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.  And it's still going.  And going

Thanks to all those folks who take the time to write reviews! I'll try my best to deserve them.

JKJ:  Hmmm... what to do about Tristan?  I'll do something about him eventually...

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 buckles were harmed in the making of this fic.

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Being Dead Ain't Easy

Chapter Twelve:  Some Bad News, and Some More Bad News

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I fall outta my ride and dash across the street 'til I reach the game shop.  I'm getting pretty good at this; I don't get hit by cars this time.  I go in.  Grandpa's at the counter, so I'm guessing Yuugi's upstairs.  The little guy's probably in his room doing homework or something.

I walk up the stairs and stand outside of Yuugi's room.  The door's closed but I'm about to go in anyway when I hear raised voices, errr, voice.

"-to Kaiba!  You can't bring up something like that just because – ...Don't interrupt me! – just because a duel isn't going the way you want it to!  I don't know if you thought it was funny – ...Well, it sure seemed like you thought it was! – ...but you can't do that!"

I sure hope Yuugi's talking to that guy in the Puzzle.  If he's not, then he's got more problems than Kaiba.  I go through the door and hope Yuugi's not naked.

Yuugi's sitting on his bed with his arms crossed, his eyes following an invisible something back and forth.  He doesn't see me.  Big surprise, there.

"I don't believe you!  If he really was there, why didn't you see him before?" he argues with empty air.

I know I'm missing half the conversation.  The other Yuugi has got to be in here unless Yuugi's yellin' at himself.  I look where Yuugi's looking and try to see what he's seeing.  After some squinting, I start to see little bits of dust floating in the air.  I'm guessing that's not it.

"...That's sounds like a pretty big coincidence to me!"

I think I'm seeing something!  There's a sorta fuzziness in the air.  I concentrate on it and it's like I opened a whole new set of eyes.  There's two Yuugis:  a solid one on the bed and a sorta transparent one pacing back and forth.

"But it's true!" the shadowy Yuugi argues back.

"It can't be true! There's no-" Yuugi's eyes fall on the clock on his desk.  "Oh no!  I have to do my homework!" He leaps up and digs through his knapsack.

"Yuugi..." grumbles the other guy.

Yuugi dumps five textbooks on his desk.  "Can't talk now, project due tomorrow!"

"I really did see Joey."

"No you didn't, and lalala I can't hear you."

"Hmph."  Yami Yuugi... pouts?  And sits on the bed.

This looks like a good time to interrupt.  I stand in front of Yuugi's double.  "Uh, Yami Yuugi?"

No reaction.  I guess I hafta go all out.  "YAMI YUUGI, I'M GONNA RIP THAT PUZZLE OFF AND BEAT YA OVER THE HEAD WITH IT!" I scream at the top of my lungs right in his face.  Yeah, I'm a little stressed out.  Sue me.

A big wave of shadow power shoves me across the room and I smash clean through the wall.  Yup, that was a reaction, alright.  I get back up.  I'm outside Yuugi's room again, not hurt or anything.

After a while, Yami Yuugi comes outta the room in all his leather glory and crosses his arms.  "I'm sorry, Joey.  You startled me."  He doesn't sound very sorry.

I can't glare like Kaiba, but I do my best.  "Don't see how I coulda startled ya.  I was there the whole time."

He rolls his eyes.  "Well, I couldn't see you the whole time."

"Why not!?  I'm a spirit, you're a spirit, what's the problem here?"

"In case you haven't noticed, we are different kinds of spirits!  I could not see you until I deliberately searched for another presence."  And the moment he saw me, he slammed me into a wall.  Huh.

"Who are you talking to, Yami?" asks Yuugi through the door.

"Errr... Myself.  Keep working on that project of yours, Yuugi," he calls back.  He glares at me, jerks his head towards the bathroom, and heads for it.  I've never really talked to the guy outside of duels, but he reminds me of Kaiba.  Maybe he's just havin' a really bad day.  I follow him.

"So... why're we in the bathroom?" I ask him.

He leans against the counter.  "Because I don't want Yuugi to hear us.  He would be rather distraught if I said I was talking to you."

"Uh, why?"

He shrugs.  "Apparently, it is easier to accept the existence of ancient Egyptian spirits trapped in magical items than it is to accept the fact that the tormented soul of your best friend is trapped on the mortal plane and doomed to wander the earth until his essence fades as if he had never been, lost to the four winds."

I blink.  Trapped?  Doomed?  "Run that by me again."

Yami Yuugi has the decency to look kinda apologetic.  "I'm sorry, I thought you knew."

Like hell I knew.  I think about reaching out and choking him with his own neck-belt, but then I remember his shadow powers and settle for crossing my arms, instead.  "How was I supposed to know that, Yuugi – I mean, Yami?  Do I look like I'm carryin' a 'Ghosts for Dummies' manual, here?" I growl.  I swear I'm getting more like Kaiba every day.  I hang around him too much.

"I would assume that kind of knowledge would be innate.  Surely you have felt yourself beginning to weaken?"  He plays with his Puzzle.  "I know that even with the Puzzle and all its ancient magicks to anchor my spirit, I tire easily when I am not sharing a body with Yuugi."

That dizzy spell...  And I ain't got no super duper magic anchor handy.  "So you're sayin' that I'm finally gonna move on to the Afterlife."  And I was almost getting used to this, too.  "I can't say I'm happy 'bout it, but it's about time."

"Ah..."  Yami Yuugi won't meet my eyes.  I don't think I'm gonna like what he's gonna say.  "I didn't say you would be continuing your journey."

I don't like where this is going.  "So what're you sayin'?"

"...Your spirit will fade, as all ghosts do."

NO WAY!  Not only am I dead, but my soul's a goner, too!?  "You're kiddin' me!  I've seen the movies; ghosts don't just... fade!"

Yami Yuugi glares at me with those freaky red eyes of his.  "The movies are wrong.  Why else do you think you haven't encountered any more specters like yourself?  I'll tell you why:  It's because most ghosts don't last for more than a month, at most!  Occasionally, a spirit is strong enough, angry enough, or traumatized enough to endure for many years, but even those fade into nothingness!  Those who do not move on when they die... never do."

"You're just fulla good news, aren't cha."  I narrow my eyes.  "So... what?  It's gonna be 'poof', no more Joey, huh?"

"I'm afraid so."

So what's the big difference between him and me?  Bingo.  "That Puzzle big enough to share?"

"No."

So I'll just hafta get my own.  "No biggie.  I'll hop on a plane an' go to Egypt, pick up my own.  I mean, everywhere we go we trip over some guy with a Millennium Item!  How hard can it be?"

He shoots my plan down.  "I wish it were that simple, Joey.  A spirit must be bound to an item with powerful magicks, and the knowledge to do such a thing has been lost millennia ago."

"Then you do it!" I shout.

"The knowledge has been lost!" he shouts back.  "I remember little more than how to duel!"

"WHAT SHOULD I DO THEN!?"

Silence.

He looks away again.  "Put your affairs in order.  There is little else you can do.  I'll help you if I can."

My affairs... oh shit.  "Kaiba."

Yami Yuugi's ears perk up.  "What about Kaiba?"

"I, errr... sorta broke him."

"You broke Kaiba?"  He smirks like it's good news.  "Did you shove him down the stairs?"

This guy does not like Kaiba.  And shoving people down the stairs is cheap.  "Nooo… I made him admit I was hauntin' him.  I think he snapped."  I look down.  "I dunno what to do."  Why am I even askin' this guy?  Judging him by how much help he's given me so far, he's probably not gonna be all that useful, here.

And I'm right.  "He has a strong mind.  I'm sure he hasn't completely snapped."

"Thanks, your advice is gonna do him a whole lotta good right now."

Yami Yuugi snorts.  "I'm not really a 'people' person, Joey.  Being trapped in a puzzle for several thousand years does that to you."

"Yeah, I noticed."

He gives me a look and pushes past me.  "Excuse me while I try to convince Yuugi of your existence.  And help him with his homework."

"Uh, bye..."  I guess the conversation's over.  Maybe I could've been more polite.

I head back out.  I don't really have that many affairs to put in order.  Just how to say my goodbyes to everyone, maybe.  I push as much as I can outta my mind so I don't hafta think about what that Yami guy said, and work on the biggest thing I can do something about right now:

What I'm gonna say to Kaiba.

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