I'm baaaaack! And here is some further torture for our dearly-beloved characters. So get ready for payphones, tears and…arrests? O.O

If there were anybody else out and about at that early hour of the morning, they would have been witness to one of the strangest scenes to ever take place outside of that rundown motel. A piercing scream echoed throughout the surrounding area and was soon followed by a loud cacophony of yells, shrieks, cries of pain and various thuds, bangs and thumping noises.

The door to room 3 burst open as a wild-looking blonde wearing nothing but jeans, his tattooed back glistening with water, sprinted into the parking lot, clutching an armful of clothing, shoes and a huge amount of jewelry. Close on his heels was a pale boy with sopping wet, white hair. He was actually dressed, with only a jacket slung over his arm. They were followed by two more boys. The taller blonde did not seem to care that he was only in boxers and a t-shirt as he was waving his hands wildly, which were holding his jeans, sneakers and jacket. The shorter one, while appearing to have all his clothing on, was carrying a multitude of belts, buckles and chains. The very last person to exit the room, also at high speed, was a tall, almost fully dressed, brunette. A long jacket was draped over one shoulder and his boots were clasped tightly in his fist. For someone running only in green and orange smiley-socks, he seemed to be achieving a fair amount of momentum.

All five skidded to a halt in front of a purple mini-van and the brunette was fumbling frantically with a set of keys while the others begged him to hurry. Within seconds, they were nothing but a mere speck in the distance, leaving an impressive dust trail behind them.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Did we lose them?" Malik gasped, gazing worriedly out of the back window as they sped down the empty dirt road.

"They're not a biker gang, Ishtar! They were just cockroaches!" Kaiba snapped, but he didn't slow down and his eyes flickered to the rearview mirror slightly more often than necessary.

"Those were not just cockroaches! They had to have been escaped duel-monsters, or maybe genetic experiments!" Joey exclaimed. He was struggling to pull on his jeans while staying strapped in. Ryou remained silent, his eyes wide and his face slightly green. Yugi said nothing either, but concentrated on putting on the last of his buckles, refusing to think about the horrors they'd endured while attempting to escape the Wrath of the 'Roaches. An hour later, they found themselves on the outskirts of a small town and sagged with relief. Finally! This nightmare would soon be over…

They gazed with some misgiving at the payphone before them. Nobody said anything, but all were thinking the exact same thing. 'No way in hell am I putting that to my face!'

"Stupid hick-town! How can this be their only phone? If they were any more backward, they'd be living in caves!" Kaiba muttered. His glare was currently melting a hole right through the pavement. Beside him, Yugi sighed and turned to his companions.

"Alright, so, who has a quarter?" he asked. He was met with blank expressions, stricken looks and a despairing groan from the billionaire. There was a moment of awkward shuffling while pockets and wallets were turned inside out. Just when things had reached the desperate 're-check' stage, Joey let out a triumphant cry and proudly held out two coins. Kaiba swiped them with a smirk and stalked over to the phone. Inserting the one, he dialed confidently and waited.

"Thank-you for calling Kaiba Corp. We are currently experiencing technical difficulties and we apologize most sincerely for the inconvenience. Our expert technicians will attempt to have the problem rectified as soon as possible. In the mean time, have a wonderful day and please call again later." Click.

The despairing "No!" that Malik held for almost two minutes drew quite a bit of attention and applause. This distracted everyone from the fact that Kaiba had sunk down to sit on the curb, his head in his hands and what seemed suspiciously like tears in his eyes. Yugi finally noticed and patted the broken CEO comfortingly on the shoulder.

"There, there. We'll find some way out of this. We just need to try again! We still have another quarter, so we can try one more time," he said, appearing more positive than he felt. Kaiba nodded, brushed his hand over his face and stood up, once more looking like the commanding businessman he was. The five stranded teens then huddled together to try and decide who to call.

"Well, it's no use calling my house. Grandpa's gone to Egypt with Rebecca and her grandfather."

"We can call my sister! She'll help us."

"Does your sister even have a phone, Ishtar?"

"Oh, yeah. Never mind."

"Well, my father is away for work, so no one's home."

"And it's no use calling my dad, he's hopeless. And both Tea and Tristan are away with their families."

"What about Duke?"

"Nah, he's doing business with Pegasus. He won't be back for a week."

"Pegasus?"

"I'd rather drive you losers to hell and back in that disgusting minivan before I call that freak!"

"Okay, okay. No need to get so worked-up, Kaiba. Sheesh!"

"Shut up, mutt. What about your Yamis?"

"Are you kidding? They can't even make toast properly, never mind answer the phone and then drive out here to fetch us!"

"It was just a suggestion."

"A bad one!"

"What about your sister, Joey? Couldn't she and your mom come and fetch us?"

"That's a great idea, Yug'! Where's that quarter? We've got a call to make!"

The teens waited with bated breath as the phone rang. Joey nearly fainted with joy when his mother picked up the phone.

"Mom? Yeah, it's Joey. Listen, I need…no, Mom! Can you just…How should I know? Now, can I please…Enough! This is serious! My friends and I are in trouble and we need your help. Can you please come…"

Your time has expired. Please insert another coin.

This time, all five of them cried. They had been so close! Their grieving was interrupted when an old gentleman wandered past them. A bright, shiny quarter fell from a small hole in his coat pocket and rolled to a stop right in front of a gaping Malik, who stared at it in disbelief before giving an excited whoop. He picked up the shiny quarter and rushed to the pay-phone, shoving it into the right slot. What happened next was the last straw. The quarter jammed.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"I can't believe you got arrested for vandalizing that payphone," Yugi said calmly, taking a sip of his milkshake.

"Yeah, well, it deserved it," Malik replied sulkily, toying with his french-fries.

"You're just lucky Kaiba had enough money to persuade them to drop the charges," reprimanded Ryou.

"I'm just glad he didn't actually have to pay them that much. We still have more than enough to last us for a while," Joey said around a mouthful of onion rings. Kaiba remained quiet. He was already finished with his burger and wanted to get the hell out of this one-horse town and to someplace that actually resembled civilization.

There had to be some universal law that things could never go smoothly for Seto Kaiba, Yugi Moto, Joey Wheeler, Ryou Bakura and Malik Ishtar. Several hours out of town, a small beeping informed the CEO-turned-designated-driver that their only mode of transportation was running out of gas. Swearing quietly, he commanded his companions to keep an eye out for a gas station. This was futile.

And just when things looked completely hopeless, something happened to convince the group that Fate did not in fact hate them. No. She was in fact a sadistic hag that loathed, despised and tormented them for no other reason than she was bored. If she were a little boy, they would be the ants she fried with a magnifying glass.

In other words, their tire burst.

Fate? I think not, gentlemen. It's just a mentally-unstable authoress and her equally disturbed sister. Oh well! If you want to see how our intrepid adventurers get themselves out of this jam, tune in next time for another installment of Roadtrip! Episode 5: Suffocating Stupidity!

Love DeadFoxy and Wannabe WolfGirl.