! Now Blue Eyes White Dragon, come to me, your true master."

"Oh no…He's not going to do what I think he is, is he?" Tea asked, concerned for Rikku. Apparently there was something she forgot to mention to Rikku.

"To do what?" Shinra asked.

"The most powerful monster in all of duel monsters!" Mokuba cheered. "Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, baby!"

From the pyroflies, Rikku's Blue Eyes returned to the field, but on Kaiba's side, who now had three Blue Eyes on the field.

"Be careful, Rikku!" Tea called out to her friend, warning her.

"Too late, Tea!" Kaiba retorted. "You're wasting your breath. It's too late to help her now! The biggest mistake Rikku made was accepting this duel, and now I'll teach her lesson that she'll never forget!"

"Do yer worst!" Rikku taunted as she got into her battle pose, believing that Kaiba was just bluffing.

Mokuba, meanwhile was pondering. "If Seto has three Blue Eyes in his deck, why would he use Rikku?"

"That's a good question, Mokuba." Tea replied. Everyone knew that there were only four Blue Eyes White Dragons in the world (In Tea's dimension.) and Kaiba had three. The forth was ripped by Kaiba, fearing that it would be used against him. But unless it was deep in his deck, why didn't he use his third one. 'Maybe to humiliate Rikku…' She thought.

Kaiba smirked. "Right now, I could've sent two of my three Blue Eyes to attack you directly and win the duel, but I want this to be a duel you'll never forget. A duel which you will learn why you should never challenge me." He then picked a card from his hand and placed it in the spell/trap card zone. I now play Polymerization, which will fuse my great beasts together to form the most powerful monster in Duel Monsters!"

The Three Blue Eyes were pulled together as it then formed a slightly-larger Blue Eyes, but this one had three heads as well as a dark symbol appeared on its head.

"Behold! The Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! [4500/3800]"

"Alright!" Mokuba cheered. "This duel's over. There's nothing Rikku can do now!"

"Now what do I do?" Rikku wondered as she was face to face with the Ultimate Attack monster.

"I believe the answer is clear: Prepare to fall at the hand of my Ultimate Creature!" Kaiba answered, overhearing her. "Now Lord of Dragons, Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Take out the rest of Rikku's life points."

"Not so fast!" Rikku announced as her face-down card appeared. "Go Widespread Ruin! This trap-card takes out the highest attack monster on your side of the field! So I'll only lose 1200 life points! Say goodbye to Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" She winked in triumph as she found a way to defeat the Ultimate Dragon. However, much to her horror, it had no effect… "What? But…"

"You amateur!" Kaiba exclaimed in frustration at Rikku's foolishness. "Another one of Lord of Dragon's special abilities is that he protects all Dragons on the field from Spell or Trap cards. You tried to delay the inevitable and you couldn't even do that right. Now…Lord of Dragons, attack directly!" He ordered as Lord of Dragons hit Rikku with a spell attack, causing her Life Points to drop.

Kaiba: 8000

Rikku: 3800

"And now Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! End this duel and bring me victory with your Neutron Blast!" Kaiba ordered as the three-headed Blue Eyes obliged by firing its Neutron Blast at Rikku directly, who shielded her eyes at the blast.

Kaiba: 8000

Rikku: 0

"It's over…" Tea said, with a bit of sympathy in her voice for Rikku.

"Poor Rikku, but that's the price she pays when she challenges my Big Brother." Mokuba said in a cheerful voice as he ran up to Kaiba to congratulate him.

Rikku fell down to her knees as she slightly leaned back. She felt limp as she looked down. "I lost…this quick? But how?"

"You lost this quickly because I am a superior duelist to in every way." Kaiba explained as Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon vanished into pyroflies. He now walked over to grab Rikku's deck or more specifically, the card which now belonged to him.

"No…not my Blue Eyes…" She whimpered.

--------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------

Right now the Celsius is headed for Luca, where Yugi, Brother, and the crew are waiting. Rikku is crushed not only about her losing the duel, but now that her Blue Eyes now belongs to Kaiba. What will happen if and when Serenity find out about how Brother feels about her, and how will Joey and Tristan feel? Find out in the next chapter.

Preview for next chapter:

"Kaiba!" She shouted at Kaiba, just before he was about to enter the elevator.

He sighed in annoyance. "Look, if I want to waste anymore time with you geeks, I-"

"No, you look!" Tea grabbed Kaiba arm, which earned her a glare. But Tea didn't care. "Rikku could've turned down your challenge, and by all rights she should have. But she, like a true duelist, gave it her best shot!"

"So what? The important thing is that she lost and proven to be just another amateur in my way. Besides, compassion, pity, and all that other nonsense are only for the weak, like you."

Chapter 10: The Gang's All Here! Part 3