Zero: ok, I forgot to add this in the a/n of the last chapter...but Loren
is not going to be a main character, just someone in Joey's class. I needed
someone- a GIRL- to somehow get Joey mad at Kaiba so they'd
fight...hopefully that fight'll play a bigger roll later on *crosses
fingers*. She is made up, slightly resembling someone from my school.
She'll be in and out of this story briefly, since she sits in front of
Joey.
I've finally started reading the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, and I'm up to Duel 14: The Man from Egypt (part 2). I got to tell ya...I'm lovin' Jonouchi even more! Also...I've never really seen much of his dad, but now I have...
Now, for more of this story!
DISCLAIMER: don't own, wish I did
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Joey's Diary chapter 4
'Dear Diary,
There's no point to this book, I swear...
That party last night kept my mind offa' dad, at least for a little while. I'm the only one up right now. Duke's snoring and Tristan's talking in his sleep! Yugi...he's as quiet as always. I slept well, I guess. At least until that nightmare reared its ugly head! I guess I'll write it here...maybe it'll leave me alone then.
It started out as a normal dream, ya know, that you-don't-know-where- you-are-but-that-don'-matter kinda thing. So, I was walking down the street and Yugi was with me. We were talkin' about nothin' really and Mai shows up. She says she wants to show me something, and that Yugi should wait for us at the street corner. She turns and leads me down an alleyway, but Kaiba appears between us, his ugly face in a glower. Now, if dat wasn't enough to give me the creeps, I sure had them when he SMILED! KAIBA smiled! He reached his hand out toward me...and touched me! Mai, by this time, was out of sight. I did nothin' but stand there, stunned. His blue eyes met mine, and I realized just how clear his were. I think I lost myself in them, 'cuz the next thing I know, I'm in my house. Dad's home and the place is a mess. It had always been my job to keep the place clean, in case of unexpected visitors, but I've been gone for a week or so, so it's only natural that it's so messy.
I stepped forward, my foot brushing against a beer bottle. "Who's there?!" a too-familiar voice roared from the next room. I shuddered, to nervous to reply. "I said, who the hell's in my house!"
"Your- I mean, Joey Wheeler."
My dad stepped into view, looking terrible. "I knew a Joey Wheeler once, called himself my son, caused my wife to leave me. But that bastard should be dead by now, bones picked clean by rodents!"
That was hard to take. I mean, I knew my father didn't care for me, but still... I stumbled back, glancing over my shoulder for the doorknob. I found it, thank the gods! I like dreams like that, where you're looking for something and it appears there for ya.
I got outta there as fast as my legs would carry me- and straight into Mr. Smartness himself. Kaiba stared down at me; I guess I'd fallen to the ground at that point. He raised an eyebrow slightly, a smirk playing upon his lips.
Those lips.
I shook my head, sure my brain was rattling in there. I couldn't be thinking like that! I like GIRLS! I like...Mai.
Ok, It's true. I have a thing for her. But for some reason, I couldn't think of her or anyone when I stared into those eyes. It was like-'
"What'cha writing?"
Joey jumped, startled at the voice. He slammed his notebook shut and spun around- only to get caught up in the covers he'd borrowed from Yugi for the night.
"DUKE!" Joey said, relieved and mad at the same time. "You scared the crap outta me!"
Duke chuckled. "It was worth it, Puppy Dog. Now, tell me." His hand reached for the notebook. "What were you writing, so early this morning?"
'That name again...' Joey thought to himself. He shook his head defiantly. "I'm not tellin' ya!"
Duke sighed and grabbed for the notebook that was Joey's makeshift diary. Joey growled and snapped at Duke's wrist, while tugging the book away with both hands. "HA!" Joey said triumphantly. Duke growled.
"Alright, alright. Don't get your collar all tied up."
Joey looked blankly at him. "'Dat was bad, Duke." Duke scowled and proceeded to cleaning up his sleeping area. The girls had moved to another room for the night, so the guys had the room a total mess. Not that Joey cared. He rolled back over on the couch and continued writing.
'Well...it was like something. I don't think I like it too much. I will not let myself fall for that jackass!'
~~~An hour later~~~
The girls came down, a sweet shampoo smell trailing them. Joey grinned and waved. "How nice of you two sleeping beauties to come and join us!"
Mai waved back, and then brought her hand up to her face, examining her nails. "A girl needs her beauty sleep, Joseph."
Joey leaned back, his usual cocky self. "Guys like me, we don't need beauty sleep. We got enough good looks 24/7!"
Mai laughed. "You wish! So, what's in the agenda for today?"
"We could go to the arcade," Yugi suggested. "I heard they got a new duel monsters game there."
"Alright!" Mai agreed with a glance at Joey. "I can beat this dog's tail into next week."
Joey bristled. Mai always seemed to bring this side of him out. "Your tail- feathers will what's getting kicked!"
Their eyes locked and electricity seemed to connect the teens. Yugi sweat- dropped. "Looks like that's settled..."
~~~~~At the arcade~~~~~~
"Move over, Joey. This is my game!" Mai smirked, picking up a paddle. They were facing each other across the expanse of an Air Hockey game, the big kind you would find in an arcade.
"Don't give me those lies! I've dominated here since I could talk!"
"Which must've been in late elementary school." She smirked. "Place the puck, Joseph, while I'm still young."
He growled and shot the puck over to her side with such force Mai couldn't react before it hit the rim and was sent back at Joey. He swiped at it and it shot back into Mai's goal. It was his turn to smirk.
"Now, now. That was only the first five seconds. Don't get yourself all worked up about THAT..." She plucked the puck out of the slot and sent it back to him. He countered, hit the rim, and scored in his own goal. Mai laughed. "Maybe I should let you play like that while I just-"
She was interrupted by the puck whizzing past her paddle and into her goal. "No fair! I wasn't watching!"
"And dat's why you never turn your back on Joey Wheeler!" He crowed.
On the other side of the room, Yugi was playing a sort of a racing game involving two racecars and two players. A faint form of his Yami was next to him, playing along with him. He intentionally let his light beat him. It was worth it, letting the younger one beat the King of Games, just to see the look on his face.
"We gotta try this one, Yami!" he said after another victory, racing his dark to yet another game. The spirit wasn't one to be left behind and was already there, having seen where Yugi was headed. Yugi glared, but soon brightened as he put in a token and began playing.
In a dark corner, Malik, his Yami, Bakura, and his Yami kneeled, watching the humans as the walked about. The two transparent spirits smirked. This could be fun, if you knew how to work.
Marik took over his light's body and stepped out. A dagger glinted in the dimmed light as Bakura, in his light's body as well, followed suit. Their eyes glinted maliciously. Marik stepped over to a beautiful female who was busy beating a smaller boy at a video game. He tapped her on the shoulder, shoving the boy out of the way.
"Hello, Miss. Wanna play a game?"
She rolled her eyes. "I'm busy, sleazebag. Get the hell outta my face!"
Marik merely smiled. "I'm sure a girl like you cannot refuse a challenge from a worthy opponent. Am I right?"
The girl stared hard at him. He guessed she was...15? 16 maybe. But she'd already bloomed. He was caught up staring at her when her decision startled him out of his trance-like state. "You're on, tough guy!"
"Rules are simple. Loser gives up their soul to the Shadow Realm. Winner gets to leave unscathed. Deal?" Marik held up his Millennium Rod and the room seemed to expand into an endless void. Soon, the two of them were alone in a world of darkness.
"Shadow Realm? Pa-sleaze." The girl scowled. "What kind of idiotic joke is this?" She added, looking around. Some of the fierceness she'd shown before had ebbed away.
"We play a simple game of Duel Monsters. You do know what that is, right?"
The girl rolled her eyes. "That game that everyone was into a while back? Yeah, I know about it. That Yugi, beating Kaiba, what a phony! You're luck's running out, Mister. I happen to have my deck with me today and there'll be no stopping me!"
Marik smirked. His deck appeared in his hand as he picked up the top card and showed it to her. It was a weak monster: Robolady. Three stars, an attack of 450, defense 900. "This card will put an end to you." He laughed at her bemused expression. It was a cold laugh.
"Let's begin, shall we?" the girl asked, regaining her composure. A playing field appeared between them, a fiend power-up. Marik smirked. "Ladies first."
The girl drew. "I summon The All-Seeing White Tiger! In attack mode!" She placed the card on her side and a life-size white tiger appeared above the board, taking up one square. The girl gasped and stepped back.
Marik drew, regarding her with an amused expression. "Haven't you ever played this game before?" He summoned Pale Beast, attack mode, and took out her tiger with one blow, dropping her total life points from 4000 to 3800. "Your move, Princess."
Bakura looked around for suitable prey. Too bad, they should've gone to a place like Hooters, a place in America...maybe they would've found more women to play with. His light was close to fighting back, not liking his counterpart's thoughts. "Hush," he hissed at Ryou. His light didn't protest. Holding out his necklace, Bakura tracked down a young female. She had long black hair and a golden necklace. For a few seconds, Bakura watched her. She reminded him of Isis, from Battle City a while back, but he shook it off and walked up to her. Purring seductively, he put his arms around her waist and whispered into her ear, "Hey there, Beautiful..."
She stiffened and turned to look at him. His well-trained looks gave him the appearance of an innocent boy, more like his light. She purred back, turning in his arms. Playing with his collar, she voiced a question. "What's a handsome thing like you doing at an arcade?"
"I like games." She giggled stupidly, giving the appearance that she had had one too many at the local bar across the street. "What're you doing here?"
"My boyfriend has this bet with this jerk...big money involved." She moaned softly as Bakura started to nibble at her neck.
She had a boyfriend. Great! Big money involved! Perfect! Bakura grinned evilly inwardly. This would be a master plan!
"This guy- your boyfriend. He wouldn't mind it if you came with me for a few minutes, would he?"
"No, of course not." She giggled again. "He leaves me like that all the time!"
Bakura smirked and led her out the door in the back of the room. There were several other doors, some containing spare games and a storage closet. Even more perfect. He tugged her to the latter and shut the door, fumbling for a light. He found a string and tugged, lighting the room dimly. He grinned. This girl was a beauty, especially when her face was shadowed halfway over. Made her look so sexy...that hair, though still tied up, added to the effect.
He shoved her to the ground, soon over her himself. He quickly discarded their clothes; her caught up in a giggle fit as his fingers grazed her smooth skin. He captured her mouth in a bruising kiss before the light went out.
Duke and Tristan stood near the door, watching the activity that was spread out in front of them like a lazy dude (no offense! ^_~) would the TV set. Tristan leaned against the wall, watching Joey's game with Mai progress. 7 to 9, Mai being in the lead. Joey still hadn't run out of insults, and neither had his female partner.
"Look at Yugi! He's gonna have himself worn out before tonight comes..." Duke commented, nodding in that direction. Tristan smiled, then his brow furrowed in thought. Duke noticed. "What is it?"
"I didn't think we could trust Marik and Bakura here. They just always...seem weird. And now look. Where'd they go?"
"You got a point there..." Duke replied, his quick eyes searching the crowds. Then he shrugged. "What harm could they do? This is an arcade."
Tristan didn't reply, only shrugged. He figured Duke was right. They were just entertaining some girls or something in the middle of the crowds. His attention was drawn back to Joey as he let loose a string of curse words in Japanese. Mai had a confident smirk on her face, one that yelled triumph.
"You cheated somehow!" Joey accused, jabbing a finger in Mai's direction once he finished the insults. She calmly, nearly haughty, put her hand over his arm and shoved it out of her way as she walked past him. She walked upstairs to the upper portion of the arcade and out onto a balcony. Joey followed, fuming.
Mai walked over to the railing and stood, looking out across the small portion of Domino she could see. There was the school, a museum, and some other buildings. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder It was Joey. He met her eyes, but she turned away.
"Hey. I'm sorry about all I said back there..." She made dismissive motions with her hand, brushing Joey off. "Doesn't matter," she replied.
"Yes it does," he persisted. "I didn't mean a word of it."
Mai turned back to face Joey. "I know. You never do." She gave him a smile, then motioned to the city. It was beginning to get dark. They had been at the arcade a few hours already, and they hadn't woken up very early to start out with. "Look at it, Joey. It's beautiful..." The sun was setting, setting the sky on fire with color. The taller buildings outlined with that celestial light, the streetlights faint glow combined- it was a pretty sight.
Joey looked sharply at her, surprised. Mai never talked about other things like that. Only herself. When she didn't turn back around another time, he, too, looked out across the city.
"Strange place for an arcade..."
"Got that right," Mai replied.
They stood, shoulder to shoulder, watching the lights of the city for a time before Mai leaned back into Joey's arms. He blinked at her, then smiled and wrapped his arms lightly around her thin frame. She sighed contentedly, one hand resting on Joey's arm, eyes closed. He kissed her hair and held her as the last rays of the sun slipped below the horizon. The moon was rising now, its face bright yet blank. A few early stars winked at the pair.
"Mai...I-" Joey started. He was hushed with a gloved index finger over his lips.
"Don't, Joey."
Joey was both startled and confused by this. She was the one who had given him a single, wasn't she? She was the one that had made the first move! And now... "What?"
"I know what you're about to say." Mai slid from his grasp and walked a few steps away from him. "Joey- it wouldn't work." She turned away from him, unable to meet his eyes. He stepped forward, towards her, but she shook her head and he stopped. "Don't...you'll only make it harder."
"How can it get any harder?" Joey asked, feeling both hurt and annoyed. Had it been that obvious he liked Mai? And why had she waited till now to tell him she knew?
"I'll end up hurting you, I know it." She turned, her eyes watery. "That's the LAST thing I would want to do." She paused and there was a moment of silence between the two. "If things didn't work out...I couldn't bare to loose our friendship."
Joey walked the distance separating them and brought Mai into his arms. She didn't resist, instead she buried her face into his chest. He smoothed out he hair where the wind had blown it askew absentmindedly. "Look, Mai. Things will work out. I-"
"You hardly know anything about me, Joey," she said bitterly. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Please understand, Joseph." With that, she stepped back, then turned and walked back inside, leaving Joey outside in the dark.
He growled and slammed his fist into the brick wall. It didn't move or crumble, only gave Joey's knuckles a scrap. His whole hand throbbed in pain, but Joey didn't notice. He'd just been rejected by the girl he cared most for! He felt numb inside and even the sharpest pain could not find its way through. He wanted someone to slap him, to wake him up from this nightmare. Biting back tears of anger and frustration, he decided one his destination as he jumped the railing and down the two stories to the ground. He landed on his feet with a thud and was thrown off balance and landed on his side.
Joey gasped, feeling like his lungs had been crushed. In reality, he'd only had the wind knocked out of him. He recovered and stood shakily, being forced to a kneeling position. His ankle felt like it was on fire. He checked it for breaks and found none, to his relief. It might be only sprained. He hoped so as he stood up again and walked away as best as he could.
He was going to his dad's place. The one time Joey needed his father, he was there. At least, that was what ran over and over in Joey's mind.
Joey didn't bother to knock when he reached his old house; he just walked right in. As usual, there was junk everywhere. There was hardly space to walk, thanks to all of the beer bottles. The couch and chairs weren't any better off, either. They may have been covered in white cloth to keep off dirt, but Joey could make out brown stains from spilled drinks.
He'd almost reached his old room when he stepped on a beer bottle with his bad foot. Joey gasped as this new pain shot through him and he was thrown into the wall. He grasped the doorknob and opened the door to his hell.
Though drunk, the girl screamed as she reached her peak. Bakura thrust once more and pulled out, giving her a quick kiss as he re-dressed. She was panting, and there was blood everywhere. Turned out she was a virgin. Bakura smirked and ordered her to get dressed. Once she did, he dragged her back out into the main room and dumped her. She clung to his arm, begging for more.
"Slut...surprised I was your first." He finally shook her off and slipped away. She was still drunk as could be. Bakura would bet on at least five other guys claiming her before she was aware of what was happening.
'Wonder where Marik got off to...' Bakura looked around for his friend, but couldn't see part of the room due to a black cloud. The people in the arcade had moved away from the cloud and stood watching. A brave few even tried to step through it, to no avail. "There he is!" Bakura said to himself. He started forward and stepped through the cloud with ease, thanks to his Ring.
What he saw made him smirk. Marik and a girl were in the middle of the Shadow Realm, appearing to be just finishing up a game of duel monsters.
"Attack her Earthbound Spirit, Dark King of the Abyss!" Marik roared, laughing now. There was a flash of dark light and the girl's Earthbound Spirit card was shredded. Her life points dropped even more. She appeared shaken, but stood tall. She drew her card.
I summon Mystic Clown in attack mode. Now, attack his Dark King!" There was another flash and the Dark King disappeared, along with a few hundred life points.
"Nice one, girl. Now, I end this game. I play Dark Hole and send your creature to the Graveyard!" The girl whimpered as her monster was destroyed. "Now, I place Robolady in attack mode. Attack her life points directly!" The monster obeyed, wiping out her remaining life points.
"No...no! I can't lose!" She screamed. She looked wildly about her, seeing things no one else could. Illusions. She screamed and fell backward. Marik stepped towards her, Rod raised.
"Now, my dear. Time for you to lose your mind!" He lowered the Rod to her temple. There was a flash of light and reversed colors (like on a picture negative) and the girl slumped to the ground, soulless. Marik smirked and kneeled to pick the girl up. He held her in one arm and approached the end of the fog. His hair, which had stood up upon entering the Shadow Realm, lay back down, making him appear like the innocent boy that had been destroyed so long ago when he was branded to serve the dead Pharaoh. Bakura was in Ryou's form, looking just as innocent. A look from his friend told Bakura all he needed to know. No one would ever find out what they did. It was better to sneak it up on them, after all.
The two emerged, gasping for breath. Bakura had somehow made his face look all beaten up, and Marik was limping. The girl's father, drawn in by the commotion and the late time, saw her limp body and rushed to her, grabbing the girl away from Marik.
"I'm...so sorry, sir," Marik said, breathless. "We...can too late...we saw who did this, but we couldn't...save her. He got away." He hung his head, appearing disgusted in himself. The father was in tears, being unable to wake her up. A boy a little older than the girl, tears streaming down his face at the loss of his sister, stepped up to Marik and bowed. "Thank you for- trying to-help," He choked out.
The family departed, broken-hearted. Marik shook his head and shot a look at Bakura. The white-haired one smirked. The crowd dispersed soon after the family left. A few went after them to help, but most returned to their games. Tristan and Duke approached Marik.
"What did you do that for?!" Tristan roared, his face red in anger.
"Do what? I only tried to save that young girl!" Marik replied, his features making him seem hurt at the assumption.
"Bull!"
Duke put a hand on his arm. "He could do the same to you, Bud." Tristan glared at Marik, then turned and sulked off. Duke cast a glare Bakura's way as well, sensing he wasn't as innocent at he appeared to be before following Tristan. With that, the two spirits let their Lights take over again.
"Ick! I feel...yucky!!" Ryou said, dusting himself off. "What happened?" His friend shrugged.
"Whatever did happen, I don't think it was good. I feel evilly happy for some reason."
"Me too. Like I did something that pleased me deeply."
They looked at each other. "Let's find the others!" they said in unison, running off into the crowd.
Yugi and his Yami had been at the very end of the crowd as they watched Marik emerge with the girl. Yami appeared sickened, scowling at Marik as he walked. But Yugi had believed their story, the kindhearted boy he was. He was one to believe his friends could do no wrong. He cheered for Marik and Bakura, though they had come too late to save the girl from whatever dark forces had created that Shadow Realm.
"Yugi."
"Yes, Yami?"
"Do you truly believe that Marik didn't open the portal into the Shadow Realm, that he didn't take the girl's soul?" Yami sighed at Yugi's reply. He should have expected his light would stick up for them.
"Ryou was with him and I'm sure he wouldn't let Malik get out of hand." Yugi's smile faltered. "You don't think that they were the cause of all that grief?"
"We'll see, Yugi." With that, the spirit faded back into the puzzle. Yugi sighed and looked around for the others. 'Better go find them...get them all away from here.'
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Zero: Ok, that's done. It was LONG, a whole 13 pages. I cut it off, gotta save some for the next chapter! ^_~ I finally got a real plot for this! I'm thinking ahead more than the next sentence! I will finish this story with flying colors. Ok! Sorry if the name changing for Ryou and Malik's Yamis was confusing. They're basically the same, I just call the Lights Ryou and Malik (Yugi mainly sees these) and the Yamis as Marik and Bakura (Yugi's Yami tends to see through to these guys). So, any questions, comments, complaints, or compliments for me? I typed the most part of this (about 12 pages) on New Year's Eve and the VERY morning of New Year's Day...just had to add that in! ^^
Please, review!
P.S. Lauren will be there when the gang goes back to school, for those of my kind reviewers who like her!
I've finally started reading the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, and I'm up to Duel 14: The Man from Egypt (part 2). I got to tell ya...I'm lovin' Jonouchi even more! Also...I've never really seen much of his dad, but now I have...
Now, for more of this story!
DISCLAIMER: don't own, wish I did
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Joey's Diary chapter 4
'Dear Diary,
There's no point to this book, I swear...
That party last night kept my mind offa' dad, at least for a little while. I'm the only one up right now. Duke's snoring and Tristan's talking in his sleep! Yugi...he's as quiet as always. I slept well, I guess. At least until that nightmare reared its ugly head! I guess I'll write it here...maybe it'll leave me alone then.
It started out as a normal dream, ya know, that you-don't-know-where- you-are-but-that-don'-matter kinda thing. So, I was walking down the street and Yugi was with me. We were talkin' about nothin' really and Mai shows up. She says she wants to show me something, and that Yugi should wait for us at the street corner. She turns and leads me down an alleyway, but Kaiba appears between us, his ugly face in a glower. Now, if dat wasn't enough to give me the creeps, I sure had them when he SMILED! KAIBA smiled! He reached his hand out toward me...and touched me! Mai, by this time, was out of sight. I did nothin' but stand there, stunned. His blue eyes met mine, and I realized just how clear his were. I think I lost myself in them, 'cuz the next thing I know, I'm in my house. Dad's home and the place is a mess. It had always been my job to keep the place clean, in case of unexpected visitors, but I've been gone for a week or so, so it's only natural that it's so messy.
I stepped forward, my foot brushing against a beer bottle. "Who's there?!" a too-familiar voice roared from the next room. I shuddered, to nervous to reply. "I said, who the hell's in my house!"
"Your- I mean, Joey Wheeler."
My dad stepped into view, looking terrible. "I knew a Joey Wheeler once, called himself my son, caused my wife to leave me. But that bastard should be dead by now, bones picked clean by rodents!"
That was hard to take. I mean, I knew my father didn't care for me, but still... I stumbled back, glancing over my shoulder for the doorknob. I found it, thank the gods! I like dreams like that, where you're looking for something and it appears there for ya.
I got outta there as fast as my legs would carry me- and straight into Mr. Smartness himself. Kaiba stared down at me; I guess I'd fallen to the ground at that point. He raised an eyebrow slightly, a smirk playing upon his lips.
Those lips.
I shook my head, sure my brain was rattling in there. I couldn't be thinking like that! I like GIRLS! I like...Mai.
Ok, It's true. I have a thing for her. But for some reason, I couldn't think of her or anyone when I stared into those eyes. It was like-'
"What'cha writing?"
Joey jumped, startled at the voice. He slammed his notebook shut and spun around- only to get caught up in the covers he'd borrowed from Yugi for the night.
"DUKE!" Joey said, relieved and mad at the same time. "You scared the crap outta me!"
Duke chuckled. "It was worth it, Puppy Dog. Now, tell me." His hand reached for the notebook. "What were you writing, so early this morning?"
'That name again...' Joey thought to himself. He shook his head defiantly. "I'm not tellin' ya!"
Duke sighed and grabbed for the notebook that was Joey's makeshift diary. Joey growled and snapped at Duke's wrist, while tugging the book away with both hands. "HA!" Joey said triumphantly. Duke growled.
"Alright, alright. Don't get your collar all tied up."
Joey looked blankly at him. "'Dat was bad, Duke." Duke scowled and proceeded to cleaning up his sleeping area. The girls had moved to another room for the night, so the guys had the room a total mess. Not that Joey cared. He rolled back over on the couch and continued writing.
'Well...it was like something. I don't think I like it too much. I will not let myself fall for that jackass!'
~~~An hour later~~~
The girls came down, a sweet shampoo smell trailing them. Joey grinned and waved. "How nice of you two sleeping beauties to come and join us!"
Mai waved back, and then brought her hand up to her face, examining her nails. "A girl needs her beauty sleep, Joseph."
Joey leaned back, his usual cocky self. "Guys like me, we don't need beauty sleep. We got enough good looks 24/7!"
Mai laughed. "You wish! So, what's in the agenda for today?"
"We could go to the arcade," Yugi suggested. "I heard they got a new duel monsters game there."
"Alright!" Mai agreed with a glance at Joey. "I can beat this dog's tail into next week."
Joey bristled. Mai always seemed to bring this side of him out. "Your tail- feathers will what's getting kicked!"
Their eyes locked and electricity seemed to connect the teens. Yugi sweat- dropped. "Looks like that's settled..."
~~~~~At the arcade~~~~~~
"Move over, Joey. This is my game!" Mai smirked, picking up a paddle. They were facing each other across the expanse of an Air Hockey game, the big kind you would find in an arcade.
"Don't give me those lies! I've dominated here since I could talk!"
"Which must've been in late elementary school." She smirked. "Place the puck, Joseph, while I'm still young."
He growled and shot the puck over to her side with such force Mai couldn't react before it hit the rim and was sent back at Joey. He swiped at it and it shot back into Mai's goal. It was his turn to smirk.
"Now, now. That was only the first five seconds. Don't get yourself all worked up about THAT..." She plucked the puck out of the slot and sent it back to him. He countered, hit the rim, and scored in his own goal. Mai laughed. "Maybe I should let you play like that while I just-"
She was interrupted by the puck whizzing past her paddle and into her goal. "No fair! I wasn't watching!"
"And dat's why you never turn your back on Joey Wheeler!" He crowed.
On the other side of the room, Yugi was playing a sort of a racing game involving two racecars and two players. A faint form of his Yami was next to him, playing along with him. He intentionally let his light beat him. It was worth it, letting the younger one beat the King of Games, just to see the look on his face.
"We gotta try this one, Yami!" he said after another victory, racing his dark to yet another game. The spirit wasn't one to be left behind and was already there, having seen where Yugi was headed. Yugi glared, but soon brightened as he put in a token and began playing.
In a dark corner, Malik, his Yami, Bakura, and his Yami kneeled, watching the humans as the walked about. The two transparent spirits smirked. This could be fun, if you knew how to work.
Marik took over his light's body and stepped out. A dagger glinted in the dimmed light as Bakura, in his light's body as well, followed suit. Their eyes glinted maliciously. Marik stepped over to a beautiful female who was busy beating a smaller boy at a video game. He tapped her on the shoulder, shoving the boy out of the way.
"Hello, Miss. Wanna play a game?"
She rolled her eyes. "I'm busy, sleazebag. Get the hell outta my face!"
Marik merely smiled. "I'm sure a girl like you cannot refuse a challenge from a worthy opponent. Am I right?"
The girl stared hard at him. He guessed she was...15? 16 maybe. But she'd already bloomed. He was caught up staring at her when her decision startled him out of his trance-like state. "You're on, tough guy!"
"Rules are simple. Loser gives up their soul to the Shadow Realm. Winner gets to leave unscathed. Deal?" Marik held up his Millennium Rod and the room seemed to expand into an endless void. Soon, the two of them were alone in a world of darkness.
"Shadow Realm? Pa-sleaze." The girl scowled. "What kind of idiotic joke is this?" She added, looking around. Some of the fierceness she'd shown before had ebbed away.
"We play a simple game of Duel Monsters. You do know what that is, right?"
The girl rolled her eyes. "That game that everyone was into a while back? Yeah, I know about it. That Yugi, beating Kaiba, what a phony! You're luck's running out, Mister. I happen to have my deck with me today and there'll be no stopping me!"
Marik smirked. His deck appeared in his hand as he picked up the top card and showed it to her. It was a weak monster: Robolady. Three stars, an attack of 450, defense 900. "This card will put an end to you." He laughed at her bemused expression. It was a cold laugh.
"Let's begin, shall we?" the girl asked, regaining her composure. A playing field appeared between them, a fiend power-up. Marik smirked. "Ladies first."
The girl drew. "I summon The All-Seeing White Tiger! In attack mode!" She placed the card on her side and a life-size white tiger appeared above the board, taking up one square. The girl gasped and stepped back.
Marik drew, regarding her with an amused expression. "Haven't you ever played this game before?" He summoned Pale Beast, attack mode, and took out her tiger with one blow, dropping her total life points from 4000 to 3800. "Your move, Princess."
Bakura looked around for suitable prey. Too bad, they should've gone to a place like Hooters, a place in America...maybe they would've found more women to play with. His light was close to fighting back, not liking his counterpart's thoughts. "Hush," he hissed at Ryou. His light didn't protest. Holding out his necklace, Bakura tracked down a young female. She had long black hair and a golden necklace. For a few seconds, Bakura watched her. She reminded him of Isis, from Battle City a while back, but he shook it off and walked up to her. Purring seductively, he put his arms around her waist and whispered into her ear, "Hey there, Beautiful..."
She stiffened and turned to look at him. His well-trained looks gave him the appearance of an innocent boy, more like his light. She purred back, turning in his arms. Playing with his collar, she voiced a question. "What's a handsome thing like you doing at an arcade?"
"I like games." She giggled stupidly, giving the appearance that she had had one too many at the local bar across the street. "What're you doing here?"
"My boyfriend has this bet with this jerk...big money involved." She moaned softly as Bakura started to nibble at her neck.
She had a boyfriend. Great! Big money involved! Perfect! Bakura grinned evilly inwardly. This would be a master plan!
"This guy- your boyfriend. He wouldn't mind it if you came with me for a few minutes, would he?"
"No, of course not." She giggled again. "He leaves me like that all the time!"
Bakura smirked and led her out the door in the back of the room. There were several other doors, some containing spare games and a storage closet. Even more perfect. He tugged her to the latter and shut the door, fumbling for a light. He found a string and tugged, lighting the room dimly. He grinned. This girl was a beauty, especially when her face was shadowed halfway over. Made her look so sexy...that hair, though still tied up, added to the effect.
He shoved her to the ground, soon over her himself. He quickly discarded their clothes; her caught up in a giggle fit as his fingers grazed her smooth skin. He captured her mouth in a bruising kiss before the light went out.
Duke and Tristan stood near the door, watching the activity that was spread out in front of them like a lazy dude (no offense! ^_~) would the TV set. Tristan leaned against the wall, watching Joey's game with Mai progress. 7 to 9, Mai being in the lead. Joey still hadn't run out of insults, and neither had his female partner.
"Look at Yugi! He's gonna have himself worn out before tonight comes..." Duke commented, nodding in that direction. Tristan smiled, then his brow furrowed in thought. Duke noticed. "What is it?"
"I didn't think we could trust Marik and Bakura here. They just always...seem weird. And now look. Where'd they go?"
"You got a point there..." Duke replied, his quick eyes searching the crowds. Then he shrugged. "What harm could they do? This is an arcade."
Tristan didn't reply, only shrugged. He figured Duke was right. They were just entertaining some girls or something in the middle of the crowds. His attention was drawn back to Joey as he let loose a string of curse words in Japanese. Mai had a confident smirk on her face, one that yelled triumph.
"You cheated somehow!" Joey accused, jabbing a finger in Mai's direction once he finished the insults. She calmly, nearly haughty, put her hand over his arm and shoved it out of her way as she walked past him. She walked upstairs to the upper portion of the arcade and out onto a balcony. Joey followed, fuming.
Mai walked over to the railing and stood, looking out across the small portion of Domino she could see. There was the school, a museum, and some other buildings. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder It was Joey. He met her eyes, but she turned away.
"Hey. I'm sorry about all I said back there..." She made dismissive motions with her hand, brushing Joey off. "Doesn't matter," she replied.
"Yes it does," he persisted. "I didn't mean a word of it."
Mai turned back to face Joey. "I know. You never do." She gave him a smile, then motioned to the city. It was beginning to get dark. They had been at the arcade a few hours already, and they hadn't woken up very early to start out with. "Look at it, Joey. It's beautiful..." The sun was setting, setting the sky on fire with color. The taller buildings outlined with that celestial light, the streetlights faint glow combined- it was a pretty sight.
Joey looked sharply at her, surprised. Mai never talked about other things like that. Only herself. When she didn't turn back around another time, he, too, looked out across the city.
"Strange place for an arcade..."
"Got that right," Mai replied.
They stood, shoulder to shoulder, watching the lights of the city for a time before Mai leaned back into Joey's arms. He blinked at her, then smiled and wrapped his arms lightly around her thin frame. She sighed contentedly, one hand resting on Joey's arm, eyes closed. He kissed her hair and held her as the last rays of the sun slipped below the horizon. The moon was rising now, its face bright yet blank. A few early stars winked at the pair.
"Mai...I-" Joey started. He was hushed with a gloved index finger over his lips.
"Don't, Joey."
Joey was both startled and confused by this. She was the one who had given him a single, wasn't she? She was the one that had made the first move! And now... "What?"
"I know what you're about to say." Mai slid from his grasp and walked a few steps away from him. "Joey- it wouldn't work." She turned away from him, unable to meet his eyes. He stepped forward, towards her, but she shook her head and he stopped. "Don't...you'll only make it harder."
"How can it get any harder?" Joey asked, feeling both hurt and annoyed. Had it been that obvious he liked Mai? And why had she waited till now to tell him she knew?
"I'll end up hurting you, I know it." She turned, her eyes watery. "That's the LAST thing I would want to do." She paused and there was a moment of silence between the two. "If things didn't work out...I couldn't bare to loose our friendship."
Joey walked the distance separating them and brought Mai into his arms. She didn't resist, instead she buried her face into his chest. He smoothed out he hair where the wind had blown it askew absentmindedly. "Look, Mai. Things will work out. I-"
"You hardly know anything about me, Joey," she said bitterly. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Please understand, Joseph." With that, she stepped back, then turned and walked back inside, leaving Joey outside in the dark.
He growled and slammed his fist into the brick wall. It didn't move or crumble, only gave Joey's knuckles a scrap. His whole hand throbbed in pain, but Joey didn't notice. He'd just been rejected by the girl he cared most for! He felt numb inside and even the sharpest pain could not find its way through. He wanted someone to slap him, to wake him up from this nightmare. Biting back tears of anger and frustration, he decided one his destination as he jumped the railing and down the two stories to the ground. He landed on his feet with a thud and was thrown off balance and landed on his side.
Joey gasped, feeling like his lungs had been crushed. In reality, he'd only had the wind knocked out of him. He recovered and stood shakily, being forced to a kneeling position. His ankle felt like it was on fire. He checked it for breaks and found none, to his relief. It might be only sprained. He hoped so as he stood up again and walked away as best as he could.
He was going to his dad's place. The one time Joey needed his father, he was there. At least, that was what ran over and over in Joey's mind.
Joey didn't bother to knock when he reached his old house; he just walked right in. As usual, there was junk everywhere. There was hardly space to walk, thanks to all of the beer bottles. The couch and chairs weren't any better off, either. They may have been covered in white cloth to keep off dirt, but Joey could make out brown stains from spilled drinks.
He'd almost reached his old room when he stepped on a beer bottle with his bad foot. Joey gasped as this new pain shot through him and he was thrown into the wall. He grasped the doorknob and opened the door to his hell.
Though drunk, the girl screamed as she reached her peak. Bakura thrust once more and pulled out, giving her a quick kiss as he re-dressed. She was panting, and there was blood everywhere. Turned out she was a virgin. Bakura smirked and ordered her to get dressed. Once she did, he dragged her back out into the main room and dumped her. She clung to his arm, begging for more.
"Slut...surprised I was your first." He finally shook her off and slipped away. She was still drunk as could be. Bakura would bet on at least five other guys claiming her before she was aware of what was happening.
'Wonder where Marik got off to...' Bakura looked around for his friend, but couldn't see part of the room due to a black cloud. The people in the arcade had moved away from the cloud and stood watching. A brave few even tried to step through it, to no avail. "There he is!" Bakura said to himself. He started forward and stepped through the cloud with ease, thanks to his Ring.
What he saw made him smirk. Marik and a girl were in the middle of the Shadow Realm, appearing to be just finishing up a game of duel monsters.
"Attack her Earthbound Spirit, Dark King of the Abyss!" Marik roared, laughing now. There was a flash of dark light and the girl's Earthbound Spirit card was shredded. Her life points dropped even more. She appeared shaken, but stood tall. She drew her card.
I summon Mystic Clown in attack mode. Now, attack his Dark King!" There was another flash and the Dark King disappeared, along with a few hundred life points.
"Nice one, girl. Now, I end this game. I play Dark Hole and send your creature to the Graveyard!" The girl whimpered as her monster was destroyed. "Now, I place Robolady in attack mode. Attack her life points directly!" The monster obeyed, wiping out her remaining life points.
"No...no! I can't lose!" She screamed. She looked wildly about her, seeing things no one else could. Illusions. She screamed and fell backward. Marik stepped towards her, Rod raised.
"Now, my dear. Time for you to lose your mind!" He lowered the Rod to her temple. There was a flash of light and reversed colors (like on a picture negative) and the girl slumped to the ground, soulless. Marik smirked and kneeled to pick the girl up. He held her in one arm and approached the end of the fog. His hair, which had stood up upon entering the Shadow Realm, lay back down, making him appear like the innocent boy that had been destroyed so long ago when he was branded to serve the dead Pharaoh. Bakura was in Ryou's form, looking just as innocent. A look from his friend told Bakura all he needed to know. No one would ever find out what they did. It was better to sneak it up on them, after all.
The two emerged, gasping for breath. Bakura had somehow made his face look all beaten up, and Marik was limping. The girl's father, drawn in by the commotion and the late time, saw her limp body and rushed to her, grabbing the girl away from Marik.
"I'm...so sorry, sir," Marik said, breathless. "We...can too late...we saw who did this, but we couldn't...save her. He got away." He hung his head, appearing disgusted in himself. The father was in tears, being unable to wake her up. A boy a little older than the girl, tears streaming down his face at the loss of his sister, stepped up to Marik and bowed. "Thank you for- trying to-help," He choked out.
The family departed, broken-hearted. Marik shook his head and shot a look at Bakura. The white-haired one smirked. The crowd dispersed soon after the family left. A few went after them to help, but most returned to their games. Tristan and Duke approached Marik.
"What did you do that for?!" Tristan roared, his face red in anger.
"Do what? I only tried to save that young girl!" Marik replied, his features making him seem hurt at the assumption.
"Bull!"
Duke put a hand on his arm. "He could do the same to you, Bud." Tristan glared at Marik, then turned and sulked off. Duke cast a glare Bakura's way as well, sensing he wasn't as innocent at he appeared to be before following Tristan. With that, the two spirits let their Lights take over again.
"Ick! I feel...yucky!!" Ryou said, dusting himself off. "What happened?" His friend shrugged.
"Whatever did happen, I don't think it was good. I feel evilly happy for some reason."
"Me too. Like I did something that pleased me deeply."
They looked at each other. "Let's find the others!" they said in unison, running off into the crowd.
Yugi and his Yami had been at the very end of the crowd as they watched Marik emerge with the girl. Yami appeared sickened, scowling at Marik as he walked. But Yugi had believed their story, the kindhearted boy he was. He was one to believe his friends could do no wrong. He cheered for Marik and Bakura, though they had come too late to save the girl from whatever dark forces had created that Shadow Realm.
"Yugi."
"Yes, Yami?"
"Do you truly believe that Marik didn't open the portal into the Shadow Realm, that he didn't take the girl's soul?" Yami sighed at Yugi's reply. He should have expected his light would stick up for them.
"Ryou was with him and I'm sure he wouldn't let Malik get out of hand." Yugi's smile faltered. "You don't think that they were the cause of all that grief?"
"We'll see, Yugi." With that, the spirit faded back into the puzzle. Yugi sighed and looked around for the others. 'Better go find them...get them all away from here.'
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Zero: Ok, that's done. It was LONG, a whole 13 pages. I cut it off, gotta save some for the next chapter! ^_~ I finally got a real plot for this! I'm thinking ahead more than the next sentence! I will finish this story with flying colors. Ok! Sorry if the name changing for Ryou and Malik's Yamis was confusing. They're basically the same, I just call the Lights Ryou and Malik (Yugi mainly sees these) and the Yamis as Marik and Bakura (Yugi's Yami tends to see through to these guys). So, any questions, comments, complaints, or compliments for me? I typed the most part of this (about 12 pages) on New Year's Eve and the VERY morning of New Year's Day...just had to add that in! ^^
Please, review!
P.S. Lauren will be there when the gang goes back to school, for those of my kind reviewers who like her!