Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Cheerleader Strikes Back ❯ The Public Eye ( Chapter 2 )

The Cheerleader Strikes Back

 

It's a new record! This was barely up for a day, and it got a flame! Well, although this story is apparently `crappy', I will not resort to flaming back.

 

Chapter 2

 

The Public Eye

 

The Dueling Arena powered down, and Tea hopped down from her console. She was still surprised she had won. Maybe after not dueling for so long, Kaiba really had lost his touch. She crossed the arena and knelt beside the teenager.

“Kaiba? It was a good match.” She said carefully. Kaiba's shoulders were shaking, and if Tea didn't know better, she'd have sworn he was crying. But the mere fact that this was Kaiba, of all people, dismissed that fact. “I just got a lucky draw, you know? If you want to have a rematch, I'll be happy to.” Tea reached out to gently touch Kaiba on the shoulder, and he snapped his head around to glare.

“Don't touch me!” He hissed. He shot to his feet, snatched his deck and walked away. Tea watched him go and sighed.

“I should've just dueled Joey.”

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

Tea had just stepped out the doors to the Kaiba Land Dueling Stadium when a voice called out over the bustling crowd.

“There she is!” a guy shouted. Tea didn't really pay attention, and was busy digging into her purse for her cell phone. The fact that she had just beat Kaiba- even if she considered it pure luck on her part- was bound to get a laugh out of Joey. Then she pulled her head up and noticed that everyone in her immediate vicinity was staring at her. Tea sweat-dropped and waved.

“Um…can I help you guys?” She asked. As if they had received their cue, the crowd swarmed her.

“Do you know what you just did?” A little boy asked from her side. Tea bit her lip.

“Um…not really…” She muttered.

“You just beat Seto Kaiba!” a woman told her. Tea blinked.

“You guys know about that?”

“It was on every monitor in Kaiba Land!” the woman said.

“You're the first person to beat Kaiba since Yugi Muto!” a second voice yelled.

“Yeah, only the King of Games has what it takes to beat Kaiba! Or I suppose, the King and the Queen of Games!” The little boy giggled.

“Yeah, the Queen of Games!” the second voice said again. The title took off like wildfire, and almost everyone was chanting it. “Queen of Games, Queen of Games, Queen of Games!” Tea held up her hands.

“Whoa, hold on!” She protested. “I just got a lucky draw, alright? I got lucky and won, I'm no Queen of Games!”

“Miss, what's your name?” the woman asked.

“Tea Gardner.” Tea replied.

“Tea Gardner, the new Queen of Games!” the little boy yelled. The crowd cheered its approval.

“Anything you need to know about the competition, I'm a big fan!” A girl cried, running forward. Tea raised an eyebrow.

“Um, what competition?” She asked sheepishly.

“Yugi Muto! After this, he's gotta duel ya! The King of Games versus the Queen of Games!”

“I told you, I'm not the Queen of Games!” Tea sighed. “And I wouldn't want to duel Yugi, he's my best friend.” Tea cringed as the crowd erupted into new life.

“No wonder she won, she knows Yugi!”

“That's not fair, he probably told her all of Kaiba's moves!”

“They're probably going to end up going out after this!” Tea gulped and began to push through the crowd.

“Hold it right there.” A big, burly hand lay itself on her shoulder, and Tea turned to see a big man staring down his nose at her. The big brute had his black hair slicked back completely over his skull, except for two places on either side where the hair stuck up into bright red mini-Mohawks. “You're supposed ta be da Queen of Games? Ya win one match, and ya think you're da Queen?” The thug demanded. Te backed up.

“Um, I think I said I wasn't the Queen.” Tea stammered.

“Ya wanna be number one, ya gotta beat me!” The thug sneered.

“No way, I wanna duel her!”

“Let me, I use the same kind of cards as she does!” the little girl shouted. Tea shot a glance behind her, relieved to find she had reached the edge of the crowd. She spun around and took off running. The big thug growled.

“Get `er!” He yelled, running after her. The crowd- or the duelists in it anyway- followed behind him. Tea ran through the gates of Kaiba Land cut left. The big thug and the crowd were closing fast. Tea put on an extra burst of speed and ducked into an alley. The thug followed a minute later, and skidded to a stop. The alley was empty. The thug looked around and turned to two other guys behind him.

“Search da street, don't let da little twerp escape!” He snapped. The two guys nodded and ran off. The thug took one last look down the alley and marched away. A few seconds later, Tea gently lifted the trash can lid off her hiding place and poked her head up.

“Oi vey.” She groaned. “I wonder if Yugi ever had to go through all this.”

“Check da alley again!” Tea eeped and ducked back inside the empty trashcan, pulling the lid back down. It was going to be a long afternoon.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

“Mom, I'm fine. No, different rooms…mom, that's gross! I'll be home tomorrow.” Tea sighed and hung up her cell phone. “Thanks for letting me stay here Yugi.” She said with a smile. She and the duelist were in the living room of the Turtle Game Shop. Tea had figured correctly that her house would be swarmed with newfound fans, and she couldn't have been more correct. Someone had figured out her address, and there was a large crowd outside her home. She had decided to hide out at Yugi's, but didn't tell him why.

“Dis is great, da gang's all `ere.” Joey yelled, wrapping an arm around Tea's shoulder. “We'll play games, have a party, it'll be great.” Tea rolled her eyes and shoved Joey off of her into Tristan.

“Yugi, you have any soda?” She asked. Yugi nodded.

“Yeah, there's some in the fridge, you want one?” He replied, starting to get up.

“It's ok, I'll get it.” She got up and crossed the room. “Hey Yugi.” She started, rummaging through the fridge. “When you beat Kaiba, did anyone give you looks like…” She stood up and turned around to see Yugi, Joey and Tristan staring at her with their mouths hanging open. “Yeah, like that.” Tea muttered. Joey calmly stood up, walked over to her and threw his arms around her.

“I love you!” He wailed. Tea blushed.

“Joey!”

“You the mistress of the universe, your wish is my command, I worship you.” Joey stepped back and made a show of bowing to her. Tea giggled nervously.

“Uh…what's going on?” She asked. Yugi pointed at the TV. Tea followed his finger and groaned.

“This video footage, taken from the Kaiba Land security cameras, shows Kaiba Corp CEO Seto Kaiba not only losing his first duel in over a year, but also losing to a virtual unknown, allegedly one Tea Gardner. The former world champion has been beaten only 3 times in his dueling career, once to the Industrial Illusions Chairman Maximillion Pegasus, and twice to Yugi Muto. And not even the current World Champion and King of Games Yugi Muto could defeat Kaiba in such a quick fashion. For Domino New, I'm Naomi Higurashi.” The news ended, and Tea hung her head.

“I guess you guys wanna hear what happened huh?” She muttered. Joey nodded.

“And leave out no detail, no matter how demeaning and degrading to Kaiba it may be.” He insisted.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

“We looked all over town Vick, she ain't home or anywhere.” Cyrus informed his boss. Cyrus had short brown hair with four black streaks going from the front to the back. Beside him, his partner Dorien shuffled while their boss glared at them. Dorien was Cyrus' younger brother, and wore his hair longer and down to the shoulders. He also had streaks, but his were platinum blonde, not black like Cyrus'.

“Keep searchin', she must be hidin' out somewheres. Get da twerp and bring `er `ere!” He snapped. Cyrus and Dorien nodded and took off. Vick smirked and put an arm around the girl sitting next to him.

“Don't worry baby, you're the real Queen of Games. I know it, and ya know it. And once my boys find that little twerp and make her duel ya, she'll know it too.” He chuckled. The woman beside him smirked.

“That's my boy.” She purred.