Thanks for the reviews and subs. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter!
…
Young Mokuba Kaiba paced around the living room, leaving noticeable traffic marks in the Kaibas' expensive carpeting. Occasionally he glanced over at the telephone on the wall and down at the cell phone in his pocket, silently praying that one of them would ring.
"Come on Seto, what's taking so long?" he pondered.
He had called his brother twice over the last few hours. Both times he had gotten the automated voicemail and had left brief messages. Mokuba decided to whip out his cell phone and call again.
The line rang…and rang…and rang. After what seemed like forever, Mokuba got the answering machine again. This time Mokuba decided to just hang up without leaving a message.
"That's it, I'm going to VSphere and find out what's going on," he decided.
…
Hours away from Domino City, Kaiba sat in a stadium with a large soda in hand. To his right sat Serenity, who was cheering for Tokyo's team. To his left stood Mr. Wheeler, who had a giant foam finger on one hand and a hotdog in the other. Kaiba groaned inwardly as his rival's father continued to scream.
"GO TEAM! I'VE GOT A HUNDRED BUCKS RIDING ON THIS GAME!"
Kaiba spit out his drink and coughed uncontrollably. Serenity stopped cheering and placed a hand on Kaiba's shoulder.
"Joey, are you alright?"
He regained his composure and glanced at his rival's sister.
"This moron's gambling!?"
"What?" Serenity gasped, looking at her father. "Daddy, you promised you'd stop!"
"I will pumpkin, but I've got a good feeling about today."
"Do you even have a hundred dollars?" asked Kaiba.
"Uh…define 'dollars'."
The kids' eyes widened in horror. Mr. Wheeler noticed their expressions and sighed.
"Look, everything will work out. It always does."
"Yeah, except your marriage," Kaiba grumbled.
"Do you wanna run that by me again!?" Mr. Wheeler challenged.
Suddenly, Serenity cringed. The young girl leaned over Kaiba and tugged on her dad's sleeve.
"Uh, daddy…"
She motioned towards the field, where the game had just wrapped up. Mr. Wheeler dropped his meal in shock as the rest of the audience in their bleachers groaned.
"—and that last minute turn of events have earned the Tigers their victory!" the announcer remarked. "What a sight to see!"
After placing his soda in the holster, Kaiba crossed his arms and scowled at Mr. Wheeler.
"So, what's your plan now?" he asked.
The lanky blond man sat down and leaned back. After half a minute of glancing up at the sky, an idea finally came to him. He straightened his posture and turned to face the two teens.
"Okay, so here's the plan: we change our identities and move to Kushiro. If we leave now we can probably make it before breakfast."
"That's ridiculous!" spat Kaiba. "I'm not going to Kushiro!"
"Well I don't hear you coming up with anything!" Mr. Wheeler then looked over at his daughter. "Hey Ren, did your mom give you any money for this visit?"
"Mooching off your own kid, that's just wonderful," Kaiba grumbled.
Serenity and her father ignored him.
"Well, no, but I bet if we called mom—"
Mr. Wheeler let out a snort.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure she'd love to do that! If she finds out I'm still gambling—"
"So don't tell her," said Kaiba. "Just make something up."
"Lie? I don't know if I can do that. I was married to her for… for…" Kaiba rolled his eyes as Mr. Wheeler tried to think back to his marriage. Eventually he gave up and returned to his original point. "Anyway, your mother can read me like an open book."
Kaiba let out a groan. If he'd had his card on him he could've just gone to the nearest ATM and made a withdrawal. Mentally he scolded himself for being so forgetful.
"When do you have to pay these guys off?" he inquired.
"Right about now," answered a strange voice.
The three looked to their right to see a trio of men standing in the row down from them. The man on the left had long, blond hair and silver earrings while the man on the right was tall with spiked black hair. The man in the middle was rather short, wearing a red baseball cap that shaded his round face.
"Uh…who are you?" asked Mr. Wheeler.
"Dan sent us," answered the man in the middle. "He thought you might try to skip town before paying your dues."
Mr. Wheeler started to chuckle nervously.
"I'd have to be pretty stupid to try and pull a stunt like that," said Mr. Wheeler.
"Wait a minute, how did you even find us?" asked Kaiba. "There must be over a thousand people in this stadium!"
"We spent the last hour trying to scope your old man out. Now, fork over the money!"
Mr. Wheeler cringed.
"Uh, you see, I left my wallet back home."
"Uh huh. Guys, check him!"
The other two men stepped up and grabbed Mr. Wheeler. While the blond had him restrained the spikey haired man reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Mr. Wheeler looked at it and chuckled nervously.
"How did that get there?" he asked, rather unconvincingly.
The spiky haired guy opened it up and pulled out ten dollars. The man with the cap crossed his arms and shook his head.
"I need ninety more," he stated.
"Well I don't have it right now!"
The spikey haired guy cracked his knuckles, so Mr. Wheeler rephrased his response.
"I mean, I don't have it yet. Let me call my wife and she can bring it over."
The man with the cap opened up his jacket and pulled out a cell phone. The other men let go of Mr. Wheeler while the lead guy handed him the device. Mr. Wheeler raised his finger to dial, but hesitated.
"Hey Ren, what's your mom's number?" he asked.
"Oh for God's sake!" spat the capped man. "Just give the girl the phone!"
Mr. Wheeler handed the phone to his daughter. Quickly she dialed the number and brought the phone up to her ear.
"Hey mom. I'm…good. Hey, listen, we're in Tokyo right now and don't have any money. Do you think you could bring us about a hundred dollars?...No, he didn't forget the tickets. Can you please bring the money to the Tokyo Stadium?...Okay, thank you so much! I love you. Yes, I'll tell Joey…yes, I'll tell dad. Bye."
After hanging up Serenity handed the phone back to the ring leader.
"We'll just stick around until dear old mom shows up," said the capped man. "Now, let's all head to the parking lot. There'll be less…witnesses."
Kaiba exchanged glances with the two Wheelers. The three followed the men, climbing the steep steps while trying to avoid trash and half eaten snacks.
"Joey, mom wanted me to tell you that she loves you and misses you."
"That's nice," said Kaiba.
"Hey Ren, what did your mom wanna tell me?"
"That she wants more alimony."
"…Oh…well then…"
Kaiba shook his head at the two. He hoped that this ordeal would soon be over with so that he and Joey could proceed with their plans.
…
Deep in cyberspace, Joey's eyes softly fluttered open. He looked around to see that he was surrounded by snow. Looking all around he realized that snow was all there was; there was no people, no lights, no anything. He looked up and saw a dark blue sky, but instead of clouds he saw stars and a large moon.
"Man, it looks cold, but it don't feel it," Joey muttered.
Not only could he not feel anything, but he couldn't smell or taste either. It seemed as though Ms. Johnson's virtual world wasn't as sophisticated as Noah's had been. That was probably why couldn't get his costume off.
"Oh well, there's always room for improvement. Man, Kaiba had better get here before something happens. If dat nut doesn't kill me then the boredom will!"
…
Mokuba stepped out of the limo. He'd just arrived at the front door of the V-Sphere headquarters, where his brother was supposed to be meeting the CEO. He took a deep breath and walked inside, hoping that trouble wasn't brewing.
"Hello, welcome to VSphere," greeted a secretary. "How can I help you?"
"My brother came here a few hours ago to meet with the CEO, and I was just wondering if he's still here."
"Who is your brother?"
"Seto Kaiba."
"Let me call and ask."
The secretary picked up the phone on her desk and dialed. In almost no time at all she got a response.
"Hello Ms. Johnson, I have a guest who's inquiring about the presence of Mr. Kaiba…I see…alright then, I will let him know." She hung up the phone and returned her attention to Mokuba. "Your brother left an hour ago."
Mokuba frowned. The secretary seemed sincere enough, but the young boy couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right.
"Okay then. I'll guess I'll just call him again. Thanks for your help."
The secretary gave him a curtly nod. Mokuba turned around and left the building. He reached for his cellphone but decided that calling his brother again would just be a waste of time. Something was up, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.
…
After about twenty minutes of waiting, Mrs. Wheeler pulled into the parking lot of the baseball stadium. She got out of the car and stared at the three men with her ex and two kids. A groan escaped her lips as the realization seemed to dawn on her.
"You owe these guys money, don't you Jonathan?" she asked.
"Oh Marge, you know me too well."
She let out a huff and opened her purse.
"This is the last time I help you out!" she spat.
"Yeah, yeah, that's what you said last time; and yet, here we are."
She pulled out a hundred dollars and handed it to the man with the baseball cap. He counted it quickly and shoved it into his back pocket.
"Very good," he said to Mr. Wheeler. "Well Johnny, looks like you're off the hook."
With that him and his goons walked off, leaving the Wheelers alone.
"Wait a minute, didn't they take ten dollars from you?" Serenity asked her dad.
"Just let it go Ren."
Mrs. Wheeler crossed her arms and scowled.
"I can't believe you, Jonathan! You gamble away all your money and then you go and drag our kids into the middle of it!?"
"Oh please, that's nothing! Why just a few hours ago I beat the cops in a..." he paused when he saw the horror stricken expression on his ex wife's face, "I mean, uh…"
"You are unbelievable!" spat Mrs. Wheeler. "I have half a mind to sue you for permanent custody!"
Kaiba gritted his teeth as his rival's parents continued to argue. After half a minute of more fighting, the young CEO finally snapped.
"UGH! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"
The two adults stopped bickering and stared at him. Serenity sniffled and wiped her face. Clenching his fists, Kaiba continued to yell.
"You people are completely unbearable! I'd rather walk back to Domino City barefoot than spend another minute dealing with you idiots!"
Serenity gasped in shock while Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler's jaws dropped.
"Well I've had it!" Kaiba continued. "I'm leaving and I'm never coming back!"
"What? You can't do that!" said Mr. Wheeler.
"I can and I will! I'm eighteen years old; you have no control over me!"
With that Kaiba turned and began walking away.
"Joseph, at least let me give you a ride," said Mrs. Wheeler.
"No, just stay away from me!"
Serenity and Mrs. Wheeler teared up as they watched him leave the parking lot. Mr. Wheeler was unmoved and instead let out a snort.
"He'll be back," he assured his daughter and ex wife. "I've got his wallet!"
He whipped it out as proof, allowing Serenity to examine it.
"Hey, that's mine!" she spat.
"Oh…oops."
A/N: This is probably the longest chapter I've done in a while. You know, I've never seen Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler interact on the show or in any other media form. I can't help but wonder what their relationship is like, if one even exists anymore. Feel free to leave a review.