Joey-centric chapter to shed some light on a few things.

Enjoy.

Summary: Memories to keep us awake... Nightmares to bring us together.

The blond jerked awake, taking in shallow gulps of air-terrified chestnut eyes suddenly narrowing in confusion as to why the owner of those eyes wasn't sprawled on the floor.

Slowly, the sensory information filtered through the sixteen-year-old's head-salty air in his lungs, he felt comfortably warm despite not having sheet wrapped around him, the quiet sound of water lapping against something, a steady drumbeat from somewhere in front of him, and...a muscled arm draped loosely over his side...wait.

Joey blinked and looked forward, finally processing the white tank top-clad chest of Mako in front of him.

'...The fuck 'appened?'

Slowly, the lithe blond squirmed free of the fisherman's protective hold and made his way over the elder so that he could get out of the bunk to sit on the foot of the small bed. He raked his fingers through his sleep-tousled hair.

'Okay. Stop an' think a minute 'ere. Ya both dressed, ya head ain't 'urtin' no more than normal afta' ya try to sleep, so ya weren't drinkin'...Oh. That's right.'

Last night-after the cracks in his mask had finally split open even more than normal and Mako had hugged him and reassured him-his friend had taken him to the ramen stand that they'd been frequenting every evening for the past week. They had both stuffed themselves-Joey honestly grateful that Mako always paid since he never had any money for anything thanks to his father's...'habits'-and talked about...what had they talked about?

Joey frowned-not his reason for nearly falling apart, not why he couldn't sleep, not about the semi-finals of Battle City, and not about anything relating to why he hadn't gone to the police about Bandit Keith yet.

'Like that'd work. If we could-a just gone to the cops 'bout every whackjob runnin' 'round in this city, we'd be short a whole lotta cops.'

All those nutcases, that he couldn't name, that Yami had mindfucked into oblivion or outright killed? Sure, the cops could have been involved, but you try telling the pharaoh-who, if they were all honest, was definitely a lot more psychotic at the start of all of this-that he didn't have the authority to do what he pleased.

Yugi was probably the only one who could get away with that one without ending up mindcrushed or sent to the Shadow Realm.

Kaiba back when he had that lime green hair? Hell no. He was still rich as hell and marginally moral on a good day-though, to be completely fair, he had gotten somewhat better since getting his ego handed to him by Yami and Exodia, but still, Joey was sure that the brunette just wasn't all right in the head.

Though...Gozaburo Kaiba had a pretty huge chunk of the blame on that one-sure, he was basing most of his opinion off of how the guy's digitized mind had behaved, but still.

The spirit of the Millennium Ring? Yeah-no question there. Even the pharaoh couldn't get that guy 'off the streets' for more than a day at best. Sure, the ring spirit would 'lay low' for weeks at a time, but the blond did notice that-within twenty-four hours after Yami banished the tomb robber to the Shadow Realm-random 'impossible' thefts started popping up all around town, mostly at the museum or various jewelry stores.

Hell, one time, Kaiba's brand-new Bugatti was stolen from Kaiba Corp only to show up a week later in the school parking lot with a couple thousand new miles put on it, sand in the tires, and unknown stains on the passenger seat.

The picture of Kaiba looking ready to have a rage-induced aneurysm was going to have a special place in the blond-haired duelist's wallet and on his cellphone for years to come.

Pegasus? Financially untouchable and, let's be honest, who would have believed "he stole Mr. Motou's soul and put him in the hospital"-that'd be a one-way trip out to ye ole funny farm. Though...at least the guy played somewhat fair, even if he was egocentric as all get out.

And...he kind of had a good reason for what he did-books, movies, and all made it clear that even the best people would do the craziest things for the person that they loved, more so if they were trying to bring them back from the dead.

Those five assholes who tried to trap Kaiba in virtual reality? Kaiba or Mokuba could have called the cops, but, considering what happened in Battle City, Joey was pretty damn sure Kaiba had just killed them all himself while they were trapped in the virtual world the first go round, a theory not helped by how Mokuba had pretty much said that Kaiba "was pissed" and how scared those five had suddenly been.

The brunette could throw playing cards like Gambit, but everyone knew that he always carried a loaded handgun for 'just in case'-though, with how often his life, and Mokuba's, was threatened, you really couldn't blame him.

Hell, even Joey carried a switchblade in his pants' pockets for 'just in case'.

The Rare Hunters and especially Marik in Battle City? Yeah. That would have ended in a lot of 'missing' and dead police officers, no question about it. He was sure that Odion would have at least been decent about not killing the cops-the guy was an honorable duelist and someone deserving of respect-but Marik? Even without his dark side in control, he might have gone that far since he was the one who rigged that whole duel with the anchor and shit.

Though, considering Marik's background, Joey couldn't really blame him for going crazy in attempt to escape from his 'predetermined fate'. Who in the world wouldn't cross every line possible if it meant that they could change their fate and have their freedom from a life that they'd never wanted?

Joey's eyes narrowed as a shudder ran down his spine-thinking about Marik and his dark side always brought back those memories that fueled his nightmares and haunted his waking hours.

Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet-taking a moment to steady himself against the gentle sway of the boat-and crossed the floor to go out onto the deck.

'I hope Mai's okay. We ain't talked since aftah that bullshit.' The blond thought as he moved to the side of the boat and rested his forearms on the guard railing, staring out at the horizon that would not begin to lighten for several more hours.

Mai. He wondered if she suffered nightmares like he did-if Marik and Ra were the focal demons that kept her up at all hours or caused her to wake up screaming like he did.

Did she have someone, anyone, to tell her it would be okay? That they were only in her head for now? That she was safe? He worried so much about her-he respected her, she was his friend...but he wished with all his heart that she had listened to the pharaoh when Yami had tried to warn her and get her to surrender that duel.

Slowly, he breathed in the salty air, trying to resist shuddering from the cold sweat clinging to his skin beneath his clothes.

The Lava Golem featured far more heavily in his own nightly terrors than Ra did-though, more often than not, all three of the God Cards made their rounds in terrorizing him somehow, even though he had only been on the receiving end of Ra's wrath twice. Unlike Mai, he had been shielded by the pharaoh's power at the end of his duel with Marik...but still, the Shadow Realm had seeped through the cracks in the hastily-thrown-up barrier, and he still swore that he could feel that infinite abyss prickling at the edges of his subconscious.

There were things that had happened to his mind while he was in that coma, that he wasn't sure that he could tell anyone-things that still made him question if he was in reality...or still balancing on the razor's edge between life and death on the blimp.

Even in the balmy nights, he felt a chill that wouldn't let him be-he'd taken to wearing longsleeves or layering as much as he could get away with these days, but he was certain that Yugi and Tristan suspected something, but if needed, he could just tell them that he was covering bruises from fights...but he hadn't gotten into as many of those these days, outside of his verbal wars and occasional brawl with a certain rich asshole.

And, even when he was fighting others as much, even Tristan had rightfully suspected that half-more like seventy-five percent if he was being generous-of his bruises and other injuries came from his father's drunken beatings.

'Oh man...I'm...my life sounds like a bad soap or somethin'. Teen from a broken home, abused by his parent, dragged into some crazy bullshit and...bein' utterly useless at fuckin' dealin' wit' it.' Joey thought with a bitter smile on his face-Mai had said that his reasons for being in Duelist Kingdom read as the plotline for a 'bad soap opera'...but, she'd also said "who doesn't love a bad soap opera?".

But...this? he wasn't even sure what his life was turning into at this point.

A tragedy in the making?

He stared down at the water lapping gently at the sides of the boat-he had dreamed about that damned duel again. He had dreamed about being chained to that anchor as the timer hit zero, but...this time there was no key in the box to save Yugi with. This time, Serenity didn't dive into the water, risking her life to save him. This time...all that he saw was himself being dragged deeper into the depths...deeper into the swirling, black and purple maw of the shadows...rending claws coming out to grasp onto-

"Joey! Are you alright?! What is it?!" Came Mako's voice, forcefully ripping him free of the shadows' grip and back into reality where he was on his knees on the boat's deck, clinging to the railing in a white knuckled grip, and choking on his breath like the wind had been knocked out of him.

Joey kept his grip on the railing as the fisherman's strong hands pressed to his back and chest-pressing on his chest to help force his body to get back the ability to breathe. Slowly, the blond felt his hands release the railing, and-as if through a haze-he felt the older teen pick him up in a bridal carry and walk back inside of the boat's cabin.

When Mako went to set Joey down on the bed, the blond wrapped his arms around the ravenette's neck as if to anchor himself in reality...and Mako? He just moved to sit down and hold the lithe teen on his lap-arms wrapped protectively around his friend-as quiet, broken sobs echoed into the still night.

AN: Okay, let's be real here. After Marik practically mindfucked him, near drowning, getting struck down by Ra, feeling guilty over not saving Mai, the virtual world debacle, losing a Shadow Game against Yami Marik and ending up in a short-term coma and near dying in said-coma, there is no way that Joey is completely alright, especially if Mai wasn't after she took a trip to the Shadow Realm without all of the other crazy happening to her.

(I do remember that she went villain for most of the Awakening Dragons [sp?] arc.)

On less dramatic notes:

Part of Joey rationalizing why they can't call the cops on things in Yu-Gi-Oh world comes from an old conversation with a friend/ex-boyfriend from high school, though what he said as a joke I decided to bring in a different direction.

Also...I figure, when Bakura's laying low after losing to Yami, he's got to do something to bide his time, and he was a tomb robber and a thief...so why not make the world his thieving oyster? Gotta keep those skills sharp after all. And, if he gets to drive people insane in the process, that's his icing on the cake.

And, I do like Seto Kaiba as a character...but I also like harassing him a little for fun.