Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh in any which, way of form. Although I do own the plot in which this story revolves around.
Warning: Shounen-ai, if you feel uncomfortable around that sort of thing, click BACK and you won't have to worry.
Tough Luck.
Chapter one
A force.
An unknown plague that can sweep over you in a matter of seconds. Roughly like a disease, but incurable. The human brain cannot register what goes on in under one second. Or a millisecond.
That is what happened to them. Unbeknownst to the uncontrollable power that could rival most super-power nation army's, they were sitting ducks, waiting to be changed. For life. Forever their lives will never be the same. Some having to chose different paths in life. Some trying to regain what they once held in the palm of their hand. A task so difficult, it took them years to settle back with the real world, that they had already separated and left each others lives completely.
Forever, until now.
The streets of New York were packed, as usual. Being early in the morning, the citizens of New York were as busy as bees. Trying to get to work on time for that big raise they oh-so needed. But trying to walk anywhere in that city was literally impossible. It seemed for every step you took, you took three back. Taxi drivers were jam packed on the roads, horns were honking like it was world war two, and trying to catch a cab was beyond the question. The subway was the fastest mode of transportation for longer distances.
Unless of course, you were Serenity Wheeler.
Once a young, innocent teenage girl who was shielded from the outer world by her older sibling, was now a hard core CEO of one of the largest, and most successful banks in the state of New York. And if you think this has something to do with the unimaginable power that swept over the young group of teenagers, you're right.
Serenity was one of few that received a more forceful blow. Her life was altered dramatically. Of course, being a multibillionaire CEO, she couldn't complain how her life turned out. Serenity Wheeler had been transformed into a vampire.
And yes I know what you're thinking. She can't go out in the sunlight, and sleeps in a coffin. Well, you're wrong. Serenity was among only one hundred other vampires in the New York city area. She could walk, run and even tan in the sunlight. She could sleep on a king sized bed. And she didn't burn up and die from the touch of holy water.
Although, a couple other things came with being a vampire. One, she didn't have her own reflection. Two, she was still blood thirsty, and three, she never set foot inside a church. A crucifix was too much for her to bear.
So, to beat the city rush, Serenity simply flew.
Her day started out as usual. She made sure she arrived earlier than most of her close co-workers. She always came through the roof entrance. Upon entering the building she might pass a couple earlier risers, and she knew everyone of them personally. When she arrived at her office, or more like suit, she would check to see that her secretary had re-filled the coffee machine with fresh coffee. She would greet her secretary, asking how her days have been.
After finally arriving at her gigantesque desk, she would quickly check through her email, and sit back, waiting for the problems to start arising.
Although, today was much unlike any other. But, the red haired CEO got to work fine, greeted everyone, checked up on her secretary, and noticed her office was the way she left it last night. The only strange thing was, that she had an email from a personal.
Serenity only had certain, select people in her personal file, so it could only be a certain person out of a few. And it was. It was her older brother, Joey.
Joey was another unfortunate human to get hit with the plague like force. Unlike Serenity, he was anything but a vampire. He had no problem walking into a church and staring at the cross for hours (although why would he even bother?). He wasn't blood thirsty, and he had a reflection, and a damn nice one at that.
Joey was one of two that ended up how he did. Actually, in the group, everyone had a pair. Their were two vampires, and two of everything else. (You will find out in due time). The blonde had become so much more than he was before the incident. Before he was barely running by the edge of his seat. Having to ration his money for the month, and make sure he didn't spend to much on certain items. He lived in a four room apartment before. Bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and a small den for the television.
And now, partly thanks to having a multibillionaire sister, and to his saving up (mainly his sister) he lived in a three story house with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, two dinning rooms, two living rooms and one giant room for his piano and fireplace. Two of the bedrooms were guest bedrooms, and two rooms had attach-on bathrooms. He had a fairly big back yard, and two patios, one housing a hot tub.
Yes, Joey lived the life many dreamed of. Save those who could afford the world and then some. But with happiness came unhappiness. Joey had become immortal. And how did he find out exactly? He received a contract from the Devil, saying this and that about how his life was changed dramatically, and he would forever look like he did when the force swept through his unsuspecting body.
The only way Joey could actually die, was if he saw a picture of himself, the portrait used as the contract-sealer. If Joey ever laid his honey-brown eyes upon that portrait, he would immediately change back into the age he should have been, and lose his immortality. And if he had been around long enough, he would just drop dead on the spot.
Of course, Joey had this picture sent far, far away. In a well guarded bank. Actually, it was in the bank Serenity owned. And having connections to the CEO came in handy. As his portrait was in the most heavily guarded safe the bank housed. And this means the most heavily guarded safe the bank housed, throughout the entire globe.
So, Joey was in no danger what-so-ever, unless he pissed his dearest sister enough for her to send the picture back.
So now we head off to the blonde, living in his luxurious home, all alone, and out-of-his-mind bored. He sat on the balcony, sighing softly to himself. He missed everyone from the battle-ship. It was there when everyone had been cursed with the life they had now. He kept in touch with Serenity, as the reason of his giant house. But he had lost almost entire contact with everyone else. He knew the yami's and their lights were still together, as they could not have been separated.
Joey sighed softly again, his hair blowing a bit from the warm Chinook winds from the west. The sunlight danced off his blonde hair as if it was water. His head rested on one hand, while the other fingered the railing absently. His eyes were focused on the city beyond him, but his mind was clearly elsewhere. His eyes were slowly slipping closed, his mind slowly shutting down, and his body doing the same. At the moment, Joey looked as peaceful as a human could get.
Until the phone rang.
Jumping up about a foot in the air, Joey looked wildly around, searching for the sound that had just woken him out of a deep state of near unconsciousness. Muttering a silent string of curses, the blonde marched inside to find the damned phone. Upon finding it, Joey silently hoped that his glare would make it burst into flames, but of course he did not have that power, unfortunately. Picking up the stupid machine, Joey's mood changed slightly.
"Hello?" Joey said, in a more welcoming sounding voice. Although the voice on the other line wasn't near as welcoming.
"Hello mutt." Came a cold, forbidding voice. Joey's face instantly transformed from one to warmth and forgiving, to one of hate and anger.
"What do you want, Kaiba?" Joey growled, having half the mind to hang up on the brown haired bastard. He heard a faint chuckle.
"I want a lot of things, mutt. But at the moment, I have a message to deliver to you." Kaiba said. Joey blinked. Kaiba would have probably enjoyed just skipping Joey and going to the next person. Why he would inform Joey of something, or anything except for him being a worthless mutt was unknown to him.
"And what kind of message Kaiba, cause I'm sure I've heard them all." Joey said, sounding witty yet pissed at the same time. He really didn't need this now. Of all times, Kaiba called in the hour Joey enjoyed calling his quiet-keep-away-time-from-the-stupid-world hour.
"There is a banquet. Everyone who was affected by the incident is invited, and they know who everyone is. I'm just here to tell you that.." Kaiba started, but Joey cut him off.
"Kaiba you bastard? Do you really think I need the thought of what happened to all of us on my mind for the rest of the week? You could at least give me a break once in a while!" Joey snapped.
Kaiba growled. "As I was saying, I'm just telling you that it is in a weeks time. It's being held in Moscow, Russia. You'll have more information concerning it in your email box." With that Kaiba hung up, leaving Joey fuming and eyes wide.
A meeting? Why? And there were more people affected by this incident? If there were, he wondered who his double was. He always thought Honda was, since the guy was practically his best friend. He kept in touch a little bit, but Honda never actually revealed what he was. The blonde teen composed himself a bit better, and walked towards his computer. It was a Mac, OSX edition. Very nice and Joey was very fond of it.
After a couple minutes of net-surfing, Joey decided he should check his email for the letter Kaiba said he should have. And god help him I he didn't. After looking over all his emails, Joey found one from Kaiba. It stated the usual. Hello mutt. Banquet blah, blah, blah' email it to one person, save me blah, blah, blah'. Joey quickly got the point, and a couple of minutes later, he did a quick check over of his email to his sister.
Seren,
How are you? It's been a long time since I've gotten the chance to talk to you face to face, so this is the next best thing. How is your business going? Become any more richer? Not that it's possible. Your almost as rich as Kaiba!
Anyways. I hope you're well. I am. I received a call from Kaiba a couple minutes ago about the incident a couple years ago. Apparently, there is a banquet for everyone who was affected by it. I'm supposed to email it to you and you're supposed to send it to someone else. Eventually everyone will get it. Kaiba said Yugi and his yami sent the message to him, so don't bother with those two. Here is the information you'll need to send:
What: Banquet
Why: It never said, we'd be best to just show upWhen: In one week from today
Where: Moscow, Russia. Radisson Sas Slavyanskaya hotel
Time: Whenever you want to check in. You'll have someone check up on you to inform you of further instructions.
So sis, isn't this great?! It's all-inclusive so we don't have to drop a dime! Not that it would really make a difference for you!
Well, I hope you're well, for the third time. See you soon! Call me if you get the time in your busy, exiting schedule.
Love from your greatest brother,
Joey
With that quick read over, Joey clicked send, and in three seconds flat, it was in the personals box of Serenity Wheeler.
Serenity quickly read the email, overjoyed to have her older brother send her an email. Quickly writing down all of the information, Serenity made a quick grab for the phone, knowing exactly who she was going to be telling.
"Hello, Mazaki residence, Téa speaking." A young, feminine voice could be heard. Serenity nearly squealed.
"Téa! It's me, Serenity!" the red haired CEO burst, her face splitting into a grin as she could just imagine what Téa's expression looked like at the moment. Téa actually lived in New York, but practically two hours away from Serenity by subway, and the vampire didn't dare fly such a length in broad daylight.
"Serenity! It's been ages! How have you been?" the brunette asked, elated. Serenity smiled. Her life was great. She had everything she had ever dreamt of having. Too bad Joey didn't live with her. Not having her brother there made everything a tad less exciting. Sometimes Serenity just had the urge to kick a hole in the wall, trying to replace Joey's funny, yet stupid antics.
"I've never been better Téa! I was calling to give you some important information." Serenity said, her tone dropping to a more serious one at the end of that sentence. She explained everything to her friend, knowing full well that she wasn't going to have to repeat herself.
Téa listened with anticipation. She never thought something this exciting could happen over something so traumatizing that happened before, causing all of her friends to split up. After Serenity had finished explaining, Téa needed to recap.
"A banquet? In Russia? Wow! I haven't even got anything to wear! It's cold in Moscow right?" Téa asked, absently glancing in her closet at her attire. All summer clothes, nothing that could withstand a harsh, Russian winter.
"Yeah, it is pretty cold, so you know what this means!" Serenity squealed. Téa knew what was coming.
"SHOPPING"! both girls squealed in unison.
After some more un needed, probably-heard-all-the-way-down-the-street squeals, the two girls decided to meet at Saks 5th avenue. Probably one of the most famous streets in New York, and the most expensive. But it wasn't as if Serenity couldn't afford it.
A little while past lunch time, the girls were sitting in a small, cozy café, sipping iced cappuccinos.
"So, have you heard about anyone else?" Serenity asked, the itching question stuck in the back of her mind for so long. Téa shook her head and licked some extra iced cap off of her straw.
"No, no one but you and Joey. I heard Kaiba is in Cuba." Téa said, her eyes falling on a familiar form that entered the café. Serenity, however, didn't notice. She only sighed a long, drawled sigh.
"Of course, probably having the time of his life. Stupid bastard." Serenity said, mostly to herself. Although Téa did manage to hear, but her eyes were still on the familiar form in the line up near the counter. Serenity's eyes lingered on Téa's for a moment, and slowly followed were she was looking. The CEO narrowed her eyes in confusion, and quickly darted them back to Téa.
"Who are you looking at?" Serenity asked quietly, leaning forward a little bit, as to not let her voice travel from the table. Téa blinked, and turned back to Serenity. She shifted in her chair uncomfortably.
"I don't know, but I feel like I know who it is. Like an old acquaintance." Téa whispered. Suddenly, as if out of no where, a look of pure playfulness and mischief glowed in her dull, blue eyes.
"Serenity, do you think you could get me a cookie?" Téa asked. Serenity rolled her eyes, knowing what Téa was up to. They did this when they were younger. Once they spotted someone they like, they would choose who got to go up and stand near them, listening in on their conversation. Although, Serenity didn't see the point of standing behind the mysterious stranger, as they weren't talking to anyone.
"Come on Serenity! It'll be like old times." Téa urged. Serenity rolled her eyes and stood up, gathering up her composure, she strode over to the line, ending up directly behind the person, who turned out to be a man, and he had a hood covering his hair. Serenity didn't bother to check him out at all, she wanted to wait until he got to the counter to hear his voice.
"Next. The woman behind the counter said. The man walked up. He glanced at the beverage list briefly, and turned back to the woman.
"Alright, umm.. Arlene, I'll have a coffee, black." He said. Serenity gasped. She knew that voice! But who? She took a step forward, as if thinking she could walk right through the man, turn and around and see who it was. The woman behind the counter nodded and went to the coffee machines. The man tapped his fingers on the hard counter top impatiently. After about thirty seconds or so, he changed his position and leant up against the counter, his hood falling off his head slightly.
Serenity didn't catch what his hair looked like. The woman, Arlene as her name tag read, was taking an unusually long amount of time to get his coffee, so to rest up, the mad turned slightly, wondering if the people behind him were getting annoyed with the wait.
Serenity's eyes squinted as she saw the man turn his head briefly, but snapped it back into place after hearing the woman at the counter come back.
"I'm sorry sir, our coffee machine is having slight problems, is there anything else I can get you?" she asked, batting her big eyes at him. The man looked at the board again.
"Fine, I'll just have a hot chocolate." He said, waving his hand in the air absently. The woman nodded and punched a couple numbers into her key pad.
"Ok, and your name is?" she asked, tilting her head the side slightly. The man coughed. Quickly saying his name after. Serenity cursed silently, as she missed the name entirely.
Deciding this was slightly degrading, to be spying on an unknown person when you're the CEO of a giant bank company, Serenity waltzed back to her seat and sat down, immediately bombarded with Téa's questions.
"Who was it? Do we know them? Is it a guy? Is he cute?" she asked, resting her head on the backs of her hands, her elbows propped up vertically on the table.
"No, I didn't find out. She said. Téa frowned and went back to her iced cap, as if for comfort. Serenity rolled her eyes and looked around the coffee shop, her eyes landing on the man. He was turned around fully, searching the coffee shop for a seat. The CEO gasped as she looked at his face.
Soft, pale complexion. Brown eyes. And white, long hair.
It was Ryou.
"Téa, Téa look!" Serenity squealed, not removing her eyes from Ryou, who was still searching for a seat. Téa looked behind her, and turned back. Only to whip around once more and wail loudly.
"RYOU?!" The brunette practically screamed, standing up and knocking her chair off it's balance. Serenity covered her face, not wanting to be seen with Téa in a moment like this.
Ryou's brown eyes darted towards Téa and Serenity, and he too looked speechless. Serenity looked up just in time to see Téa nearly bowl Ryou over with the force of her hug. Ryou eeped' slightly opened his arms to avoid spilling the hot chocolate on himself.
"Téa?" came his confused voice. The brunette looked up at the mentioning of her name. She grinned and pulled the unwilling Ryou over to their table. Serenity glared at Téa for being so forward, but put on a smile as she saw Ryou.
"Téa, um.. could you let go of my arm? You're hurting me." Ryou whimpered. Téa smiled sheepishly and released Ryou's now red wrist, and pulled up a nearby chair for him, which happened to of had someone sitting on it. The man fell to the floor ungracefully and glared at Téa, who was busy shoving Ryou into the chair.
"Ryou! I can't believe you're here!" Téa squealed once more. Ryou looked worried, and glanced over to the other figure at the table, who seemed less.. intimidating than the over-active girl to his left. Ryou gasped as he realized who is was.
"Serenity?" he asked, eyes going wide. Serenity smiled, happy that the attention was focused once more on her. Now, she wasn't
one to always want the lime light, but it was nice to be noticed after a strange introduction from Téa. Ryou's face instantly split into a wide grin. He shifted in his chair so he was facing Serenity squarely.
"So.. how have you been?" Ryou asked, totally enveloped in the fact that his two best friends were sitting in a café with him, after so many years of separation.
"I've been great Ryou! I'm the CEO of.."
"A bank, I know I heard! Ryou interrupted.
"Yeah." Serenity said, the awkwardness coming back full force. Ryou smiled.
"Yeah, I know this is a bit awkward, eh?" Ryou said, giggling a little bit. Serenity's eyes snapped onto Ryou. How could he have read her thoughts like that?
"I have telepathic powers, Serenity. Ever since that night, I've been able to read thoughts of those other than Bakura's." Ryou said. Serenity sighed, still unnerved that Ryou knew exactly what she was thinking. Téa suddenly piped up.
"Bakura! Oh how is he?" Téa asked, her eyes glinting in curiosity. Ryou cringed slightly.
"Uh.. he's.."
"I'm fine." Came a voice from behind Ryou. Téa squeaked and whipped around, coming face to face with the tomb robber.
"BAKURA!!" Téa screamed, jumping up from her seat and glomping the now frightened white haired spirit. Téa noticed his tenseness and released her vice-like grip and stepped back a little. Bakura shivered and pulled up a chair beside his aibou. Serenity smiled weakly, not feeling entirely comfortable with Bakura here.
"So, Serenity. I hear you're a multi-billionaire now?" Bakura said, with a smirk. Serenity nodded, folding her hands on her lap, unsure of what to actually do with them.
"Good for you. Now your mutt of a brother might be able to get out of the crack house state he was in, eh?" Bakura asked. Serenity felt anger beginning to boil up in the pit of her stomach. Ryou gasped and slapped his yami on the shoulder.
"Bakura! Don't say things like that!" Ryou hissed, sending an apologetic look to Serenity. The CEO managed to keep her control. If not, Bakura would have lost a fair amount of blood by now. Serenity was not at all happy with having the tomb robber here.
"So, Ryou, it was nice seeing you." Serenity said, coldness in her voice from Bakura's last remark. Ryou nodded and stood up, Bakura following. Serenity walked past Bakura.
"Serenity." Bakura said curtly. Serenity stopped in her tracks and turned towards Bakura, a deadly glare in her eyes.
"Bakura." She said quietly, although Bakura heard it quiet clearly. Téa coughed and stood up, quickly following behind a now very pissed off Serenity. Bakura smirked.
"We'll be seeing them soon Ryou." Bakura said, not even bothering to look at his hikari. Ryou nodded, and then turned confusedly towards Bakura.
"What? What do you mean soon?" he asked.
"For the banquet, I'll explain on the subway home."
TBC
Miho: Sorry for the abruptness of the ending of this chapter. But the stupid document manager was being a bitch and it wouldn't let me download my entire chapter. So I had to cut it in half.. but I do have chapter two coming.. in like.. five minutes after I post this one, because it sort of.. needs to be there. So, I hope you like this so far.. please review!