The Scatterbug Oracle

Chapter One

Joey and Mai were on a rollercoaster at the Three Thrills theme park. Atem was standing by a fountain, waiting for Tea to return. She had gone to a dance related event and had been a bit embarrassed of him seeing her on the stage, in case she didn't make it through the competition in good standing. He had told her not to fear, but she was still worried, and until she found him again he wouldn't know how she did.

He watched as a man walked by with a tuba. It was quite obtrusive, and cacophonous. His ears couldn't abide the noise. He headed toward the Music Plaza, an area in the theme park where only recorded music was permitted. He had just started listening to a melancholy punk rock song when he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to face a dark-haired girl wearing red and black.

"You're Yugi Mutuo, right?" she asked.

Technically he wasn't. He was Atem, a pharaoh from ancient Egypt. But this girl didn't need to know that. As far as she was concerned, he could only be Yugi. Odd how that worked.

"Depends on who's asking."

The girl smiled. "Name's Thorn. I'm Wiccan. And I think you should come with me."

She didn't wait for him to speak another word but led him on a sinouous route through the throng of people, dodging around a harlequin juggling jars of honey, and making him leap over barrels of fish.

At last she turned a corner and waved her arms.

"There it is! Ta-da!"

A dais made of onyx rested there, with various combs set on it, of different sizes, shapes, and hues.

An ornate, golden throne was on the dais. It had a design of a leafy lizard creature fighting a bipedal panda. "Are those Duel Monsters?" he asked Thorn. It was odd that Duel Monsters he never saw before would be used in art, but stranger things had happened.

"They're Pocket Monsters," Thorn said. "You might find out more about them one day, if you're path doesn't lead you astray."

Atem would've responded but was cut short by the sight of smoke appearing. Where no one had stood on the dais a moment before, two people now occupied that space.

"Is this Wiccan magic?" Atem whispered to Thorn.

"You better believe it," she whispered back.

"Ahem."

The sound was so near to his name, only exchanging one consonant sound for another, and said rather low, that Atem was nearly certain he had been called, by the one who now was seated on the throne. But he knew it was a call to attention and nothing more.

A girl sat on the throne, a very beautiful girl, though Atem recalled Tea and used her as a shield to block off this girl's aura of enchantment. She was being fanned by a boy with a crew cut. He gazed upon her worshipfully. It was a beautiful scene.

"Yugi Mutuo, the King of Games," the boy fanning the girl said. "My queen would like you to take a challenge…in a game called Disney Warpath."

Author's Note: Thorn is one of the Hex Girls, a band in Scooby Doo.