Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Yu-Gi-Oh: Under Control ❯ Unbeatable! The Rare Eleven Ice Dancers' Second Appearance ( Chapter 3 )

~Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh; "So cheerleader, ready to lose." Umei mocked.

"We'll see who's a cheerleader after this match!" Jounouchi shouted at her.

"-and I place this card in attack mode. Hypnotic Water Dancer!"

Jounouchi drooled, "HA! That thing doesn't even have an attack or defense strength. Too bad she isn't as good as she looks!"

"Allow me to introduce the Rare Elven Ice Dancer. When the Hypnotic Water Dancer is on the field, an ice field, she will freeze; her temperature is below 0 degrees. When she freezes, she will break away from her frozen prism and is very much changed." Umei laughed. "I guess the tables have turned on you big time!"

"I lost…" Jounouchi was in some sort of a trance as he couldn't stay focused.

"I challenge you to a duel!" Yami Yuugi shouted behind her.

"Yuugi… I accept."~

-

A Tapestry Incomplete

Episode Three: Unbeatable! The Rare Eleven Ice Dancer's Second Appearance

-

"Which one?" Umei asked.

"Huh?" Yami Yuugi's eyes blinked.

"Duel me now, in this meadow… Or, duel me in a MUCH different arena… Your choice." Umei smirked as she flipped her hair. It dangled back to its previous position.

Yami Yuugi pondered about what she meant.

-Flashback

"If you like, being the brave but stupid opponent, you can duel me somewhere else. A little surprise if you like to call it that. But, being a coward and smart opponent, you can duel me right here, right now."

-End Flashback

"A surprise. Where is this surprise?" Yami Yuugi interrogated.

A grimace of delight broke out over Umei's face. "Follow me."

"Should we trust her?" Anzu murmured to Honda. "What if she tries to steal Yuugi's starchips?"

"She's only one person, she won't get away with anything." Honda fanned himself.

"But shouldn't we find Jou-kun?"

"Jounouchi's tough, he can watch out for himself. He just needs time alone."

"But what if Sawatari-san kicks Jou-kun off the island. He doesn't have any starchips left." Anzu requisitioned.

"But it's not our problem."

"What's wrong with you? You never acted like this before Honda?"

"… Nothing-besides, didn't Jounouchi mention that Umei-sama wasn't a good duelist." Anzu shrugged at Honda's comment. `In that magazine it said she wasn't worth fighting right? So if Jounouchi could get beaten by someone who isn't worth the time of day, it's really his issue.'

Umei began to laughed with aberration, "That magazine with my profile in it!" Umei was standing in front of the two now.

"Nani!" Honda jumped.

"Hai?" Anzu asked puzzled.

"That was published a year ago." Umei chortled.

Honda's face flushed scarlet red as Anzu chuckled at this mistake.

"Uh…" Umei finally realized that this wasn't a joke anymore. She quickly lost the friendly smile and turned away. How could she have done that. Why try to act buddy-buddy with THOSE failures. She shifted her gaze back to a stubborn Yami Yuugi. "FOLLOW ME!" she shouted with narrowed eyes.

"Are you finished?" Yami Yuugi taunted as she walked past him. "So there really is a person under all that hatred." He said expressionless.

"Shut up! Kisama!" Umei cursed. She walked on. Yami Yuugi followed. Honda and Anzu lurched behind confused.

"How did she know I was thinking about…." Honda trailed off.

---

Jounouchi sat on a beach just outside the woods of Duelist Kingdom. Stones and boulders were scattered unusually everywhere. It looked as if a dam was keeping people out of the beach. Jounouchi shook the thought off.

"I can't believe I lost." Jounouchi slammed his fist into the ground. "Shizuka, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." A warm tear began to shine in his eye. He held his head down. His eyes were shadowed from his bushy, dirty-blonde bangs. Someone walked out of the same woods Jounouchi was in. The figure stood at the top of the beach, watching Jounouchi in the sand.

"Reminds me, this beach reminds me of the time I took my sister to the beach. She'll never see happy moments like that anymore." Jounouchi grabbed a stone really close to him and chucked it into the water. He stood and walked over to the cool blue liquid. Before he got a chance to step one foot into the water someone grabbed him by the wrist.

"Hey let go!"

Sawatari was clenching on Jounouchi's arm. He then used his left arm to grab on to Jounouchi's duelist glove. "Obvious." Sawatari hissed in Jounouchi's ear, "If you thought you could get away with staying on this island, and possibly conning someone out of their own star chips, you've got another thing coming."

Sawatari then contained both of Jounouchi's arms with his own muscular right hand alone. He then used his left to reach for the cell phone in his pocket. Jounouchi stopped resisting, he gave in. What was the point of fighting back?

"Motsuwa, get the boats at the docks ready for another shipment of underdogs." Sawatari ordered another guard over the phone. The man on the other side said something back to Sawatari. "No, there's no need for that, I got this one under my control." He then clicked the phone off.

"I can't believe this…" Jounouchi murmured to himself. "Why did I ever agree to a duel with Umei… That magazine article… A lie."

"Ah, so you met Mister Crawford's daughter. A badass little brat she was when I had to watch her when she was no older then seven. She's still a badass if you know what I mean. But I can't believe you lost to her, even I could've beaten her, HAHAHA!" Sawatari laughed with sarcasm dripping from his mouth.

"Kisama!" Jounouchi knocked his head into Sawatari's jaw. Sawatari stumbled back as Jounouchi eyed him.

"Shit!" Sawatari wiped the blood from his chin. He then reached in his back pocket and revealed a shining metal. A silver revolver.

Jounouchi stood out of his fighting pose and placed his hands up.

Sawatari waltzed over to Jounouchi with caution. He kept the gun aimed at Jounouchi's head, "Learn your lesson well, baka-" Sawatari then smacked Jounouchi across the face with the back of his gun. Jounouchi fell to the ground; his whole face throbbing in pain. Sawatari smirked, "Or, you'll never know who is the true master." Sawatari pointed the gun back at Jounouchi. "Pathetic Dog, get up and get walking." He pushed the gun on top of Jounouchi's forehead and kept nudging him over and over. "I said-"

"Please stop!" someone jumped from the top of the slope that entered the beach. "No more!" a feminine voice came again.

"What the hell do you want?" Sawatari pointed the gun towards the mysterious person. "Run, baka, before I turn my rage on you!"

"No more," the figured squeaked. A girl that didn't really look like a girl stood before the two. She had short brown hair covered in a huge cowboy hat. Two long blunted bangs were sketched over the front of her face. She held her hands together all the way up to her chin.

"Mind your own business."

"There is too much hatred, no more. You can't send my friend off the island, he's dueling for his sister,"

"Wha…" Jounouchi gasped. `How does… How does this stranger know that?' he thought to himself.

"and" the female continued, "he needs the money in order to give her an operation. She needs a heart transplant." The girl pleaded as her deep blue eyes sparkled.

Jounouchi practically fainted in humiliation, what a coincidental lie.

"Rules are rules, no matter how pathetic his story may be." Sawatari growled.

"Are you daft man!" the girl's voiced picked up in volume, but only a little. "He is dueling for a good cause, I was holding his star chips all along! See." the girl began looking through her pockets. "Uh, wait one moment." She began pulling things out of her oversized, dark green jacket pockets. "Um here, no here. Maybe this. I don't know what this does, uh, this thing, oops, wait, here, no, here, crap."

Jounouchi and Sawatari had blank expressions over their faces.

A pile of junk was now crowded around the girl's feet.

"Found them!" She held up five star chips. "See, two of them are his!"

"Hm, I see. But to qualify for this competition you need both a star chip AND a duelist glove! Where's yours." Sawatari pointed the gun at her now.

"Eep! I threw it down here somewhere!" the girl began searching through all the junk on the sand floor. "Let me see, this! No! is this, or this, maybe that is-"

"Forget it, I have no time for this." Sawatari placed the gun back in his pocket. "You need to be more organized, and get your friend out of my sight." Sawatari began to walk down the beach. "If I catch both of you without your star chips and duelist gloves again, your asses will be off MY island."

Sawatari disappeared off the horizon.

The girl kneeled by Jounouchi and rubbed his back; he was of course still lying on the ground. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Why didn't you mind your own business? Nosy ingrate." Jounouchi snapped under his breath.

"Hey, hey. Please don't get mad." The girl held out her hand, two star chips were gleaming in them. "Do you want them."

"No. I'll win my own." Jounouchi looked up to her for the first time.

"But how will you? You can't challenge anyone now, you don't have any. You're gon'na need a start some how."

"You've should've just minded your own damn business." Jounouchi pushed her away lightly.

Her blue eyes sparkled again, "That's a horrible mark on your face. That guard, he hit you that hard." The girl placed her fingertips on Jounouchi's face, she touched lightly on the bruise. Jounouchi grabbed her hand.

"Just go." Jounouchi stood.

"What if another guard apprehends you? If you pull a move like the one you did with that other guard, you'll get shot."

"Hmph. Then let them come…" Jounouchi grunted, finally releasing her hand.

"You can't go alone. You'd get caught, most of the guards are out now, looking for the next shipment of people off this island." The girl begged.

`This crazed, yet high-pitched sounding...' Jounouchi shrugged as he placed his hands in his pocket. "Hurry up!" Jounouchi called behind him as he walked back towards the forest.

"Really!" The girl quickly gathered the rest of the junk on the floor "Wait up will you." She shouted behind him trying to keep most of her items in her hands.

Jounouchi stopped. "By the way, what's your name. Me… I'm Jounouchi Katsuya."

"Aie! Me… I'm Matouchi Mesmori."

Jounouchi began to walk again. `Strange name… for a boy.'

---

The group of four stood at the edge of a cliff. Below them-all the way at the very bottom-the waves crashed upon the jagged rocks and the wind began to pick up in velocity. It was silent. The only thing penetrating the dead silence was the waves, clapping, as it seemed, against the granite.

Umei's vision became suddenly hazy. She stepped forward, trying to hold her balance. Yami Yuugi's eyes widened a bit.

`Not again.' Umei's face became flushed and broke out with sweat. `Don't take over again.' She held her head. This happened to her before; on the boat…

-

-FlashBack

-

"Umei!" he was about to jump over the edge to save her from drowning when Umei reared her head over it again! "Nani?!"

Umei was standing at the very brim of the boat, holding onto the rail with a confused expression. "Relax you confound twitch." She jumped back over the rail her black boots making a "clanking" sound.

"What's with all the big words-why'd you do that anyway?" Jounouchi itched his head.

Umei stepped a few steps away from him and shrugged. "I heard mom calling." Umei turned to pace herself from Jounouchi.

"Mom calling?"

-

-End FlashBack

-

It wasn't `mom' that Umei heard, that was just an excuse she would make up when this happened; especially if someone was annoying her, it would make her seem a little weird and that person would leave her alone... But not with Jounouchi. Why she really jumped over to the other side of the rail was because when her eyes TRY to change purple, her face would shift into something, or just disappear all together for a few seconds. She didn't want to seem like a freak if someone saw her face that way… Rumors would spread, and with Umei, it was all about reputation. She felt something inside her that would always take over for a second or two, but with Jounouchi… It took over for quite some time, which is why her eyes and her attitude were different around him… This thing inside her, what is it? On the boat… That wasn't her transformation she was talking about with Yuugi.

"Are you okay?" Anzu asked about to hold onto Umei's shoulder.

"Don't touch me." Umei murmured as she felt her eyes beginning to throb; they were turning indigo. She wouldn't let them. She quickly buried her face in her hands and kneeled down.

Yami Yuugi and the others stood with puzzled looks.

Umei finally stood up, her back facing them. She turned around, still with her hands over her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Honda spoke up.

Umei's hands fell down to her sides. Her eyes were still their regular lime color. "Nothing's wrong." Umei quickly said as she turned back around.

The dead silence rose again.

Yami Yuugi broke it, "Where's this surprise?" he crossed his arms.

"The what?" Umei looked at him confused for a second and finally realized what they were doing there. She blushed in embarrassment, "It's right here."

Anzu and Honda turned their heads to the sides, no duel arena.

Umei reached for the buckle of her belt and poked the hook on it. It flashed red really fast. The ground began to rumble.

Yami Yuugi held his ground without moving an inch. Honda on the other hand fell over onto Anzu who had fallen forward as well and was holding tightly onto Yami Yuugi's pants. The scene looked very humorous to Umei when she turned around; but she didn't laugh.

The ground stopped vibrating. Anzu knocked Honda off her as she apologized to Yami Yuugi.

Before them was a metal bridge, which resembled the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco except it was colored gray, stretching all the way out into the horizon.

"What is this?" Yami Yuugi questioned.

"The Surprise, Yuugi-Kun." Umei stepped onto it.

"Is that safe?" Anzu interrogated as she pointed towards the overpass.

Umei jumped up and down on the bridge as her boots made a clinking sound. "Reinforced concrete steal, created when I was little and still as strong as it was then." Umei finally stopped jumping up and down when she noticed Honda practically drooling as he stared at her. She grew that narrow-eyed expression again. "Let's go." She shouted peeved.

The four continued as they walked off from Duelist Kingdom.

---

After walking possibly five miles from the island, there was a peak with a wide, flat top before them. The quartet walked on its dusty surface, their footprints now apart of the land, proof that no one has walked on this peak for a LONG time.

Seagulls were laying in the middle of the entire surface. Umei walked over to them and `shooed' them away. There was a stone box where all the Seagulls were previously. She kneeled before it.

"It's like a miniature desert; nothing except dust and the granite box." Honda pointed out, he then heard Anzu laughing in hysteria. He turned toward her and saw that Yami Yuugi had about five Seagulls perched on him (remember THAT episode in Yu-Gi-Oh ^_~). It WAS a silly sight until Umei assisted him by walking over to him and shooing those birds away too.

"Done playing?" Umei asked Yami Yuugi as she clutched something nicely tucked under her arms.

"What is that Umei?" Anzu asked, regaining her self-control.

"This…" Umei looked at the glass cylinder in her hands. "This is the surprise." She then held it out. It WAS a glass cylinder, encased in another, larger, glass object; a pyramid. Inside the glass cylinder was a really tiny beige colored cube floating in the middle.

"Please enlighten." Anzu asked, more so confused then ever.

"This was the last gift I received from my mother, before she died… Where you see that box made of rock, that's actually her grave marker. She's buried here." Umei embraced the item tightly.

Honda began to jump up and down, moving both feet every other time. "You know what they say, it's bad luck if you trample on someone's burial ground!" he shouted as he jumped back on the bridge.

"I always thought it was bad luck if you destroyed a tombstone?" Anzu pondered.

Yami Yuugi grew a little annoyed, "Are we gon'na duel some time soon?" he inquired crossing his arms.

"Of course, now, play time is over!" Umei raised her left hand in the air, "I have eight star chips now, oh wait, that's right, you're fighting for your cheerleader. So if you win, you gain nothing while your friend gets another chance?" Umei chortled, "That is, if he still is on the island."

"…That is true, I'm fighting for my friend..." Yami Yuugi rose his voice in a growl.

"Pathetic! Friends come and go. How about this… If I win, you give me ALL your star chips AND your most valued card." Umei laughed some more as she pointed towards him.

"If I win, you give all of Jou-kun's stars back." Yami Yuugi grew back his serious tone.

"That's it? Phsh, your choice." Umei shrugged. The clouds in the sky grew gray; thunder was heard echoing throughout the area. Like the duelist said before as he witnessed this before he was off the island, she was electrocuted. "Now Yuugi, let me show you why I am the Domineer of Duel Monsters, why I am the Maestro of the cards." Umei began to chuckle. A lightning bolt struck besides Umei.

Her voice then grew raspy as her eyes flickered from their pale green color to a sandy yellow, over and over again. She held up her left hand again as her height increased. Umei shut her eyes. Her hair began to grow darker; it grew so dark that it was now completely black. Her skin color grew caliginous as well and her nails became quite long. She was practically busting out of her outfit also. Through this whole time, her item attached to her choker glistened.

She opened her now Hot Pink eyes as Honda and Anzu stepped back. It wasn't Umei anymore.

"You possess a Millennium Item?" Yami Yuugi talked still holding his position.

"No!" THIS Umei spoke in this raspy tone. Suddenly, Umei's regular voice came back, "This is not a millennium item, frankly, I don't know what it is or how it is able to create this dark one inside me, but the power is unbelievable. I'll just take it, how it comes."

`Like me, there is something inside her as well.' Yami Yuugi thought for a moment. `But inside her, something else, much different then this thing inside me.'

"Yes Yuugi," the raspy tone was back, "but more so, this creature is not from my artifact." THIS Umei grasped the Egyptian eye symbol of her item. "It is from the Gates of Hell its self. Umei Jopa Crawford, my host, is lingering from there and to here. She can only take control of me little by little."

"What do you mean?" Yami Yuugi clenched his fists. "A host?"

"I didn't choose her, she chose me. The minute she grew hatred towards you Yuugi! That's when I was unleashed, I was harbored inside her very soul. She is known as my host because it won't be long until she has released her ultimate feelings towards you. I feed on her hatred and angst, making me stronger, soon, it will kill her, and I'll have her body. I am not the evil side of Umei, I am the true form of her!"

Yami Yuugi grew a smirk across his face, "You are the true form of Umei's hatred, not her. It's true that there is a caring person inside Umei, but first, you will have to be destroyed in order to bring that Umei back."

"I doubt that you could."

"You're a disease, a virus."

"Contracted when Umei gave herself to me, just when you broke Kaiba Seto. She wanted revenge, I knew how to help her." This Hellish Umei began to bellow.

"You fooled her!" Yami Yuugi shouted.

"She is a fool! You remember me, don't you, you tried to stop me that day!" Hell Umei roared.

"Enough, not only will I win back Jou-kun's star chips, I will win back Umei's soul its self." Yami Yuugi finally got back to the topic on hand, "Enough of reciting the past, its time to finish this!"

"Perfect…" Hell Umei held out the pyramid still in her hand. "Tomb of the Damned! Unleash! Contaminate this field! Create the Arena of the Afterlife!" Hell Umei released the pyramid, it began to spin as it floated in the air. The cube inside the cylinder began to glow as red shadows and gray skeletons emitting from the pyramid engulfed the entire scene.

---

Yami Yuugi opened his eyes after the images had disappeared. Honda and Anzu were on the ground shielding their heads. Suddenly, Yami Yuugi finally caught on to what he was standing on.

It WAS a duel arena, except, this arena was made of yellow stone. Hieroglyphs were sketched over the sides in what looked like blood. Black Skeletons hung on poles besides the outsides of the arena. The counsel was also made of yellow stone but had encarvings of where to put the cards.

Yami Yuugi looked around, looking for his friends. Honda and Anzu were standing on the bridge since the arena took over most of the peak. Yami Yuugi then looked at the region that they were playing on, unbelievable! There was nothing but a dark mass-a void of nothingness. More skeletons, this time regular colored ones, were sticking out of the mass with blood marked on their faces. The scene was painful.

"This was the first prototype of a duel arena my host's mother came up with." Hell Umei appeared on her own platform. "Pegasus wanted to use this prototype for his tournament, but, it mysteriously disappeared. My host's mother some how was able to convert this arena into that glass pyramid you saw before."

"Why did she?" Honda piped up while he was helping Anzu off the ground.

"She was afraid… She hid the pyramid away, the night of her death. The main reason why her and Pegasus were fighting was because of that glass pyramid." Hell Umei gave a maniacal stare. Regular Umei's voice took over. "Is that true!"

Yami Yuugi's eyes widened for a moment at the sound of Umei's familiar tone.

"Silence, kisama!" the raspy tone came back. "Yuugi! We've held it off, we can't any longer, this is the end." Hell Umei was in control again. She placed Umei's deck in the holding zone and pulled five cards.

Yami Yuugi did the same, "One more question…" he muttered as he pulled five cards, "What was Umei's mother afraid of…"

Hell Umei arched an eyebrow but then grew that maniacal look again, "You want to know? She was afraid that using this arena with the pyramid its self will plunge this dimension back to the Day of the Djinns." Hell Umei closed her eyes. "When all three cards are placed on the field, the arena will change into the ritual place where the Djinns died three thousand years ago. Then, what ever happens here in the arena… Will happen to the Earth."

"Nani!" Yami Yuugi, Honda, and Anzu gasped in unison.

"Let's say, if a monster is destroyed in this arena, some one will die, possibly even your friends." Hell Umei looked over to them, "Maybe even Honda, Jounouchi…Anzu…"

"That's enough!"

"Worse, what if a stronger monster, stars over five, is destroyed. Parts of the world will be annihilated, like a nuclear bomb had been dropped on that region." Hell Umei continued.

"So many will die! Why do you want to do this!" Anzu demanded.

"Silence, I will become even stronger from their deaths. Their souls will combine with mine and I will hypnotize the mortals that were spared, having them fight and kill one another. The world will become a second hell!"

"What will you do next, after everyone is dead!" Anzu defiled her wishes of keeping quiet.

"That's enough Anzu." Yami Yuugi admonished.

"I will travel to other dimensions, infecting other hosts, destroying that world, and the next!" Hell Umei smiled. "And when it is over, I can finally return to Hell, taking it over as well, becoming ruler, and creating a world of demons."

"You have no purpose to do that! You damn monster! No one is the perfect being, especially not you, Asshole!" Anzu shouted.

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Hell Umei's hair began to rustle in the wind as it stood on end. "You will not talk to a Sovereign like that!" Five small granite spheres with stakes coming out of them floated behind Hell Umei. "You wench, you need to learn some respect!" The spike balls flew at Anzu with a driving force.

"Anzu!" Yami Yuugi was about to jump from the platform.

Anzu quickly dodged four of the spikes but the last one impacted her right arm. It ripped through her shirtsleeve, "Gah!" she screamed in pain. The ball was now lodged in her skin as blood gushed out of it. She held her shoulder as she stooped on the dusty territory.

"Anzu!" Honda kneeled beside her and tried to pull the sphere out of her arm, but each time he did, a dark electrical energy would shock him.

"Anzu…" Yami Yuugi turned to jump off the podium.

"I wouldn't do that Yuugi… Either you duel me now, or she dies." Hell Umei threatened as she held her hand towards Anzu, still keeping her eyes on Yami Yuugi. She clenched her fists. The ball began to shock Anzu.

"Stop!" Yami Yuugi ordered.

"I will electrocute her to death if you leave the platform." Hell Umei smiled. "She'll be fine as long as you don't defy me. I'm calling the shots now. Just think, if you win, not only you help your friend, save Umei's body, you also save her life. But that's IF you win" she emphasized.

Yami Yuugi turned back towards the counsel.

`Fool.' Hell Umei thought as she looked back towards the bleeding Anzu, `As we speak, my sphere is draining her life energy, she dies either way…'

"Hurry up then," Yami Yuugi looked back at Anzu, "begin your turn." He spoke without taking his eyes off her.

---

`Where'd they go? I wasn't gone long, why can't I find them.' Jounouchi thought as he was at the same arena he lost in. Another duel was being taken place between two teenage boys that were in Jounouchi's class. Mesmori was sitting next to a tree enjoying the shade from the scorching sun.

"So…" She spoke up as she was trying to stuff her pockets full with her junk from before. "Why are you here?"

"You've partially explained it." Jounouchi honeycombed. He began to walk on.

"What does that mean!?" She called out in that low tone of hers as she tried to place the last pieces of what looked like a half of a donut in her khaki pants pocket. "Hold on please!" She then tripped over her own two feet as she tried to get off the ground.

Jounouchi turned towards her, "You DO need to be more organized… Like Sawatari said." He laughed at what he saw. It looked like Mesmori was trying to eat the grass.

"Luckily, this soft dirt broke my fall." She dusted herself off, you could see her body print still marked into the soil.

"Huh?" Jounouchi looked at it. "That's it, that's how we'll find them." Jounouchi got on the ground and began crawling on all fours.

"What'cha doin'?" Mesmori placed her hands on her hips and looked at Jounouchi puzzled.

"Help me look for a footprint or two."

"Um… Okay." She fell to the floor and began crawling around. Both the twosome grabbed the attention of the two boys dueling.

"Ah, it's hopeless I'll never find a-eck !" Jounouchi lifted up the palm of his right hand. There was the other half of Mesmori's jelly filled donut smeared all over his hand. "I hate to see this kid's room, probably worse then mine-Hm." Jounouchi looked down. A foot print. "Ha! A shoe imprint, and judging by the shoe, it's Anzu's boots." Jounouchi got off the ground. "It's a wild guess but it has to be her shoe."

"Are we done looking, I'm really hungry." Mesmori was sitting under another tree popping a different donut-A glazed one-in her mouth. Obviously, she didn't bother looking at all.

"Slacker…" Jounouchi mumbled. His eyes followed the trail of the footprint, it did lead somewhere. "Come on!" he called behind him as he walked on.

"Wait up!" She jumped off the ground and almost tripped again as she ran after Jounouchi.

`I'm come'n guys.' Jounouchi thought as he looked at his right hand still with Mesmori's donut smudged over it. He licked some of it. "Mmm, Strawberry feeling." He licked some more as he ran on.

---

Anzu's tracks stopped at the foot of the metal bridge. Jounouchi sat by it as he waited for Mesmori to catch up. He looked around. No sign of Anzu's feet going somewhere else, they had to have crossed this bridge. But where did this bridge lead.

Mesmori ran up to him but didn't stop. She jogged in place. "Don't tell me you're already tired." She huffed.

"Just wondering where to go next." Jounouchi looked off into the horizon. He watched the waves crash on the beach off in the distance.

"I never saw this bridge before." Mesmori was still jogging in place as she ran on it. Jounouchi thought she was the strangest character he had ever met. "I mean, I've been all around the island, and I passed this spot about six times. But this bridge was never here."

Jounouchi stood up and looked at her.

"Really, I have." Mesmori smiled innocently.

Jounouchi then stared at the bridge. Even if his friends didn't go down this steel elevated structure, Jounouchi was curious as to where it would lead them. "Do you want to?" he pointed his thumb towards the direction the bridge led.

"Nani?" Mesmori looked at Jounouchi with a scared expression.

"What is it…?" he asked looking at her baffled.

"A fog is coming in…" Mesmori pointed out. Indeed, a haze was forming around the bridge.

"So…" Jounouchi shrugged.

"We'd be the only two out in that fog… Alone on that bridge… How do I know if you won't try and seduce me or worse, rape me!" Mesmori backed off.

"You're joking right?" Jounouchi practically fell off the bridge dumbfounded. "If I haven't already, what makes you think I would." He laughed as he walked on.

"… That is not a good response ya' know!" Mesmori warned. "I'll press charges ya' know! I have pepper spray in my back pocket, as soon as I can find it, it goes great with tacos." She followed.

`Hmph, rape… I'm not that kind of person.' Jounouchi thought, `Why would I assault a boy.'

---

"You never answered my question." Mesmori walked up besides Jounouchi.

"Yes I did." Jounouchi quickly said, not slowing his pace.

"All you said was I partially had it right… What does that mean?" Mesmori's eyes sparkled, like they always do.

Jounouchi stopped walking, his back towards her. Mesmori had her strange notion creep in the corners of her mind; she was about to take off running in the other direction. Silence. It looked as if Jounouchi was a statue.

He finally broke the silence; he spun around, face to face with Mesmori. "Uh, what are we talking about again?" he asked dumbfounded.

"Geck!" Mesmori had a more dumbfounded look then Jounouchi. Did he even listen to her half the time, how stupid of her to think that HE-Someone who was about to get kicked off the island-Listened to anyone? "Why are you here?" she said again for the third time.

Jounouchi turned around, "You tell me, why are you here?"

"Well…" Mesmori began twiddling her thumbs, "I sort of followed someone here."

"So you snuck on the boat."

"No no, I would never do a bad thing like that." Mesmori shook her head-Daddy's little girl. "I was actually paid to be captain."

Sweat broke out on Jounouchi's forehead.

"I'm not lying. This guy paid me to. He was wearing a long dark purple cape and a hood that covered his eyes so I couldn't see his face. He gave me my two star chips and my duelist glove along with the money." Mesmori smiled politely.

"You just accepted it!" Jounouchi yelled at her bewildered, of course, if it were him, he would've accepted the money as well. "How much did you get?"

"About… Six Hundred thousand... Yep." Mesmori placed her index finger to her chin as she spoke.

Jounouchi's jaw dropped.

"Besides, if I didn't accept his offer I would've had to have snuck on the boat, which is a cruel and selfish thing to do if you want to take the easy way out." She huffed angrily as she clenched her fists up to her chin.

Jounouchi's eyebrow twitched.

"He only left me with one bit of information… He said he'll be back for me if I didn't eliminate the duelist I wanted to find. He said he knew who I was… Strange huh?" Mesmori stuck out her tongue and made a comical expression.

"Do you still have the money!" Jounouchi blurted out.

"The Six hundred thousand?" Jounouchi shook his head up and down really fast, "… Nope sorry…"

"NANI?!" Jounouchi grabbed her by the shoulders and began shaking her, "What happened to it!"

"I gave it to a homeless man at the docks, poor vagabond, down on his luck…" Mesmori's eyes sparkled.

"I'm down on my luck you BAKA!" Jounouchi shouted in her ear, how stupid could someone be!

"It's for a good cause!" Mesmori jolted from his grip and kept walking on. "Besides, you should be happy I didn't steer the boat off course, if it wasn't for that compass or the map conveniently posted on the wall, you, and everyone else, would have been sleeping with the fishes."

Jounouchi shook his head in disbelief as he continued to walk on as well, "I don't believe this guy…" he muttered as the fog began to pick up.

Both the duo stopped in their tracks, they couldn't believe their eyes at what they saw. Is that a duelist arena? Why is there an arena on a flat peak? Jounouchi noticed who was dueling upon it.

Jounouchi shouted in joy as he ran towards the peak, "Yuugi!"

He left Mesmori in the dust. "Yuugi? That's the guy I…" Mesmori trailed off as she ran after Jounouchi.

---

Honda quarter-turned to see his friend run up to him. "Jounouchi? Is that you?"

"Who else would it be?" he chuckled. He then noticed that Honda was kneeling beside Anzu and began blinking; he didn't notice her shirt was cut.

"How did you find us?" Anzu choked out, trying to turn towards Jounouchi.

"How else? I followed your enormous feet." Jounouchi joked.

"I would slap you, but my arm is pretty occupied at the moment." She nodded towards her shoulder. Jounouchi finally saw it, the spiked sphere combined with her flesh.

"Who did it!" Jounouchi demanded.

"…. Umei… But it is not Umei at all." Honda pointed towards the arena.

Jounouchi recognized Yuugi, but his opponent, that was NOT Umei! His eyes bulged. "Are you sure that's her!"

Honda shook his head up and down.

"Chikushome" Jounouchi cursed as Mesmori finally entered the scene.

"Hm? Jounouchi, who is this guy?" Honda asked.

"Mesmori…" Jounouchi didn't take his stare off the arena.

"Honda! Can't you see, that's a girl." Anzu tried to shout but her voice only picked up a little.

"No it isn't." he looked puzzled. "How would you know?"

"I'm a girl, baka! Girl's know these things." Anzu acknowledged.

"Hello, glad to be an acquaintance towards you." Mesmori bowed her head politely and gave them a friendly smile; now she was the one that didn't notice the static electricity emitting from Anzu's arms, or the duelist arena.

"Your name is Mesmori." Anzu asked.

Her eyes sparkled. "Hai, Matouchi Mesmori." She couldn't lose her smile.

"Are you a lesbian?" Honda asked dumbfounded.

"HIROTO!" Anzu yelled at him bemused. She pushed him with her other, uninjured shoulder as he fell on the ground.

Mesmori still had that smile as sweat broke out on her face. "No…" She opened her eyes and looked towards the arena. She saw the strange looking black-haired girl, and then she saw… That was him! That was the guy she…

"So how did you meet with Jounouchi?" Anzu asked noticing that there was a calm silence between the three of them. Honda crawled over to her from off the ground and rubbed his back.

"If you're not a lesbian, are you a dike?" Honda asked another stupid question.

"They're practically the same thing!" Anzu knocked him over again. "Please excuse my friend." Anzu apologized but noticed that Mesmori was gone. She looked around. Mesmori was standing next to Jounouchi.

"Your friend is…" Mesmori asked Jounouchi.

"Hai," he said, still not looking away from the duel. `Yuugi…'

Mesmori glared-that's right, she's actually mad for once-at the arena… `It's you?'

---

`Look at the audience Yuugi…' Yami Yuugi heard something in his head. He scowled at Hell Umei, was she talking to him through telepathy?

Hell Umei laughed. `Look who is here Yuugi!'

He heard it again. `Are you able to do this? Are you able to talk to me through telepathy…' he thought, knowing she would hear him.

`I have Umei to thank for that. She was born with a high ESP…'

Yami Yuugi flinched a little at what he heard; Hell Umei could read his cards then!

She continued, `Unfortunately, I could read any opponents cards I wished, except when it comes to you… Your Millennium Item is blocking regular ESP…'

Yami Yuugi felt as if a huge weight was lifted off his chest.

`Now… Look who's cheering you on Yuugi…'

He looked at the bridge. That weight now dropped on his foot with full force. Jounouchi, he is still here!

`Won't this be interesting… Kill one of my monsters Yuugi, we can see if your friend Jounouchi will be the first to die… Order your monster to attack!' Hell Umei laughed maniacally. "Watch as your best friend is murdered before you!"

Yami Yuugi thought about it for a while. On his side of the field were Elven Swordsman and Koumori Dragon. On Hell Umei's side of the field, there were Ancient Brain, Liquid Beast, and the Unknown Warrior of Fiend. Yami Yuugi leered as he looked back at Hell Umei. "I will… Koumori Dragon, abolish Ancient Brain!"

The Koumori Dragon slashed at Ancient Brain, disintegrating him. Good thing she kept him in defense position, no life points were lost.

Hell Umei arched her eyebrows.

"Dark one inside Umei… You can bluff all you want… You were the one that told me that WHEN the three cards are summoned on the field that's when what ever happens inside the arena, that's what happens to the outside." Yami Yuugi grinned, "Domineer of the Cards? Not at all what you're capable of…"

"Hmm… I'm glad you listened." Hell Umei made a weak smile; she pulled a card from her deck. Her eyes widened for a moment. That was it! One piece of the unfinished puzzle! Snipper! "Perfect…"

Yami Yuugi lost his grin.

"I'll show you what I am capable of Yuugi…" Hell Umei hissed. `But I won't play this card yet, no, I won't watch as he destroys one of my most valued monsters before I can create the ritual. Instead, I'll trick him with this monster.' Hell Umei looked at another card in her hand. She then looked at Jounouchi; he was staring at her as she stared back. "Yuugi…"

Yami Yuugi crossed his arms.

Hell Umei looked at him now, "Won't it be music to your ears as you hear the final agonizing screams of mercy before your friend's demise…" she sneered. "I know it will be to mine… Watching as his neck is snapped in half… Or his body being burned to death… Or maybe, his head being cut off by a rusty razor…

Which one would you like Katsuya…"

Jounouchi jumped at what she said. Mesmori on the other hand was popping pieces of her unfinished donut into her mouth.

Jounouchi had chills roll up and down his spine; she was talking about him? How could she be that heartless, this couldn't be Umei…? The monsters are just holograms created by the arena… How could they lust for kill…?

Yami Yuugi stood unmoved.

"Don't you care at all… This may be the last time you see your cheerleader…" Hell Umei began her sinister laugh.

Yami Yuugi stood emotionless, holding his position. He smirked and said: "Shut up and duel…"

---

To Be Continued…