"Mai?" I asked timidly, like I was afraid that her response would be
something terrible.
"Joey..." She was facing away from me, her knees clutched to her chest, and so she rolled her neck back limply to face me. Her eyes seemed glassy, almost as if they were looking at me, but they didn't "see" me.
"I..." She started. I couldn't stand to see her like this; she looked so...weak. Mai Valentine was not weak, not by a long shot, and seeing her weak irritated me like sand in your bathing suit.
"What?" I asked. When she trailed off, it almost seemed like she could barely speak. "We're all right here." The group was behind me, looking over my shoulder from time to time, but I was the only one close to her.
"I...I..." Why couldn't she finish? What was stopping her from talking?
Suddenly, Mai grabbed her head like she was having a migraine.
"Stay back!" She ordered. Tristan put his hand on my shoulder, and starting pulling me backward to comply with her wish.
"Mai!" I shouted, trying to move towards her. All that did was cause Tristan to grab my arm and nearly throw me backward.
"I...get away!" She shouted angrily, her eyes were now venom with an amethyst hue.
I heard something boom that seemed like thunder, and Mai's body started glowing, giving off a dark purple light. I had no clue what it was, but I didn't like it. I was sure it was causing Mai to be agitated.
"Hey, you!" I commanded the light, almost positive that it was pointless. "Get the fuck offa Mai!" Nothing else happened, and the light started to envelop her, blocking her from our view. It swept across her lithe body, enveloping those beautiful legs, that leather skirt, that fancy white blouse that wasn't buttoned all the way. Her face was the last to get surrounded.
"Joey, I'm...sorry." She said before the darkness enveloped her.
"No!" I shouted, trying to break free from Tristan, who had Yugi on the other side. Both of them had an arm, and I struggled with all my effort, but the two men still had me held.
"Mai!" I kept shouting her name, somehow hoping that my shouting, for whatever reason, would bring her back. The dark light that had surrounded Mai had grown a little bigger, it was about the size of a refrigerator, but it was round.
Then a heard a noise, a noise unlike any other. It sounded like a woman shouting, but the shouting sounded...orgasmic, gaining some lustful pleasure from the moans and screams of it's own voice. Tristan and Yugi let go of me, but they stood right behind me, ready to grab me again in case I went for the black hole to get Mai. I would have, but there was something in the back of my mind that told me not to just jump ahead. Something was going to happen, and I needed to wait. The woman's scream became more and more frequent, and I could swear that the dark light was starting to clear. Was Mai still inside? More importantly, was Mai hurt? I prayed to whatever God looked out for her to let her be well. I awaited almost anxiously for the sight of the dark light to clear, hoping for that beautiful woman.
What I saw made me curse every fucking heavenly being out there. It was Mai all right, but not my Mai. This Mai had deep crimson skin, and her well manicured hands were long claws that dripped with a foul dark liquid that I was sure was some kind of poison. Her face was more or less Mai, other then the skin, and the fact that her blonde tresses billowed from side to side as if wind was blowing behind her, wind that no one else could feel.
"Mai?" I called, reaching out my hand to her. The figure dashed forward, curled up it's fist, and let one fly straight at my stomach.
"Hurk!" I let out a noise that I'd never let out before, but the sheer force of her fist was the obvious culprit. It knocked me right of my feet, past the gang, and straight into the back wall. The merciless stone did not yield, and I felt pain explode all over by mack and head. Mercifully, the feeling only lasted for a minute.
I don't know what happened next, but I came to what felt like an eternity later. I had not moved from my slouched position on the wall, but everyone else had. I saw blurred shapes, one of them I think was the demon Mai, moving close to each other like they were attacking. I wanted to order everyone off of her; she may have looked like a demon, but it was still Mai, dammit. But nothing responded. I tried to gather all of my strength, and I struggled to get to my feet. Before I could, I felt someone someone's gentle hands on me.
"Don't move yet." Came a girl's voice. I think it was Tea, but I couldn't hear very well. I shrugged her off and moved anyway, trying to move towards what I thought was Mai and the guys fighting.
"No, Joey!" The girl's voice became insistent. "Don't go forward, it'll be too painful for you." It was pleading with me, desperately. That made me think it was Serenity.
"Painful?" I thought. "In more ways then you could imagine." I ignored the protests, and still tried to clamber forward. The movement helped me, for my vision was returning, and I could walk without a stagger.
But that brief moment of happiness would forever stand out as an eternal "fuck you!" from God. For when I vision cleared, I saw something, a shiny flash of metal, enter Mai's chest.
"Mai!" I shouted, trying to run over towards her. Fuck my headache, fuck the pain, fuck everything but her. Her body lie collapsed on the ground, and Yugi, the person closest to her, cradled her in his arms. I ignored him and looked at her desperately, weeping and crying as if a water main broke in my eyes.
Her eyes fluttered open, and I briefly tried to make myself presentable. All I really did was wipe away the tears on my face.
"Thank you..." She said weakly and simply, and then her eyes shut again.
"Mai? Mai! Mai, no!" I shouted. Even with her appearance was like that of Hell itself, she was still Mai, Mai now even if she wasn't a few moments ago. But she was gone. I knew there was nothing I could do.
The group left me alone for a minute, but it seemed like too short.
"C'mon Joey, we have to go now." Tristan said. I angrily shot a look at him.
"Leave me the fuck alone!" I shouted, running past him and everyone there to the exit. I couldn't be around them, not after she was gone. I wanted to stay with Mai's body forever, but I couldn't. For some awful reason I couldn't bear to see her demon-looking and dead. So instead, I cried. I cried as I stumbled almost blindly home.
I'm not sure how I lived after that. Every day I prayed for sweet merciful death, and yet it never came. I hadn't the courage to do it myself. I was afraid that I would chicken out. The group tried to be comforting, but they knew there words were falling on deaf ears. I constantly told them to leave me be, but it was like yelling fuck you into a jet engine: it felt good but it was pointless to do.
It was exactly one month later when Yugi forced me back to where Mai had died. I wasn't sure what he meant when he told me to come. But I had nothing better to do, and I needed to apologize to him. I was acting selfishly ever since she died, and that was something that none of us wanted. I couldn't believe I'd been such a bastard. When I apologized to everyone else, they were more understanding, but I knew they felt pain because I kept mine inside.
Before I could say anything, I heard a boom of thunder, and then the scream. The same fucking scream that I heard before Mai had been enveloped and changed into that demon.
"Where are you, bitch!" I yelled. If that scream was still here, that meant that it wasn't Mai laughing, and that probably meant that she was the bitch that changed her. She caused Mai to die.
"Joey, shut your eyes and don't look until I say so!" Yugi commanded. I did so, and I heard the screamer scream a different way. A loud shriek.
"Bitch. Fucking rot in the hell that suits you." I said under my breath satisfyingly.
"Open your eyes." Yugi said. I opened them, but was immediately greeted by a bright light. I shielded my eyes and tried to look at Yugi, but the look on his face was one of shock. He knew about as much as me.
The white light formed into a ball, and started condensing into the form of a person. It took me one moment to recognize the flowing blonde locks, the creamy skin no longed tainted, and the eyes that sparkled as she laughed.
"Mai!" I shouted happily, moving towards her. She was dressed in all white, not very befitting for the woman with such a sharp tongue.
"Oh, hi Joey!" She said cheerfully, as if nothing had happened. Did she know anything that had happened? I doubted it, I wouldn't have wanted to her to know that anyway. I hugged her.
"Whoa, there, huggy." She said, at first resisting and trying to pull me off, but I fought back so much she gave up.
"You...do that again." I started, almost as if in a way to save face. "And I won't help you..." Of course that wasn't true, but why tell her that? She took enough risks in her day to day life, and I didn't want to her to know that I would bail her out did she go too far. She wouldn't have liked it anyway.
"Joey..." She was facing away from me, her knees clutched to her chest, and so she rolled her neck back limply to face me. Her eyes seemed glassy, almost as if they were looking at me, but they didn't "see" me.
"I..." She started. I couldn't stand to see her like this; she looked so...weak. Mai Valentine was not weak, not by a long shot, and seeing her weak irritated me like sand in your bathing suit.
"What?" I asked. When she trailed off, it almost seemed like she could barely speak. "We're all right here." The group was behind me, looking over my shoulder from time to time, but I was the only one close to her.
"I...I..." Why couldn't she finish? What was stopping her from talking?
Suddenly, Mai grabbed her head like she was having a migraine.
"Stay back!" She ordered. Tristan put his hand on my shoulder, and starting pulling me backward to comply with her wish.
"Mai!" I shouted, trying to move towards her. All that did was cause Tristan to grab my arm and nearly throw me backward.
"I...get away!" She shouted angrily, her eyes were now venom with an amethyst hue.
I heard something boom that seemed like thunder, and Mai's body started glowing, giving off a dark purple light. I had no clue what it was, but I didn't like it. I was sure it was causing Mai to be agitated.
"Hey, you!" I commanded the light, almost positive that it was pointless. "Get the fuck offa Mai!" Nothing else happened, and the light started to envelop her, blocking her from our view. It swept across her lithe body, enveloping those beautiful legs, that leather skirt, that fancy white blouse that wasn't buttoned all the way. Her face was the last to get surrounded.
"Joey, I'm...sorry." She said before the darkness enveloped her.
"No!" I shouted, trying to break free from Tristan, who had Yugi on the other side. Both of them had an arm, and I struggled with all my effort, but the two men still had me held.
"Mai!" I kept shouting her name, somehow hoping that my shouting, for whatever reason, would bring her back. The dark light that had surrounded Mai had grown a little bigger, it was about the size of a refrigerator, but it was round.
Then a heard a noise, a noise unlike any other. It sounded like a woman shouting, but the shouting sounded...orgasmic, gaining some lustful pleasure from the moans and screams of it's own voice. Tristan and Yugi let go of me, but they stood right behind me, ready to grab me again in case I went for the black hole to get Mai. I would have, but there was something in the back of my mind that told me not to just jump ahead. Something was going to happen, and I needed to wait. The woman's scream became more and more frequent, and I could swear that the dark light was starting to clear. Was Mai still inside? More importantly, was Mai hurt? I prayed to whatever God looked out for her to let her be well. I awaited almost anxiously for the sight of the dark light to clear, hoping for that beautiful woman.
What I saw made me curse every fucking heavenly being out there. It was Mai all right, but not my Mai. This Mai had deep crimson skin, and her well manicured hands were long claws that dripped with a foul dark liquid that I was sure was some kind of poison. Her face was more or less Mai, other then the skin, and the fact that her blonde tresses billowed from side to side as if wind was blowing behind her, wind that no one else could feel.
"Mai?" I called, reaching out my hand to her. The figure dashed forward, curled up it's fist, and let one fly straight at my stomach.
"Hurk!" I let out a noise that I'd never let out before, but the sheer force of her fist was the obvious culprit. It knocked me right of my feet, past the gang, and straight into the back wall. The merciless stone did not yield, and I felt pain explode all over by mack and head. Mercifully, the feeling only lasted for a minute.
I don't know what happened next, but I came to what felt like an eternity later. I had not moved from my slouched position on the wall, but everyone else had. I saw blurred shapes, one of them I think was the demon Mai, moving close to each other like they were attacking. I wanted to order everyone off of her; she may have looked like a demon, but it was still Mai, dammit. But nothing responded. I tried to gather all of my strength, and I struggled to get to my feet. Before I could, I felt someone someone's gentle hands on me.
"Don't move yet." Came a girl's voice. I think it was Tea, but I couldn't hear very well. I shrugged her off and moved anyway, trying to move towards what I thought was Mai and the guys fighting.
"No, Joey!" The girl's voice became insistent. "Don't go forward, it'll be too painful for you." It was pleading with me, desperately. That made me think it was Serenity.
"Painful?" I thought. "In more ways then you could imagine." I ignored the protests, and still tried to clamber forward. The movement helped me, for my vision was returning, and I could walk without a stagger.
But that brief moment of happiness would forever stand out as an eternal "fuck you!" from God. For when I vision cleared, I saw something, a shiny flash of metal, enter Mai's chest.
"Mai!" I shouted, trying to run over towards her. Fuck my headache, fuck the pain, fuck everything but her. Her body lie collapsed on the ground, and Yugi, the person closest to her, cradled her in his arms. I ignored him and looked at her desperately, weeping and crying as if a water main broke in my eyes.
Her eyes fluttered open, and I briefly tried to make myself presentable. All I really did was wipe away the tears on my face.
"Thank you..." She said weakly and simply, and then her eyes shut again.
"Mai? Mai! Mai, no!" I shouted. Even with her appearance was like that of Hell itself, she was still Mai, Mai now even if she wasn't a few moments ago. But she was gone. I knew there was nothing I could do.
The group left me alone for a minute, but it seemed like too short.
"C'mon Joey, we have to go now." Tristan said. I angrily shot a look at him.
"Leave me the fuck alone!" I shouted, running past him and everyone there to the exit. I couldn't be around them, not after she was gone. I wanted to stay with Mai's body forever, but I couldn't. For some awful reason I couldn't bear to see her demon-looking and dead. So instead, I cried. I cried as I stumbled almost blindly home.
I'm not sure how I lived after that. Every day I prayed for sweet merciful death, and yet it never came. I hadn't the courage to do it myself. I was afraid that I would chicken out. The group tried to be comforting, but they knew there words were falling on deaf ears. I constantly told them to leave me be, but it was like yelling fuck you into a jet engine: it felt good but it was pointless to do.
It was exactly one month later when Yugi forced me back to where Mai had died. I wasn't sure what he meant when he told me to come. But I had nothing better to do, and I needed to apologize to him. I was acting selfishly ever since she died, and that was something that none of us wanted. I couldn't believe I'd been such a bastard. When I apologized to everyone else, they were more understanding, but I knew they felt pain because I kept mine inside.
Before I could say anything, I heard a boom of thunder, and then the scream. The same fucking scream that I heard before Mai had been enveloped and changed into that demon.
"Where are you, bitch!" I yelled. If that scream was still here, that meant that it wasn't Mai laughing, and that probably meant that she was the bitch that changed her. She caused Mai to die.
"Joey, shut your eyes and don't look until I say so!" Yugi commanded. I did so, and I heard the screamer scream a different way. A loud shriek.
"Bitch. Fucking rot in the hell that suits you." I said under my breath satisfyingly.
"Open your eyes." Yugi said. I opened them, but was immediately greeted by a bright light. I shielded my eyes and tried to look at Yugi, but the look on his face was one of shock. He knew about as much as me.
The white light formed into a ball, and started condensing into the form of a person. It took me one moment to recognize the flowing blonde locks, the creamy skin no longed tainted, and the eyes that sparkled as she laughed.
"Mai!" I shouted happily, moving towards her. She was dressed in all white, not very befitting for the woman with such a sharp tongue.
"Oh, hi Joey!" She said cheerfully, as if nothing had happened. Did she know anything that had happened? I doubted it, I wouldn't have wanted to her to know that anyway. I hugged her.
"Whoa, there, huggy." She said, at first resisting and trying to pull me off, but I fought back so much she gave up.
"You...do that again." I started, almost as if in a way to save face. "And I won't help you..." Of course that wasn't true, but why tell her that? She took enough risks in her day to day life, and I didn't want to her to know that I would bail her out did she go too far. She wouldn't have liked it anyway.