Yu-gi-oh- Queen Of Games

Chapter 39

Most of the flight they had slept well, it wasn't until early morning did Yami awaken and turn to Ana. She was sleeping so peacefully; her breathing was so light and soft.
Yami was enamoured by every aspect of her, and such emotions was difficult to hide.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are beginning our decent, please ensure your seats are up and your belts are on, thank you" the pilot announced.

Ana eventually stirred from her sleep and yawned as she sat up in her chair, all while her eyes were still closed.

"I could do with more hours" she yawned once more and stretched.

She then rubbed her eyes and turned to face Yami.

"Oh, good morning Pharaoh" she smiled.

Yami chuckled and smiled back

"Good morning Ana, sleep well?" he asked her.
"More or less, yourself?"
"Yes, thank you"

Soon the jet had landed and they all proceeded to the airport entrance with their bags.
Once there, a limo was waiting, Pegasus's men were loading up the luggage until Tea noticed something.

"Huh, I didn't see that bag before- is this anyone's bag" she pointed out.
"Mine's the white one" Yugi replied.
"No, fraid not" Ana added,
"Nope" said Tristan.
"We must have picked up someone else's bag by mistake" Joey noted.

One of the men took it to the lost and found before returning.
They all boarded the limo and patiently waited until they arrived at Industrial Illusions HQ.

"Wow, this place looks like nothing from back home" Joey said in awe.
"Of course not dude, this is San Francisco, home of the Golden Gate Bridge" Tristan enthused. "This isn't a vacation, we're here to see Pegasus" Tea reminded them.

The rest of the journey was quiet, mostly. Upon reaching the Golden Gate Bridge they were expressing great excitement. All but Yugi who was still concerned with all that has happened and how this beast is still out there waiting to attack.

"Everything will be fine, just wait until we arrive. We'll sort this, don't worry" Ana reassured him.

Eventually Ana drifted off into a mild sleep for part of the journey.
Sometime passed and the car had come to a stop.

"Hm, what's going on?" Ana yawned.
"Are we there yet?" Joey asked.
"Why are we stopping at a run-down Gas Station?" Tea added, concerned.
"Where is he going?" Ana suspiciously asked, noticing the driver had left them.

Everyone waited for 20minutes and the driver still wasn't back. With that they ventured out and decided to search for him.
Tristan checked the rest room and the rest of them looked around; it was concerning, he had vanished, and no one else was around.
Suddenly, the sound of bike engines began nearing their location. They all stood and waited, soon a large biker gang came into view.

"Ooh crap..." Ana gasped.
"I don't think they're here to save us" Joey commented.
"Yeah, we should leave" Ana said.

The bikers were there indeed to do them all harm, armed with chains and pipes, they surrounded them all. Yami had switched placed with Yugi and was standing protectively before Ana and Tea.
Sadly there was no signal on their phones, so calling for help was not an option.

"I'll take that!" said one of the thugs.

A biker drove behind Ana and snatched her phone off her, then smashed it on the ground.

"That was expensive!" Ana screamed. "Not a concern of theirs I'm sure" Tea remarked.

One of the bikers then raised a metal pipe to strike them all, but the pipe was suddenly struck from his hand.
A rouge biker then appeared and struck down the bikers with Duel Monsters cards.

"What the..." Ana gasped.
"Let's run!" Tristan called out.

Everyone but Joey raced to the car, he was distracted by something.
But one of the bikes had hit into the petrol dispenser causing a fire.

"Joey, come on!" Tea screamed.

Seconds after, Joey jumped into the car the petrol station exploded. Tristan stepped on the gas and they were racing off down the road.

"What the hell was going on, who were they?!" Ana exclaimed.
"I have a feeling they are connected to these other people we ran into" Yami noted.
"Wonder who saved us" Tristan pondered.

Joey closed his eyes and smiled.

"It was Mai" he said.
"Huh, are you sure Joey?" Tea asked, confused.
"Yeah, I knew it was her, I found her Harpy Lady card, it's her trademark. Plus I caught a glimpse of her through her helmet" he replied, still smiling.
"Well I find it concerning, how did she know we were there, and why didn't she stick around?" Ana asked, suspicious.

Everyone was silent since they had no answer.

"How long till we get there?" Ana asked.

Suddenly they came to a halt, the engine had overheated due to Tristan's rapid driving.

"I had to ask" Ana sarcastically remarked.

With not much choice everyone got out and grabbed their bags and began walking down the road.

"We have very little hope of getting there without dying from heat exhaustion" Ana pointed out. "Hey look!" Tea called out.

She then pointed to a pickup truck that was coming toward them.

"Let's flag him down" Tea suggested.
"Hitch hike?" Ana said, unamused.
"Yeah, we have no choice" Tea replied.
"I'd rather walk" Ana said and turned to continue, but was stopped by Tristan.
"Don't worry, we will protect you girls" he said.
"And who's going to protect you?" Ana replied.

Tea grabbed Ana's arm and flagged the driver, all too keen, he pulled over and sheepishly smiled.
Then Joey, Yami and Tristan appeared, the man was gracious enough to give them a ride to Industrial Illusions HQ.
But upon their arrival something was off...everything was quiet, no one was around.

"There's no security at the front desk...something is wrong, let's leave" Ana suggested.

They all agreed but as soon as they turned to leave there were security gates that descended from the ceiling blocking the doors, they were locked in.

"Oh crap!" Ana gasped.
"It's a trap" Yami called out.

Suddenly a bike fell from the ceiling balcony and landed before them. The biker removed their helmet, and they saw that is was Mai.

"Mai!" Joey called out.
"Good to see you!" Tea smiled.

Mai however had a straight face, something was different, dark.
She went on to explain how she was there only to defeat them and steal their souls- starting with Joey.
Wasting little time she powered up her disk and instantly played a spell card called 'The Seal of Orichalcos' creating a strange looking emblem followed by the immediate summoning of her Harpy Lady.

"Well, she's not wasting any time- and what is up with that weird card?" Ana asked.

It was then noticed that the seal only held the duellists in side while others were pushed outside to the edge of the seal, it even prevented anyone from entering within it from the outside.
Mai went on to explain how the seal she had played granted the user many benefits, including a 500-point bonus to all her monsters.
But that wasn't the only surprise, on one of the balconies appeared two strangers; a buff blonde man and a younger slim boy with brown hair.

"They are the ones who stole the God cards!" Yami called out.
"I see, so Mai is with them now?" Ana clarified.

But Joey was convinced that Mai had been brainwashed, they preyed on her and exposed a weakness inside her.
However, to Joey- and everyone's devastation, Mai revealed how and why she had changed. Her Duelling career was going nowhere since Battle City, she didn't feel she was improving as a duellist.
It threw her into a state of depression, she was alone and down on her luck.
But she claimed that she was given a saving grace, a second chance at life, she was given power to overcome all her opponents.
Joey was heartbroken, Tea was confused and so refused to believe such a thing.
Which was understandable, true she had it rough, but how could she have fallen so hard? And didn't she reach out for help?
Initially Joey held back, and even contemplated throwing the Duel to save Mai, but Yami called out and convinced him otherwise, and that to save her he had to Duel her properly.

-FF-
The duel was inconclusive.
Mai was having a mild breakdown, fearing a loss and re-living what Malik had put her through during Battle City.
Seeing her in such a state the brown-haired strange jumped down and broke the seal; immediately stopping the duel with a ring on his right hand.
He scooped Mai into his arms, and disappeared, as a result the security barricades went up and they were now free!
Thankfully and conveniently, Duke Devlin arrive...with Rex and Weevil accompanying him.
"Well this has been an active day- wait what's that noise?" Ana noticed.

To her ultimate surprise a Blue-eyes jet landed outside the doors, and out stepped Kaiba and Mokuba.
It was shocking to say the least, and once more everyone was together again.

"Ana?" Kaiba said, confused.
"Seto, Mokuba"

Kaiba was equally surprised too.

"So why are you here?" he asked.
"Trying to get to the bottom of an issue, why are you?" she replied.

Kaiba explained how someone was buying up shares of his company and he had suspected Pegasus.
But when he arrived at his castle back at duellist kingdom, he was tricked into a Duel with someone else, but thankfully they managed to walk away unharmed.
Duke went on to explain that in looking around the place he found a room that didn't unlock, located in Pegasus's main office. With that they all made your way there.

"How do we open it?" Duke asked.
"We could break it down" Joey suggested.

Ana sighed and grabbed the card with a key on it from Yami and swiped it on a scanner beside the door.

"Shall we?" Ana said.
"After you" Joey insisted.
"No way!" Tea refused.
"Move" Kaiba said, and pushed his way past and walked into the room followed by Mokuba.
"Let's close the door and run" Joey said.
"Very funny" Ana lightly chuckled.

Yami and Ana then walked in together followed by the others.
The lights eventually came on, revealing a room decorated in Duel Monster Toon Statues.

"This is unsettling" Ana said, looking around. "Why are we in here?" Kaiba asked.

Suddenly they could hear a crackling noise, then a hologram of Pegasus appeared in the middle of the room.