AN: I'M ALIVE! Here's a long chapter for all of you out there, and don't forget to check out the comic version on Deviantart! It's got a few pages up already!

The Park

Tristan grinned to himself as he put the finishing touches on his outfit. He was going on a date today with a pretty blond named Lyra. She was a normal, like him. He didn't go out with Hikaris (he had learned that lesson after Janessa. Her Yami sure hit hard) or Yamis (Clair. Girl was a living nightmare, he couldn't get rid of her!), at least not anymore. He stuck to normals, thank you very much.

Honestly, he was just wearing what he usually wore out anywhere, but he had re-gelled his hair and fixed his clothes so that they were a little straighter and had no stains.

After he had finished with that, he got in his car to pick her up after saying goodbye to his Aunt and Uncle. They were going to an amusement park and Tristan was determined to show Lyra what an awesome and brave person he was by not screaming during the roller coasters and getting her cool prizes from the booths.

It was going to be perfect!

He arrived at her house right on schedule and she came out wearing denim short-shorts and a white shirt under a long-sleeved pink jacket.

Tristan had never really understood why so many girls wore mini-skirts or short-shorts and a long-sleeve jacket, but he supposed it was a girl thing or something and he didn't really want to get too involved. He had asked Joey once, but she didn't get it either. She also wacked him and asked if he had ever seen her wearing something like that, which he hadn't. It was strange since her old school required it as a uniform, but he was pretty sure she had just ditched the skirt for pants.

But that was beside the point.

Regardless of how strange Tristan thought a woman's mind was, he was determined to have a good time at the amusement park.

As Lyra slid into the passenger seat of the car, she gave Tristan a shy half smile which he returned as a full-blown grin. Yes, the amusement park would be fun.

"So... We're going to the new amusement park they just built?" Lyra asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yep! Today's the opening day, so we'll be some of the first people to see it!" Tristan grinned. "It's right over there, behind those trees." He pointed at a line of fairly tall trees, over the top of which could be seen several bits of different roller coasters.

"Looks fun!" Lyra replied, finally getting into the excitement and smiling a full smile. Tristan did a little happy dance inside of his head as he pulled the car into the almost-full parking lot.

For the next hour or two, they ran around doing all of the roller coasters they could find and Tristan was surprised to find that Lyra was actually quite the little Daredevil when it came to the ones even he didn't really want to be on. But he went on them and tried to act manly, which Lyra poked and giggled at afterwards. Honestly, she was starting to remind him of Joey and it kind of scared him. He had his hands full with only one of them; he didn't need a girlier version running around as well.

"WADDA YA MEAN I LOST?! I HIT DA TARGET RIGHT IN DA MIDDLE YA THEIVIN' JERK!"

Speak of the devil, and she shall appear. Tristan and Lyra had been heading over to play some of the carnival games when the voice soared over the crowd. And that was a voice that Tristan knew all too well. He almost fell over in exasperation. Would he have to go save Joey now? Or, rather, would he have to go save whoever Joey was yelling at? He didn't want her arrested for assault, no matter how much she may have earned it with her quick temper and quicker fists.

"Is something wrong?" Lyra asked, seeing Tristan's suddenly very put-upon expression.

"Huh? Oh, no, but I have to go save whoever Joey's yelling at," he replied forlornly.

"That's Joey?" Lyra asked interestedly. Like many of Tristan's previous girlfriends, she had heard much about the other blond. And, also like many previous girlfriends, she assumed that Joey was a boy and most definitely a Yami.

Like many of Tristan's previous girlfriends, she was in for a surprise.

Tristan blinked in surprise as he finally got close enough to the commotion to see what was happening. It seemed that Joey had tried a carnival game (which she sucked at) and lost, then blowing up on the stall owner. The Seto Kaiba had stepped forward and tried as Joey stewed. He got the highest score possible in one try, which didn't make Joey feel any better, but it only got worse when he picked a stuffed dog as his prize and offered it to Joey with an undeniably mocking smirk.

And that was when Tristan realized that Joey currently looked like a girl. And was talking to Seto Kaiba, who obviously wasn't surprised that she was a girl and knew that this was the same Joey from school.

Was she trying to get herself taken away?!

Just as Joey lunged forward, something Kaiba was obviously expecting and would have dodged easily, Tristan jumped forward, grabbed her, and dragged her away in the space of about two seconds.

Seto blinked in surprise, but that was his only outward indication of anything. He had been looking forward to embarrassing the easily-irritated blond once again, and even he hadn't expected her friend (Tristan, was it?) to jump out of nowhere and stop her. And now he was stuck with this stupid stuffed dog.

"Um, excuse me, Seto, could I… I mean, if you don't want that…" Yugi stuttered timidly. Seto scoffed, tossing the golden retriever to her without so much as looking.

"I have no need for toys," he said coldly. Yugi smiled, hugging the stuffed animal. She wasn't going to keep it though; she was going to give it to Joey later with the suggestion that Joey give it to Serenity. She didn't know much about Serenity other than Joey wasn't allowed to see her because of the divorce and Joey absolutely adored her. That was good enough for Yugi.

After bodily dragging Joey about thirty feet from her impending doom, Tristan finally let her go. She spun and glared at him immediately.

"What was dat for, Tristan?!" She demanded.

"You can't punch Seto Kaiba! Are you trying to get yourself killed?! Why are you with him anyway? Is he blackmailing you?!"

"He ain't blackmailin' me! Yuug invited 'im and 'is friends ta come!" Joey snapped, annoyed that Tristan thought she would be so weak as to let Seto Kaiba (or anyone else for that matter) blackmail her.

"Um, Tristan?" Asked a timid voice, interrupting what would probably have grown into a full-blown shouting match, complete with physical fighting, and then lunch invitation.

"Oh, Lyra!" Tristan said, as if he had forgotten she was there.

"Eh? Tris, who's dis?" Joey asked, immediately forgetting her annoyance as she looked at the much shorter blond.

"This is Lyra, we're on a date," Tristan replied, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "Lyra, this is Joey Wheeler."

"Nice ta meecha," Joey greeted, sticking her hand out. Lyra took it hesitantly. She was kind of uncomfortable now, feeling small and… less developed than her boyfriend's best friend. And even though she was acting nice, Lyra felt as if Joey was really studying her, waiting for her to do something wrong.

In truth, she kind of was. She couldn't have her best friend marrying just any girl that would have him. She had to have standers, because Tristan kind of didn't and she didn't want him to marry some chick that absolutely hated her or that she hated. What would she do if she wanted to visit?

Because Joey was sure that she and Tristan would be best friends even after he got married.

So far, this girl seemed to be doing fine. She wasn't being rude, she wasn't yelling at Tristan, she wasn't pressuring him into buying her lots of stuff. Joey thought she could use a bit more backbone, but that was more for her sake than Tristan's. Then they could gang up on him and get him to do ridiculous things together…

Alright, she may just want a potential good friend to be married to her best friend for the sake of… well… fun.

She didn't really have a better reason.

Tristan's eyes moved between Lyra and Joey as if watching a Ping-Pong match, even though neither girl was doing anything. If they got along immediately he knew he could depend on Joey to support him. If they started arguing (in a Kaiba-Joey way, not a Joey-Tristan way) he was going to need a new girlfriend.

This silence was worrying.

If Joey lost him one more girlfriend, Tristan was gonna-

Suddenly he saw Lyra's mouth turn into a timid smile and looked at Joey in anticipation. But not too much; he was trying to appear nonchalant.

After a blink of surprise, Joey returned it with that huge, crooked, doofy grin and Tristan did an internal happy dance.

"So, he cry yet?" Were the first words out of Joey's mouth after her and Lyra's newly established friendship. After a surprised pause from Lyra (Joey looked like pure evil when she said that), she smiled.

"No, he's been really brave," she assured.

"Really?" Joey asked, looking genuinely surprised. She really shouldn't have been, Tristan was actually a pretty tough guy. Almost immediately she went back to that grin, ignoring Tristan's mounting annoyance at her. "No annoying clean-the-world janitor-reject speeches?"

"JOEY!" Tristan yelled before Lyra could say no. He lunged at said girl, but she had bolted as soon as he started talking. This started a chase scene that most action-packed adventure (slash comedy) films would have been jealous of, what with the two athletes jumping over and on attractions, swerving around people at breakneck speeds, not to mention that little bit where Joey got her hands on some pinecones, or when Tristan had grabbed a large stick.

The chase ended when Joey circled back around and dived behind Lyra, which caused Tristan to stop as well.

"Well, I'll just leave ya two love-birds to ya selves," Joey said, pushing Lyra towards her best friend in a clever ploy to distract him and then run for it. It worked rather well, if she did say so herself.

Tristan had almost instantly caught onto what Joey was doing, but decided that he should get back to not neglecting the person he was actually on a date with.

After Tristan had dragged Joey off, the remaining people in the group wandered off to a different part of the park.

Marik and Bakura had run off to the largest, scariest roller coasters and though Atem would have rather been on those type of rides he stayed with the Hikaris. They had been the ones to invite him and pay for the tickets, after all. It would be rude to leave them.

Seto also stayed with the Hikaris, but only because he had no intention of riding any rides. He would never admit it, but being in this place reminded him painfully of Mokuba. Because of that, and the fact that he wasn't allowed to search for Mokuba today, he was in a horrible mood. More horrible than usual.

And he was going to take it out on someone.

Too bad for Joey that she happened to be the first to come across him in this mood.

She ran up to the other three Hikaris with that stupid grin of hers, apologizing about being dragged away and blaming the whole thing on Tristan. They all looked like they were having a good time; Joey even seemed to have warmed up to Atem a bit. However, that didn't cheer Seto up at all. In fact, it may have made him angrier.

But he was pleased to realize that this was possibly the first time he had truly felt hatred toward the blond. That was good. Normality was returning at last.

At least it was, until the stupid mutt decided to talk again.

"What about you, rich-boy? Too scared ta go on da big-kid rides?" She smirked, realizing that her Hikari friends weren't the only ones avoiding anything "fun". Which in Joey's vocabulary was probably closer to "death-defying".

He turned his cold, malice-filled eyes on her without hesitation. Granted, she wasn't necessarily the problem in this equation, but he could honestly say he didn't care at the moment.

"Any amusement park that allows dogs on rides can't be very good," he hissed with open hostility. Everyone, even Atem, took a step back in surprise. Seto did enjoy teasing Joey, but usually he was just baiting her, getting her angry and smirking about it. He had never really been openly hostile. Then, Atem realized exactly what was bugging his cousin.

"Seto..." He said warningly. He was going to continue, but that was when Joey snapped out of her shock and took two steps forward to make up the distance she had retreated. She wouldn't show weakness in front of Kaiba.

"I ain't a dog, money-bags! Ya lucky dat Tristan stopped me from re-arrangin' ya face last time, but you say one more thing an' ya gonna get a makeova!" She yelled, Brooklyn accent becoming more pronounced in her rage.

"And then what? Will you play dress-up? Have a tea party?" Seto sneered, no remorse or regrets about pushing all the wrong buttons.

"Dat's it!" Joey growled, much like a dog, before lunging at the smirking brunette. If Joey had been thinking straight, which admittedly doesn't happen often, she probably would have noticed the difference between this smirk and Kaiba's usual smirk. Kaiba, if asked, would probably fully admit to being a bit of a sadist. His other smirks, while slightly sadistic in nature, we're never really malicious. This smirk seemed to shadow his whole face, the one feature turning him from Gadfly into monster.

"Joey!"

"Kaiba!"

"Seto!"

Their friends yelled, lunging forward and stopping Joey just in time.

"Lemme go! He's askin' for it!" She growled, thrashing against their restraining arms. She cursed Atem in that moment. He was the straw that broke the camel's back, because she knew that her three friends couldn't hold her back alone. Not when she was this angry.

"Pathetic," Seto stated, a look of disgust on his face even as Joey tried to get at him. Then he turned and walked away.

"Hey! I ain't done with you!" She shouted after him.

"No, but I am done with you," he replied, not even bothering to turn around and say it to her face.

It took ten minutes to calm Joey to the point of not scouring the park for Kaiba and killing him on the spot. Once they were to that point, Atem went off in search of Kaiba (Joey volunteered to help, but was shot down) and Yugi, Ryo, and Malik did their best to distract Joey and keep her away from her very first murder victim.

When that day was finally over (it had been a long one for everyone but Bakura and Marik) they got into their separate cars. Yugi's heading to her house and the limo to the mansion.

Once the limo arrived at the mansion, Seto immediately retreated to his room with his laptop and locked the door. He had one priority, and that was finding Mokuba. Atem had no right to force him to stop his goal for the sake of amusing himself and the two criminals living in the mansion.

Seto had no need for friends; they would only get in his way. He only made "friends" if it was in his benefit, and he saw no benefit in making nice with the easily-agitated dog and her useless Hikari friends. There was no way someone as uneducated as her would be able to help him at all.

Factoid #22: Whenever Joey was introduced to Tristan's girlfriends, she would accidentally-on-purpose scare them away because a) she thought that Tristan could do better b) she told them if they broke his heart she'd kill them c) they thought Tristan had a crush on her so they left, even though it's not true. They're like brother and sister. Or, sometimes more accurately, like brothers. Tristan thought his girlfriend troubles would be over when Joey pretended to be a boy.

And a note: Tristan isn't a player or anything, but he has the hardest time holding onto a girlfriend for more than a week. This is partially due to the above factoid.