Summary:  Tragedy strikes.  Joey Wheeler is gone forever.  Or is he?  Joey POV.  Post Duelist Kingdom AU.  Will eventually be Seto/Joey shounen-ai.

Author's Notes:  Well, I thought I'd try writing a YuGiOh fic.  I've never posted at fanfiction.net before, so we'll see how it goes, shall we?

Thanks for the reviews!  I'm glad you guys like the story so far ^_^

Blue Lagoon Loon:  I fixed up Joey's birthdate.  I have no idea what year he was born, though.  I don't think it's ever said.  Thanks for pointing out my mistake!

If anyone finds any more mistakes, let me know in the review…

This chapter's a bit short, but there should be another one soon.

Warnings:  Character death (sort of), language, angst, eventual Seto/Joey.

Disclaimers:  I don't own YuGiOh or any other brand names you might come across.  No turtles were harmed in the making of this fic.

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Being Dead Ain't Easy

Chapter Three:  The Power of Positive Thinking

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I don't know how long I stood there.  Time flies when you're havin' fun, ya know?  Yeah, it's a pretty cemetery, but I really don't wanna hang around here anymore.  Bad memories, if ya know what I mean.  Time to get a move on.  I snap out of it and go for a little stroll.

Walkin' around when you're dead's kinda strange, aside from the fact that you're not supposed to be walkin' around at all, I mean.  I can't hear my footsteps.  It's like I'm not even there.  I wander outta the cemetery and out onto the sidewalk.  Some guy doesn't see me-

well, duh, of course he can't see you

-and walks right through me.

Right.  Through.  Me.

And all I get is kinda tingly.

He doesn't notice a thing.

I can't believe I'm dead.  I only closed my eyes for a second!  I was tired, not dying!  I mean, after all I went through, after Duelist Kingdom, this is how I kick it!?  I feel kinda cheated.

I've got a bad feeling about what that light and tunnel and stuff was supposed to be.  How much do ya wanna bet that it was the Great Beyond?  The Afterlife?  I can't believe I'm a ghost just because I tripped on my laces!  If it were that easy, the world would be crawlin' with ghosts.  Did it happen when I looked down?  Would I be in some sorta paradise if I hadn't?  I betcha anything I woulda ended up in the place where all the sexy guys go.  I'd be dead sexy.

…I'm dead.  I'm jokin' around in my own head when all I wanna do is SCREAM AND I CAN'T BE DEAD NO NO NO NO-

Stop it!

Deep breaths.  Well, not really 'cause I can feel there's no air goin' into my lungs and it's wrong and-

Stop.  It.  Freakin' out won't help.

Alright, Joey.  Ya fell down from that… place, so all ya gotta do is fly back up.  Easy.

Easy.  Riiight.  I'm not a freakin' bird.

But…

I'm dead.

Dead people always, always have superpowers.

It's a bit of a stretch, I know.  I can't think too good right now.

Here goes nothin'.

Up.

Nothin'.  Still on the ground.

Well, I wasn't trying very hard.  Maybe I need to concentrate a bit more.  So I close my eyes and try to think like a birdie.  I'm guessin' I look constipated, but nobody can see me anyway, so who cares?

I point one arm up in the air, fist jabbing at the sky, while I plant the other hand on my hip.  Like Superman.  I jump up and down so I'm sorta in the air.  Maybe that'll make it easier?  I hope I don't look too dumb.

UP UP UP UP UP…

Boy, I feel stupid.

…UP UP UP!

…And away!  I'm definitely off the ground.  It WORKED!  The Superman pose did the trick!

I'm flyin' up!  It's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's SUPAJOEY!

Faster than a… speedin' turtle.  Alright, maybe not that slow.  Turtles can't fly.

Still…

This is gonna take awhile.

That's okay.  I'm not in a rush.  It's not like I wanna PASS ON or anything.  I just don't wanna be a dead guy walkin'.

Whoa, I'm pretty far up.  The peeps down there look so tiny!  Shiny swirly light thing, here I come!

Any minute now.  Yuppers, any minute.

…I've stopped movin'.  It's hard to judge distance, but I'm guessing I'm about as far up as that airplane over there.

Not.  Good.

UP UP UP UP UP!

Not workin'.  And, er, that plane's a bit close.

DOWN DOWN DOWN!

And I crash through the sidewalk feet-first and only stop when the cement's halfway up my chest.  Ugh.

After some more uppin' and downin', I'm finally back where I started.

Well, that's just terrific, ain't it.  I guess I'm stuck on Earth until I figure out how to get outta this mess.

On the bright side, I can fly.  Sort of.

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