Chapter 19

-July 13th, 2007, 11:00p, Room 2505-

"The tournament is set." Master announced to his room of minions. "I wish you all the best of luck. And it looks like the first elimination will be made on Monday." Barry then punched Zeke.

"Zeke has something to tell you, Master." Barry announced.

"It has come to my attention that Naomi is aware of our presence here, sir." Zeke said quietly.

"Umm…yes, Zeke, that was the plan." Master said. "She would find out during the opening ceremony. Obviously." He looked curiously at Zeke.

"Of course." Zeke lied. "She approached me, sir. During the ceremony. She informed me that she wasn't going anywhere. She sees this as a challenge."

"Then a challenge we shall give." Master replied, "Although I admit that I did not expect her to be so willing to fight."

"Well, sir, she has had quite a long time on that island." Laura, the blonde woman, said. "I'm also confident that her skills have grown."

"If they haven't, then we have no point in being here, now do we?" Master replied.

"No, I suppose not." Laura said, looking away.

"As long as we keep our eyes on her, as well as the tournament, our plans will work. Then, the next phase comes a bit later. Once the tournament is over and done." Master said. "Now, I want to quickly go over-"

"I have a question, sir," the woman with dyed hair said, speaking up.

"Yes?"

"The name they announced at the ceremony. Steven Deveraux. Is that your name?"

"It is the name I am called." Steven said. "You are all, in private, to call me 'Master'. In public, during the tournament, please refer to me as Steven. Moving on, back to what I was saying, I'm going to take a sort of roll. Pay attention." He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and began reciting.

"Celeste, your duel is on Saturday Morning. Sunday afternoon, myself, Barry, and Zeke will duel. That evening, Alex and Daniel have matches. Renee, you, Sammy and Miss B have duels on Monday morning. That afternoon, the little runt duels against a formidable opponent, while Sebastian faces Laura in our first disaster. Ivan, you're on that evening slot, and then I trust that you will have everything ready for Tuesday Evening?" he finished, looking over to a man in the corner. "Mister C?"

"I'm going straight for the throat." He replied.

"Just remember, you cocky son of a bitch, you duel Yugi in the next round." Steven said.

"I'll be there."

"Well, if that's everything, then you are released. God I feel like I'm teaching again." Steven said. "One at a time, if you would. C, get out."

"See you later."

"After your duel." Steven assured him.

L

-Room 2903: Yugi Mutou-

"I'm so pumped." Joey said, sitting down between Yugi and Tristan. "Come'on Bec, you've got to be ready to go tomorrow."

"Trust me, I'll be fine." Rebecca said, looking through her papers. The doorbell of the suite rang. Tea answered, getting up from her chair.

"Excuse me." Roland said. "This girl said that she was staying with Rebecca Hawkins."

"Janine, come inside." Rebecca asked.

"Please try to keep her out of restricted areas. Mr. Kaiba wants no issues."

"Will do. Thanks Roland." She said as he shut the door. "Janine, what on earth were you doing?"

"I go t lost. It's a madhouse down there." She replied. "So, how y'all doing?"

"Good, we're relaxing after hundreds of fireworks deafened us." Serenity said, blowing her nose.

"How's the cold coming, Serenity?" Joey asked.

"I'm doing better." She replied, looking over at his brother.

"I've been taking care of her." Solomon said. "That reminds me, where is my other patient? Naomi?"

"I haven't seen her since the ceremony." Tea said.

"Maybe she's in her room." Yugi suggested.

"She should be getting a good night's rest, she hasn't been feeling well." Grandpa noted.

"Me too." Serenity said. The doorbell rang for the second time. Tea got up to open it again. Mai Valentine was on the other side, walking right in.

"Just wanted to stop in to say good night." She said, looking around the room.

"Hey, Mai." Yugi said. "We were talking about going to breakfast in the morning. Do you want to come with us." Mai paused for a moment.

"Sure, I'll be here. What time?"

"Ten-ish." Yugi replied, the doorbell ringing again immediately after. Tea moved to rise.

"You sit." Mai said, turning around to the door. "And who do we have we here?"

"Hi Naomi." Tea said, looking out the door.

"Ah yes." Mai said, shutting the door after her.

"Breakfast tomorrow at ten." Tea said.

"Got'cha." Naomi said, walking up behind the chair. "But I have to be back in time for the afternoon duels, because my friend Natalee is dueling."

"Can do." Yugi assured her.

"So, anything I should know about Marik Ishtar?" Naomi asked. "He's my first round opponent."

"He's an old…umm…would you call him a friend, Yugi?" Tristan asked. Yugi responded in a stare. "An old friend."

"But I don't know what kind of deck he'll be using." Yugi said.

"Ishizu seemed pretty confident in their entire family." Joey pointed out.

"All three of the Ishtars are tough customers." Mai assured her.

"I see." Naomi replied. "Should be fun."

"Yugi, did you notice that Rex and Weevil are both here?" Tea asked.

"Yes. I'm not surprised, unfortunately."

"Vivian will beat Rex to a pulp." Mai said with confidence.

"And Ishizu should take care of Weevil in no time." Tristan added."

"Agreed." Tea said. "I don't want to even think about dealing with them this time around."

"They'll probably stick around to scold us for the entire fortnight." Joey suggested. The doorbell rang again.

"Do you think that we're popular tonight?" Rebecca asked. Mai turned around to the door again, revealing Mokuba.

"Yugi, Seto wants to see you upstairs." Mokuba said, not walking the room.

"Right now?"

"You know my brother." Mokuba assured him.

"Go see what Rich-boy wants." Joey said. "We'll be here when you get back."

"Alright, I'll be right back." Yugi said, getting up.

L

-Room 2505: Steven Deveraux-

"Alright, Barry, Alex, out." Steven said. Celeste and Steven were standing at the door.

"Have an excellent evening, sir." Alex said.

"Don't let your neighbors distract you." Barry said.

"Trust me I've been over it with them." Celeste replied.

"Good night." Steven said, Celeste shutting the door, standing in front of Steven.

"I'd best be off to bed, I have a duel in the morning." Celeste said.

"Celeste, do you think I am too nice to my minions?"

"Do you consider them minions?"

"Usually; I suppose that some of them will become my co-workers, but I will still be leading them." Steven said.

"Well, then the fact that you have surrounded yourself with a group of people who actually like you for the most part is a good thing. Who cares if you treat them too well?" Celeste asked.

"It doesn't matter. Good night."

L

-Room 3301: HQ-

Yugi unlocked the door to the tournament headquarters, entering to a room of Seto, Pegasus, and Zigfried, with Mokuba following him in.

"Welcome, Yugi-boy." Pegasus said, watching the new arrivals sit down.

"How can I help the four of you?" Yugi asked.

"I had a question about your friend, what was her name again?" Seto explained.

"Tea? Serenity? Mai?" Yugi asked.

"No no no, the new one. Naomi Richards." Seto said.

"What about her? I've only known her for a short time."

"She was the only person we had a problem with during today's ceremony" he explained, pushing a button on the far side of the table. A security video of the stadium appeared, showing Naomi walking over to another competitor. Unbeknownst to him, it was of Naomi standing up to Zeke.

"She had to be asked twice to behave, but she seemed pretty bitter at him, and another woman. She shouted "hey queeny" at her. Celeste Deveraux. She is the partner of another competitor; Steven Deveraux." Pegasus said, changing the channel.

"I don't have any idea. Perhaps they're old rivals?"

"According to her profile, she was born on her island, and has never before left that island." Mokuba informed him.

"We checked out her profile, and nothing is fishy about it." Zigfried said. "Birth certificates, dental records, and schooling. The only possible thing is that Zeke had visited the island, which is very possible."

"It would be a very long shot on the board for all three of them to know one another." Seto said. "We'll keep looking, but we would like you to dig into the matter, if you would. Casually."

"So, you want me to dig in her personal life?" Yugi said with uncertainty.

"Just ask her about her life. Question her if she ever sees one of those two competitors and reacts." Mokuba explained.

"Okay." Yugi said, still unsure.

"For the good of the tournament, I don't want a pin to drop where I don't know about it." Seto reminded him.

"I understand." Yugi said.

"Good." Seto replied.

"I would ask you to breakfast in the morning, but I presume you'll all be working." Yugi said.

"Unfortunately," Seto said, slightly sarcastic.

"I'm sure that Leon might be interested. I'll send him your way." Zigfried said.

"Ten o'clock tomorrow, my room." Yugi said. "Good night."

L

- July 14th, 2007, 9:40p, Yugi's Room-

Yugi opened the door for the early arrivals. Tea, Tristan, and Rebecca, the last of which was still hopping on one foot to tie her shoe.

"Hi." Yugi said through his toothbrush. "Come in."

"Good morning." Tea said.

"Don't mind us, we'll watch the door." Rebecca said.

"Good morning, Mr. Mutou." Tea said.

"Good morning, girls." Solomon said.

"Grandpa said that you two were going to watch the tournament today." Rebecca said.

"Yes. We decided to let you kids all go to breakfast, and we'll go watch some of the opening duels." Grandpa confirmed. "In fact, we should be on our way right after Yugi gets back from the bathroom."

"Come on, Joey!" Serenity called from the hallway.

"I'm awake!" Joey yelled, coming to the door frame.

"I doubt it." Mai said, bringing up the rear.

"I see someone is feeling better today." Yugi said, rejoining the group at the door. "Come inside."

"Yes, I am feeling much better today." Serenity said.

"Yugi, Arthur and I are going to head over to the stadium, you kids have fun." Grandpa said, passing all of them out the door.

"Have fun, grandpa!" Yugi called.

"Yugi, are you sure he'll be okay?" Tea asked.

"Oh yeah. We had a full discussion about his excitement, and I told him to be careful, and not to go near Vivian." Yugi explained.

"Good man." Joey said.

"Hi." A voice said from behind. Tea turned around to find Leon.

"Hey!" she said excitedly, "Are you going with us?"

"Yeah. Zigfried said that Yugi invited me." He replied.

"That's correct." Yugi said. "Good morning, Naomi." Naomi had just walked up behind Leon.

"Good morning, Yugi; everyone." She replied, smiling. "So, who's hungry?"

"I know I am." Tristan said.

"I think that's everyone. Shall we head out?" Mai asked.

"Sure. Where are we going?" Tea said, turning to Yugi.

"The front desk said that we should head into town and go to the restaurant listed here." He said, pulling out the piece of paper. "They arranged for a car to meet us at the front gate."

"Excellent." Rebecca said, smiling. "Someone in the park was talking about this place. Apparently they open for breakfast and dinner only. Nothing served between twelve and five.

"That's certainly a twist." Tea noted.

"Who wouldn't want to serve lunch?" Tristan asked, Joey thinking the same thing.

"Alright, let's head out."

L

-KaibaDome, 10a-

"Let the first five duels of the 2007 KC World Championship begin!" Roland announced. "The contestants have been informed, and now it's your turn. Every duel in the tournament will be using the new 8000 Life Point Modification Rule, meaning that all duelists will start with double the points.

"Let's duel!" Celeste and nine other duelists rang out, activating their duel disks and, in extension, the five dueling platforms placed around the stadium. The crowd nearly full, only a few rows unrepresented in the cheering. The word 'summon' and 'activate' were thrown around in the opening, as well as the usual sounds of monster destruction.

"I think that the Canadian Champion has a good chance at going far." Solomon said, noting Celeste's skills.

"I agree, it takes quite a bit of skill to pull that deck together." Arthur said. "In addition, I am a little disappointed in the Australian Champion. He blew a good opening hand." In addition to being there in person, he also had a laptop with him to analyze the duels on the opposite end of the stadium that couldn't be heard or seen easily.

"Yes, but I think he'll pull through." Solomon said. "Nacho?"

L

-Breakfast, 10:45a-

The table selected for them was round, so everyone could talk across the table. Yugi and Tea were next to one another, Rebecca on the other side. Then Leon, Tristan, Joey, Mai, Serenity, and Naomi.

"I'll be back with your orders," the waitress said, walking back into the kitchen.

"So, are you all excited for your first round duels?" Leon asked.

"Tonight's going to be awesome. First win of seven!" Joey said.

"I would cut your goal down if I were you." Rebecca said, receiving a death stare form Joey.

"I'm ready to get back onto the scene." Mai said, taking a drink of her morning tea.

"What about you?" Leon asked, directed at Naomi.

"Oh yes, I'm ready to take down everyone in my way." She replied in a sort of daze. "Sorry, I'm not really awake today."

"Don't worry about it." Yugi said. "I'm ready for my first opponent, Leon."

"So, who do you want to watch, the Canadian Champion, the Australian Champion, or the South African Champion? There is also a battle of Spanish speakers on Platform Five, as well as quite a mismatch on Platform Four." Tea asked, watching a handheld television-like device on the table.

"How about we watch the Canadian Champion?" Naomi suggested. "I heard that Canada had a lot of good competitors."

"Alright. Celeste Deveraux (12) versus Diam Alatas (117), who is the third representative from Indonesia." Tea said, pushing the screen twice. "Remind me to thank Mokuba for letting me borrow this thing. Now I just have to turn on the hologram projector." As she said this, a light shot up; this created a sphere-shaped hologram, projecting the duel within. "Okay, we're set." She set the device in the middle of the table for all to see. Naomi turned her focus intently on the hologram.

L

Celeste-6800 v. Diam 4500

"To start my turn, I'll place one A-Counter on your Big Shield Gardna, courtesy of my "A" Cell Breeding Device. That brings the total number on it to four." Celeste began. "Next, I summon my Alien Telepath in attack mode (1600/1000). Then I use its special ability, by removing an A-Counter from Gardna, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I choose your face down card!" The card in question shattered, while one of four green orbs above his Gardna disappeared. "Now, I activate the effect of my Alien Overlord, meaning if I remove two of the A-Counter from your monster, and I can summon it directly to the field. (2200/1600)"

"But why?" Diam asked. "By doing that, my monster is no longer able to be attacked by any of your creatures."

"That would be true, but Overloard can place an A-Counter on your monster every turn, including this one!" Celeste called out. "So, that makes two! Now, Alien Overlord, attack his Big Shield Gardna!" The Overlord rushed forward to attack the Gardna, which lost 600 defense points due to the effect of the A-Counters "Next, I can attack with Alien Telepath!" [Diam-2900] "I'll end my turn by putting a card face down!"

"I draw, and activate Pot of Greed! I draw two extra cards. Now, I can summon my Goblin Attack Force (2300/0). Goblin Attack Force, attack Alien Overlord!" Celeste-6700 "Now, I place these two cards face down and I end my turn."

"My turn!" Celeste said. "My A-Cell Breeding Device puts an A-Counter on your monster. Then, I can activate Monster Reborn to bring back Alien Overlord, which will place another A-Counter on your monster. Now, I can use the power of Telepath to remove it and take out one of your face down cards!" She chose the left card, destroying Mirror Force. "Excellent! Now, if you would kindly turn your attention to my trap card, Brainwashing Beam! By actvating this card, I can take control of a monster with an A-Counter on it, namely Goblin Attack Force!"

"Oh no!" Diam shouted.

"Now, that leaves only one card to deal with, and I'll take the risk!" Celeste announced.

-Table

"Why would she do that?" Tea asked.

"She must be confident that she'll win." Rebecca answered.

-Stands

"I hope she knows what she's doing." Arthur said.

-Platform

"Alien Overlord and Alien Telepath, attack his life points directly!"

"Shit!" Diam called out, his face down bluff useless. Diam-0 LP

"We have our first winner of the tournament!" Roland announced. "Celeste Deveraux avoids elimination, advancing to round two. And we'll see Diam at the Intermediate Ceremony. Congratulations!"

L

-Table

"Diam didn't really put up a fight," Rebecca noted, taking a bite of her food.

"Celeste didn't really give him a chance. He had him strung like a puppet." Naomi said.

"I agree." Yugi said, swallowing. "Hey look, its Grandpa." He pointed to the crowd projection."

"Tristan, stop waving, he can't see you." Mai said.

"Oh yeah." Tristan said, putting his hand back on his fork. Naomi sipped some coffee.

"Okay, it looks like the Australian Champion just got upset by someone from South Africa." Tea announced, clawing the TV back. "Let's put it on the Greenland/Italy match. It's tied at 3000 apiece."