Chapter 9: Joey Vs. Kaiba: A Brutal Fight

"Serenity..."

The name seemed to echo through her mind.

"Serenity..."

Distant, and almost inaudible.

"Serenity..."

Soft and sweet.

"Serenity, wake up, hon."

Serenity Wheeler slowly opened her eyes, finding the kind face of a doctor. He gave her a pleasant smile.

"You've been out for a long time," he said. "It's about time you got up."

Serenity shut her eyes again. She wasn't ready to wake up.

"Come on, Serenity. You've got to stay awake."

The girl opened her eyes again, then struggled to lift herself up into a sitting position.

"That's better," the doctor said. "I can tell that you're not feeling well. Weary, I suppose?"

"Yeah..."

"You lost a lot of blood, Serenity. You're lucky to be alive." He paused. "So, what else are you feeling, hmm?"

Serenity moaned. "My body aches all over."

The doctor frowned, feeling sorry for the poor girl. "Normally, I'd give you something to help with that," he told her, "but you've had quite a bit of medicine already. Injections and things... Any more would be harmful to you. You'll have to wait a while."

She looked at her arms, where the pain was worst. There were stitches in them, but why? What had happened? She couldn't remember. The only thing Serenity remembered was being in Seto Kaiba's arms as he repeated her name over and over; saying it in such a sweet tone that it almost seemed as if he was singing a lullaby to her.

"Is there anything else that I might be able to do for you, dear?" the doctor offered.

If she couldn't have medicine for the unbearable pain, then there was nothing for the doctor to do. She shook her head.

"How about a visitor?"

Serenity looked up hopefully.

"Your brother's been at the hospital ever since we brought you here. He's been very worried."

"Joey?"

The doctor nodded. "You just wait here a minute while I go get him." He left the room, and Serenity waited patiently. As she waited, she tried to recall what had happened to her, but her mind was blank. Finally, her brother entered the room.

"Hi, Serenity!" Joey exclaimed happily.

Serenity smiled.

"The doc said you're gonna be just fine," Joey told her. "Said it may take a few days for you to get feelin' better though. Don't you worry about thing, sis. I'm gonna be here for you until you're one hundred percent well!"

"Thanks, Joey."

"It's the least I could do," he said with a smile. "Now, I'll bet you're curious about whatever happened to Duke and Tristan."

"Something happened to Duke and Tristan?" Serenity asked.

"What? You mean you don't know what happened?"

"No."

"One of those guys shot 'em; Duke in the leg and Tristan in the shoulder."

Serenity thought for a moment. What guys was Joey talking about? Suddenly, it hit her. It was the three who had taken her: Ryo, Takashi, and Rodger. Everything was coming back to her... Ryo carving her and Seto's names into the Sakura tree, her moments with young Rodger, and Ryo and Takashi coming in drunk then whipping her with their belts. She desperately tried to hold back her tears, asking quietly, "Are they going to be ok?"

"Tristan will be, but I'm not too sure about Duke. He took a couple of hard blows in his leg. Doctor said they may have to amputate it."

Serenity gasped. "They can't do that to Duke!"

"They might have to."

"This whole day has just been horrible! Not just for me, but for everyone. I mean, look at you. You're a mess."

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "This day really has been pretty rotten, hasn't it? I'll bet you've had it the worst though, huh?"

"You have no idea what I've been through, Joey." She couldn't hold her tears back anymore. "It was terrible!"

Joey sat on the bed next to Serenity. He tried his best to console her, but the tears kept coming. She cried and cried, leaving him to think that she would never stop. "Would you like to tell me about it?" he asked.

Serenity dried her eyes and shook her head. Then she asked softly, "Where's Seto?"

"Kaiba? Oh... uh... He left the hospital a long time ago. You see, we'd been waiting for news from the doctor for what seemed like hours. He was gettin' impatient, so he just got up and left."

Serenity couldn't sit up any longer and could barely even keep her eyes open. She lay back in the bed, sighing. "I'm so tired," she said as she closed her eyes.

"I'd better go then," Joey said. "You've gotta rest. Promise me you'll get better now, you hear? I don't wanna to lose you." He left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Seto Kaiba was standing there, having a concerned look about him.

"May I see her now?" he asked, placing his hand on the door knob, assuming that Joey would allow him in.

"No," Joey told him. "Serenity doesn't want to see anyone right now. She's really tired and needs to rest."

Kaiba removed his hand from the door knob. "I understand," he said, disappointed. "Rest is what's most important for Serenity. I guess I'll be on my way."

He turned and headed on his way.

Joey watched as his rival exited the hospital. 'That's right, Kaiba,' he thought. 'You'd better be leaving cause I'm on to you. I know what you've got up your sleeve!'


Kaiba turned on the cold water then placed his hands under the faucet. He splashed some water onto his face.

"Hey, Seto," said a soft voice.

Mokuba. Why did he always have to intrude? Mokuba was always there to interrupt his thoughts.

"How was your date with Serenity?"

Kaiba splashed some more water on his face. "There wasn't any date," he answered.

"How come?"

"It's a long story, Mokuba."

"I'm guessing that the reason you didn't have a date has something to do with why you came home looking like you'd been in a fight?"

Kaiba nodded.

"Would you tell me what happened, Seto?" Mokuba asked curiously.

Kaiba sighed as he turned off the faucet. "Yeah, I'll tell you."


A day had passed since the rescue of Serenity. Mokuba was lying on his stomach on the floor, silently reading a book. The silence was suddenly broken when someone began banging on the door of the Kaiba mansion. Aggravated by all of the noise, Mokuba opened the door, yelling, "What do you want?!"

Joey Wheeler stood before him. "Well, you don't have to yell at me," he said. "I just came for a little visit. Is that so wrong?" He walked passed Mokuba, entering the large mansion. "Whoa! This place is bigger than I thought it was!" Joey marveled at the mansion's size and beauty, his mouth hanging wide open.

Mokuba slammed the door shut. "Did I tell you that you could come in?" he asked angrily.

"I don't need your permission," Joey told him. "Even if you didn't give it to me, I was gonna come in anyway. I've got some things to settle with your brother."

"Seto's up in his office doing some business work. You shouldn't bother him."

"What I have to say is important, Mokuba. Just show me the way to his office...NOW."

Without saying anything, Mokuba led Joey to his brother's office. He then left, wanting to give his brother and Joey some privacy for their so-called "important" discussion.

Joey barged into Kaiba's office without knocking. "Hello, Mr. Moneybags. Having a nice day?"

Kaiba, who was sitting at his computer, turned to Joey and glared at him. "Cut it with the small talk and get to the point," he demanded.

"I would, but I need you to come here," Joey explained. "I wanna whisper it to ya."

Kaiba rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I don't have time for this!"

"It's important, rich boy. Now, come on." Joey raised his hand, gesturing for Kaiba to come to him.

Kaiba stood and went to Joey. "Make it quick, mutt," he demanded.

Joey, wearing a smirk on his face, leaned close to Kaiba. "I know what you've been hiding from me," he whispered, "and I don't like it." He raised his fist and gave Kaiba a punch in the face.

"Is that the best you've got, Wheeler?" Kaiba asked.

Joey's face was becoming red. "Don't push me, Kaiba..."

"Come on, dog; give me your best shot!"

"You're askin' for it!"

Kaiba grinned. "You're right," he said. "I am."

Joey grabbed Kaiba and threw him against the wall. "Tell me, Kaiba, why'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Try to kill Serenity!"

Kaiba couldn't comprehend. "What? I never..."

Joey interrupted him. "Don't deny it!" He punched Kaiba again.

"I really don't know what you're talking about!"

"You tried to kill my sister!" Joey yelled. "I know you did!" He threw several furious punches at Kaiba. As he did so, he explained his theory to the clueless CEO:

"You thought you'd just go and give good ol' Joey Wheeler a hard time, didn't you? You figured the best way to get to me was through my sister, so you pretended to like her, and got Serenity to trust you. Then, when the time was right, you made your move: You hired those three employees of yours to kill her. But when the gang started to figure things out, you decided you'd call your plan quits. You went to rescue her as a cover. Now, you're plotting to do the dirty work yourself!"

"That's absurd!" Kaiba shouted. By this time, his face was becoming swollen and turning purple.

"Oh, is it? Well, my fist doesn't seem to think so." Joey continued beating Kaiba. After a while, he asked, "Why won't you fight me, Moneybags? Are you chicken?"

Kaiba didn't reply.

Joey grabbed Kaiba's shirt and pulled him closer. "You are, aren't you? You're scared. That's why you're not fighting." He then grabbed Kaiba by the throat, choking him. "Stop lying and give me the truth."

Kaiba struggled to speak. "That's exactly what makes you crazy," he eventually managed to say.

"Huh?" Joey loosened his grip.

"The fact that you think that I would try to kill Serenity is what makes you crazy," Kaiba explained. "I would never do that to her."

"And why not?"

"You said you wanted the truth. Well, I'll give it to you. I like Serenity."

Joey looked at Kaiba disbelievingly.

"Actually, it's more than that. Hell, I may even love her!"