AN: In the Original Yugioh Joey was always my favorite Character because he was just so much fun to watch from his duels to his reactions…although I will admit that the accent can get annoying at times (And I have a plan on how to get rid of it in the story so sorry folks, on real Brooklyn Rage for you). Plus his main card, Red Eyes, is one of my favorites. I never liked how he was continuously given the short stick in the show so this is my way of making up for it. In the original plan for this story he was going to be paired with Mai but in this one it will be with an OC who is like the Red Eyes equivalent of that Blue Eyes girl Kisara.

Heart of a Dragon (Working Title)

Chapter 1

-Joey-

-Duelist Kingdom: Night that Yugi beat Pegasus-

Sighing he continued doing a final sweep of his room to make sure he had everything as the boat Pegasus chartered to take them back wouldn't be arriving until the morning. While he wasn't happy about the wait he did find it amusing seeing Kaiba get pissed off about the delay as well, the rich pain in the ass not able to leave on his own due to all of the private Kaiba Corp jets being given tune ups or repairs. Just as he was finishing and preparing to go to bed he heard someone knocking on his door causing him to sigh before walking over, wondering if it was Tristan, or Yugi, or even Mai but to his surprise it was Pegasus standing on the other side of the door.

"What do you want Pegasus?" he asked, trying to remain neutral as while he was still pissed at the creator of Duel Monsters he had seen a pain in the man's eyes… a pain that he had seen before in his own father's eyes. They were the eyes of a man who's lost all hope of being reunited with the woman that they loved.

"I felt the need to inform you that your Apartment Building burned down during the tournament so that you weren't caught off guard tomorrow." Pegasus said neutrally and he could see that the man was trying not to break down. Thinking back he realized that this look had been in the man's eyes earlier as well while during the tournament there had only been desperation.

"Why did you do it Pegasus?" he asked as he took a couple steps back and sat on the edge of his bed "Why did you go to all of this trouble to collect the 'Millennium Items'? What was the point of doing this to everyone?".

At his question Pegasus blinked in surprise before sighing and stepping inside, the old man collapsing into one of the armchairs before explaining "I…I wanted to be able to see my wife again." Pegasus explained "We married young and I was never happier than when I held her in my arms but shortly after we wed, before we could even begin to try and have a family of our own, she grew deathly ill and was taken from me. I spent years travelling the world, looking for some way to bring her back to me and that is how I met a man named Shadi…and gained my Millennium Eye.".

As he listened he noticed the man's hand unconsciously twitch towards the eye covered by hair but decided not to comment, "When I received the eye I had a vision of my wife, my Celia, and I knew that if I wanted to truly bring her back I would need all seven of the Items. So I created the game of Duel Monsters, knowing that the bearers of the items would be drawn to the game, and set up this tournament to bring them here. When I began down this road…I never intended for things to turn out like this, to do the things I've done…maybe it's a good thing I lost the eye.".

"Wait what?" he asked in shock "You lost the Millennium eye?".

"After my duel with Yugi someone came up to my study," Pegasus explained, the old man parting his hair to reveal an empty eye socket "they overpowered me and took the eye. The trauma of having the eye ripped out of my skull, and my head hitting the floor afterwards, blacked out part of my memory so I can't remember who did it.".

"What now?" he asked as he leaned back against the headboard of the bed, studying the broken man in front of him and, instead of feeling anger, he felt only pity for the old game maker.

"I don't know," Pegasus explained with a sigh "I honestly want to try and make amends for everything I've done, maybe earn a place with my wife in the next world, but I'm scared of falling back to the way I've been.".

"The answer to that's simple," he said with a shrug as Pegasus looked at him in surprise "all you need is a Minder. Someone who you know won't hesitate to knock some sense into you if they feel like you're heading down that path again and won't go down their themselves.".

At his words Pegasus looked thoughtful before staring at him intently, "Would you be willing to take that job Joseph?" the man asked as he blinked in shock at the offer.

"Me?" he asked in shock "You want me to be your minder?".

"You clearly feel no hesitation in telling me where I go wrong," Pegasus justified with a wry smile as he chuckled himself at the piece of logic "and…well I trust you Joseph. I saw the reason why you fought as hard as you did and I admired it. Now, let's discuss a contract for the terms of your employment.".

For the next few hours he stayed up talking with Pegasus, going over the terms of their agreement and what his duties would be as well as what his pay would be. "Okay," Pegasus said as the finished their negotiations "let me just make sure that I have this right. Your duties are to be travelling with me when I go on long term business trips to keep an eye on me and you are to be flown out here one weekend a month, or more, to make sure I don't relapse as well as frequently calling and sending emails to keep track of my mental state. In return I shall purchase a new property for you in Domino City, you shall have a monthly salary, and free room and board both when you're on the island and when you're on the business trip with me. Along with that I'm going to provide a few rare cards for you from time to time as a bonus.".

"That sounds about right." he said with a nod as Pegasus sighed and got up.

"Get some sleep Joseph," Pegasus instructed "I'll have one of my employees write up the contract as well as get the deed to a property for you and have it here in the morning when you wake up.".

"Alright boss." he said with a yawn as he just lay on the covers, hearing the door click shut before he drifted off to sleep. The next morning, just as Pegasus had promised, he found a metal briefcase waiting for him as he clicked it open and saw the property deed to a small building in Domino City which had an apartment over an auto body garage where he could work on cars and bikes, the topic having come up in idle conversation the previous evening.

Smiling faintly at the property details he read he slipped the keys to the building into his pocket and flipped through the contract before noticing the time and slipped it back and the case. Slipping on his jacket he walked downstairs, case in hand, as he saw the others assembled outside the castle. "What's that Joey?" Yugi asked, his shorter friend noticing the case instantly.

"A contract and a property deed." He said simply as Kaiba began to eye him warily.

"A contract for what Mutt?" Kaiba demanded.

Normally he would have exploded at the rich pain in the ass insulting him like that but he was still exhausted from staying up to negotiate with Pegasus the night before so he simply ignored the rich fool and kept walking towards the boat as Kaiba blinked in shock and audibly growled which he filled away for later about new ways to rile the Blue Eyes user up.

"Seriously though Joey," Tristan asked him, his friend grinning at Kaiba's expression "what is with the contract thing? And the property deed?".

"The property deed is the easiest," he said with a sigh "during the tournament my apartment complex burned down. The deed is to a small apartment with a mechanic garage in Domino City.".

"And the contract?" Tea asked warily.

"Pegasus came to me last night," he explained as he boarded the ship and leaned against a wall "he had originally intended to simply give me a warning about my apartment being gone so I could find a new place but it ended up with us talking about why he had done all this shit and, while I don't agree with what he did…I can understand it.".

"What?!" Kaiba yelled "You actually support-".

"Kaiba!" he yelled as everyone blinked in shock at his forceful yell "I said I didn't agree with it, just that I understood it. Simple answer is that Pegasus went kinda crazy over the years, trying to bring back someone in his life who was as important to him, if not more so, than Mokuba is to you or to old Man Moto is to Yugi.".

"Who?" Yugi asked wide eyed as Kaiba processed the new information.

"His wife," he said with a sigh "they died shortly after being married and he thought if he could get the seven artifacts, like his eye and your puzzle, he could bring her back to life… don't ask me where he got the idea as I'm not entirely sure. Anyway, someone managed to sneak into the castle and ripped his fake eye out, the trauma of the attack and Pegasus hitting his head afterwards damaged the old man's memory of the attacker but it did help him focus and realize the shit he's done over the years. He wants to try and make amends but doesn't want to relapse which is where I come in. He hired me to be his minder, to make sure he doesn't try a stunt like this again.".

"Why you?" Kaiba asked derisively.

"His reasoning was that I had no problem not only telling him when he's doing something stupid but knocking sense into him as well." He said blandly before yawning and standing up. "Well I'm going to go to my cabin. I want to go over the contract and then grab some more shut eye, I was up late negotiating the terms with Pegasus.".

AN: Joey will be having some new decks in this story and here are the ones I'm planning to give him:

Dragon Deck

Fiend Deck

Dark Deck

Water Deck

Machine Deck