Lily of the Black Rose
By: BlacVlvtn
Author's note: Lily Kaiba is an original character made by me, as are Misti Ryou, Orion and Mrs. Stevers. All others belong to Kazuki Takashi. I'm sorry if I misspelled your name. As you read, please keep in mind this is an original story about Yu-Gi-Oh!.
I don't know who to dedicate this to, Kazuki Takashi or my friend, Dixie?
Chapter One
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" Lily Kaiba ran screaming into her father's bedroom her long black hair billowing out behind her and her deep blue eyes full of fear. It had only been a week since Seto Kaiba adopted her and already she was running to him for comfort. "Daddy, I had a bad dream, can I sleep with you tonight?" she pleaded.
"Well, what was it about?" asked Seto. If his parents had died just a few years earlier he wouldn't have been able to recall what they did when Mokuba had a nightmare.
"I was running through a big field, but not the pretty kind with all the flowers like there are in good dreams," Lily said as she climbed into the bed, "Everything was all brown and dead then I saw you and Uncle Mokuba in the middle so I ran faster to try to get to you, but then a really big hole opened up in the middle right where you were standing and it sucked you and Uncle Mokuba in," she went on. "I tried to run even faster but I couldn't so then as soon as you got all the way in the hole it closed, then I woke up."
"Don't worry about it, everything's okay, look, I'm right here," Seto reassured his daughter, "It's all right."
"I wasn't so sure about that when I woke up and Uncle Mokuba was gone," Lily said, not realizing the importance of her words. Lily and Mokuba were currently sharing a room until hers was finished being built so she had access to every bit of information about her uncle.
"Mokuba's gone?!" Seto shouted in surprise. "Was there a note or anything?"
"No," Lily said, wondering why he was so upset, after all, the last time this had happened Mokuba had been found scouring the kitchen for any sources of sweets laying around.
Years later, Lily was still thinking about that weird dream she had had when she was a little kid. Sometimes it kind of bothered her to have to have been dreaming about the disappearance of her uncle, while other times it just seemed silly to be thinking about it... again. Lily stood up, the lowest branches of the apple tree was sitting under brushing the top of her head. She turned and staggered away, her legs stiff from sitting so long, to her second most commonly used fortress of solitude, the girl's bathroom on the fourth floor of Domino High School.
Inside the bathroom she found Téa Gardener digging around in a small makeup pouch for a particular shade of lip liner.
"Oh, Lily, have you seen Yugi anywhere?" Téa asked in a friendly voice.
"No, lost your boyfriend have you?" Lily replied with her less than friendly feelings towards the girl becoming more obvious by the minute.
"Why do you hate me, Lily, I was just trying to be nice."
"I don't know, gotta hate somebody," Lily said, shrugging. Quickly, Téa left leaving Lily alone in the room. Finally, she left; I need some time to myself anyways, Lily thought. Then she looked at what was on the countertop. "I guess that stupid girl left her Deck in here," Lily commented as she looked through the cards. "Shining Friendship, Petite Angel, what kind of a loser plays with monsters this weak?"
However Lily's attention was suddenly diverted from the cards when she saw a strange sight on the wall. Lily saw a strange hole there. It was mostly just black, but there were swirls of purple and every now and then there was a loud crack, like lightning and the hole would send a ray of electricity across its diameter. Even though she knew she shouldn't Lily reached for it. The second her fingers made contact Lily felt the charm bracelet on her right wrist take on considerable weight. She yanked her arm out of the hole, remembering her old dream, and twisted the bracelet around to find that an extra charm had suddenly been added. It was large and gold, unlike all her others which were sterling silver. The charm was of a design that Lily had seen in some of her books on Egyptian mythology. The Eye of Horus, the Egyptian god of the sun, sky and goodness.
Lily quickly gathered up Téa's Deck and her own book bag and tore down the steps to the first floor where she skidded to a stop upon finding Téa there with her friends, Yugi, Tristan, Joey and Bakura. "You left these in the bathroom," Lily said, running out of breath. Then Lily noticed the design on Yugi's Millennium Puzzle.
"What the heck is goin' on here?"
"Shut up, Joey. Yugi, I need to talk to you."
I'm confused," said Tristan, Yesterday you wanted to have nothing to do with us, now you're returning Téa's deck and you're dying to talk to Yugi?"
"You're always confused," said Lily, pulling Yugi aside. "Okay, I'm just as confused as your mentally challenged friend over there, but I think you can help me," said Lily. "Mind you, I wouldn't even be talking to you if I thought my dad could answer my question, but as it is..." she said all this very fast.
"Well, let's start from the beginning. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" asked Yugi.
"What's this?" Lily asked as she moved her bracelet around to show the gold charm.
"It looks like a charm bracelet with 11 charms on it."
"Yeah, but what's up with this whole eye of Horus thingy?" Lily said, pointing at the new charm.
"How would I know, its your bracelet."
"I don't know either, but I thought you might, since that necklace of yours has the same design on it, and you seem to know a heck of a lot about it," Lily said.
"Hold on, how did you get that gold charm?" Yugi exclaimed.
"I really don't know," Lily said, looking around to make sure the hallway was deserted. It should have been, since the bell just rang for class. Lucky for her, Lily was the only one cutting class. "I sure hope you like weird stories because this truth is gonna sound a little far-fetched."
"Don't worry I'm used to weird things happening," said Yugi. "You wouldn't believe some of the things that happened at Duelist Kingdom."
"Anyways, I was in the fourth floor girls bathroom, you know, where Téa left her Deck and..." Lily's story was cut short by the principal's voice.
"Lily Kaiba," began Mrs. Stevers, but Lily interrupted her.
"Ah, hello, Eleanor," said Lily, who by this time knew the large woman on a first name basis. "Lovely weather today, how's Max?" Lily said, referring to Mrs. Stevers' pet dog.
"Don't you and Mr. Muto have classes to go to?" Mrs. Stevers finished.
"You know, I was just about to ask Yugi about that. I thought they might have cancelled classes for today and not told me then I saw Yugi," said Lily in a complete lie.
"Not only were you caught cutting class but you were running in the halls and you're not even wearing the uniform!" Mrs. Stevers said, raising her voice.
At that moment, as though on strings Lily's right arm lifted while the new charm on her bracelet glowed an even brighter gold than Lily had ever seen in all her years of art work and a strange eye design appeared on her forehead. Then, before anyone knew what was going on, a ray of purple light shot from Lily's hand and Mrs. Stevers was sent flying backwards and slammed into a wall. Lily lowered her arm and stared in disbelief at her hand and the mysterious charm on her bracelet.
"No way!" Yugi gasped. "That couldn't be... No, it's too fantastic!"
"Oh, come on, nothing's too fantastic now, so spill."
"I wonder if its possible for there to be an 8th Millennium Item," Yugi said amazed. Then he thought of Yami. Yami, are you there? Yugi asked his Millennium Puzzle.
No, Yugi, there are a million other places I could be right now.
Gee, thanks. I wanted to know, do you think it's possible?
Think what's possible?
Could there be an eighth Millennium Item? I mean, there's no other explanation for Lily slamming the principle into the wall. Even a troublemaker like her wouldn't normally do something like that.
Er, yeah, about that, Yugi, did I ever tell you about my sister?
No.
I had a little sister back in Egypt and when I created the Millennium Items, just like the grave robber was sealed into the Millennium Ring, Isis' soul was sealed into the Millennium Pendant. She always wanted the world to know her as more than the Pharaohs' sister...
But Yugi never heard the last part because at that moment Mrs. Stevers regained consciousness and began yelling more loudly and with much more "colorful" language than Lily had ever heard her use. And Lily had heard a lot.
Mrs. Stevers finally ended with, "My office, now, and I'm calling your father, Lily!"
"But what about Yugi, he was ditching too!" said Lily indignantly.
"I will notify his grandfather as well," added Mrs. Stevers, "But I think I need to talk to your father in person, Ms. Kaiba."
Lily scowled. As if her father hadn't heard all this before. But, nonetheless, Lily crossed her arms and followed Mrs. Stevers into her office where she plopped down on her usual chair. Lily helped herself to a butterscotch candy while Mrs. Stevers dialed Seto Kaiba's work number. Lily knew she was going to get it. Her dad hated being interrupted when he was working on a new duel disk system and right now, he was probably designing the one for his Duel Monsters tournament. Lily sucked on her candy, flipping it around in her mouth, while she thought. Maybe before Daddy got there she could turn this weird eye of Horus in her favor, but nothing came.
Lily clasped her hands behind her head, leaning back, while Mrs. Stevers called up Yugi's grandpa at the Game Corner. Lily just sat back and wondered about what privileges she would lose this time. She was already banned from TV; maybe she would lose that again. If she did, she wasn't going to tell Daddy that.
Lily sat and waited for what felt like oh, maybe, four weeks. Finally Seto Kaiba opened the door to the principal's office.
"Hello, Mrs. Stevers," he said. "I'm sorry about whatever my daughter has been doing now, she's really quite a handful."
"I'm sure she is, Mr. Kaiba, she's caused her share of trouble at school as well."
Seto looked down at his daughter sprawled out comfortably in a chair in front of Mrs. Stevers' desk, with that cold look in his eyes. He knew Lily hated that look, but if she wanted to avoid it, maybe she should try to stay out of trouble. As he sat down in a seat opposite the girl his memory went back 10 years.
As far back as it had been, Seto could remember it like it was yesterday. He had been walking around the outskirts of town when he passed an orphanage. He knew what it was like to be living here, never knowing who might come to the orphanage and try to take you away. He had wandered through the gates only to realize that this was his old orphanage. He went inside the building where he found a little five year old girl with black hair and deep blue eyes. She had on a little necklace with gold beads that spelled out the name Lily. The little girl had followed him around the place, as he looked at all the other children, her gaze never leaving him. All the while she held a little Happy Lover plushy in her arms. Even though he thought the little fairy looked kind of dorky, he knew this girl wouldn't leave him alone until he adopted her. Of course, at the time, he had no idea how wrong he had been.
"...so, I was thinking about a three week detention," Mrs. Stevers concluded at the end of her tedious disciplinary speech. "But on top of that I think you should consider some home punishments."
"You stupid old hag!" Lily shouted, standing up. You think you know everything about me! But, I'll show you, one of these days! I'll remind you what it's like to be 15 again!" She finally finished screaming, and turned on her heel, chest heaving.
Seto watched his daughter leave in shock. In all his life he had never seen her loose her cool this way. Lily was usually very calm, and an emotional outburst like this was very rare. If he knew Lily, she would never have let herself go in public.
"Is everything alright at home?" Mrs. Stevers asked, leaning forward. "Does she ask help very often?"
"Not at all, Lily likes to do things on her own."
"Is her mother home very much?"
"That's the thing, I don't know who her mother is, or was," Seto said, his voice trailing off at the end.
"What do you mean?"
"I found Lily at an orphanage. I adopted her because, believe me, I know what it's like to be stuck in a place like that."
"So, she doesn't really have a mother? It's not right for a little girl to grow up without a mother."
"I can't put her up for adoption now, I'm far too attached to her, now!" Seto said loudly, imitating Lily.
"Now I see where she gets it from," Mrs. Stevers muttered under her breath as Seto turned to leave as well.
Lily didn't go to class. Instead she wandered the streets of Domino, turning everything over in her head. She was so detached from the rest of the world that she didn't even notice the group of boys in front of her. "Hey, watch it!" Lily shouted as she crashed into the biggest one.
"Hey, you hit me, girly," came the reply. Lily looked up at him and his lackeys. They were all big and beefy, but the foremost one, that Lily had hit, definitely reminded her of Bandit Keith in his better days. In fact, he could have been Keith's Minnie-me. Every detail was almost identical except for the hair, which was brown instead of blonde.
"Who are you muscle-heads anyway?" Lily asked. Most people would have just walked away without saying anything, but not Lily. Today she was so mad at Mrs. Stevers and her father (for the things he must have told her after she left the office) that she just wanted to punch something's face. And this time her Happy Lover plushy wasn't going to do.
"I'm someone who doesn't like to get bumped into, and I'm going to show you why people don't just walk into me," retorted the giant lump in front of her.
Whatever, you'll just be-
Lily's thoughts were cut short when a sharp stinging sensation suddenly graced the side of her face. Lily whipped around to see that the huge man had his fist up. Clearly he had gone where she had never seen a bully go before. He hit a girl! Before Lily had time to fight back or recover she received another blow on the side. In shock, Lily collapsed to her knees and the little gold locket she had been hiding in her halter-top fell in front of her shirt. Whoever this giant roadblock was grabbed her in a tight hold just above her elbow.
"Well, would you look at that, a little necklace," he said, fingering the small heart. Let's see who's inside, shall we?"
Lily found some strength in her injured body and came up and hit him. There were some things that the world could never know about Lily Kaiba, and inside this locket was one of them. Those few, oh sorry, two people who could get along with Lily knew they were never to know her secret, and whoever this was wouldn't be the first to know.
Lily ripped her arm from his grasp and stormed off in the second blind fury of the day. Great, now even the weather was contributing to the mood. As the bright sunny weather began to change into a driving rainstorm Lily headed home. She didn't have a key, but she knew Mokuba would be home by now.
Minutes later, Lily was sinking into a dark purple beanbag chair in her own room. So what if her hair was soaking wet, or if she caught a cold after this? Everyone hated her anyway. No one would care if she left school forever. Lily knew that if she was absent no one was going to be saying things like, Hey, where's Lily?" or, I really wish Lily had come today, I wanted to show her my new duel monsters card."
She dug a long fingernail into the side of her gold locket and it clicked open. On one side was a picture of her father (surprise, surprise) and on the other was Joey Wheeler. Thank God no other girls seemed to like him. However in light of Lily's incapability to ask him out, she had been forced to remind someone of what was rightfully hers. Joey had been the main cause of Lily's close acquaintance with the principal.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Lily jumped, not expecting any visitors, especially this one. Lily quickly closed the locket and stuffed it back down her shirt. "Er, come in," Lily shouted at the door. She instantly wished she hadn't said it when the door opened and as it swung open in stepped the last person Lily wanted to see when she was soaking wet, an inch from tears and sporting a black eye. Téa Gardener. As the girl stepped into the room Lily scowled and made a small growling noise deep in her throat. "What do you want, Téa?" Lily said viciously.
"Yugi told me what happened at the principal's office and I came to see if you were alright," Téa said.
"I can take care of myself," Lily said with the same vicious attitude. "Don't patronize me like this." Lily crossed her arms and stared out the window to avoid Téa's eye.
"Look, everybody needs a friend, even you," Téa answered politely. "Can I sit here?" she asked, gesturing to Lily's blueberry computer chair.
"Knock yourself out, literally, please."
"Why are you so rude to everyone?" Téa asked in a friendly voice. "I'm sure you could have lots of friends if you just-"
"Oh, please. I've heard all your lame friendship speeches before, and I've had enough!" Lily shouted, punching the wall with the side of her fist.
The force from Lily's punch knocked a little photo out from behind a board on her loft bed. The picture landed in Téa's lap and she picked it up. It was a group shot of Lily and some other girls that Téa didn't know. There was even a boy in a black sweater near the back.
"I wasn't always like this, you know," Lily said, vaguely.
"Like what?"
"You know, friendless, always in trouble, pushing people away. I used to have more friends than my Dad has yen. But the problem was, they were all back at my old orphanage, when Daddy adopted me I had to leave them all behind." Lily smiled slightly, remembering all her old friends.
"What do you mean, you were an orphan?" Téa asked, amazed.
"You're so clever to put one and one together. I never even knew who my real parents were. They told me at the orphanage that I was found huddled up at the back of the building. This boy," Lily said, getting up to her knees and pointing at the one on the photograph. "Found me back there when he was playing around outside. From then on we were inseparable, he was like the big brother I never had."
Lily stood and took the picture from Téa's hands. She tucked it back up behind the board. "I guess it's just been hard for me to start over again. Of course I still visit them all the time, but Orion won't leave without me. 'I won't go anywhere until Lily's here with me' he says. Except no parents come to adopt when I'm there."
Téa watched her in wonderment. She had no idea about Lily's past. But if Téa was amazed before it was nothing compared to what she was now. As Téa snapped out of dreamland she noticed that Lily was crying. Lily had completely opened herself up to Téa and revealed her deepest secret to the very same girl that she had snapped at earlier today.
After school, Téa held a conference telephone call with her friends. (guess who) "I'm telling you, Lily's not the kind of girl we thought she was. She totally opened up to me, she even cried. In all the time that Lily's hated me, she's never let me see her like this," Téa told her friends.
"Something's definitely up, and something big," Yugi put in, "she cried to Téa and completely lost her temper in front of me. Lily's just like her dad, never loses her cool. It has to be really important to let herself go like this."
"I just wish I knew what it was," said Bakura. "I might be able to help if it really is something about the Millennium Items."
Téa was suddenly silent. She had long been suspecting something about Lily and the way she thought about Bakura. The girl never had any problems insulting the rest of the gang, but she seemed actually nervous about talking to him. And just that day hadn't Téa seen a little bit of a gold chain showing above Lily's halter-top? Téa suspected it was probably a locket and there was no telling who might be in it.
"Hey, Bakura, have you ever noticed anything weird about the way Lily talks to you?" Téa asked. If there was any chance on this, Téa wasn't going to miss it.
"Has she ever talked to me?" Bakura said, wondering what Téa was getting at.
Yes, Téa, please tell us what you're trying to say," broke in the most unexpected voice in the world right now.
"Lily, how long have you been on?" Téa asked in amazement.
"Oh, I've been eavesdropping for a while," came the reply. "And now I think I hate you even more. It's bad enough you showed up at my house uninvited, but now you're gonna broadcast what you found out to the entire world! I knew I told you to much."
"Hey, cut it out, we're tryin' to help ya'!" Joey shouted into the phone. "Come on, everybody needs friends once in a while."
"That's very nice of you to offer, but I'm doing just fine on my own, thanks."
"If you're doing so well then why are you always in trouble and your grades lagging?" asked Tristan.
"That's probably the first intelligent question you've asked in a long time," Lily observed. Then Lily dropped the phone. At this moment there was something much more important going on. Lily's Millennium Pendant was suddenly glowing bright gold once more. Turning towards her full-length mirror, Lily saw the eye pattern on her forehead for the first time. Then she saw Isis. The regal form of the ancient Egyptian princess appeared in the mirror next to her own reflection.
"Where is he?" Isis shouted at Lily.
Lily stared at the mirror for a minute in disbelief. Then she tapped at the glass, wondering if there was something wrong with it. Finally she stammered the first and probably worst words that came to mind, "Who the hell are you?"
"You mean you've never heard of Isis, the Egyptian princess or my brother, Yami, the pharaoh?" Isis asked, now just as shocked as Lily, who was still watching the mirror.
Lily shook her head and said, "I do know a little about ancient Egypt." She tore her gaze from the mirror and went to look for one of her mythology books. As she searched she asked Isis, "Who were you looking for, anyway?"
"My brother, Yami, of course!" Isis shouted.
Lily hit her head on the closet shelf when she heard that. Unlike some people (hint, hint) Lily could put two and two together. You mean you're..."
"Isis, Egyptian princess. I am also well known in my country as high priestess. Convenient isn't that I was named after one of our goddesses."
Lily stopped listening to her at that point. She wouldn't abandon her plan now, even if there were a dead princess in her room. Today was the last day she would have to deal with the kind of people like Isis would become. That being the kind who had made her life so horrible. Make that the whole world. Lily tossed Isis the book and picked up the phone. Hoping everyone was still there, she said, "Consider yourselves very lucky if you ever see me again, that is, before the new Duel Monsters tournament." Turning to Isis, she hung up the phone and said, "You can flip through that, good luck on finding your brother. Separation is terrible, I know." She picked up her stuffed backpack and headed out the door.
"But wait, you don't understand, I can't find him without you!" Isis called after her.
At this, Lily stopped. "Fine, then come with me, but keep quiet and don't let anyone see you," Lily said urgently. "I'm, uh, visiting a friend for a while, then we're going somewhere." Of course, there was more to it than this, but Isis would find out soon enough. Lily was running away to her orphanage for the rest of the day. After night fell, she and Orion were going to the Silver Star Cafe to work for food and board. When the Millennium Tournament started, she would make her way to the ferryboat and start the tournament.
It was late when Lily arrived at the orphanage. She stood alone on the tall hill, her long hair blowing in the wind. Suddenly, she threw her arms high into the air, looking down on the peaceful city below. This was part of the code that she and Orion had worked out. Orion looked out his darkened window and saw her on the moonlit hill. His blonde hair reflected the moonlight and his brown eyes gazed longingly at the figure on the hill, the gold flecks particularly beautiful in the dim light. He moved through the orphanage quickly to meet the solitary girl. When she tilted her head back slowly, he knew it was important. He began to climb the grassy slope, wondering what the urgent news was this time. "Hey, Lily long time no see," he said in that deep voice of his.
"Likewise," lily said, breathing deeply. Every time she saw Orion, she had to take time to take in the scent of the chocolates he often stole from the kitchen.
"I know you didn't come here just to chat, the code is for emergencies only," Orion said. "What's up?"
"I need to stay at the orphanage for tomorrow, then I'm outta here. For good," she said. "I'm leaving Domino, and I want you to come with me. I know a cafe that's taking new employees, we can work there and when the new tournament starts we'll go catch the ferryboat and compete." She had practiced this many times on the way to the orphanage. Except she had practiced inside her head and it drove Isis nuts. So, naturally Lily kept saying it.
"I'm so sorry, Lily. I want to come with you, believe me, I do, but I can't," Orion said sadly. "Another family came and wants to adopt me. Miss says I can't stay any longer, and if I don't go with them, she'll chuck me out on the street."
I knew this was going to happen eventually, but why now, when I need him? Lily thought. "Do you even like the new family?" Lily asked him.
"That's a good point, but your big plans always go up in smoke, there's no future for me if I follow you," he argued.
Lily had to admit he had a point, but who knew what these new parents might do with him? No, there had to be something she could say to convince him. "Orion, when you found me, I was just a little bitty girl, wasn't I?" Lily began.
"Yeah, your point?" Orion questioned.
"And when I was that young, I was very trusting wasn't I? So I trusted Daddy to take good care of me and love me and all that junk, but where has it gotten me? On the verge of calling the Jerry Springer Show to help us out with all of this! I have just about as much of a future with him as you do here!" Lily shouted.
"That's how it worked out for you, but maybe it'll be different for me. I know getting adopted is a big gamble, but this is an even bigger one," he said, motioning towards Lily.
"Whatever happened to the Orion I used to know, the one who couldn't wait for a new challenge? He would have taken this offer without question," Lily said, turning to the other side of the hill.
"I guess I grew out of it. Now I've wised up and I know what I have to do to ensure something big for me later on in life," Orion said, walking down the hill, back to the orphanage.
Lily made her way down the hill as well. She turned into an alley and was slowly trudging down it to the brick wall at the end. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, something big and forceful slammed into her gut. As Lily doubled over in pain, clutching her stomach, someone stepped out of the shadows. By the light of the dim streetlamp Lily could make out Panik's giant form.
"So, Lily, we meet again," said the psycho-duelist.
Lily instantly straightened up. Despite the extreme pain Panik had delivered, Lily fought not to lose her head. "This has not been my day," she said. "First I go to the principal's office, then my dad has to come for a conference, then I get a black eye, and then my best friend abandons me, now this." Lily faced her opponent and dropped her backpack on the gritty pavement. "I guess you want a rematch for the last time I smoked you."
"You've read my mind, except this time you're going to be the one smoked!" he shouted.
"Geez, I'm standing right here, you don't have to shout," Lily said as she unzipped her backpack and began digging around for the one and only edge she really needed.
"What are you doing?" Panik said, a hint of fear creeping into his voice.
"Looking for this," Lily said as she stood, two duel disks in her hands. "Here, take this," Lily said, tossing him a duel disk. "Personally, I don't think this one of Daddy's little toys got enough recognition. So now, I'm going to see if you can take it."
She slipped the deck recognizer on her left wrist and fished around in her cargo pockets for her Deck. When she faced Panik, with her Deck in her hand, he said, "I didn't come here to duel, I came here to get my revenge."
Meanwhile Yugi and Joey were walking in the same area as the one where Lily was getting her comeuppance. As they wandered along the streets, Yugi looked up at his best friend. "Umm, Joey, exactly where are we going?"
"Yugi, Ya' know a little about what my life was like before me and Tristan started hangin' out with ya', but there were other things ya' didn't know," Joey said, vaguely.
"What do you mean, Joey?"
"I mean I knew Lily better than anyone else around. There was just one problem, well more than one, really. She didn't know when to stop. Lily took almost any insult as a challenge. And I'll tell ya' this too, Kaiba didn't just teach her Duel Monsters, she could take on just about anything or anyone. But then she got a real challenge, one she just barely pulled out of."
"What do you mean, and what does this have to do with the back alleys of the city?" Yugi asked curiously.
"If she's anywhere, I'll bet ya' she's back here somewhere. Lily knew this place like the back of her hand."
Announcement
[F] Joey, Lily and Tristan are sitting at a table in a dimly lit bar, when a huge guy walks up to them.
"So, you're the one they're all talking about, the unbeatable one."
They all look up into Panik's face.
Joey: Yep, that's me the legendary Joey Wheeler!
Lily: Nice try Joey, but the loser's talking to me. Now what do you want, and it better be worth the time I'm wasting talking to you.
Panik: I want to measure your true talents. Meet me out back in five minutes. {EF}
Joey was suddenly ripped from his thoughts when he heard a long, loud and high-pitched scream.
"What was that?" Yugi said, shocked.
"That was Lily's scream."
Lily lay helplessly beside the bridge and forced herself to her feet. Both her arms hung at her side, completely useless, broken. She managed to push herself up on the bridge railing and swung her legs around to the other side, so that she faced the rushing water below. As she leaned forward and prepared to take the plunge, she felt a hand on her arm.
"What are you trying to do, kill me with my own pain!" she snapped when she saw who it was.
"I don't have to kill ya', you're about to do it for me," Joey said as he readjusted his grip and held her waist. "Come on, don't do this." He pulled her back, off the railing, and set her on the ground.
Lily allowed herself to be lowered to the ground. Her pride existed no more; why not let herself be saved? Then she noticed Yugi standing nearby. "Joey, if you're going to save my life, at least leave him out of it."
"Lily, I," Yugi tried to say that hating him had nearly gotten her killed, but, somehow the words wouldn't come.
"I know you think you're safe with your old habits, but take a good look at yourself. Your life isn't getting you anywhere," Joey said for him.
As much as Lily hated to admit it, if this was the kind of friend Yugi had been to Joey and Tristan, then it wouldn't be so bad to at least give them a chance. But still, she had something to say. "I know what I'm doing, and you should have left me to it."
Finally, Yugi spoke up, "Lily, you're a mess, we should get you to the hospital."
"I don't need it," she started but was cut off.
Yugi was approaching her. "I'm no doctor, but anyone can see that your arms are broken," he said. Just to prove his point, the small boy reached out and wrapped his hand around her arm. Then he gave it a slight squeeze. Lily cried out in pain.
"Okay, maybe I do need help," she said sheepishly.
"Well, then, let's go," Joey said.
"My arms are broken, dungbrain, do you really think I can stand up on my own?" Lily said.
"Oh, yeah." Joey helped her to her feet and they slowly made their way to the hospital.