A/N: First Yu-Gi-Oh fic, and of course it's about Joey. He's my fave character. It's the
Brooklyn accent, I swear! Anyways, this is a songfic. The song is, aptly enough, "Joey"
by Bon Jovi. It's told through Tristan's POV.
SANITIZED: LYRICS HAVE BEEN REMOVED. THIS IS THE FFNET APPROVED, SANITARY, MADE-FOR-KIDDIES VERSION. TO VIEW THE ORIGINAL, GO TO MY SITE AND VENTURE UNDER "THE WORKS" AND THE APPROPRIATE SHOW.
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I've known Joey "Keys" Wheeler a long time. It seems almost forever. I met him when
my family moved to the other side of town. He was the paper boy, and went from
apartment door to apartment door delivering papers. He was a little younger than me, so
at first I paid no attention to him. But one day, Mom offered him to come inside and get
something to drink. It was a hot summer day and he had to climb to the tenth floor to get
to our apartment, because the elevator was broke.
I asked my mom if I she knew where the park was. I wanted to go play football or
something. She didn't know, but Joey offered to show me since that was on his way
home. My mom agreed, and to this day I don't know what made her trust Joey. He was
dressed in ripped jeans, a backwards baseball hat, and paint splattered T-shirt. How do I
remember? Simple, he wore the same outfit until about a year ago.
He rode his bike slow so I could keep up, and took me to the park. There he left me,
saying he'd be back in about an hour. On the way we had talked, and both of us realized
we liked the same sports, although different teams. It must have been football I wanted to
play, because I asked him he wanted to play a game with me. That's when he said he'd be
back. Sure enough he came back, same outfit minus the hat, and we played football. He
was a fast. After a while we became tired and sat down to talk.
A little while later, a man showed up yelling 'Keys!'. Joey said he had to go, and walked
up to the man. Later I found out that it was his dad, and the story behind why he was
called "Keys". It's a really funny story. I'll have to tell you sometime.
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I remember the restaurant his parents owned. It was an Italian one, and always smelled
like spaghetti sauce to me. His parents were the absolute best cooks in the world,
although Joey couldn't make anything worth a lick. Well, there were those scary creations
we cooked up, but no one dared tasting it for fear of being poisoned or worse.
I'd be the first to admit that Joey wasn't the brightest person in the world when it came to
academics, but he knew the streets like the back of his hand. And when it came to the
streets, he was tough and ready to rumble. I have seen him with more black eyes than I
can count, yet every time I always knew the other guy was probably worse off. Joey has
always had a quick temper, but his anger usually doesn't stick around.
I remember the nights we used to spend at each other's places. We'd be up all night
arguing over who was the best team, the prettiest girl, the best superhero, etc. Joey has an
imagination that you wouldn't believe. Most of the time he hides his real self and puts on
that act of a street brat, but if you ever catch him when he's drawing or writing, you'd be
amazed. Some of his stories you would swear a professional writer wrote. But don't tell
him I know, because the only reason I do is because I stole his notebook by accident once.
I put it back and he never noticed.
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The others don't know Joey like I do. The closest would probably be Yugi, but he doesn't
know half the stuff I do about Joey. Like the "Keys" thing. Only myself and his dad call
him that, and only when no one else is around. I might have to change that. I would just
love seeing him explain that to Yugi and Téa. Nah, I'm not that mean. Well, unless he
provokes me.
Joey has some of the craziest dreams. Depending on what day of the week it is, he could
want to be an astronaut, a cowboy, an entrepeneur, a CEO like Seto Kaiba, or some
wealthy billionare like Pegasus. Of course, how he's going to get the money involves
even crazier things, and the likes of which I'm not going to mention because I know you
won't believe me. Just think about Joey inventing something, and you can figure out the
rest.
Another thing he wants to do is to get out of this town. He wants to see the world. I asked
how he was going to do it, and you know what his reply was? 'Simple, Tristan. Just throw
my stuff in the car and take off. I don't care where I go or how I get there, just as long as I
do. That's all that matters.' I swear, word for word, that is what he said. I asked if I could
come along. He just grinned and said I'd have to beat him at football before that can
happen. I don't expect you know this, but he's never beaten me at football.
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I met Rhonda on my way to my after school job. She was, literally, the bomb. The poster
girl Joey and I had dreamt up. We started dating, and once Joey came with us. (I invited
him so he wouldn't feel left out.) Well, that ticked Rhonda off. Joey would drop subtle
hints that he liked her, but he would never directly hit on her, probably because he knew
I'd chase him to Tokyo and back. But she blew it out of proportion and dumped me. Joey
thought I blamed him and avoided me for a week before I finally caught him in school
one day. I told him that she wasn't what I thought she was, and that it wasn't his fault. He
was so relieved he about fainted.
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Man the times have changed. After the Duelist Kingdom, things kinda went downhill.
Sure, Serenity is doing great, but things are rough at home. Joey's mom died a few years
ago, and he's now left with his dad. The man tries, honestly he does, but he's been at the
bottom of the bottle for so long now. He lost the restaurant to some newcomers, and it's
still there, still doing great, but I never go there. It's not the same.
But like I said, Serenity is doing great, and that's what's keeping Joey going. He and his
sister grew up in different homes for most of their lives. They're only half brother and
sister, but you'd never know it. (They had the same mom-- the one that died was Joey's
stepmom.) He's always looked after her, and will continue to do so until the day he dies.
He told me that once, and I believe him. Joey is like my younger brother, and I know
that's what I'll do until the day I die.
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We always say that we'll get out of this town. Yugi and Téa don't really believe us, but
they don't know us. They see us fight, and they think we're being stupid, but what we're
really doing is showing how much we are like brothers. When Joey started Dueling, I
taunted and teased him, but it was for a reason. Joey always liked to prove himself to me;
I was just giving some more motivation. He knew it and I knew it, but we don't need to
say a word to understand it. I know that the others never will, but that's okay. Yeah, one
day Joey and I will get out this town. Find a better life. And you know we'll have some
interesting adventures along the way.
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