Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh 5Ds, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Yu-gi-oh! 5Ds after hours
Chapter fourteen: Yusei and friends do Sheltered Shrubs
Akiza Fudo (nee Izinski) was sitting in the living room of the Atlas penthouse, which was located in New Domino City, a suburb located in San Francisco, California. Akiza, who is currently carrying Yusei Fudo's child, was having a baby shower to celebrate the upcoming bundle of joy. The guests that Akiza had were quite varied; in addition to Akiza's friend Carly Carmine and Kalin Kessler's talking dog best friend Dukey, Akiza had Starfire, Betty DeVille and Ghoulia Yelps over for the baby shower.
"Do you know if it a boy or a girl?" Betty asked as she gave Akiza a friendly pat on the back, "Or if it's only one?"
"Yusei and I don't know what gender the child will be, as we want to be surprised," Akiza replied, "But the ultrasound did confirm it was only one."
"I was told that on earth, it is a tradition for those invited to a baby shower to bestow gifts upon the expecting mother," Starfire said as she picked up a wrapped gift and handed it to Akiza, "This is a joint gift from me and Raven, who could not attend as she had pressing business."
Ghoulia made some moaning sounds as she herself picked up a wrapped gift and handed it to Akiza. Smiling, the expecting mother said, "Thanks for the gifts, girls. Oh, and Starfire, can you tell Raven that I said thanks to her as well?"
"I would be glad to," Starfire replied with a nod.
"Oh, Akiza," Dukey said as he picked up a wrapped gift and handed it to Akiza, "This is a joint gift from me and Kalin."
"Speaking of Kalin, where is he?" Akiza asked in a curious tone, "I invited both him and you."
"Yusei and Jack had to take him on something that they didn't clarify for me all that much," Dukey explained, a mildly confused look on his face.
Ghoulia made some moaning noises which Dukey nodded in agreement to as he is apparently fluent in the zombie language. However, unbeknownst Ghoulia and everyone else at the baby shower, Ghoulia was being viewed through the crosshairs of a PGM Ultima Ratio Hecate II. (1) The powerful sniper rifle was located on the roof of a three-story building across the street from the Atlas penthouse, being handled by penthouse resident Crow Hogan.
"That's it…" Crow said quietly as he got the crosshairs centered on Ghoulia's head, "Stay still for just a few more seconds, you zombie son of a b-" Crow was cut off when his cell phone went off in his pocket. Growling with mild annoyance, Crow reached into his pocket, pulled out his smartphone and answered the call.
"Talk to me," Crow spoke into the phone, "…Oh, hey Yusei! Yeah, you kind of caught me at a bad time. …What do you mean I have to meet you, Jack and Kalin outside the local family owned donut shop pronto? I'm in the middle of work! …My work is classified, dude. …Dude, I am so totally working!" Crow then looked through the scope of his PGM Ultima Ratio Hecate II and saw that Ghoulia had apparently vanished.
Sighing in an annoyed tone, Crow said into the phone, "Fine, I'll meet you guys at the donut shop. Just give me a few minutes to gather my gear I got with me." Turning off his phone, Crow slipped it into his pocket and got up, collected his sniper rifle and various other items he brought with him, and turned to leave. "Goddamn it, Yusei," Crow thought as he made his way down the stairwell of the building he was on the roof of, "You just had to catch me while I was working."
Yusei Fudo, Jack Atlas and Kalin Kessler, the other three guys who lived at the Atlas penthouse, were sitting at an outdoor table on the property of the local family owned donut shop. As the three guys waited, Crow came walking up to them. "You're lucky I'm really good at hiding weapons on my person, Yusei," Crow remarked, "So anywho, why did you summon me here?"
"Something big happened, and I wanted all three of you here before I told any of you about it," Yusei explained, "There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to get it out of the way." Sighing, Yusei said, "I got a call from the prison that Akiza's father, who is my father-in-law, was being kept at. I was informed that Mr. Izinski was killed in a prison riot yesterday afternoon sometime shortly before six in the evening local time." Hearing this news shocked the guys.
"Bloody hell, Yusei," Jack remarked in a sympathetic tone, "I am so sorry about that."
"He never got to see his first grandchild," Kalin remarked in a sad tone as he gently shook his head, "That just isn't fair."
"If the man had been willing to listen to me when I tried to offer him tips on prison riots, then he might still be alive," Crow remarked, "I mean, I've been in more than my fair share of prison riots, so I know all the tricks of the trade."
"…That's makes way too much sense," Jack commented in a deadpan tone.
"So, what are you going to do now, Yusei?" Kalin asked.
"We have to go to the prison where Mr. Izinski was being kept at," Yusei began, "He had a few things that were confiscated from him when he was brought in. The prison officer who called me said that, as Mr. Izinski was my in-law, I would be allowed to collect the possessions."
"Well alright then," Jack said, "So we head to the New Domino Prison, which Birdbrain most likely has a summer home at, and pick up the few worldly possessions that Akiza's father had on his person when he was brought in."
"Mr. Izinski wasn't being kept at the New Domino Prison," Yusei explained, "It couldn't take Mr. Izinski at the time, so he was sent to the first prison that was willing to take him. It helps that it was also the least expensive option at the time as well."
"Where was Mr. Izinski sent to, Yusei?" Kalin asked.
"A prison located in Sheltered Shrubs," Yusei replied.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Jack interrupted, "Hold the bloody fucking phone just one minute." Looking Yusei right in the face, Jack said, "Are you telling me that Akiza's father was sent to a prison all the way over in fucking Sheltered Shrubs?!"
"What's the big deal, Jack?" Crow asked.
"Sheltered Shrubs is a town located over in Connecticut, Birdbrain," Jack clarified in an annoyed tone, "And we live here in fucking California!" Turning to face Yusei, Jack asked, "Are we at least going to fly there?"
"We have to drive cross country, Jack," Yusei replied, "Crow's on the no-fly list, remember?"
"Can't we use the Silver Manta Ray?" Kalin asked, "I mean, we still have that, right?"
A dawning look of realization appeared across the faces of Yusei, Jack and Crow. "Why didn't we think of that?" Jack asked rhetorically as he smacked himself in the forehead.
"How about we try the Golden Tiger Claws?" Crow suggested, "We can just create a portal by tearing a hole in the fabric of space in front of us, drive into it, and come out on the other end in Sheltered Shrubs. Not only is it faster, but we'll also have Yusei's Volkswagen van as a bonus, which means we won't have to rely on taxis or rental cars while we're in town."
A mildly socked look on his face, Jack turned to face Yusei and said, "My god, Yusei. I can't believe that Birdbrain actually had a good idea."
"So, it's agreed then," Yusei declared as he stood up from the table he sat at with Jack and Kalin, "We'll drive slash teleport to Sheltered Shrubs, handle any business concerning Mr. Izinski's passing, then return home."
"Should we bring anything other than the Golden Tiger Claws?" Crow asked, "I was thinking that my usual gear could be of great-"
"As long as you leave it all somewhere safe before we head over to the local prison in Sheltered Shrubs to handle the business concerning Mr. Izinski, then I couldn't care less what you bring," Yusei interrupted. Clapping his hands together, Yusei said, "Alright, guys, let's head back to the penthouse, gather what we'll be needing, then it's off to Sheltered Shrubs!"
A short while later, a tear appeared in the fabric of space in an empty parking lot somewhere in Sheltered Shrubs, Connecticut. Yusei's Volkswagen van drove out of the tear and into the parking lot before the tear faded. When the van parked in the parking lot, Yusei and the others got out. "Okay, boys," Yusei said as he and the others stood outside of the van, "Even though it was roughly noon or so when we left New Domino, keep in mind that we're in a different time zone now."
"So, what's the bloody time, Yusei?" Jack asked.
Shrugging his shoulders, Yusei said, "I have no fucking clue, dude." Pointing out a nearby convenience store, Yusei said, "I'm pretty sure someone working there can tell us. We also need to buy some drinks and grindage, so it's killing two birds with one stone." (2)
Yusei and the guys made their way over to the convenience store that Yusei pointed out. While Jack and Crow were going about gathering grindage they were going to buy, Yusei and Kalin talked to the clerk at the counter. "It's about three in the afternoon, sirs," (3) the clerk replied, "Why do you ask?"
"We're still trying to adjust to the change in time zone," Kalin explained, "My friends and I came here from California."
"Yeesh!" the clerk remarked, "That much driving must have been a pain in the ass."
"Meh, it wasn't as bad as you'd think," Yusei replied with a shrug.
After the guys paid for their drinks and grindage, they went back over to where Yusei parked the Volkswagen van. As Crow downed a bottle of some orange-flavored sports drink, Yusei ended a call on his smartphone before slipping it into his pocket. "Okay, that was the prison I was talking to just now," Yusei explained, "We can't go visit the prison to pick up Mr. Izinski's things today, so we'll have to find a motel to crash at for the night and look into visiting the prison first thing in the morning."
Before any of the other guys could say anything, a dog's barking caught them off guard, getting them to turn in the direction they heard the barking come from. As such, they saw a fairly large dog with darkish fur come running up to them. It tackled Crow to the ground, making the broom-headed turbo duelist land on his butt, before it proceeded to lick Crow's face, pressing its slobbery jowls into the side of Crow's face as it did so.
"Whoa, easy there, boy," Crow laughed in a good-natured tone as it tried to push the dog away.
"Whose dog is this?" Jack asked as he gestured to the dog that was showing playful doggy affection to Crow. Jack got his answer a few seconds later when a young male child came running up to the guys. The boy had orange-reddish hair, wore a dark brown long-sleeved shirt with a yellow silhouette of a spider approximately in the center, greenish pants with yellow stripes going down the outer sides of the legs, and tan colored shoes. The boy was carrying a dog leash.
"Thanks for catching Monster for me, Crow," the boy said as he reattached the one end of the leash to the dog's collar.
"Young man, although this dog is rather large, it's not necessarily a monster," Kalin remarked.
"No, sir," the boy said as he turned to look at Kalin, "My dog's name is Monster." Turning to face Crow again, the boy said, "You know these guys, my man?"
"He knows you, Birdbrain?" Jack asked.
"Oh yeah," Crow replied as he got up. Gesturing to the boy, Crow said, "Dudes, this is Carl Foutley. He and I have done business together multiple time in the past." Gesturing to the large dog that Carl held the leash of, Crow continued, "And as Carl just said, this is apparently his dog Monster. As friendly as he is big."
"You've done work with this kid in the past?" Yusei said in a confused tone, "What kind of work is it?"
"Classified," Crow and Carl said in unison. Turning to face Crow, Carl said, "So Crow my man, what brings you and your associates here to Sheltered Shrubs?"
"Oh Carl, these are my roommates Yusei, Jack and Kalin," Crow said as he gestured to the other guys in appropriate order, "We came here because Yusei's father-in-law was killed in a prison riot at the local prison here, and there's some final affairs-related business he has to handle, including picking up a few things that Mr. Izinski had on hand when he was brought in."
"Izinski, huh?" Carl replied as he held a hand to his chin while wearing a look of consideration on his face, "Not a name I'm familiar with."
"My father-in-law would have originally gone to a prison in me and my roommate's home city of San Francisco," Yusei explained, "But the prison there couldn't take him at the time, so they decided to bring him to the prison located here in your home city."
"You said prison riot, right?" Carl asked. After Yusei and the other guys nodded in the affirmative, Carl said, "I remember hearing about a prison riot occurring yesterday. But you guys said you come from San Francisco. How did you all get here so quickly?"
"This," Crow explained as he held up the Golden Tiger Claws, "It lets you teleport yourself anywhere in the world."
Taking the Golden Tiger Claws from Crow, Carl examined the Shen Gong Wu for a few seconds before returning it to Crow. "Interesting," Carl remarked, "Can you show me how it works?"
Nodding in understanding, Crow used the Golden Tiger Claws to tear a hole in the fabric of space. Crow jumped into the hole, which then disappeared. A few seconds later, another tear appeared about a hundred feet away from the others. The others watched as Crow jumped out of this tear and came running up to them. "And it's not limited by distance," Crow stated when he met up with the others again, "Also, this isn't the only cool magical object the guys and I own."
"Impressive," Carl remarked in a casual tone, sounding a lot less excited than what most people should show after having just witnessed teleportation.
"So anywho, I don't suppose you can tell us where the local motel or hotel is at here in Sheltered Shrubs, can you?" Yusei asked. Gesturing to himself and the other guys, Yusei explained, "We can't go to the prison today to handle my late father-in-law's things, so we need a place to stay while we're here in Sheltered Shrubs."
"Why not crash at my place?" Carl offered, "Crow's a good friend of mine, and anyone Crow is friends with gets a pass from me."
"That is awfully generous of you, dude," Crow replied, "But shouldn't we clear this with your mom first? Also, wouldn't your family's house be a bit cramped if my roommates and I stayed at chez Foutley?"
"My mom just got remarried," Carl explained, "She and my new step-dad, Dr. Dave, just left on their honeymoon to Omaha. They'll be gone for at least a week."
"Won't things still be a bit crowded at your family's house, though?" Yusei asked.
"Pfft, no way, dude," Carl replied, "My mom, my older sister and I moved into Dr. Dave's place, which is a bit more spacious than our old house."
"How much more spacious?" Jack asked, his tone sounding suspicious of the young boy in front of him. (4)
…
Yusei, Jack, Crow and Kalin all looked up at the large, stately two-story home in the more exclusive neighborhood of Sheltered Shrubs. "Damn, son!" Crow exclaimed in an impressed tone, "Looks like the Foutley clan has moved right on up!"
"I'm not one to brag," Carl replied as he and Monster led the guys into the house.
Walking inside, Yusei said, "So your parents aren't even home? Who's watching you and that sister of yours that you mentioned?"
"My sister is watching me," Carl explained, "She's in high school now, so my mom thinks she's old enough to look after me for an extended period of time."
"In a house like this, keeping an eye on you may prove to be tough for her," Kalin remarked, "I hope you aren't giving her any trouble."
"I only give her trouble if she gives me trouble," Carl said casually.
"Amen to that, brother!" Crow said as he and Carl high-fived each other.
"Speaking of your sister, where the bloody hell is she?" Jack asked as he looked around the living room in mild wonder.
"She's at a thing doing a thing with a thing," Carl replied with a shrug, "I don't know! I'm her little brother, dude, not her fucking keeper!"
"So, you're here home alone?" Yusei asked.
"No," Carl replied, "I am here with my dog Monster and four trustworthy adults."
"He's right, you know," Crow said to the blonde turbo duelist.
Facepalming, Jack remarked, "I'm not even going to bloody bother."
Later, Yusei and the guys were eating pizza that they ordered with Carl and Monster in the kitchen of the Dave-Foutley residence. "Oh!" Crow exclaimed, "Now I remember!"
"Remember what, Crow?" Kalin asked.
"This is the exclusive neighborhood of Sheltered Shrubs, you know," Crow explained, "This is where the Griplings live!"
"The Griplings?" Yusei repeated in a confused tone while Carl calmly sipped from a cup of soda he was drinking from.
"They're, like, the wealthiest people living in Sheltered Shrubs," Crow explained, "Why, there was this one time several months back when some friends of mine and I had a job involving-"
"They don't live in this neighborhood anymore," Carl interrupted in a calm tone before taking another sip of his drink.
Regarding his good associate with a confused look, Crow asked, "What are you talking about, little dude?"
"The Griplings," Carl reiterated, "They no longer live in this neighborhood. Mr. Gripling was arrested for insider trading. As such, the Griplings were forced to liquidate their assets to cover various expenses. They now live in the house my mom, older sister and I used to live in."
"…Wow," Jack remarked, "Talk about the mighty falling."
"Meh," Crow replied with an indifferent shrug, "I've been arrested for worse."
"Blake Gripling, whose presence I cannot stand," Carl continued, "Says that his family still has ownership of a very large fortune hidden somewhere in the old Gripling estate, and that with this fortune, his family can regain the life they once had." Leaning against the back of the chair he sat in, Carl went on, "I'm not buying it, though. I think that all of this talk of Blake's is a desperate cry for attention."
"What kind of kid is this Blake Gripling?" Yusei asked.
"Short, self-absorbed, thinks the world revolves around him," Carl replied.
"Damn, another Gideon," Yusei remarked with a snap of his fingers.
"Another Gideon who is right about the Gripling fortune," Crow stated.
Regarding his friend with a suspicious look, Carl asked, "What do you mean about Blake being right, Crow?"
"The Gripling fortune is indeed real, my good man," Crow explained to the younger boy, "The job that I was talking about before you interrupted me involved taking photos of the Griplings that I could sell to local tabloids, as the local tabloids eat up photos of the rich like a fat kid eats cake. During the job, I saw evidence confirming the existence of the Gripling fortune."
"Huh, well how about that," Carl remarked in a mildly impressed tone, "Blake was actually telling the truth. And here I thought he just wanted attention."
"Gideon-types like this Blake kid always want attention," Yusei remarked in a disgusted tone.
"Well that settles things, then," Crow said as he got up from the table, "We're going after the Gripling fortune! You in, Carl?"
"What's the plan with the fortune?" Carl asked, "Are we going to keep it for ourselves, or turn it over to the Griplings? Or do you have some other plan in mind for the fortune, like donating it to a charity to assist animals?"
Gently shaking his head, Crow replied, "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
"Fair enough," Carl said with a nod.
"No, Birdbrain," Jack said as he stood up from the table, "No, no, a thousand times hell no! You are not going on some bloody fucking Mission Impossible-style caper to retrieve a fortune that, even if it does exist, does not rightfully belong to you! Furthermore, you aren't bringing a small child with you! What would the boy's sister say about that?"
"She's aware of the fact that I once planned to propose to an elderly woman whose love of pranking matched mine," Carl remarked, "Granted, said lady passed away before I could pop the question, but I digress. My sister knows I do all sorts of weird things, so at this point, I would actively have to try to shock her."
"And there's still the business of handling my late father-in-law's final affairs and picking up his worldly possessions that he had with him when he was brought in," Yusei pointed out.
"Oh, chill your tits, dudes," Crow said to Jack in a dismissive tone, "It's not like I was going to go over and take the Gripling fortune right now. That would be stupid."
"But you are planning on doing it anyway, aren't you?" Kalin asked.
"Carl and I will have to grab his friend Hoodsey first," Crow explained, "Then wait until night to make our move." Looking to Carl, Crow asked, "How long do you think it'll take you to go and grab Hoodsey?"
"Assuming that his mom isn't being a total bitch as per usual," Carl replied, "It should take me no more than forty-five minutes to go and get him."
"I can't believe this," Jack remarked in a mildly disgusted tone, "Crow is talking with an elementary school-age boy about pulling of a heist to-" Jack was cut off when Monster leapt up and placed his front paws at Jack's place at the table for support, grabbed Jack's uneaten slice of pizza, and ran off with it. "Oi, you mongrel!" Jack exclaimed, "That was my pizza!"
"Monster is NOT a mongrel!" Carl snapped at Jack defensively.
Later, Crow, Carl and Hoodsey were looking over a blueprint of the old Gripling estate. Hoodsey was a somewhat well-fed kid who wore a purple hooded sweatshirt (the hood was up), a pair of blue shorts, socks and blue shoes with white toes. Yusei, Jack and Kalin stood by while they were watching Crow plan a heist with two elementary school-age boys. (5)
"Do we even know how big the fortune it?" Hoodsey asked, "I mean, what if it's too much to carry out in one go?"
"Relax, Hoodsey," Crow said as he held up the Golden Tiger Claws, "That's what the Golden Tiger Claws are for."
"So, what's the plan?" Hoodsey asked.
"We wait for night before we sneak into the old Gripling estate," Crow explained, "I have a good memory of where I saw one of the Griplings access the fortune, which is about here." Crow finished as he pointed at an area on the blueprints. "We go here to see if we can find the Gripling fortune," Crow said, "If and when we find it, I'll tear a hole in the fabric of space with the Golden Tiger Claws that will empty out into Carl's bedroom here, and we'll throw the fortune into said tear so that it'll all land here."
"But what if someone sees that we're in the Gripling mansion?" Hoodsey asked.
Pulling two small, octagonal shaped stones from a pocket on the side of his jacket, Crow said, "That's why I made a quick stop to grab a few choice talismans from home."
Handing one of the talismans to Carl, Cow said, "This is the monkey talisman, which will turn you into any animal. Use it to turn into a small animal such as a rat, or maybe a racoon." Handing the other talisman to Hoodsey, Crow said, "This is the snake talisman, which will turn you invisible. It's great for hiding."
"What about you?" Carl asked.
"I'll be wearing a very dark outfit, so I can blend into the darkness," Crow explained, "I'll just hide somewhere. It goes without saying that I'll be needing the talismans back when this is all over, boys."
"Understood," Carl replied, with Hoodsey nodding in agreement.
Rolling up the blueprint of the Gripling estate, Crow said, "Well alright! You boys better rest up, because we got us a caper to pull off tonight!"
"I can't believe Crow is leading these boys down the dark path," Jack remarked as he shook his head in shame.
"Oh, Carl and I have walked that path long before we met Crow," Hoodsey said.
That night, a tear in the fabric of space appeared in one of the rooms of the now empty and unoccupied Gripling estate. Leaping out of the tear was Yusei, Jack, Crow, Kalin, Carl and Hoodsey. Landing on the floor of the room they teleported into, Crow looked around with mild uncertainty. "Did we remember to bring the blueprint of the Gripling estate with us?" Crow asked, "Because I have no fucking clue what room we're in."
"We did indeed bring the blueprint, my good man," Carl remarked, "But there's no need to bust it out for now. We're in what used to be Blake's older sister's bedroom."
"Ah yes," Crow replied as he looked around, "You told me about how you and Hoodsey had some scheme that ended up resulting in Hoodsey soiling himself, which left a stain on the carpet of this bedroom." Reaching the area of the room where Blake's older sister's bed use to sit, Crow added, "Since Hoodsey marked this room with his piss, that means this room is his now, right? Which would mean the rest of the place would follow."
"The boy is a human, not a bloody fucking dog, Birdbrain," Jack remarked.
"Why did you and the others even come along?" Carl asked as he and Hoodsey both took out their respective flashlights.
"Because Crow has a tendency to get himself into trouble if left to his own devices," Kalin pointed out.
"Look, all we're going to do is locate the Gripling fortune, spirit it away to Carl's bedroom back at the Foutley-Dave residence, then get the hell out of dodge," Crow explained to his roommates, "Carl, Hoodsey and I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to."
"Well at least you're trying to take every ca-" Yusei said, but was cut off when he and the others heard a large door open from the ground floor. "Hush," Yusei whispered to the others, "Someone just entered the estate." Silently gesturing for the others to follow him, Crow led the entire group out of the bedroom they were in and out to the main reception area of the estate. Upon arriving, they met up by the strange sight of a fourteen-year-old girl.
This girl had fair skin and long, straight blonde hair. She wore a baggy long-sleeved white shirt (the sleeve ends hung loosely around the wrists, not cling tightly to them) under a green tank-top, white cargo shorts (that had green trim and threading) that reached her knees, white socks that reached halfway up her shins, and a pair of light green shoes. She had a backpack on her back; it was one of those single strap deals where the strap went across her body, from her left hip to her right shoulder. All of this, however, was not why the sight of this girl was strange.
The strange thing was that the girl was accompanied by an Electivire.
"Hey," the teenage girl said in a mildly curious tone as she pointed to Yusei and the other guys, "Aren't you the guys who live next door to my family?"
"Yeah, that's us," Yusei replied, "You're the neighbor girl, aren't you?"
With something of a cocky smile, the girl said, "Ailor Fisher, at your service." Gesturing to her Pokémon, Ailor continued, "Oh, and this is Fourze, my Electivire."
"Oh, you nickname your Pokémon," Kalin remarked in an amused tone as he took a step forward, "That's pretty-" Kalin was cut off when Fourze the Electivire cried out in a freaked-out tone, before it ran at Kalin and socked him square in the face with an electrified fist, sending Kalin flying back until he smacked back-first into a wall. Alarmed, Yusei ran over to where Kalin fell, bent down, and checked for a pulse.
"Kalin's dead," Yusei said in a grim tone as he got up and walked back over to the others. (6)
"Well it's his fault for freaking Fourze out," Ailor defended, "But then again, we're in a large, abandoned house, so you can't quite blame him for losing his cool."
"What are you and your Pokémon even doing here in the first place?" Yusei asked.
Shrugging her shoulders, Ailor replied, "Places like this are great for exploring, not to mention all of the cool stuff you can find."
"Speaking of finding stuff," Crow said, "We're trying to find a fortune hidden somewhere in this place. Wanna help us find it?"
"Will I get a cut of the profits?" Ailor replied.
"Meh, I'll throw a wad of money your way, I suppose," Crow replied.
"Then count us in, chief," Ailor said as she and her Electivire saluted Crow.
Facepalming, Jack muttered to himself, "This is going to be a long night."
The following morning over at the Foutley-Dave residence, the remaining guys, Carl and Hoodsey were looking at a large pile of wads of money sitting on Carl's bed. "Aside from the wad of money I threw to the neighbor girl for helping us," Crow said, "We managed to get the entirety of the Gripling fortune."
"So, what's the plan for the cash, Crow?" Hoodsey asked, "Because although I risk sounding kind of greedy for saying this, I was kind of expecting a cut of the profits."
"Nah, don't sweat it," Crow replied, "It's a natural thing to feel that. I ain't gonna hold it against you in the least."
"Considering the fact that Hoodsey and I are both elementary school-age boys, the most I expect either of us to reasonably get away with keeping without drawing the attention of our respective families is one ten-thousand-dollar wad each," Carl remarked, "Same as the one you tossed to that girl who help us last night."
"Good point," Crow said as he tossed one wad of ten-thousand dollars to Carl, and another wad of equal value to Hoodsey.
"Carl, can I count on you to keep my share here someplace safe?" Hoodsey asked as he tried to hand his share to Carl, "My mom has a rather nasty habit of invading my privacy, and if she discovered this in my room…"
"Say no more," Carl replied in an understanding tone as he received the money from Hoodsey, "I'll keep this hidden in my room where no one will find it."
"Which means Birdbrain gets the rest of the loot," Jack remarked as he turned his eyes to the rest of the Gripling fortune. Turning his attention to Crow, Jack asked, "The bloody hell do you plan to do with this pile of millions of dollars?"
"I was planning on putting it towards the university," Crow replied, drawing confused looks out of Yusei and Jack.
"University?" Yusei repeated in a confused tone, "What university?"
"You'll find out soon enough," Crow replied. (7) As Crow proceeded to go about the business of teleporting the money someplace safe with the Golden Tiger Claws, a young female voice from downstairs called out, "Hello? Carl? I'm home! Why is there a Volkswagen van parked outside of our house?"
"Ah, that would be my older sister," Carl said to the guys as he walked to his closet. Opening the closet and hiding his and Hoodsey's respective shares in a pile of dirty clothes on the floor, Carl then turned around and said, "Where did you say you guys put your dead friend's body again?"
"In the van," Crow replied, "A good thing we carry a few spare body bags at all times." (8)
…
Yusei, Jack and Crow were downstairs a few minutes later with Carl, Hoodsey and Carl's older sister Ginger. Ginger had fair skin and orange-red hair with two yellow clips in her hair. Ginger also wore a yellow t-shirt, blue pants, and tannish shoes with green bottoms. "So, all three of you are good friends with my little brother?" Ginger asked as she regarded Yusei, Jack and Crow with a confused look."
"No, it's just Birdbrain that's all buddy-buddy with your brother," Jack said to Ginger while pointing to Crow, "The only reason why the guys and I came here is because Yusei's father-in-law was killed in a prison riot, and Yusei needs to handle various final affairs for the man."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that your father-in-law's been killed," Ginger remarked.
"What's worse is that I still need to break the news to my wife," Yusei remarked, "I have no clue how I'm going to break it to Akiza that her father is dead."
"Buy a tub of Akiza's favorite ice cream and hand it plus a spoon to Akiza before you break the news to her," Crow suggested, "I did the same thing when I had to inform Brianna that her dad was killed."
"I might have to get a squeeze bottle of caramel topping as well," Yusei sighed, "Akiza's been on something of a caramel kick recently." With a shrug, Yusei added, "I'm guessing that it's some sort of craving due to Akiza being pregnant."
END, CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Author's Notes:
(1) Yes, it's the exact same gun that Sinon has in the GGO arc of SAO.
(2) Jack would like to kill two Birdbrains with one stone.
(3) According to the research I did on the matter, if it's noon in California, then it should be about three in the afternoon in Connecticut.
(4) Jack's suspicious of Carl because Carl's friends with Crow. What other reason does Jack need?
(5) That's totally legit.
(6) Electivire's Thunder Punch must have been super effective against Kalin.
(7) As will you.
(8) A really good thing.
I realized that, although I introduced new neighbor kids who own Pokémon, I had yet to introduce the neighbor kids themselves, even though a few of their Pokémon have shown up along the way. I decided to rectify this by introducing Ailor, the neighbor girl. Ailor's twin brother will show up at some point, mark my words. Also, the two neighbor kids are based off of my sister and myself, with their respective pokemon being based off of pokemon that we own on our respective games.
Oh, before I forget to mention this, Yusei and the guys will head to New York City in the next chapter because of something having to do with the local sewers.