The Odd Couple



Chapter 1: A Chance Meeting




Disclaimer: I hereby acknowledge that I in no way, shape, or form own anything that has to do with Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. Everything in the story that you are about to read is fictional and is written solely for your enjoyment and entertainment. I stand to make no form of profit what so ever. All I ask is that you read and review, both for my personal gratification, and for future reference.




"Speech"


'Thought'





'Darn paperwork, I swear it'll be the death of me yet' Ishizu sighed as she locked the backdoor of the museum on her way out. It had been a long night and due to all of the activity going on during the day, she had been forced to stay longer then what she would have liked, but as curator of not only her specific Egyptian exhibit, but recently the entire museum, it was now her duty to make sure that all affairs were in order for the next business day. It was tedious work, but she enjoyed it so there wasn't much to complain about, all part of the job.


Confident that everything was secure and in place Ishizu made her way down the steps and into the night on her way home. Noticing the time as she spared a glance at her watch, Ishizu decided against her better judgment to take a small back route down a nearby alley in order to shorten the time it would take to reach her destination. She promised her brother that she wouldn't be at the museum any longer then necessary and it was already a little past nine. Who knew such a decision would be so hazardous to her health.


Making her way along, Ishizu paused to look behind her thinking that she heard something, but upon finding nothing began walking once more as she turned forward, only to come face to face with a rather young, but apparently rough looking character decked out from head to toe with some form or other of black attire. His pale face took nothing away from the hazy gaze in his pale green eyes. Startled at his abrupt appearance, Ishizu backpedaled a few paces only to bump into two of his accomplices who had apparently prepared for something like this along with their boss. Unlike the man in front of her, these two left nothing to disclose their identity except for their eyes, one set brown and the other a faint blue. Though this confrontation did little to scare her, the suddenness in which it happened did manage to slightly intimidate her. She turned her attention back to the lead attacker. "What do you want?" He seemed amused at her question as he brandished a small switchblade from his side pocket.


"Oh I think you know what we want, namely your jewels and anything else of value. The only question is whether you want to do this the easy way, or the hard way, your choice of course." Ishizu scowled at the arrogant smirk that he gave her as the three of them closed in. 'So, they think I'm a sure thing huh, well I guess I'll just have to prove them wrong' Reaching up for her necklace, she failed to activate it before one of the two assailants behind her reached around to restrain her hands behind her back while the other upon spotting it, grasped and roughly tore off her necklace, unknowingly relieving Ishizu of her only real defense.


"Hey boss, look what I found." Tossing her necklace to his leader, the knife wielder caught it before staring at the golden item with a greedy lust before turning his focus back to their current victim.


"Very nice, what else are you hiding under that robe of yours huh?" He stalked forward intending to find out for himself, only to receive a face full of spit, courtesy of the egyptian maiden in their custody. Rewarding her efforts with a strong backhand to her face, the attacker restraining her let go, allowing her to fall sprawling back first against the wall behind her. "So, you want to do this the hard way huh, fine by me, I prefer it." As the group advanced on her, Ishizu even from such a disadvantage decided not to give up willingly, but for the first time since she could remember, the young egyptian woman felt fear. 'Dear Ra, help me'


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'Stupid old man, damn that bastard' These thoughts and more filled the mind of one Joseph Wheeler as he wandered the now deserted streets of Domino City. A small gust of wind caused the tired blond to pull his navy school jacket closer to his body as the white tee underneath did little to protect him against the elements. The ends of his denim jeans were tucked into his sneakers as he made his way along, destination unknown. It hadn't been one of their worst cases, but given the condition that his father had been in upon returning home, Joey decided that it was best to leave before their latest fight escalated from verbal to physical, god knows he suffered from enough of those. Though his friends obviously suspected something every time he showed up with another bruise or bandaged cut, he could always pass it off as running into members of a rival gang, though he himself was no longer in any such circle, it didn't mean that all his enemies suddenly disappeared ether. Only Yugi knew the truth, and that was because Joey trusted him enough to reveal his secret to the diminutive duelist.


Passing by a random back way alley, his reverie was disrupted by the sudden clanging of an overturned garbage can. Passing it off as the work of some common stray searching for a meal, Joey prepared to continue on by until the light, but audible sound of voices caught his attention. Unable to resist his urges of curiosity, Joey silently slipped down along the side of one of the buildings forming the alley, hurryingly ducking behind dumpsters, boxes, or whatever he could find. Finally moving within range of the mysterious voices to where he could clearly distinguish them, Joey peered over his latest hiding spot and was taken aback by the scene he was bearing witness too, apparently a small trio of thugs thought they could make a quick buck at their victim's expense. The woman in question was doing her best to not make it an easy fight, but she was loosing ground rapidly, every time she got up it wasn't a minute later they had her back on her posterior.

Warm brown eyes watched with indecision as to how he should respond to this situation. One half said to run and get help, but the other half screamed at him to help her, whoever she was, both sides waged an internal war within himself until he saw the young woman go down and was unable to get up due to becoming too weak. Seeing her lying there so helpless was all he needed to see before making up his mind. Gritting his teeth in determination at what he was about to do, Joey left the safety of his hidden location, and with the silent speed born of one practically raised on the streets, charged her attackers and leaped head first into the fray.


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Backhanding Ishizu with the hand that contained her millennium necklace, the group leader sent the young maiden sprawling once more before reaching up and tracing the twin parallel marks left on his cheek from her latest act of defense. He glared down at her hotly, obviously having grown tired of playing around. "Alright guys, haul her up, it's time to finish this." At his command, the two masked accomplices each grabbed an arm before pulling the now injured woman up and holding her against the wall, weakened from her exertions, Ishizu could do little but comply. "It's nothing personal I assure you, but we can't have you running off to the cops to report us now can we?" Smirking at her silence he pressed forward. "Don't worry doll, it'll all be over it a minute."

"Oh no you don't." So wrapped up in what was about to happen, the juvenile punk was unprepared for the stinging right hook coming out of nowhere as it landed squarely on his left cheek, sending the startled hooligan careening to the nearby pavement below. "Take a load off." Using the element of surprise to his advantage, Joey followed up by burying his enclosed left fist into the gut of the assailant holding up Ishizu's left side, before crouching down pushing himself upward while finishing him off with a right uppercut. The one-two combo effectively left his foe unconscious and crumpled at the young brawler's feet.


Releasing his own hold on Ishizu who immediately collapsed to the ground upon which she was standing, the remaining attacker leaped at Joey while his back was turned, and was rewarded rather awkwardly when the young man in question turned in time to counter by sliding his left leg back before pulling it forward and ramming his knee full force into the sternum of his current attacker, and following it by clasping his hands together and dropping a double ax handle to the back of the boy's neck, quickly disposing of his supposed last problem. Snorting in disgust at the pathetic performance, yet at the same time relieved that it was over, Joey turned to the woman he had just saved. "Are you okay mi... " 'What the heck?' "Ishizu?"


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Ishizu was only remotely aware of the fact that she had been moments away from a rather painful experience before a blue and blond blur intercepted the intended slayer from her view. The next thing she felt was her sides being released as she slumped to the ground, unable to do anything but watch in silence through clouded eyes as her unasked, but not unappreciated rescuer leap to her defense at risk to himself. The stranger managed to make short work of the troublesome trio before he turned his attention to her. "Are you okay mi.... Ishizu?" Concentrating on the face in front of her, Ishizu's vision gradually cleared to reveal wheat blond hair and honey brown eyes staring back. It took a moment for the face to register, but when it did, it was all she could do to reply to the voice.

"J-Joey?" She was about to say more when there was a trace of movement caught in the corner of her eye. Apparently their ringleader had gotten his second wind and was now coming for them, eyes of sapphire widen in alarm as Ishizu gasped. "Joey, look out!"


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"Joey, look out!" Glancing behind him, Joey managed to catch the young fighter coming off his right side. Attempting to fade back, Joey missed a direct attack, but wasn't fast enough to avoid receiving a semi-deep gash to his left side, directly below his ribcage. Choking back a gasp of pain, Joey turned to face the rejuvenated rouge as he pressed his right hand to the knife wound in his side, his teeth were clenched in biting anger and frustration as his enemy grinned in feral pleasure at seeing the physical pain in Joey's eyes.


"You've caused me a lot of trouble fella, now you're going to learn why the good die young." Joey simply smirked through the pain.


"You talk a pretty big game, how about you try and back it up?" The goon snarled at Joey's arrogance, the young duelist simply raised his hand and lightly waved him forward. "Bring it on." Complying with the stranger's request, the pale faced mugger dove in swinging his blade blindly, as if he planned to hit him by chance. Joey continued to duck and weave his was past the swipes until finally his attacker tried to jab him with it. Passing to the outside of the attack, Joey grabbed the guys wrist with his right hand, and using the assailant's forward momentum, used his left hand to grasp the back of the guy's shirt collar and swinging him face first into the wall. Letting go of his back, Joey began to pummel the guy's kidney a few times until he was unable to hold onto his weapon anymore.


Pulling him off the wall, Joey kicked the now injured lout behind the knees, dropping him to all fours before hopping back and delivering a well placed round house kick to the face, knocking him out cold. Shivering from the remaining adrenalin as it ran its course through his body, Joey turned from his fallen foe and started back towards Ishizu, but paused as the dim light from a street lamp bounced off a glimmering object lying on the ground. Stooping over to pick it up, Joey examined the golden jewelry in his hands.'This is Ishizu's necklace, must have come off in the scuffle.' Coming up on the recovering girl, Joey fell to a knee before reaching out cautiously and re-clasping both ends of the necklace around Ishizu's neck. "I think this belongs to you." Ishizu unconsciously reddened slightly at his actions and the caring air that surrounded him as he did so.


"T-thank you, and thank you for helping me."


"Hey no problem, just passing through. Can you stand up?" Ishizu nodded before attempting to rise, but was slow in doing so due to her condition. Taking a few wobbly steps, she began to trippingly stumble before Joey reached out and caught her. "Whoa easy there. Here, let me help you." Moving to her side, he slipped his right arm around her back while holding her left arm across his shoulders. "There we go, now what say we get out of here before our friends here decide to wake up?" Granting him a miniscule pained smile, the duo made their way out of the alley and back into the lighted streets.


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The Ishtar household eventually came into view as the unlikely pair made their way along the sidewalk, nearing the end of their excursion. Throughout the entire walk, Ishizu found herself leaning more and more against her escort as the simple act of walking continued to drain her remaining strength, and yet despite his own injuries, Joey seemed to somehow manage to take it all in stride. Managing to make it within a block of her residence, the young curator finally succumbed to the exhaustion that had been chipping away at her conscience as she slumped against Joey before passing out completely. Joey, who had prayed against, but wasn't totally unprepared for this event, braced himself. Re-establishing his balance, the young Wheeler gritted his teeth as he hooked his left arm under her knees before sweeping her up completely into his clutches. Though she felt lighter then he had initially suspected, the strain of his effort has managed to reopen the wound in his side that up to this point been showing the signs of healing. Ignoring the burning sensation that enflamed him with every step, Joey covered the remaining distance which left him standing on Ishizu's front porch.


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'Figures, over a hundred channels and nothing decent to watch.' Malik sighed as he continued lounging on the living room couch while aimlessly flipping through the numerous programs currently playing on the television. He had told Ishizu that he'd stay up to keep dinner warm for her, and it wasn't unusual for his sister to work past closing time, but up until now she had never been so late before, at least not without calling. His ponderings were halted as an odd knocking resonated from the front door. 'Finally, I thought she'd never get home. Heh, she must have forgot her house key again' "Hold on, I'm coming already." Running a hand absently through his ivory tinted blond locks, Malik stood up and headed over to open the door, but not before peering through the peephole at his visitor, force of habit mainly. He was a bit surprised to see Joey residing on the other end. 'What in the world?' Undoing the locks, he opened the door. "Joey, what are you do... dear Ra, Ishizu!"


Pressing his way past the startled Ishtar sibling, Joey paused in the entryway to take stock of his surroundings before moving as fast as he could to the living room and laying the unconscious Ishizu as gently as possible upon the couch just recently vacated by her brother, he was soon joined by a confused and slightly alarmed Malik. "Joey, what the heck happened to her?"


"Well, short story is that she had a run in with a few guys who thought she'd be an easy mark. I was passing by and decided to intervene." Joey grimaced again as the wound in his side once again made itself known. Malik was taken back as he noticed the injury. Joey smirked humorlessly. "As you can see nether of us walked away unscathed, but at least we walked away." By now the initial shock had worn off, but having no prior experience in this type of situation, Malik was still a bit lost at what to do. "Hey, you got a first aid kit or something around here?" Joey visibly relaxed a bit when he nodded. "Good, go get it, and while you're at it get me a washcloth and some water."


As Malik ran off to retrieve the supplies that were requested, Joey began doing what he could to make Ishizu more comfortable. Kneeling on the carpeted floor before her, he went about removing her golden headdress and accompanying hair bands before laying them on the small lamp table beside the sofa's armrest. Unclipping her necklace from behind, it too joined the Ishizu's other ornaments on the tabletop. By the time he finished, Malik had returned with the things Joey asked for and handed them over to the youth in question who accepted them graciously. "Thanks, you wouldn't happen to know first aid would you?"


"You mean besides putting on a band aid, no, sorry," Malik replied a bit sheepishly, obviously embarrassed at his lack of knowledge in such an important area. Joey sighed in exasperation.


"Well, I guess I'll just have to it myself then. Good thing I've had plenty of practice on myself." Placing the kit on one side while laying the cloth and dishpan of water on the other, Joey tentatively reached out and slowly began to push back her robe.


"Hey, what do you think you're doing," Malik exclaimed, taken aback and caught a bit off guard by his friend's actions.


"I need to make sure that any and all of her possible injuries are treated properly, it'd be dangerous not too." Malik would have dismissed his words immediately as some sort of lame excuse to see his sister in her underwear, but the sincerity in his voice as well as the more then serious look on his face was apparently enough to convince Malik otherwise.


"Fine, do what you need to do, but don't think Marik was the only one who knows how to use the millennium rod." He emphasized his point by lightly fingering the golden rod from where it hanged on his belt. "Try anything and you'll see just how handy I can be with it." Joey gave him a curt nod in response as he once again set about his task.


Laying her cloths to the side, Joey faltered briefly as he got his first real look at the sleeping beauty before him. Why someone would want to cover a body like this was beyond any reason he could comprehend. He staved off the red tint threatening to give him away by focusing on the task at hand.


Isolating each individual cut and scrape she had been inflicted with, Joey dipped the washcloth into the cool water before wringing it out and rubbing the soothing moisture over her skin, cleaning the wounds of any dirt or infectious material that may have found it's way in. After he finished with the cleaning, Joey treated them all with some of the ointment that he had found in the medical kit. Arranging gauze patches over the most severe of the now treated areas, he wrapped them snuggly in place with bandages before sweeping his gaze over her once more from head to toe in both personal and professional appraisal before he was satisfied with the results of his handy work. 'Whew, glad that's over.' Shifting his gaze over to Malik who had been watching him work from a nearby chair, Joey silently sighed in relief as the indigo-eyed boy nodded in silent approval. "Well that's it, she'll be fine now. Do you have any spare blankets laying around?"


"Yeah, they're in the upstairs closet, be back in a minute." Standing up to leave, Malik passed one more look over to Joey who had by now removed his jacket and was proceeding to do the same with his shirt in order to tend to his own injuries, before heading upstairs to retrieve the requested blankets. Sparing a glance to his retreating back, Joey went about cleaning, treating, and finally wrapping his own wound before making his way over to the now vacant chair. Falling back into the plush cushions, Joey finally allowed the building physical and mental backlash from all of the day's events to overwhelm him. Succumbing to exhaustion, the young hero's eyes slowly fell shut as he was thrust into the land of Morpheus.


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Reaching the linen closet at the top of the stairs, Malik opened the door before reaching up and removing the necessary blankets from within. Noticing the shoebox sized oak container where the blankets had previously been, Malik set the covers aside while pulling the box down to examine. "Hmm... I had almost forgotten about you." Lifting the lid up to reveal a red velvet interior, he squinted his eyes as the golden glow resonating from the object within temporarily blinded him. The eye of the millennium rod began to glow in synch with the contents of the box in its master's hands. 'It senses its true master close at hand Malik, it grows restless.'


"I know, it seems our guest's presence has awakened its power. I still don't see why Shadi had to leave this thing with us though, why couldn't he just give it to Joey himself?"


'Both pieces of this particular puzzle have to be united at the direst of time, otherwise it's true power will be lost for another lifetime. Shadi has more important responsibilities then to sit around and wait for such a time. Besides, it's taken Joey's meeting with your sister tonight to begin the chain of events that will eventually lead to the unleashing of his untapped power.'


"What power is that?"


'You'll know when the time comes.' With that the glow from the rod faded, and Malik resealed the box before placing it back on the closet shelf. Picking up the previously discarded blankets, he made his way back downstairs.


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The scene that greeted the tanned young man upon re-entering the living room was one that promoted feelings both serene and docile in nature. Striding over to the couch first, Malik draped one of the loosely, but entirely over his sleeping sister while tucking it in at the sides and finally under her chin.


Making his way towards the lounge chair and the house's second sleeping tenant, Malik simply stood and stared, unable and unwilling to wake the sleeping savior as the lines of fatigue clearly stood out upon his otherwise peaceful face. Considering all that he had done and gone through this night, it hardly seemed fair to wake him from his slumber. With that thought in mind, Malik allowed a small warm smile grace his face as he covered Joey with his remaining blanket before shutting off the previously neglected television, and switching off the lights as he exited the room for the last time on track to his own room in pursuit of some much needed rest. It had been a long night indeed.



End Chapter 1




Author's notes: Well, what did you think? This was and still is my first attempt at a Yu-Gi-Oh story so I apologize if the plot for the time being seems a little loose and underdeveloped. I always like to try new and unusual pairings, so when the idea for a Joey/Ishizu pairing struck me, I just had to run with it. I promise that it'll get better as the story develops. I'm still a little unsure as to how the whole idea of the spirits having their own bodies came around, and as for their names (ex. Malik/Marik, Yugi/Yami, ect.) since Ishizu's name was all that was mentioned in the series, that's the name I'm sticking with. If I ever use her spirit (providing I give her one) I'll refer to her as Isis. Anyways, since everyone seems to be doing it so, when in Rome... I'll tell you right now that I'll be playing around with the millennium items and altering and improving their powers as well as a few other things that might not seem to fit the Y.G.O. series, but I haven't seen the whole series yet so I'm just going to improvise, if you can't handle that well then tough, don't read this story, but if you want an entertaining piece of FF.Net literature history in the making then stick around and be on the lookout for chapter two. For the time being though I'm going to finish my latest chapter of Love and War, and then perhaps type the third part of my 'the Pain and Joy of Love' trilogy, so until next time, this is S. S. Shadow signing off.