Fallen Angels-Chapter Three: If You Only Knew
By Lady Armandina
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me, except for Adele. Raya belongs to Anya (go read her Yugi fanfics!).
~*~*~*~
"You sure this is the place?"
"Yes, Joey. This is where she said she lived."
"Well, I guess we should knock, then." Said Yugi.
Yugi knocked on the door of the small, tattered house they stood in front of. He couldn't help but notice that the stairs he stood on were cracked and the dark blue paint on the house was chipping badly. This place could certainly use some fixing up, but that didn't mean they couldn't have fun there.
Within a few moments, Adele appeared, smiling, at the front door.
"Yugi, Joey, Tea! I'm so glad you could make it! Bakura, Tristan, come in!"
"Thanks for inviting us, Adele."
"You are always welcome here, Yugi. All of you are. Not everyone is here yet, a few others are coming too."
"Anyone we might know?"
"I'm not sure, Tristan. Well, you might knock my friend, Mai. She's already graduated, but she lives in town."
"Mai?" Joey questioned, suddenly very interested. "You mean Mai Valentine?"
"Yes, that's her, Joey. She's a good friend of mine. You are friends with her as well?"
"Who? Me? Ah, no, not really. I mean, uh, I know her and all. I mean, I've seen her around-"
"It's okay, buddy." Remarked Tristan. "We all know how much you like her!" Everyone began to laugh.
"What? Are you crazy? That egotistical-"
"Hottie?" finished Tea. The others roared with laughter.
"That's not what I was going to say!"
"Wow, Joey. It's pretty bad when even Tea starts in on you!"
"Aw, Tristan, lay off, will ya? I mean, yeah, she's a good-lookin' girl and all, but-"
"But what?"
"But she drives me crazy!"
"And who, pray tell, would that be, Joseph Wheeler?"
Everyone turned around to see none other than Mai herself, standing in the doorway behind them. Joey went pale, and then deep red, realizing she had probably been standing there the entire time. Of course! This was just his luck!
"Mai! You made it!'
"Of course I did, Adele. And, oh, I hope you don't mind. I brought Seto along!"
"Of course not! I'm so glad you brought him!"
"Seto! You've gotta be kidding me!" Joey blurted. "Tell me it's not the same guy I'm thinking of!"
Before Mai could answer, in walked Seto Kaiba behind her. "Yes, dog, it's me. You have a problem with that?"
"Problem? No way! I just think it's funny that the two biggest ego- maniacs I've ever known are on a date! Mister and Mrs. Elegant Egotist!"
"Why, Joey, you think I'm 'elegant'?" Mai smiled, flipping her hair. "I suppose I should be flattered!"
"Say all you want, Wheeler, she's here with me!"
Mai turned around and flashed a glare at Seto. "And what makes you think you can talk about me like that?!"
"Come on, guys! Please don't fight!"
"Hmph," Mai shrugged, crossing her arms and turning her back to Kaiba. "I have no idea what I was thinking coming her with him!"
"What you were thinking is that it's the best decision you've made since you stopped hanging out with Yugi and the others."
"Seto!" Adele shrieked. "I'll have you know they are my friends too! And I won't stand here and let you insult them!"
Seto only smirked and walked away. "Very well then, Adele."
"Damn him," remarked Mai. "Why is he like that? He can be such a nice person and then the next minute, cold as ice!"
"Mai, you know he hasn't been very pleasant since what happened to Mokuba."
"What's that, Adele?" questioned Tristan. "What happened to Mokuba?"
"It happened about three months ago." Adele started. "You remember The Big Five?"
"Yeah," said Joey. "Those are the guys that used to work for Kaiba, until Pegasus took over Kaiba Corporation. Except when Kaiba came back, they still turned their backs on him, continued to work for Pegasus and tried to trap Kaiba inside his own video game."
"Right. Well, The Big Five is still affiliated with Maxamillion Pegasus. Even though Pegasus is currently a bit 'ill', they are continuing to act out his wishes to overthrow Kaiba. Their plan is to find a way to get rid of Seto permanently so that they could regain control over Kaiba Corporation."
"But why would they still want control over his company?" asked Joey. "I thought Pegasus only took over the company so that he could use the technology to bring back his dead wife, Cecelia. When Yugi beat him , I thought he gave up hope on ever bringing her back."
"We're not totally sure why," answered Mai. "but it seems that they are trying to regain power to Pegasus, this time for their own reasons. But you know Pegasus, he thrives on power. He may have been beaten once, but we all know that he's not going to go down again so easily. Whatever reason they have for taking control over Kaiba Corp is sure to be a bad one. They can't be trusted."
"So how does Mokuba fit into this?" asked Tea.
"Seto had been busy in meetings that day," Adele started, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "He was out of town and left Mokuba in charge for the day when some of The Big Five's henchmen arrived. Mokuba tried to stand up to them, but it was no good. Kaiba's guards got there just in time to see Mokuba get shot. Although Mokuba lost a lot of blood when he was shot, that isn't the worst part. As he fell over, he hit his head really hard and suffered from serious brain trauma. He's been in a coma ever since."
"Mokuba is in a coma?" shrieked Tea, nearly in tears.
"Oh dear, Seto must be devastated."
"That he is, Bakura."
"Adele, is there anything we can do to help?"
"Unfortunately, Yugi, you know how Seto is. He refuses any help or sympathy from anyone. He doesn't even want anyone to know about it, really."
"I don't get it, Adele," remarked Tristan. "If he doesn't want anyone to know about this, how do you know so much about it?"
"Actually, Seto and I have known each other for some time now. I guess you could say I found out by accident, but he strictly forbids speaking about it at all. He's completely caught up on revenge right now and won't rest until he can find The Big Five and make them pay for this."
"This is so terrible," said Tea, wiping at her tear-filled eyes. "We have to do something to help!"
"What we can do is just keep an eye out for now. If we say anything to Seto about this, he's likely to get even more angry. I say we do some investigating of our own and see if there's any way we can help lead Seto in the right direction without letting him know that we knew about this."
"And how are we going to do that, Tristan?" asked Yugi.
"Well, for starters, we can keep a watch over the Kaiba Corporation building. If The Big Five are going to show up again, that's where we will find them."
"Great idea," said Joey. "But there's not much we can do right now. So, I say, in the meantime, we just play it cool."
"Yes, Joey. We should plan this later when Seto isn't quite so near. Maybe I can help you all with your investigating. Can we talk about it later?"
"That's fine, Adele. Any help we all can come up with is at least something, right?"
"Right! I'm glad you guys could make it over today. I'm going to start a movie in a few minutes if you want to follow me to the living room."
"All right."
Everyone started to follow Adele into the other room, except for Mai, who continued to stand where she was. As Joey walked past her, she grabbed his arm gently and looked at him imploringly. "Can we talk one minute?"
"Sure, Mai. What do you want?"
"I, well, I want to apologize to you. For the way Seto acted."
"Don't be ridiculous. That's not your place to apologize for him. Besides, I'm used to him by now."
"I know, but you shouldn't have to put up with that from him."
"Don't worry about it. I just don't understand why you would want to date him. You're so much better than he is."
Mai blushed and tried to hold back a smile. "You really think so?"
"Absolutely. I do believe he's a good guy, somewhere really, really deep inside. Maybe so deep that we'll never see it. Oh, hell. But still, you're a much better person than him, all around. You deserve better."
"Really, Joey Wheeler?" Mai said, curiously. "So, what or who exactly do you think I do deserve?"
"Well," Joey started, looking down. "Nobody that I can think of, unfortunately. Just, I don't know, look out for better guys, okay? I'm sure there's someone out there who can treat you with the respect you deserve."
"Thank you, Joey. That means a lot to me."
"Yeah, don't mention it. Let's go watch that movie, okay? Seto is probably looking for you, anyway."
"What makes you think that?"
Joey's eyes met hers directly and Mai swore that she could see a sense of longing in them. "Because. If I were here with a girl like you, there's no way I'd want to be away from you, not even for a second."
"A girl like me?"
"Hey, Joey! Are you coming or not?" yelled Tristan from the other room. "We're gonna watch The Outsiders! I love this movie!"
"I'm coming!" Joey yelled back. He turned to Mai again. "Come on. They're waiting for us."
Mai smiled and decided to let the conversation lie where it was. Besides, she didn't want to read too much into what Joey was saying. At least not yet. She wasn't sure what his words meant, if they meant anything at all. Most guys only wanted to date her because she was so beautiful, and Seto surely wasn't any different. She felt like nothing more than a prize to guys like that. But Joey challenged her, knew how to push her buttons. While it was obvious that he found her attractive, there was something more to it than that. Their 'friendship' had started out as more of a rivalry and as they began to know each other a little better, Joey's words of faith and his perseverance as a duelist began to make sense to her. He inspired her, and that was something very hard to come by for Mai. Her respect for him began to grow, but she had always felt that his respect for her had grown less and less. Now, it seemed that that was not true.
~*~
"That was a great movie, Adele. I'm glad we all came over to watch it."
"Thanks, Mai! I'm glad too. I hope you all liked it."
"I would have had a much better time if it weren't for these nuisances being here. Why would you call them your friends, Adele? I thought you had better taste than that."
"Would you forget it, Seto? If you don't like them, you didn't have to stay!"
"Shut up, Mai! I wasn't even speaking to you. If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it."
At those words, Joey's face grew crimson with anger. "Now just wait one minute, Kaiba! You come in here, disrespecting Adele, who is supposed to be your friend, in her own house. On top of it all, you sit there and insult a woman who is clearly out of your league, a woman so much better than you! What makes you think you have the right?!"
Seto smirked. "What, you think she is in your league? Keep dreaming, Wheeler. You're nothing more than a dog, she would never give you the time of day."
"Why don't you let a lady speak for herself!" interrupted Mai. "On the contrary, Joey is more of a man than you'll ever be. You need to take a good long look at yourself in the mirror, Seto. If you have any heart at all, you won't like what you see. You know, I was wrong about you. I thought I saw something inside of you. Something good. I know now that I was a fool to think that. There are other people out there who will treat me better than you ever could. Don't bother calling me ever again."
"Fine, have it your way. My mistake, I thought you were a woman of class. If I would have known you prefer lowlife animals, I would not have wasted my time with you."
"Lowlife animals!? That's it, Kaiba! You're asking for it!" Joey started at Kaiba, but was held back immediately by Tristan and Bakura. "Let me go!"
"Joey, this is ridiculous," said Bakura. "Just forget him, he's not worth it!"
"Not worth it, eh Bakura?" taunted Seto. "This coming from the pathetic loser who made it to the duelist tournament, yet never even battled for any star chips? Tell me, what was the point in taking Pegasus up on his offer if you knew you weren't nearly good enough to even participate in the finals?"
Bakura never was one to have a bad temper, but those words inflamed him more than anyone could tell. The truth was, he was an excellent duelist. There was a reason that he refused to duel. A reason Seto could never begin to understand.
"What's the matter, Britain? Did I strike a nerve?"
"Forget it Seto, you're not going to make me angry!"
"I think I already did, though. You knew you weren't good enough to take anybody on, is that it?"
"That's not it at all! I know that I could have done quite well if I had tried!"
"Even against someone like me?"
"Especially you!" Bakura hissed, glaring.
"Seto, stop it!" screamed Adele, noticing the immediate and frightening change in Bakura's attitude.
"No way. I'm enjoying this way too much. I think Snow White here thinks he can actually take me on, and you know I'm not one to ever refuse a duel, especially one I'm sure to win!"
"You want to duel, my friend? I'd be glad to take you up on that offer! Just hope that luck is on your side today!" mocked Bakura. He released his grip from Joey's shoulder and pulled his card deck out of his pocket.
"You've got a deal." Smirked Seto. Everyone around them stood by in surprise, not knowing how to react to this crazy situation. Bakura took a step forward and sneered at Seto.
"Wonderful, then. It's time to duel!"
By Lady Armandina
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me, except for Adele. Raya belongs to Anya (go read her Yugi fanfics!).
~*~*~*~
"You sure this is the place?"
"Yes, Joey. This is where she said she lived."
"Well, I guess we should knock, then." Said Yugi.
Yugi knocked on the door of the small, tattered house they stood in front of. He couldn't help but notice that the stairs he stood on were cracked and the dark blue paint on the house was chipping badly. This place could certainly use some fixing up, but that didn't mean they couldn't have fun there.
Within a few moments, Adele appeared, smiling, at the front door.
"Yugi, Joey, Tea! I'm so glad you could make it! Bakura, Tristan, come in!"
"Thanks for inviting us, Adele."
"You are always welcome here, Yugi. All of you are. Not everyone is here yet, a few others are coming too."
"Anyone we might know?"
"I'm not sure, Tristan. Well, you might knock my friend, Mai. She's already graduated, but she lives in town."
"Mai?" Joey questioned, suddenly very interested. "You mean Mai Valentine?"
"Yes, that's her, Joey. She's a good friend of mine. You are friends with her as well?"
"Who? Me? Ah, no, not really. I mean, uh, I know her and all. I mean, I've seen her around-"
"It's okay, buddy." Remarked Tristan. "We all know how much you like her!" Everyone began to laugh.
"What? Are you crazy? That egotistical-"
"Hottie?" finished Tea. The others roared with laughter.
"That's not what I was going to say!"
"Wow, Joey. It's pretty bad when even Tea starts in on you!"
"Aw, Tristan, lay off, will ya? I mean, yeah, she's a good-lookin' girl and all, but-"
"But what?"
"But she drives me crazy!"
"And who, pray tell, would that be, Joseph Wheeler?"
Everyone turned around to see none other than Mai herself, standing in the doorway behind them. Joey went pale, and then deep red, realizing she had probably been standing there the entire time. Of course! This was just his luck!
"Mai! You made it!'
"Of course I did, Adele. And, oh, I hope you don't mind. I brought Seto along!"
"Of course not! I'm so glad you brought him!"
"Seto! You've gotta be kidding me!" Joey blurted. "Tell me it's not the same guy I'm thinking of!"
Before Mai could answer, in walked Seto Kaiba behind her. "Yes, dog, it's me. You have a problem with that?"
"Problem? No way! I just think it's funny that the two biggest ego- maniacs I've ever known are on a date! Mister and Mrs. Elegant Egotist!"
"Why, Joey, you think I'm 'elegant'?" Mai smiled, flipping her hair. "I suppose I should be flattered!"
"Say all you want, Wheeler, she's here with me!"
Mai turned around and flashed a glare at Seto. "And what makes you think you can talk about me like that?!"
"Come on, guys! Please don't fight!"
"Hmph," Mai shrugged, crossing her arms and turning her back to Kaiba. "I have no idea what I was thinking coming her with him!"
"What you were thinking is that it's the best decision you've made since you stopped hanging out with Yugi and the others."
"Seto!" Adele shrieked. "I'll have you know they are my friends too! And I won't stand here and let you insult them!"
Seto only smirked and walked away. "Very well then, Adele."
"Damn him," remarked Mai. "Why is he like that? He can be such a nice person and then the next minute, cold as ice!"
"Mai, you know he hasn't been very pleasant since what happened to Mokuba."
"What's that, Adele?" questioned Tristan. "What happened to Mokuba?"
"It happened about three months ago." Adele started. "You remember The Big Five?"
"Yeah," said Joey. "Those are the guys that used to work for Kaiba, until Pegasus took over Kaiba Corporation. Except when Kaiba came back, they still turned their backs on him, continued to work for Pegasus and tried to trap Kaiba inside his own video game."
"Right. Well, The Big Five is still affiliated with Maxamillion Pegasus. Even though Pegasus is currently a bit 'ill', they are continuing to act out his wishes to overthrow Kaiba. Their plan is to find a way to get rid of Seto permanently so that they could regain control over Kaiba Corporation."
"But why would they still want control over his company?" asked Joey. "I thought Pegasus only took over the company so that he could use the technology to bring back his dead wife, Cecelia. When Yugi beat him , I thought he gave up hope on ever bringing her back."
"We're not totally sure why," answered Mai. "but it seems that they are trying to regain power to Pegasus, this time for their own reasons. But you know Pegasus, he thrives on power. He may have been beaten once, but we all know that he's not going to go down again so easily. Whatever reason they have for taking control over Kaiba Corp is sure to be a bad one. They can't be trusted."
"So how does Mokuba fit into this?" asked Tea.
"Seto had been busy in meetings that day," Adele started, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "He was out of town and left Mokuba in charge for the day when some of The Big Five's henchmen arrived. Mokuba tried to stand up to them, but it was no good. Kaiba's guards got there just in time to see Mokuba get shot. Although Mokuba lost a lot of blood when he was shot, that isn't the worst part. As he fell over, he hit his head really hard and suffered from serious brain trauma. He's been in a coma ever since."
"Mokuba is in a coma?" shrieked Tea, nearly in tears.
"Oh dear, Seto must be devastated."
"That he is, Bakura."
"Adele, is there anything we can do to help?"
"Unfortunately, Yugi, you know how Seto is. He refuses any help or sympathy from anyone. He doesn't even want anyone to know about it, really."
"I don't get it, Adele," remarked Tristan. "If he doesn't want anyone to know about this, how do you know so much about it?"
"Actually, Seto and I have known each other for some time now. I guess you could say I found out by accident, but he strictly forbids speaking about it at all. He's completely caught up on revenge right now and won't rest until he can find The Big Five and make them pay for this."
"This is so terrible," said Tea, wiping at her tear-filled eyes. "We have to do something to help!"
"What we can do is just keep an eye out for now. If we say anything to Seto about this, he's likely to get even more angry. I say we do some investigating of our own and see if there's any way we can help lead Seto in the right direction without letting him know that we knew about this."
"And how are we going to do that, Tristan?" asked Yugi.
"Well, for starters, we can keep a watch over the Kaiba Corporation building. If The Big Five are going to show up again, that's where we will find them."
"Great idea," said Joey. "But there's not much we can do right now. So, I say, in the meantime, we just play it cool."
"Yes, Joey. We should plan this later when Seto isn't quite so near. Maybe I can help you all with your investigating. Can we talk about it later?"
"That's fine, Adele. Any help we all can come up with is at least something, right?"
"Right! I'm glad you guys could make it over today. I'm going to start a movie in a few minutes if you want to follow me to the living room."
"All right."
Everyone started to follow Adele into the other room, except for Mai, who continued to stand where she was. As Joey walked past her, she grabbed his arm gently and looked at him imploringly. "Can we talk one minute?"
"Sure, Mai. What do you want?"
"I, well, I want to apologize to you. For the way Seto acted."
"Don't be ridiculous. That's not your place to apologize for him. Besides, I'm used to him by now."
"I know, but you shouldn't have to put up with that from him."
"Don't worry about it. I just don't understand why you would want to date him. You're so much better than he is."
Mai blushed and tried to hold back a smile. "You really think so?"
"Absolutely. I do believe he's a good guy, somewhere really, really deep inside. Maybe so deep that we'll never see it. Oh, hell. But still, you're a much better person than him, all around. You deserve better."
"Really, Joey Wheeler?" Mai said, curiously. "So, what or who exactly do you think I do deserve?"
"Well," Joey started, looking down. "Nobody that I can think of, unfortunately. Just, I don't know, look out for better guys, okay? I'm sure there's someone out there who can treat you with the respect you deserve."
"Thank you, Joey. That means a lot to me."
"Yeah, don't mention it. Let's go watch that movie, okay? Seto is probably looking for you, anyway."
"What makes you think that?"
Joey's eyes met hers directly and Mai swore that she could see a sense of longing in them. "Because. If I were here with a girl like you, there's no way I'd want to be away from you, not even for a second."
"A girl like me?"
"Hey, Joey! Are you coming or not?" yelled Tristan from the other room. "We're gonna watch The Outsiders! I love this movie!"
"I'm coming!" Joey yelled back. He turned to Mai again. "Come on. They're waiting for us."
Mai smiled and decided to let the conversation lie where it was. Besides, she didn't want to read too much into what Joey was saying. At least not yet. She wasn't sure what his words meant, if they meant anything at all. Most guys only wanted to date her because she was so beautiful, and Seto surely wasn't any different. She felt like nothing more than a prize to guys like that. But Joey challenged her, knew how to push her buttons. While it was obvious that he found her attractive, there was something more to it than that. Their 'friendship' had started out as more of a rivalry and as they began to know each other a little better, Joey's words of faith and his perseverance as a duelist began to make sense to her. He inspired her, and that was something very hard to come by for Mai. Her respect for him began to grow, but she had always felt that his respect for her had grown less and less. Now, it seemed that that was not true.
~*~
"That was a great movie, Adele. I'm glad we all came over to watch it."
"Thanks, Mai! I'm glad too. I hope you all liked it."
"I would have had a much better time if it weren't for these nuisances being here. Why would you call them your friends, Adele? I thought you had better taste than that."
"Would you forget it, Seto? If you don't like them, you didn't have to stay!"
"Shut up, Mai! I wasn't even speaking to you. If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it."
At those words, Joey's face grew crimson with anger. "Now just wait one minute, Kaiba! You come in here, disrespecting Adele, who is supposed to be your friend, in her own house. On top of it all, you sit there and insult a woman who is clearly out of your league, a woman so much better than you! What makes you think you have the right?!"
Seto smirked. "What, you think she is in your league? Keep dreaming, Wheeler. You're nothing more than a dog, she would never give you the time of day."
"Why don't you let a lady speak for herself!" interrupted Mai. "On the contrary, Joey is more of a man than you'll ever be. You need to take a good long look at yourself in the mirror, Seto. If you have any heart at all, you won't like what you see. You know, I was wrong about you. I thought I saw something inside of you. Something good. I know now that I was a fool to think that. There are other people out there who will treat me better than you ever could. Don't bother calling me ever again."
"Fine, have it your way. My mistake, I thought you were a woman of class. If I would have known you prefer lowlife animals, I would not have wasted my time with you."
"Lowlife animals!? That's it, Kaiba! You're asking for it!" Joey started at Kaiba, but was held back immediately by Tristan and Bakura. "Let me go!"
"Joey, this is ridiculous," said Bakura. "Just forget him, he's not worth it!"
"Not worth it, eh Bakura?" taunted Seto. "This coming from the pathetic loser who made it to the duelist tournament, yet never even battled for any star chips? Tell me, what was the point in taking Pegasus up on his offer if you knew you weren't nearly good enough to even participate in the finals?"
Bakura never was one to have a bad temper, but those words inflamed him more than anyone could tell. The truth was, he was an excellent duelist. There was a reason that he refused to duel. A reason Seto could never begin to understand.
"What's the matter, Britain? Did I strike a nerve?"
"Forget it Seto, you're not going to make me angry!"
"I think I already did, though. You knew you weren't good enough to take anybody on, is that it?"
"That's not it at all! I know that I could have done quite well if I had tried!"
"Even against someone like me?"
"Especially you!" Bakura hissed, glaring.
"Seto, stop it!" screamed Adele, noticing the immediate and frightening change in Bakura's attitude.
"No way. I'm enjoying this way too much. I think Snow White here thinks he can actually take me on, and you know I'm not one to ever refuse a duel, especially one I'm sure to win!"
"You want to duel, my friend? I'd be glad to take you up on that offer! Just hope that luck is on your side today!" mocked Bakura. He released his grip from Joey's shoulder and pulled his card deck out of his pocket.
"You've got a deal." Smirked Seto. Everyone around them stood by in surprise, not knowing how to react to this crazy situation. Bakura took a step forward and sneered at Seto.
"Wonderful, then. It's time to duel!"