Disclaimer: I don't own any parts of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. All copyrighted materials belong to the appropriate owners. This is a non-profitable story, written purely for entertainment.

Author's Note: I'm back! Sorry for the prolong …

Drop The Act

.: A Tactless Tales Production :.

Chapter 3

Decisive Duel…

Joey took the moment to admire his spouse as she marvelled at the shine of diamond accessories being displayed behind the jewellery shop's window. They were beautiful and so was she. He hoped that one day he could earn the means to unite her with her precious stones. He knew that would make Tea really happy.

He held her wrist in one hand and lightly tugged to signal that they should be moving on. Dominoza was a huge mall. It would be impractical to spend the entire morning window shopping at one store. Besides, they had been standing there for almost ten minutes! The security guard at the corner of his eye was staring at them suspiciously.

"Wait, one more second," she contended. Maybe if she stayed glued there long enough, Joey would realise how much she needed those diamonds and then he would pull out his chequebook!

Instead, the blond-haired teen glanced at his wristwatch. "Alright," he submitted reluctantly. "I'm giving you one more minute but then we're leaving."

She sighed. She knew he had the money so why wasn't he spending it on her? To her knowledge, the actors got paid way before the movie was actually released, or completed for that matter. Hm, maybe he's waiting for a special occasion. Yeah, that must've been it! Joey was so sweet when it came to birthdays and holidays. She retreated from the window and held his hand in hers. "Okay, let's go."

He returned her smile with his own. Tea was clad in a black sleeveless shirt and a low, red skirt. He liked her just the way she was. She didn't need those diamonds to make her look better. But if it helped her feel better about herself, he just might have to take up the new investment.

The bulging man standing guard a close distance from the jewellery parlour tightened the grip on his baton as he eyed the young couple walking away.

"Why is that guy looking at us like that?" Tea asked her boyfriend. "Do you know him or something?"

Joey didn't know him. That was for sure. Now that Tea suggested it however, his gaze did seem to linger more on him than it did on her. The guard began to approach the couple. Seeing this, Joey's hand subconsciously tightened its grip on his partner's in a protective manner. Neither he, nor Tea, did anything wrong so there shouldn't have been anything to worry about. It couldn't hurt to be too careful though.

"Can I help ya!?" He employed a little menace in his voice, hoping to threaten the man who was not only taller than him but three times as muscular too. The guard pulled out a notebook and a pen. Joey chuckled. "What, are you gonna write me a ticket now?"

The towering figure pulled down his shades, depositing them in his chest pocket. First his eyes were serious. Then they squinted for better focus before finally widening at the realisation of who he was staring dead in the eye. "Oh. My. God. It is Joey Wheel--"

Joey covered the guard's mouth immediately, muffling the somewhat feminine voice that didn't suit his appearance. "Yeah, it's me alright!" He must've recognized the Duellist from a broadcast of one of the tournaments he participated in. "Could ya pipe down a bit though? I'm tryin' ta have a good time wit' my girl over here!" And that meant he didn't need the entire mall's population knowing his celebrity status.

The jealous fan eyed Tea from head to toe, making her feel rather uncomfortable. She didn't like the look he was giving her one bit. "Ugh, I've heard of fangirls before but this is ridiculous."

"Oh no she didn't!" He shrieked. Joey looked around nervously, praying to Ra that an embarrassing scene wouldn't erupt right there and then. "I'll tell you what's ridiculous. First of all, doll, you're wearing --"

"What do you want?" Joey interrupted sharply. The brunette walked away from the situation, trusting her boyfriend would know how to handle it.

The guard sneered at her then handed Joey the pen and notebook he extracted earlier. Unfortunately for Joey, an autograph wouldn't be all he wanted. The broad man threatened to yell out the famous Duellist's name if he didn't place a kiss on his cheek. Cornered, Joey made it extremely brief and as hidden from public view as possible. After the distasteful ordeal, he rushed back to his annoyed date's side, putting an arm around her waist.

"I can't believe you did that."

"Not like I had a choice," Joey explained. He didn't want the morning to be spoiled for them.

"Joey. Wheeler." A voice startled them from behind.

Tea rolled her eyes. The voice was all too familiar. She and Joey whipped around to face the cause of interruption.

HIM? Joey wore a look of shock on his face. I thought I got a restrainin' order on that bastard! And if his illegal appearance wasn't bad enough, Tristan's blurting out of his name generated the response from nearby shoppers that Joey had feared. A small crowd began to grow around them. Blinding camera flashes shot at his eyes and loud whispers amongst the mass annoyed him beyond belief. He, Tristan and Tea had become the centre of attention. This was the last thing he wanted on this otherwise perfect morning.

"What's the matter?" Tristan taunted. "Don't you like your name anymore?" He cringed in anger at the sight of Joey wrapping his filthy arm over his girl's shoulder.

"Go away, Tristan. She's wit' me now!" He grinned triumphantly. "And the court said you aren't allowed to step within --"

Tristan tossed Joey a Duel Disk, forcing him to catch it off-guard. He activated his own Duel Disk. "Let's settle this out of court. I know what I did was stupid but a restraining order? That was too much, man. If I win, you drop it, and if you win, I'll leave you and Tea alone forever."

Joey recognized the Duel Disk thrown at him. It was his. And so was the deck in it, he realised, as he shuffled through the cards. He thought his possessions would be safe in his home but apparently nothing was safe when Tristan Taylor was involved any more. He must've been back to his old stalking games! If he could break into Joey's home and steal his things, who knew what other evils he was capable of?

The blond-haired teen set his Duel Disk in motion. He knew what he had to do. With Kaiba filling up the bulk of his recycle bin, Joey's life was all out of space for dirt bags like Tristan.

"You don't have to do this," Tea whispered into his ear, hugging his arm tightly. Her break-up with Tristan was as ugly as they got. She felt responsible for this whole ordeal eating away at her relationship with Joey. "Just leave us alone, Tristan!"

"If he won't listen to the law, what makes ya think he'll listen to you?" Even as he spoke to his girlfriend, Joey kept his piercing eyes devoted to his nemesis. "There are plenty of witnesses here who heard him say he'd leave us alone if I beat him in a duel. Even the lowest of scum wouldn't go back on a contract bound by a duel. Lemme kick this loser outta our lives for good!"

Tea shook her head at the situation. There was so much wrong with it. How could people take allegiance to a card game over the law? She didn't understand it, but anybody could see by the looks in the two teens' eyes that they did. At this point, she was willing to take anything that promised a future free of Tristan. "Fine. You better take him down, Joey!"

Tristan's lips curled into a half smile.

"Let's duel!" They said in chorus.

ooOOoo

Cerulean eyes danced about the menu's offerings timidly, looking for something they'd only know once they found it. That was the problem with big menus; Serenity never knew what to pick! The original plan was to come down to the café for a simple round or two of cappuccino. Of course, the original plan was always subject to change once new factors came into play, which in this case would be the breakfast meals available. It was breakfast time after all; why not catch breakfast at the café while she was at it?

Decisions, decisions, she was never good with decisions. The struggle to decide on something would've been stressful if it wasn't for the harmonious piano tunes soothing into her from the earphones. She let her eyes fall shut slowly. Almost in a sleepy haze, she ignored everything around her for the moment, allowing the music to fully absorb her.

A presence carefully made its closeness evident to her unseen senses. She smiled a small smile. This must've been the third time the waiter attempted to get an order from her. "I'm sorry, but I'm still not ready for you yet," she informed him with as much kindness her voice could summon.

"Really? I didn't think you were expecting me."

The recognized voice restored her to her surroundings with a startle. Her eyes snapped awake. Almost timidly, they peered above the menu, considering the lean-built figure that hadn't been standing at the other end of the table earlier. Her gaze climbed the casual, navy golf shirt and finally found confirmation in those deep blue eyes of his.

"Kaiba, I didn't realise it was you!" She confessed, tugging the earphones off by the cables. He returned her nervous beam with a knowing smile.

An awkward silence followed. Serenity put down the menu. She was about to start fiddling with the rear strands of her hair when Kaiba spoke.

"So, is it safe for me to take a seat? Or is that canine hiding under this table, just waiting for the chance to pounce on me for being within ten feet of you?"

There was only one person Kaiba would refer to in such a demeaning manner. "Oh, don't be silly. Go ahead!"

The proposal seemed honest enough. He settled in the seat opposite of hers. "You can call me Seto, by the way."

"Right … Seto." He was probably wondering how many times he would have to correct her before she'd finally remember. If he only knew how much pressure there was on the other side that didn't approve of calling him by his first name. The thought brought out a question she'd been meaning to ask him. "So, Seto, why do you think he hates you so much?"

"Heh," he let out a small chuckle. "Isn't it obvious?" Apparently not, according to her blank facial expression. This wasn't the conversation he had in mind when he had joined her. But he couldn't avoid talking about it forever. He rested his forearms over the menu on the table, arching his neck forward to bring his face a little closer to hers. "Your brother's jealous of me, Serenity."

"…Jealous?"

Before either of them could elaborate on that thought, several kids suddenly rushed pass their table. Kaiba and Serenity watched them curiously. They were heading towards the loud cheers that could faintly be heard at their current position. The commotion must've been going on for over five minutes now.

Serenity wondered if one of the mall's shops were having some sort of promotion or something. "What do you think is going on over there?" She asked, turning back to Kaiba. "Maybe there's a celebrity in the building." International superstars could build that sort of reaction too.

"I doubt it," he said confidently. "But if that's true then those kids are running in the wrong direction. We're seated over here."

Perhaps that was the case for him, but Serenity wouldn't think of herself as a celebrity just yet. Until the movie sold itself as a blockbuster hit, she was going to keep her confidence in check. "That reminds me, I'm having a little trouble remembering my lines for tomorrow's scene. Got any tips?"

"Yeah, don't worry about the lines." She looked at him confused. "Trust me. The hardest part of acting is inducing the right emotions, at the right time, in the right way in front of the entire camera crew and making it look as convincing as possible, despite having a flurry of butterflies attacking you in your belly. If the only problem you're having is remembering your lines, you're not so far off."

"…I guess that makes sense." No one had told her her acting was of poor quality so she assumed she wasn't doing absolutely terrible in that department.

"Besides, our director isn't too picky about wording. If it sounds natural and looks real, he'll go with it." He winked at her then smiled.

She could feel a blush coming on and had to take action to redirect his attention to anything else. "Um, I, I wanted to apologize for my brother's behaviour yesterday day on set," she blurted out. "It was totally unprofessional."

Kaiba shook his head as if he had no interest in hearing it. He placed a hand over hers and looked her in the eye. "If you apologized for every time your brother did something senseless you wouldn't have any time to talk about anything else. I can deal with Wheeler."

A larger gang of kids than before raced passed them once again, heading the same way. "I'm gonna get his autograph first!" One kid declared.

"No, I am! I'm his biggest fan!" Another claimed.

"But I watched every duel he had in Duelist Kingom!" The quarrel went on.

"Let's just hurry up! I heard he's losing his duel to Tristan Taylor right now. He needs all our support to help him win!" Their voices finally faded away as the group turned the corner.

"What!?" Serenity pulled her hand from beneath Kaiba's in sheer shock, thinking nothing of his gesture. "Joey's here! And… oh no… Tristan's here too! It can't be."

"Taylor?" The name sounded familiar to him. "Isn't he supposed to be behind bars?"

"Not any more apparently – I'm sorry, Kai-Seto." She rose up from her seat, gathering all her items. "I have to go help my brother out."

"You do?" Kaiba practically jumped from his chair to clutch her by the wrist. Both of them were puzzled with his action. "I mean, of course. Go ahead." He released his hold on her and then sat back down.

Serenity turned around to face him but couldn't find anything to say. She simply turned back and took off in the direction the kids had gone.

End of Chapter