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 sixteen: Yusei and friends do Galleria Shopping Mall
Yusei Fudo, Jack Atlas, Crow Hogan and Dukey, who is Kalin Kessler's talking dog best friend, were standing in the kitchen of the Atlas penthouse one day in New Domino City, which is a suburb of San Francisco, California. "Wait a bloody fucking minute there, Yusei," Jack began as he regarded his roommate with a confused look, "…Akiza wants to eat what now?!"
"She wants ice cream topped with pickle chips," Yusei replied, "Specifically, she wants vanilla ice cream topped with bread and butter flavored pickle chips."
"The fuck is wrong with her?!" Jack exclaimed, "I mean, sure bread and butter flavor is the god flavor of pickles, but to put any sort of pickles on ice cream?! Is Akiza insane?!" (1)
"No, dingus," Crow remarked, "Akiza's pregnant." Getting a loaf of sliced bread out, Crow set it on the counter as he said, "When pregnant, women tend to crave the most bizarre things." Setting a jar of creamy peanut butter on the counter next to the loaf of slice bread he got out, Crow continued as he walked over to the fridge, "I fully expected Akiza to want to eat some weird ass stuff while she was carrying Yusei's child."
"You eat weird ass stuff whenever you get high on that magic pot from Mewni," Jack pointed out.
Removing a container of sauerkraut from the fridge, Crow replied, "Well, that's true. But I'm not the woman carrying Yusei's child, now am I?"
"Thank goodness for that," Jack said as he let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.
"Fuck you," Crow said as he proceeded to make a sandwich using the materials he got out. After he finished, Crow placed the sandwich on a small plate and said, "There we are."
"…Did you just make a peanut butter and sauerkraut sandwich, Crow?" Dukey asked, a mildly disgusted but mostly confused look on his face.
"It's a recipe I learned from the greatest culinary mind in Michigan," Crow exclaimed, "I figured that this might hold Akiza over until Kalin gets back with the bread and butter flavored pickle chips and vanilla ice cream."
"Birdbrain," Jack began, "What the bloody hell makes you think that-" Jack was cut off when Akiza Fudo, whose belly looks very noticeably pregnant, came out, saw the sandwich Crow made, snatched it, and quickly devoured it.
Sighing in relief, Akiza said, "Whew. I needed that."
When he saw Crow give him a smug look, Jack flipped him off with his right hand.
Later, after Kalin had returned from getting the ice cream and pickle chips for Akiza, the guys minus Yusei were sitting in the living room. "Well that was certainly interesting," Kalin said as he relaxed in the armchair he sat in as if he were melting on it.
"Akiza ate all of the ice cream and the pickle chips, then she drank all of the pickle juice in the jar," Jack stated, "I'd say that it was a little more than something, Kalin."
"Well look on the bright side," Dukey remarked to the blonde turbo duelist, "Have you seen how big Akiza's belly has gotten? She's bound to give birth any day now!"
"What do you think she'll name her and Yusei's kid?" Kalin asked rhetorically, "I was thinking Cynthia if it's a girl and Constantine if it's a boy."
"No offence, but a name like Constantine might get the kid picked on at school," Jack remarked, "I was thinking that, if Yusei's child is a boy, he should be named after me."
"Yusei should name his child after you if it's a boy?" Kalin remarked.
"Of course!" Jack stated as he stood up, "Just imagine it; Jack Atlas Fudo! The kid will be kicking ass and taking names for sure!"
"Talk about stroking one's ego," Crow remarked snidely.
"Oh?" Jack retorted, "And I suppose you can do us one better, Birdbrain?"
Nodding in the affirmative, Crow said, "How does Sephiroth Grelod Gideon Joffrey Dio Urkel sound to you?" (2) Seeing that Jack, Kalin and Dukey were all starring at him in total disbelief, Crow said, "…What?"
"That is the single dumbest…" Jack began, only to shake his head out of mild frustration before continuing, "…Why would you even suggest such a mess of a name?"
"Think about it," Crow replied as he began to explain his reasoning, "You know a lot of those prestigious people have big, long names, right? So, I figured that Yusei and Akiza's kid should have such a name. Trust me, a long name will get the kid noticed by colleges."
"We'll talk about whatever stupidity you're currently on about later, Crow," Yusei said as he entered the living room, "Right now, we got something else to take care of."
"What would that be, Yusei?" Kalin asked.
"Akiza's having another pregnancy-induced craving, and we need to go grab what she wants," Yusei explained.
"Oh, bloody hell," Jack replied in a mildly annoyed tone, "And what does Akiza want this time? Horseradish-coated strawberries? Bananas dipped in fondue cheese? Bacon-wrapped eggrolls?"
"She wants a lemonade," Yusei answered.
A look of mild surprise on his face, Jack said, "Oh. Umm, well, that doesn't seem unreasonable."
"There's a catch, though," Yusei began to explain, "And I have to tell a little story in order to explain the catch." With all eyes on him, Yusei said, "You see, a while ago, Akiza and I went to this shopping mall called the Galleria Shopping Mall. It was without a doubt the largest mall that I have ever been to. Anywho, during a break that we took in the food court from shopping, Akiza got a lemonade from a nearby drink stand called the Big Squeeze. Akiza said that it was without a doubt the best lemonade she ever had. That, boys, is the specific lemonade that Akiza wants."
"So, we just have to drive to the mall you were talking about and get Akiza her lemonade," Jack remarked, "Granted, we'll have to go a bit out of our way to get it, but compared to ice cream covered in pickle chips, a lemonade seems to be a very reasonable craving."
"Here's the thing, though," Yusei explained, "The Galleria Shopping Mall is located all the way over in Toronto." (3)
"…Are you fucking shitting me?" Jack replied, "We have to go all the way to fucking Canada just to pick up Akiza's latest pregnancy-induced craving?"
"Easy there, Jack," Crow remarked, "Don't you go dissing Canada. It's one of the six greatest countries on earth." (4)
"But still," Jack continued, "Going from New Domino all the way to Toronto seems kind of far, don't you think?"
Sighing, Yusei said, "You forget that we have the means of going literally anywhere we want within a matter of moments."
"I didn't forget," Jack defended, "I still think that we're going too far out of our way just to handle so minor an issue of business as getting someone a lemonade."
"Well hey, look at the bright side," Yusei remarked, "We'll be able to swing in some shopping at one of the largest malls in Canada while we're handling the business of grabbing that Lemonade for Akiza."
"Plus, you guys will be able to get yourselves out of the house for a few hours," Dukey replied, "Away from the bizarre things Akiza's been eating."
"Aren't you disgusted by what Akiza eats as well?" Jack asked as he pointed to the talking dog.
"I'm a dog, Jack," Dukey pointed out, "I've eaten my own throw-up a few times. I think that you'll find that it's very difficult to gross me out with what you eat." Jack looked like he was about to argue, but he immediately relented when he realized that Dukey had a point.
Standing up, Crow pumped a fist into the air as he said, "Then it's settled! We're going to Canada!"
"I'll get the Volkswagen ready," Yusei remarked as he made his way to the garage.
A few minutes later, Yusei's Volkswagen van drove out of a tear in the fabric of space that appeared in a convenience store parking lot in Toronto. Parking the van, Yusei said, "Okay, you guys. I looked it up ahead of time, and Toronto is three hours ahead of us. Since we left at two-o-two in the afternoon, it should be five-o-two in the afternoon here." (5)
"So, like, what," Crow said, "You think the mall is still open?"
"Unless there's some Canadian holiday that requires the place to be closed for some odd reason, I highly doubt the mall's closed," Yusei replied.
"Well hopefully we'll have some time to get some American money converted into Canadian money," Jack said, "Because I highly doubt that this place takes American money."
"Pfft, no need to worry about money, dudes," Crow replied, "I got us covered."
"…You got us covered," Kalin said in a tone of disbelief.
"Totally," Crow replied as he took out a wallet different than his usual wallet. Opening it, Crow took out a very thick wad of Canadian paper money. "See my good friends here?" Crow asked in a mischievous tone, "I think that they might come in handy here."
"…Normally, I'd ask what you're doing with a large amount of foreign money on hand," Yusei began, "But since we need at least a small amount of it to get the lemonade that Akiza wants, I'm going to put the subject off until later."
"Why don't we just head inside the mall, get Akiza her lemonade, and maybe do a little bit of shopping?" Kalin suggested. Turning around, Kalin said as he faced the mall, "I've always wanted to do some shopping at a mall as big as this."
"We should shop till we drop," Crow said as he proceeded to distribute his Canadian money evenly amongst himself and the other guys.
"This is awfully generous of you, Crow," Yusei remarked.
"Well hey," Crow replied, "Anything for the future father of…what were you and Akiza going to name your kid again?"
"Well we were considering Anahthyne if we had a girl," Yusei began in a mildly annoyed tone, "But now we're only considering boy names because the last time we went to the doctor, the doctor told us that we're having a boy, even though we wanted to be surprised."
"Sorry to hear that the surprise was spoiled," Crow replied, "But either way, you're having a kid!" Pumping a fist into the air, Crow said, "Let's hear it for the future father of Sephiroth Grelod Gideon Joffrey Dio Urkel!"
"Wait," Yusei said in a confused tone as he shook his head, "What?!"
"You mean Constantine," Kalin said to Crow.
"You're both wrong!" Jack stated, "Yusei's going to name his child after me! Jack Atlas!"
"You guys are arguing over what me and Akiza's son will be named?" Yusei asked, aching an eyebrow out of confusion.
"We're only trying to help," Kalin replied, "I mean, Jack, Crow and I are practically going to be the kid's uncles, for crying out loud."
"Or his fairy godmothers," Crow offered, "Except we're dudes. …Fairy god-dudes."
Chuckling, Yusei remarked, "As weird as your suggestions may be, I think it's really cool of you guys to go through the trouble for me. Thanks."
"No problem, Yusei," Jack said, "Now come on." Holding up his share of the Canadian money, Jack said, "We've got some shopping to do!"
"Right," Yusei replied as he gave a nod of acknowledgment to Jack before the four guys walked into the Galleria Shopping Mall.
The first store that the guys decided to visit was a clothing store called the Khaki Barn, which Kalin insisted on stopping off at as soon as he saw it. "Well I'm sorry, but I need to get some new khakis," Kalin replied as he and the guys walked into the store.
When the guys walked in, someone off to the side said, "Welcome to the Khaki Barn!"
"WAAAAA!" Crow cried out in alarm as he quickly turned to throw a punch in the direction that the greeting came from; as a result, Crow struck a girl in the left eye. This girl had her long blonde hair held back by a blue hairband. She also wore a red t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. "Holy shit!" Crow swore at the girl, "Don't sneak up on people like that! You can get a lot worse than a punch to the eye."
"I'll…I'll try to remember that in the future," the girl replied in a somewhat dazed tone.
"My goodness, miss," Kalin said in a worried tone to the girl that Crow punched, "I am so sorry about what my friend just did!"
"It's…it's okay," the girl said as she took down the hand that was covering her left eye. There was no swelling, but there was some bruising. "I don't look too bad, do I?" the girl asked, but before Kalin could answer, another girl came walking out from a back area of the store. This girl had dark hair that seemed purple in color, somewhat fair skin, and eyes that denoted an oriental heritage of some sort.
The purple-haired girl wore a white tank-top, a pair of baggy looking cargo jeans, white shoes that are disappearing under the ends of the legs of said jeans, and various accessories, including a necklace, multiple piercings in one ear, and a nose ring. The purple-haired girl was currently looking at a clip board she was holding. "Hey Kirsten," the purple-haired girl began without looking up from her clipboard, "Did we order those-"
The girl stopped short upon seeing the bruising over the girl's left eye. After starring at it for a few seconds, the purple-haired girl burst out laughing. "Damn, Kirsten," the purple-haired girl laughed, "You look like you got hit by a fly ball or whatever the fuck Jen calls it!"
"I accidentally startled a customer, and this was their response," the first girl, apparently named Kristen, explained as she gestured to the guys, Crow specifically. Making her way for the store's back area, Kirsten said, "Can you handle them for me, Nikki? My eye needs an ice pack."
"Heh," laughed the purple-haired girl, apparently named Nikki, as Kirsten walked off, "Sure thing." Turning to face the guys, Nikki said, "So what can I do for you gentlemen?"
"First off," Kalin began, "I would like to apologize for my friend Crow punching your co-worker in the eye."
"It's no problem," Nikki replied in an understanding tone, holding up a hand to halt any further protest. With a slightly amused chuckle, Nikki continued, "In fact, I think that-"
"Hey Nikki," another girl's voice called out, prompting the guys and Nikki to turn and see two more girls come walking over. They were both dressed identically to Kristen, and both of them even had blonde hair, same as Kirsten. However, one girl had her blonde hair held back with an elastic band, and the other girl didn't have anything holding her hair back at all. It was the girl who didn't have her hair held back who was talking.
"Kirsten just walked past us and she was sporting a bruised eye," the girl who was talking began, "You didn't lose your temper ag-"
"Holy shit, they're multiplying!" Crow exclaimed in alarm as he pointed to the two girls that just walked onto the scene, "You guys and that girl I punched in the face weren't made in the cloning facilities on Kamino, were you?" (6)
"Wait, what?" said the girl with her hair held back with an elastic band.
"Kamino is a mostly aquatic planet where the clone army of the galactic republic is created, raised and trained," the girl who didn't have her hair held up began to explain, "Although they were the reason the galactic republic could even take part in the clone wars, the natives of Kamino were…" Seeing the blank, confused stare she was getting from her fellow blondes, the girl who didn't have her hair held up said, "Oh, umm, fashion!"
"Fashion!" the girl with the elastic band exclaimed cheerfully, leading both blonde girls to squeal in delight, making Nikki and the guys aside from Kalin wince in pain.
As Yusei and the others waked, something caught Jack's eye. "Woah, you guys," Jack said as he pointed to what got his attention, "Take a look at this." At that prompting, Yusei and the others turned their heads to see what appeared to have once been a video store with an Indian motif, but was now shut down. "The bloody hell happened here, I wonder?" Jack remarked to the guys.
"Taj Mahome Video was shut down," a female voice said from behind the guys, making them jump a little as they turned to see a somewhat geeky-looking girl wearing a white shirt, red pants, brown shoes, a noticeable retainer, and a taco hat.
"What for?" Jack asked.
"Two guys who used to work there, Blade and Christo, insist it's because video stores are becoming more and more obsolete," the geeky girl replied, "And while that claim does hold some degree of truth, the store was actually shut down because the owner couldn't keep up with the monthly expenses. It didn't help that people were growing tired of Blade and Christo's pompous attitudes."
"Are there any places in the mall where we can buy DVD movies?" Yusei asked, "There's this movie that my wife has been dying to see, and I'm hoping to find it for her."
"The only place that comes to my mind is Stereo Shack," the geeky girl replied. Turning around, the geeky girl pointed in a random direction and said, "If you go straight that way then take the first left you come across, you'll find Stereo Shack."
"Thanks for the directions, girl with a taco hat," Crow said with a playful salute.
"I have a name, you know," the geeky girl replied in a mildly annoyed tone.
"Which you failed to provide us with," Crow retorted. The geeky girl looked like she was about to argue, but she immediately realized that Crow had a point.
"…Sorry about that," the geeky girl replied, "The name's Julie. If you guys stop by the food court for something to eat, you should try Wonder Taco. I work there."
"Well tacos are one of the god foods," Crow remarked. Turning to face the other guys, Crow said, "What do you guys think?"
"Yeah, we can get something to eat from Wonder Taco when we're done with all of our shopping," Yusei replied, "And since we'll be at the food court at that time, we can swing by that lemonade stand to get Akiza the drink she wanted." After thanking Julie for her directions, the guys proceeded to make their way over to Stereo Shack.
A short while later, the guys were seen walking out of Stereo Shack. "Wow, they actually had the movie Akiza's been wanting," Yusei remarked in a mildly amazed tone, "And the store's selection of various other electronics was pretty amazing as well."
"I especially liked that they not only sold spy cameras, but had a model that will serve my needs just fine," Crow remarked in an impressed tone as he held up a shopping bag from the store. (7)
"Well now that that's been settled," Jack began, "I'd like to try and find a-" Jack was cut off when he and the other guys saw someone stumbling out of a nearby store. This person was a male teenager who looked to be of Hispanic heritage. He had bluish-looking dark hair and wore a dark purplish shirt with white writing on the chest area, a pair of blue jeans, and dark-colored shoes. The teenager shook his head as if to try and refocus himself before he dusted his shirt off.
"Well there's job number one-hundred and seventeen down the drain," the teenager remarked to himself, "Maybe I should stop conducing side-businesses when I have an actual job."
"Excuse me, young man," Yusei said as he and the guys walked up to him, "But are you okay? You seemed to have been stumbling rather badly just now."
"Ehh, I just got fired from my job," the teen replied in a dismissive tone, "It's no biggie. Happens to me all the time."
"It worries me that you're so casual about being fired so many times," Crow remarked.
Chuckling in a mildly amused tone, the teen said to the guys, "This mall has 936 businesses, and I have held employment at one-hundred and seventeen of them. (8) And that doesn't even include the various side-jobs that I've carried out. Trust me when I say that it shouldn't prove to be a challenge for me to find a new job or some other source of employment."
"Well never let it be said that you aren't optimistic," Yusei remarked, amazed that a teen who had been fired so many times had such a bright outlook on his life.
"Thanks, dude," the teen replied, "I'm Jonesy, by the way."
Smiling, Yusei said, "The name's Yusei."
"You guys need helping finding any particular store?" Jonesy asked, "Since I've been employed all over the mall, I know where pretty much every store is located."
"Well I was hoping to mind a store that could possibly carry luxury bubble bath soap," Jack remarked.
"I actually worked at a store that sold that," Jonesy said. Turning around, Jonesy gestured for the guys to follow him as he said, "Right this way, guys!"
…
After a few minutes of walking, Jonesy led the guys to one of the stores he previous worked at. "Well then, here we are," Jonesy remarked as he gestured to the store, "This place should be able to cover all of your bath time needs."
"Wow, thanks," Jack said, "You know, it's a nice change of pace when you ask someone for help finding something, instead of being given vague directions, the person actually shows you where the thing you're looking for is." Handing Jonesy a Canadian bill of small denomination, Jack said, "Get yourself a soda, kid."
"Thanks, dude!" Jonesy said before taking off. As he walked away, Jonesy could be heard humming to himself in a contemplating manner.
After Jonesy was gone, the four guys walked into the store that they were led to, with Jack commenting, "What a sweet kid."
After their time at the store Jack wanted to find, the guys took care of shopping at a few more stores in the mall before they made their way over to the food court to grab lunch (which, given the time zone, was something of a late lunch slash early dinner). After getting meals from Wonder Taco, the four guys found a table in the food court to sit down at. "Ah, tacos," Crow said in a content tone as he picked up one of the tacos on his tray, "One of the finest examples of Canadian cuisine."
"Tacos originate from Mexico, Crow," Kalin pointed out.
"Canadian cuisine," Crow reiterated right before he took a bite out of his taco. After chewing and swallowing his mouthful of taco, Crow said, "Mmm, you can really taste the scorn of the person who made the taco."
"My taco has dirt in in," Jack remarked as he looked in one of his tacos.
"I think someone spit in mine," Kalin remarked in disgust while looking at one of the tacos that he got.
"The burrito that I got isn't even a burrito," Yusei said, "It's a sticky note that says fuck you, with a remarkably well-drawn picture of Hello Kitty flipping me off underneath."
"Canadian cuisine," Crow repeated right before he took another bite out of his taco. Seeing Crow eat the food he got without complaining, Jack asked Crow to set the taco back down, then he proceeded to get a good look at Crow's food.
"Birdbrain is the only one who doesn't have anything messed up with his order," Jack said to the other guys. Looking to Crow, Jack half-asked half-demanded, "What the bloody hell makes you so damn special?"
"Well you made that comment about the taco hat that Julie has to wear for her job," Crow pointed out.
"It's a fucking goofy hat," Jack retorted.
"No, it was an awesome hat, and I was in the right to call you out on making fun of Julie," Crow replied, "Also, I didn't see either Yusei or Kalin trying to chew you out."
"I was going to, but the instant you started getting up in Jack's face, I assumed that it was all one big argument between you and Jack like you guys always have, so I decided to leave things be," Yusei remarked.
As the guys talked over their lunches (which were more or less ruined except for Crow's), they heard Nikki's familiar voice call out, "Hey, you're those guys who were at Khaki Barn earlier!" Hearing the girl's familiar voice, the guys turned their heads in the direction Nikki's voice came from. As such, they saw Nikki approach with a group of other teens.
The first teen of the group was a girl who had long orange-red hair and wore what looked like a full coach's uniform. The second teen was a dark-skinned boy who wore a long-sleeved dark reddish sweater of some kind, Capri pants, and blue shoes. The third teen of the group was a fair skinned girl with blonde hair; this girl wore a pink top, a blue skirt and a pair of pink high heels. The fourth teen of the group was a boy with fair skin and blonde hair. He wore a black beanie, a dark long-sleeved shirt under a dark cream-colored t-shirt (9), dark-blue shorts whose legs reached halfway down the boy's shins, blue sneakers and bluish-colored socks. The fifth teen of the group was Jonesy.
"Hey, you're that guy who asked me for direction to the bath supplies store," Jonesy said while pointing at Jack, "Thanks again for the tip! It gave me an idea for a new side-business I could run." Reaching into the right front pocket of his pants, Jonesy pulled out a wad of ten-thousand dollars in Canadian money. "Look at how much I was able to make by showing people to stores in the mall that they were trying to find," Jonesy said, "Who knew that I would have made this much over the course of a single afternoon? Granted, my feet probably want to kill me in my sleep for all of the walking I did, but it was worth it!"
Seeing the wad of money that Jonesy held, the dark-skinned teen looked at it with a surprised look; even without actually counting it out, the dark-skinned teen realized that Jonesy had made ten-thousand dollars. "You made that much just by showing people around in the mall?" the dark-skinned teen said to Jonesy, clearly surprised.
"It's like I've been saying dude," the blonde male teen said, sounding like he was a surfer dude of some sort, "Like a tall snowy mountain, you need a guide to survive in the mall."
"Wait, so you're the one who gave Jonesy the idea for his latest self-employment venture?" the red-haired girl said in an accusatory tone to Jack while pointing at him, "Also, how do you guys know Nikki?"
"The short one with the broom-like hair punched one of my co-workers in the eye when she startled him," Nikki explained to her friend with a chuckle while pointing to Crow, "You had to have been there, Jen."
"I take it that these are your friends, young lady?" Yusei said to Nikki.
Nodding in the affirmative, Nikki said, "You guys apparently already know Jonesy, who I am actually dating." Gesturing to the red-haired teen, the dark-skinned teen, the blonde girl and the blonde boy in respective order, Nikki said, "And these are our friends Jen, Wyatt, Caitlin, and Jude."
"Does Jen work as a coach or something?" Kalin asked.
Sighing, Jen explained, "No, I just work at a sporting goods store called the Penalty Box as the assistant manager, and I just got off of work for the day. This is the outfit I have to wear."
"Well I think it looks nice on you," Kalin remarked.
Giggling somewhat, Jen said, "Thanks."
"We're all done with work for the day, so you guys wanna hang out and chill?" Wyatt offered.
"Ehh, we got some time," Yusei remarked as he looked at his watch, "What do you guys think?"
"I see no problem with that," Jack agreed before gesturing for the teens to join them.
…
"You got a drawing of Hello kitty flipping you off while saying 'fuck you'?" Jonesy said to Yusei, "Oh man, that beats the drawing I got in place of a taco I ordered this one time from Wonder Taco. It was Calvin peeing on the phrase 'this is you, you're being peed on'."
"It certainly beats out the drawing I got of two stick figures where one was kicking the other in the groin," Jude remarked, "The one that was getting kicked had an arrow pointing to it that identified the stick figure as me."
"It amazes me that she hasn't gotten fired yet," Jen remarked.
"I think it has mostly to do with the fact that she's pretty much the only person willing to wear the taco hat," Crow pointed out, "And by the way, it's an awesome hat. Hell, if they sell taco hats just like that, I'd be willing to buy one for myself."
Seeing the confused looks on the faces of the teens, Jack said to them, "Birdbrain here is very easily amused."
"Life is amusing, if you think about it," Jude remarked, "I mean, one minute you're laughing at taco hats, and the next you're exchanging stories about inappropriate notes that you got in place of the food you ordered from a Mexican food restaurant at the mall."
"Clearly you are one of the wisest of sages, my friend," Crow remarked as he pointed to Jude, who acknowledged the praise with a simple nod.
"Hey boys, the lemonades are ready!" Caitlin called out, prompting Yusei and the other guys to get up and walk over to a giant lemon stand in the food court where Caitlin worked. "You guys seriously came here because one of you wanted to buy a lemonade from the Big Squeeze?" Caitlin asked the guys in a mildly surprised tone as she handed them a total of five lemonades.
"Yusei's pregnant wife was actually craving a lemonade from this particular booth," Jack explained to Caitlin while pointing to Yusei, "Yusei, Kalin, Crow and I all figured that we might as well try the lemonade ourselves to see what the big deal was."
"That explains why four guys would order five drinks," Nikki remarked.
"EEEEEEEEEE!" Caitlin squealed excitedly as she hopped up and down, "Who cares about that? One of these guys is going to be a dad!"
Smiling in good nature, Yusei replied, "Thanks for the-" Yusei was cut off when his phone went off in his jacket pocket. Pulling out his smartphone and checking it, Yusei said, "Oh, I'm getting a call from Dukey." Answering the call, Yusei said, "Hey Dukey, what happing, my good…ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"
"Yusei?" Jack asked in a concerned tone, "Why the sudden change in tone?"
"I'll talk to you later," Yusei said into his phone before ending the call and putting the phone away. Turning to face the guys, Yusei said, "Jack, Crow, Kalin, we have to go NOW. Akiza's water just broke! She's going into labor!"
"Oh shit!" Crow exclaimed, "We gotta haul ass then!" The guys then gathered all of their bags from their shopping, with Kalin handling Yusei's bags so that the soon-to-be father can carry the lemonade. The four guys eventually made their way to the front parking lot of the mall, where Yusei parked the Volkswagen van.
"Okay, dudes," Crow began when the guys reached the Volkswagen, "We left the Golden Tiger Claws in the Volkswagen, so we should be set to-" Crow was cut off when a sniper bullet shot him in the head, killing him and making him drop the two bags he was carrying. Luckily, nothing spilled from the bags.
"Holy shit!" Kalin exclaimed out of alarm, "Crow's just been sniped!"
"Who cares?!" Yusei nearly exclaimed, "My wife is going into labor! Just chuck Crow's dead body into the back of the van!" The guys loaded Crow's body into the back of the van, set the bags from their shopping on top of Crow, closed the back of the van, then they made their way out of Toronto and back to New Domino. After they disappeared into the tear in the fabric of space that Kalin made with the Golden Tiger Claws, the view switched to a secluded spot where two people, Ghoulia Yelps and Kjersti Trollson, were laying on their stomachs. Ghoulia was manning a sniper rifle.
"Yes!" Ghoulia said as she pumped a fist into the air, "I got that bastard!" (10)
"You know, Ghoulia," Kjersti began in a mildly puzzled tone, "You might want to consider letting people know that not only can you speak normally, but the whole thing you have going on about slow moving, bad posture and the 'stiff face' thing is all just an act."
"I like being underestimated," Ghoulia explained, "Gives me a consistent element of surprise."
"Ah, so that's what you're trying to get at," Kjersti replied in an understanding tone as she and her undead friend high-fived each other.
Over at the hospital in New Domino, Yusei sat in a chair besides the hospital bed that Akiza laid in. In her arms, Akiza held her and Yusei's newly born son, who had settled down after being born. Jack, Kalin, Carly Carmine, Dukey and the wonder twins were in the room with the newly minted parents.
"Oh, this is one of the happiest moments that I've ever witnessed!" Kalin exclaimed as he started to cry tears of joy. Like his human best friend, Dukey was also crying tears of joy; the talking dog even had a box of tissues on hand, and was using a tissue to blow his nose.
"Have you two even thought of a name for the little rug rat yet?" Jack asked Yusei and Akiza.
"Actually, Jack," Yusei said, "I was talking the matter over with Akiza, and she told me she wanted to use one of the ideas for names for boys that Dukey came up with."
"Really?" Dukey remarked between tissues, "Why Yusei, Akiza, I'm flattered. Which name did you guys have in mind?"
"I really liked Alphonse," Akiza replied with a smile, albeit one that was very tired. The new mom was also a bit sweaty, not to mention kind of red in the face. But then again, the woman had just given birth, for crying out loud.
"Hey guys" Brianna Stone said as she walked into the room, "I just got back with the baby's birth certificate."
"Well alright," Yusei said as he got up to receive the birth certificate from Brianna, "I hope you remembered how to spell Alphonse."
"Don't worry, I got everything taken care of," Brianna replied. With something of an amused smirk, Brianna added, "Dad."
"Oh ha," Yusei dismissed in a casual yet mildly amused tone as he looked at his son's birth certificate, "At least you-" Yusei stopped short upon seeing the name written for his son on the birth certificate; apparently, the name of Yusei and Akiza's son had been entered as Alphonse Jack Atlas Constantine Sephiroth Grelod Gideon Joffrey Dio Urkel Fudo.
"…Goddamn it," Yusei muttered to himself in a mildly annoyed tone.
END, CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Author's notes:
(1) Fun Fact: Bread and butter is my favorite flavor of pickles.
(2) You would not believe how much time I spent researching various shows and game just to come up with this name.
(3) This is the best guess that most people have on the location.
(4) The six greatest countries on Earth according to Crow are Japan, Mexico, Canada, Germany, Hungary and France. They are not listed in any specific order.
(5) I looked it up; there really is a three-hour difference between San Francisco time and Toronto time.
(6) Begun, the clone wars have.
(7) I looked it up; Stereo Shack actually sells spy cameras.
(8) I did the math; that's one-eighth of the total businesses at the mall.
(9) I was taking a guess here; the full-body picture of Jude wasn't all that clear, alright?!
(10) She sounds an awful lot like sixteen-year-old Hinata Hyuga.
Congratulations, Yusei. You're a dad now. In all seriousness, this chapter took me a bit of time to do compared to some of my other chapters. I've got some brainstorming to do for chapter seventeen now, but I'll try to have it ready within a reasonable amount of time.
I could use a snack to help me write, though. Maybe a jawbreaker.