Well, people seem to like it, so I decided to continue! YAY! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!
by SakuraBubbles
"Hey Yugi," started Joey, hopping on one foot. He had seen a small waterfall with a small fishpond under it and wanted to soak his sore feet. One foot had a shoe on while the other was in the air as he hopped, looking for the other shoe. Yugi grinned, knowing what his friend wanted.
"It's behind that fern there," he said, pointing to the now visible shoe.
"Oh, which one? The one that looks like ya hair?" Joey retorted with a grin. He then felt a small rock come in contact with the side of his head.
"Did I say fern? I meant that little rock that resembles your brain."
The two laughed and then Joey finished putting on his other shoe as Yugi's always alert eyes looked around as he heard a twig snap. Ever since becoming top duelist, he's been more alert to his surroundings. That has been amplified since becoming a criminal.
Joey didn't seem to notice. He grabbed his knapsack, stretched, and then walked to Yugi, who was sitting on a small boulder, looking around with a stern look on his face. Joey knew this look.
"Whatcha hear?" he asked quietly. Without turning to look at his friend, Yugi replied, "I thought I hear a branch snap...If it were the police they'd have us surrounded by now...It might have just been an animal or my imagination."
Joey nodded. When Yugi said it was ok, it was definitely ok. The young, somewhat naïve, but mature Yugi Muto that Joey had met so long ago had changed dramatically. Not for the worse of course. He had certainly gotten taller: a definite good thing. Joey noticed that fan girls seemed to crowd around him ever since he became the world's top. Joey always wondered what the fan girls would think of him being a duelist in a world where duelists were the enemy...
"Joey?"
Joey looked at Yugi, who now stood.
"Welcome back to earth. Shall we go?" he asked. Joey nodded, realizing his friend must have been trying to speak with him. The two checked around one last time to make sure they didn't forget anything and to make sure they weren't being followed.
An hour later, Yugi and Joey stopped as they saw a small town ahead of them. There was a fairly big building toward the west of the town. Yugi noticed that no people were out, save for one or two people here and there. Joey noticed as sign that had the word, "Diner" on it.
"How long has it been since we had a meal?" asked Joey after his stomach growling shook the earth. Yugi looked to him.
"Three hours ago."
"A decent meal?"
"...Not in three days."
"AH! That's it, we're stoppin' somewhere!" exclaimed Joey, rushing forward. Yugi grabbed the collar of his friend's shirt.
"I know that all those houses and shops mean food, but it also means people. We can't just barge in...people might recognize us. I think we should camp out behind those trees and then–Joey?!"
Yugi sighed as he realized that he no longer held Joey. Joey was so eager to eat that he slipped out of his shirt as Yugi spoke and was now rushing as fast as he could to a place to eat.
"Ever heard of the No Shirt No Service rule Joey?!" yelled Yugi, running after his friend.
"Helloooo! Earth to Yugi! We're outlaws! We don't follow rules!" Joey hollered back. Yugi looked around, thinking Where is this place? It seems like it's a ghost town or something...
The two duelists came up to the doors of a diner as Joey struggled to get his shirt back on.
"That whole No Shirt stuff is crap...you could come in with no pants and get waited on," Joey remarked, looking at the sign. Yugi shook his head in amusement.
"Why don't you give it a try then?" he asked. He then turned sharply as he heard footsteps. He saw an old woman coming up to the stairs of the diner.
"It's nice to see people happy these days...ever since those duelists came here, no one's been happy," said the woman. Yugi and Joey looked at each other.
"'Duelists?'" repeated the two, looking from the others' faces to the woman. She nodded, her wrinkles coming together as she did.
"These two men came four weeks back. They made all the duelists in the village forfeit their cards to them. If the village duelists refused, the two men would duel against them, bringing the cards to life! And a traveler came here and the two duelists took her into where they live now...she had shown me her own deck...They must want her cards."
Joey swallowed hard.
"D-Do ya think it was Mai?"
"Did this woman have blonde hair?" Yugi asked the elderly woman.
"No, I'm sorry," she replied. She then pointed to a house that seemed bigger than the others did. "They commandeered the mayor's house and are living there now. I hope that poor girl is alright...Oh, were you heading in? You boys seem so nice that I'll give you a discount."
"Oh, you own this shop?" asked Joey. The woman nodded cheerfully. Joey clenched his fist happily in the air. "Then we accept ya offa (offer)!"
Although Joey was happy, Yugi was worried about the two duelists and the girl they captured. The chances of him being who he thought it was were very slim...he had heard she died along with his grandpa. He felt a lump in his throat thinking about the fire. He coughed to get rid of it and then headed into the shop.
"Do you know anything about these duelists, Miss Alice?" asked Yugi. The woman smiled.
"Alice is fine dear. And the duelists always go to the bar almost every night. The bar is down the street a little ways." Alice poured some syrup onto Joey's stack of pancakes. Once she was finished, Joey stuck his fork right through and ate them all at once.
Alice looked to Yugi with sad eyes. She knew who he was and knew he was a dangerous outlaw. But she couldn't believe it from how he had acted so far...He seemed so nice.
"Are...are you going to duel them?" she asked cautiously. Yugi put down his mug of tea. Joey looked to him stopping his arm as it went to stuff more pancakes into his mouth. Alice began to worry if she should not have asked. Yugi's lips twitched before curving up.
"It's that obvious I'm a duelist?" he asked, his smirk staying. Alice swallowed.
"Well, its just I can tell from your eyes. They are alert and intense."
Yugi nodded. Alice continued.
"My nephew has those eyes. He's missing now..."
"Who is he?" asked Joey after swallowing his pancakes.
"..Seto Kaiba."
Yugi almost anticipated it. Joey hadn't.
"Your nephew is Seto Kaiba? The Seto Kaiba?"
Alice nodded and continued, "He's been missing ever since you two had a match, right?"
"Yep. We almost escaped but then we had to go separate ways and I never saw him again," explained Yugi. Alice was silent.
Just as Yugi and Joey were about to leave, a short man with pale blue-silver hair and large oddly shaped golden glasses came in, seeming as if he was looking for trouble. He looked very familiar to Yugi, and just looking at him caused the Millenium Puzzle to quiver slightly. He then remembered someone else who made him mad like this, and it was none other than...
"That's one of the duelists," whispered Alice to Yugi as she leaned over to pour some more tea into his cup.
"Weevil..." Yugi replied, a bit louder.
I HATE WEEVIL! That's all for now. Bai-bai! ::bows and runs away::