Joey's
head was full of thoughts as he made his way home from school.
He
couldn't remember how long he and Yugi had been friends now, but he
knew that the events of the past few days would never be forgotten,
by himself, Yugi, Tea or Tristan.
Since Yugi introduced Joey
to the card game known as Duel Monsters, nothing had been the
same.
It hardly seemed like a couple of days ago that Yugi
beat the world champion Duel Monsters player, Seto Kaiba, in a duel.
Joey would never forget that duel.
Kaiba only duelled Yugi's
grandpa to try and get his ultra rare Blue-Eyes White Dragon card.
And when Kaiba did win, he tore up Yugi's grandpa's Blue-Eyes!
And when Yugi decided to duel Kaiba himself to get revenge, they
played on a field where the monsters actually came to life using
Kaiba Corp's revolutionary holographic technology.
As Joey
turned the corner into his street, he smiled as he remembered Kaiba's
face when Yugi summoned the unstoppable Exodia and won the
match!
Then Joey's heart sank a little as he remembered that
he didn't have his Duel Monsters lessons tonight. Solomon Muto knew
so much about the card game, and Yugi had persuaded him to teach Joey
how to play properly. Joey had been working non- stop under Solomon's
tutoring, but it looked like he'd have to wait a while until his
next lesson. The head of Industrial Illusions, the company that makes
the Duel Monsters cards, Maximillion Pegasus, had sent Yugi a package
containing a weird glove, some stars and a video. Pegasus must have
heard of Yugi's defeat over Kaiba, just like everyone else. When
Yugi put the video on, he had to duel Pegasus! On a video! Joey
hadn't quite figured out how that worked, but he knew that Pegasus
beat Yugi and snatched his Grandpa's soul! Joey didn't actually
remember it happening, but he knew that it did.
Joey sighed as
he pulled out his keys to open his apartment door. So much had
happened to them, but he had a feeling all the trouble had just
begun.
Joey got inside and realised his father wasn't home
again. He threw down his backpack and fell on to the sofa. What more
could happen? And how were they going to get Solomon's soul
back?
Just then, Joey noticed the mail on the coffee table. He
began to shuffle through it absent-mindedly. He stopped as he reached
a square package addressed to him.
He pulled off the paper,
and found a video inside. There was no label or note or
anything.
"Wonder who this is from?" Joey said to himself.
He shrugged and put it in the video player and pressed the play
button.
"Hey there, big brother. How've you been? I really
miss you."
"Serenity?" Joey stared at the TV in
disbelief as his little sister's face appeared on the screen,
smiling her same usual smile, but looking a lot older than she did
when Joey last saw her.
"I can't believe it's been six
years since we've seen each other!" Serenity's image beamed.
"I'll never forget the day mom took me to live with her."
Joey's
head filled with the thoughts of the day when that happened. He could
even see it playing out in front of him. He didn't think he'd
ever forget that day either, even though he wanted to.
"I'm
sending you this video just so you don't forget your little
sister's face."
Joey stared at the screen, dumbstruck. How
could he ever forget Serenity?
"It seems like I'm running
out of time. I was hoping to see you once more before...well, you
understand. Bye-bye, brother."
"Run out of time?" It
can't be..."
"So long. Take care, Joey." Serenity's
face faded from the screen.
Joey stared at the TV, his eyes
brimming with tears, hoping there was something more on the tape. But
there wasn't. "Serenity..."
Joey tossed and turned in
his bed that night, thinking of Serenity. It couldn't be happening,
could it? She couldn't really be going blind?
Joey felt
confused. He was at a loss. He couldn't contact Serenity, as she
hadn't left an address or telephone number. If the time really had
come, he knew that the only way forward was for his sister to have
the operation that he heard his parents talking about all those years
ago.
From memory, he recalled the price of the operation was
expensive. Very expensive.
Joey tried to concentrate as he
remembered his promise to himself when he was a kid. He wasn't
about to let Serenity down now. He needed to find the money for the
operation.
But how...?
