"YUG."

"Huh? What's up, Joey?"

Joey sighed and crossed his arms. "Let Yami through. I gotta talk to him."

Yugi raised an eyebrow in confusion but complied. Joey's voice was still muffled because of his nose, but even that didn't stop Yugi from hearing the seriousness in his friend's tone.

Yami's expression was one of confusion. "What is it, Joey?"

"This's gotta stop, Yami. Now. Right fuckin' now. This is bullshit."

"What, Joey? What are you talking about?"

"You know goddamn well what I'm talkin' about, you damn prick. Don't play stupid. An' you know well as anyone that I don't like Kaiba. I never have. But you…what the fuck is wrong with you? Mokuba needs help! He's been gone for…what, almost a week now! And the cops've got nothin' to go by."

"Joey, I've told you--"

"You can shove what you've told me up yer ass, you son of a bitch! I'm tired o' this! I dunno what the fuck happened to you, but it's gotta stop. Now. You used to be a good guy. A bit sadistic, yeah, but a good guy. What is this? Why you bein' such a prick? That Death-T shit was over two fuckin' years ago! Even I gotta admit Kaiba's changed for the better since that."

"It's not enough. Death-T, Duelist Kingdom, Battle City…Kaiba's still a pompous bastard."

"…And you aren't? Look, Kaiba 'n me don't get along. We agree on just about nothin'. I think he's a snob, and he pisses me off to no end. But fucked if he ain't a damn good parent. Maybe he wasn't when we first met him, but if there's one thing I respect about him now, if there's one thing I gotta give him, it's that he's doin' a damn good job raisin' Mokuba."

"You can't be serious."

"Do I look like I'm jokin'?"

"Joey…how can you--"

"Look, how many times I gotta say it? I'm tired of this. You talk about all the crap Moku's put you through…uh…he threatened to chop a finger off 'n he almost poisoned you…Fuck, man, I can see how you hate him. A threat and an almost…goddamn. You poor thing. Do you remember something about that poison thing? He did poison me! And you know what? I forgave him that. Craziest fuckin' thing, ain't it?

"Kids turn out the way they do 'cuz 'o how they're raised. 'F I'd stayed wit' my father, I'd 'a ended up a drunk. But when I got old enough, I split. Moku don't got that option. He ain't old enough. And you wanna know the truth? Kaiba's a whole hell of a lot better father 'n mine was."

"Kaiba isn't a father."

"Yes, he is, Yami, now shut up. I don't see you bitchin' about my father…he was worse. And besides, I'm your friend, even though my parent was a bitch. But Kaiba's different. You take yer hatred of him and use it as an excuse not to help Moku. Just 'cuz you don't like Kaiba don't mean Mokuba deserves to die."

"That isn't why I refused, Joey. Mokuba--"

"Didn't do a goddamn thing to you!"

Joey growled deep in his throat, turning his eyes away from the gambler. "I'm really getting sick of you hiding behind your 'he isn't worthy' shit…I ain't worthy by those standards, an' you call me your friend."

"Joey, that isn't--"

"Do I gotta tape yer goddamn mouth shut!"

Yami flinched and leaned backward.

"I did a whole shitload more damage to Yugi than Kaiba ever did…I dunno if you realize this, but before we got to be friends I sent him to the hospital a few times…'At's worse than what Kaiba's done to 'im, and a whole hell of a lot worse than Mokuba…so you'd damn well better not help me with my problems…"

"Joey, you know I'd--"

"SHUT IT!" Joey snarled. "…If you're gonna refuse to find a lost child…you'd better not help me. I don't want a hypocrite helping me. I got problems, sure, but I'd rather deal with 'em myself than have you help…say I turn up missin'…you help find me an' I'll beat the ever-loving shit outta you!"

"Joey…"

The blonde turned his back. "Mokuba's a friend of mine…he's a good kid. He's made mistakes, but so did I. He's lucky to have a family that cares about 'im…now if not before. We all screw up sometimes…it's a fact. So maybe Kaiba 'n Noa 'n Mokuba did worse than some people…maybe even most people…but they've atoned for it. If you're too blind to see that, it ain't my fault."

He turned again. "And I'll tell ya this: if you stand by yer decision 'n refuse to help Mokuba…you'd do best not to show yer face around me again…'cuz if yer gonna be that cruel, our friendship is over."

Yami didn't need to ask; Joey was dead-serious. And Joey wasn't one to be serious; he much preferred to take things lightly. He preferred to look at danger in the face and laugh. That he was being so serious showed how upset Joey was. As much as Yami didn't want to listen to this, he had to.

"You're serious about this…" Yami murmured, stating the obvious.

Joey nodded. "I am. You know as well as anyone that I take care of my friends…'specially the ones weaker 'n I am. So if you show yer face around Mokuba again, always assuming he's found alive, something you evidently don't care about, I swear to God I'll kick your ass six ways from Sunday."

"Anything?"

Noa shook his head, annoyed with himself. "Nothing…absolutely nothing. Whoever sent this did not want to be found…this'll take a long time to get past. You might as well work on something, because I'm gonna be here for a few hours."

Nathan nodded. "I'm getting close to the end. Just one more character to figure out, a few more scenes to work through, and it's done."

"Good. When Mokuba gets home, he'll be ecstatic."

Nathan didn't comment, and Noa knew why. He also didn't care.

The artist left the room and Noa turned back to his brother's computer.

"Son of a bitch…this bastard knew what he was doing…"

That was all he knew. Whoever had sent this was a genius. Noa knew more than just about anyone in the entirety of Domino City when it came to finding information through a computer system. Things supposedly impossible to discover, he could find.

This, though…this was good work.

If it hadn't been for what this person had done, Noa would have been highly impressed with his or her ability. As it was, he was annoyed nearly to the point of breaking the monitor.

The phone rang.

Noa picked it up and growled a, "What?"

"Master Noa. Hello."

"Kaine. What is it?"

"Learning from Master Kaiba, are you? Well, that's fine. I just wanted to know what I should do about Mister Faulkner. He's quite adamant about meeting Master Kaiba, despite all I've said to him about how he's busy."

"Stop talking to him, then. Tell him Seto's not talking to anyone, and if Mister Faulker doesn't listen, tell him not to bother with us."

"You have Master Kaiba's permission to speak for him?"

"I do. Tell him that, and if he doesn't listen…ignore him."

"…As you say, Mister Noa."

"Good. Is that all?"

"Yes."

"Goodbye."

Noa hung up before Kaine could say another word.

"Spence…you need to stop talking to them. You're getting reckless."

Spencer Kaine smirked. "Calm down, Enoch. It'd be worse if I suddenly stopped talking to them. I call Seto at his home at times when work is…hectic. And given that he hasn't been to the office lately…I think this qualifies as hectic."

Enoch Franks crossed his arms, frowning. "I guess…but you'd better stop calling so often, or it'll seem just as strange."

"I know what I'm doing, Enoch. I've done this before."

"Uh-huh…that makes me feel better."

"Just cool it. I know what I'm doing."

My computer is still perpetually off, but I managed this, anyway, using the single printed copy of the story I have. CfB, you may notice some changes from the original version in terms of dialogue and such, but it's nothing that changes things much. Doesn't change the plot at all, in my opinion.