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 whoa, still going. But it'll be over soon!
Over 1000 reviews! *fireworks go off all over the screen* Virtual Chocolate factories! Chocolate factories for everyone! (If you have a chocolate allergy, please help yourself to a virtual factory of your choice, like this one that makes money).
Angel-Belle: Would I do such a cruel, cruel thing to him?
boy who...: Pegasus won't *really* show up... BWAHAHA!
Jou-pup: Each card has its own soul. Since Joey can turn into REBD, he *is* the heart of that card!
Kimmie: Yup, looks like some Harry Potter influence there, but I don't think the HP stairs were quite so lively...
Selina: Thanks for the cookie ^_^
Sheron: A reviewer's name was Funny Bunny, and it stuck with me for some reason... And that bunny looked a bit like Pegasus. Kaiba created this nightmare bunny for some reason...
silverflames: According to ff.net, the first 10 chapters were the shortest (smallest was only 694 words!). Nope, no lime either. Even the shounen-ai is pretty iffy. If it doesn't get anywhere by next chapter, I'm changing the summary.
sodapop: I wasn't reading Harry Potter at the time, but I probably got it from there.
The Immortal Duelist: Never seen Invader Zim... Is it worth taking a look at? And the vacuum was for needed for the 'Joey sucked into card' effect.
I wonder why ff.net seems to have a thing against two zeroes? Bizarre.
Beware, cliffhanger (again)!
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 special-effects crews were harmed in the making of this fic.
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Being Dead Ain't Easy
Chapter Thirty-Four: Hitting A Brick Wall
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There's only so much you can do when a huge mob of killer cartoon rabbits decides to tear you limb from limb.
That's right. I'm not proud to say it, but I run outta the dungeon screaming. Every single damn Funny Bunny chases after me. On the bright side, none of 'em are bugging Seto anymore. Go, me. Three cheers for Joey Wheeler.
"I'LL COME BACK FOR YA, KAIBA!" I shout over my shoulder. I don't know if he heard me over the roar of the mob, though.
I scramble through the twisting hallways, skidding a little every time I make a turn. I wish I still had my sneakers on. The Funny Bunnies don't have any trouble at all. I better get a move on or those rabbits are gonna catch up and... well, do something to me. I don't wanna find out what that something is.
Stupid Kaiba and his stupid freaky head. I hope I don't crash into anything else he dreamed up.
I zip around a corner. There's a door. It's a broom closet. I have just enough time to open it up, jump inside, and close it before the screaming mob of crazies stampede by, yelling "Hey, Kaiba! Hey, Kaiba!" all the way.
I peek out of the closet and see a cloud of dust where the Funny Bunnies ran off to. They don't even look back. They've got ink for brains.
Looks like it's safe to save Seto now. I better go do it before his Bunnies come back.
I come outta the closet and the thing disappears. Weird.
Seto's still where I left him, tied up and looking pissed. He glares at me while I untie him. Once he's free, he rubs his wrists, still glaring at me the whole time.
Why's he looking at me like that? "Aren't you gonna say thank you?"
He sneers. "I never asked for your help, Wheeler. I don't want it and I don't need it. Why don't you go back to your little friends and let me be?"
Yeah, he was doing just fine on his own. After all this, he wants me to go back by myself!? "WHAT THE HELL'S YOUR PROBLEM, KAIBA!?"
"You are," he says coldly.
What happened to the almost-nice Seto Kaiba I've sort of gotten to know?
Screw this. "We're goin'." I start walking towards the hallway.
"No."
I spin around. No? No? "Seto Kaiba, if you had any idea what I just went through to get your rich ass and how pissed off I am about it, you'd march right outta this cell and do what I tell you," I growl.
"Are you deaf as well as dumb, dog?" he sneers at me. "I am not going with you. I don't care how much trouble you-" Kaiba's eyes run down my body. Blinks. "What happened to your clothes?"
"I had to rip 'em up so I can find the way back. So we can find the way back. You owe me some new threads."
He looks away. "I'm staying here, Joey. Just go."
I don't get this. Outside in the real world, good. Trapped with Funny Bunny, bad, real bad. "Tell me why."
He opens his mouth but freezes, listening.
It's pretty faint, but I can hear "Hey, Kaiba! Hey, Kaiba!" coming closer and closer. Those freakin' Funny Bunnies are back.
"Joey, go!" he hisses.
I don't think so. "I'm not leavin' unless you come with me. Your call."
The chanting rabbits make his decision for him. One of 'em pokes its head into the room. "Hey, Kaiba!" Seto kicks it in the face, grabs my arm, and runs for it, dragging me behind him.
We run and run, but the doors outta the castle are just... gone.
Seto finds us another closet. It's a... tight fit, but just like last time, the Funny Bunnies go right past it.
Once the coast is clear, we get back out. "...Seto, why do you hafta stay-" He slaps a hand over my mouth.
"Hush."
We back down the hallway like that, him keeping his ears open and me with my back pressed up against him with his hand over my mouth so he doesn't have to listen to me talk. I feel like I'm being kidnapped. I'd kick his ass, but the Bunnies might hear us.
Seto acts like he knows where he's going. We go around another corner, check for Funny Bunnies, and find some stairs. I swear they weren't there when I was running from the Funny Bunnies before. It's like things just show up or disappear if Seto wants it. I get the feeling he made all of this. Why can't he get out?
He has to let go of me so we can climb the stairs. I'm not gonna say anything right now, but when we get outta here, boy is he gonna get it. Maybe Yami and Tristan'll join in. It'll be like a big party.
He opens the door at the top of the stairs and it swings open.
I look around. It's the place where Kaiba cheated away Yuugi's starchips. There's a rotting Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon lying on the floor. It looks just like the one Kaiba had after Yami Yuugi was done with it. All melted and dripping.
It's pretty windy up here, especially for a guy who's only sort of wearing pants.
Seto notices me shivering and takes off his white trench coat. He forces me into it.
"Seto?"
He won't look at me. "Leave me behind, Joey. Those... creatures... want me, not you. If you stop trying to make me go, they'll leave you alone."
That doesn't even deserve an answer. I'm not leaving him behind. "Where are we?"
"I don't know. After the battle with that Egyptian, I woke up here." He shrugs. "Frankly, I don't care."
He's being molested by demented cartoon rabbits and he doesn't care. "I don't care that you don't care, Kaiba!" I spit back at him. I take a breath. "I'm thinkin' that maybe this place is another part of our soul room, the same way your bedroom is."
Pause. "What's a soul room?"
"Yami says it's a place for me to rest, but I sure ain't getting any." No kidding.
He doesn't say anything.
"Seto, why can't you get outta here? Your body's lyin' on a hospital bed, waiting for you. It still works."
He still won't look at me. "Go home, puppy-boy. Keep the trench coat if you want. I don't need it. Let Mokuba know I'm sorry."
I don't like this. I really don't like this. "Seto, what..?"
"I don't want to go back."
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