Many ways, one goal

Chapter 3: Many Paths, One Goal

Kaiba snorted contemptuously. 'Why am I even here? There is nobody on this boat who can even come close to taking on me ... Yugi will probably be in a different group, that means we will probably only meet again in the final ... As far as I can tell so far, all duelists were in ten divided into different groups, which are marked with different colors. And each boat goes to a different part of the island, so the individual groups are separated from each other. '
He paused analyzing the situation and let his gaze wander over the ship's deck. 'Who will be among the best in my group besides me ... Probably those who are lucky enough not to meet me.
A short smile brushed his lips. 'Just failures.'
He was about to turn around and disappear inside the boat when his gaze caught on another duelist.'Maybe it won't be so boring after all.'

A bright orange painted ship made its way through the calm waves of the sea. The duelists on board enjoyed the last rays of the sun, which was slowly turning red, and searched the horizon for land in vain.
A gentle breeze caught Christie's hair and then swirled further to wear off another duelist's hat.
She brushed the short strands from her face without taking her eyes off the sea.
'Hopefully the trip was worth it. If Dad finds out I stopped my studies for nothing, I can forget his support ... But I just have to investigate that tip. It could be an archaeological sensation! '
She sighed. 'But first I have to survive the duels so that I can even meet Yugi ... Why couldn't those stupid security guys let me on this ship?'

'I have a bad premonition.Something bad is going to happen. Even if the Millennium Chain is no longer in my possession, I can still feel the dark power that lingers over us. 'Ishizu stood a little apart from the other duelists. Her gaze was fixed on the blood-red sky. 'I just hope my brother has nothing to do with it.'
“Say, don't I know you from somewhere?” A little duelist with turquoise-blue hair and large glasses came up to her.
Ishizu closed his eyes and nodded. "That is quite possible."
"You're the one who lost to Kaiba in the Battle City Final, aren't you? I saw it on TV."
She nodded again, still without looking at him. "And you are Weevil Underwood and you lost to Joey Wheeler in the preliminary round."
Weevil grimaced at the memory of his defeat. “That will change this time.” And with a nasty smile he passed Ishizu.
"I don't think so," she said softly.

"Hey sweety!Don't we want to pass the time a little before the boat docks? "
Mai just ignored him and sank into an armchair, shielded from the others. She closed her eyes and leaned back.
'Will all of the Duelists from Battle City be there again? Marik too? I'm not so sure I would look forward to seeing him again ... '
Memories flooded her mind, most of them still causing nightmares. Her hand trembled for a moment, but then she caught herself again and opened her eyes to get it all out of her head.
She shot some duelists who were obviously watching her with a withering look and got up to get some fresh air.
She took a deep breath and pulled her jacket closer. It was getting cold. Meanwhile it was dark and stars adorned the black-blue sky.
'I will get through the first lap easily. There are only beginners on this ship. Amateurs.It gets harder when I meet the finalists of previous tournaments. 'She sighed and her thoughts focused on something else.
'Hopefully I can see my friends again and maybe ...' But her thoughts were interrupted by something that was just unfolding on the horizon.
Dark shadows grew out of the calm sea and rose to form high mountains. And there she could already see a light. A lighthouse.
The ships all reached their destination at the same time. The island on which the tournament should finally take place.

"Mister, would you get up, please? The ship has docked." He cleared his throat, but the duelist in front of him was still sleeping.
"Leave it, he won't wake up if you ask him nicely. Let me go!" One of the security guards in a black suit had stepped up.
He took a deep breath and ... "Hey, you sleepyhead! Get up!"
"How ... what?" Joey looked around questioningly and jumped up from his chair.
"Mister, we have docked and would like to ask you to leave the ship."A man in a tomato-red suit and small glasses on the tip of his nose appeared in Joey's field of vision.
"Oh really? Did I sleep the whole time? I shouldn't have got up so early ..." he said quietly to himself and followed a group of duelists outside into the pitch black night.
Only a few torches illuminated the situation. Duelists gathered around a plaque placed just in front of the jetty.
"Hey, Wheeler! Here too?" Joey suddenly heard a voice behind him. He turned to find a familiar face.
"Oh hello, Rex! Tell me, do you know what it says on that sign?"

Meanwhile, a restless whisper was loud and the duelists looked skeptically at the sign. Yugi was finally able to find a way there and stopped in front of it:

Welcome to Duelist Island!
The tournament begins at sunrise.
It has a total of 3 rounds. In the first, the three best of the different groups will remain.Once the starting signal has been given, anyone can challenge anyone. Whoever loses a duel is outside. The end of the first round will be announced.
Good luck!

“You know what that means, don't you?” Bakura looked from one to the other.
"That we have to wait forever for the sun to rise?" asked Tristan.
"No! That you shouldn't lose once!" He just shook his head.
"We just have to avoid all duelists. Then we can easily make it to the next round!" replied Tea beaming with joy.
"Oh, and you think this will work?" Bakura asked skeptically.
"For sure!" she grinned back.

Kaiba looked expectantly to the horizon. The sky was just beginning to turn pale pink. 'Just a few more seconds.'
Out of the corner of his eye he looked at a duelist who was leaning against a tree, bored.
Kaiba took out his deck and put his favorite card on top of the pile - the white dragon with an ice-cold look.When a first ray of sunshine brushed the treetops, he went up to the duelist, who, however, did not seem to notice him.
“Marik, I challenge you to a duel!” The latter grinned without looking up.

And how is it up to here?
Please write clerks!

And watch out, there is an interactive voting!

Who should be kicked out in the 1st round?
a) Tea
b) Tristan
c) Bakura
d) someone else (please specify)