ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR
Elenion: I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or anything associated with it.
KrNKyutEe- lol. Sorry to keep you waiting and thank you! But the next chapter's here now, and that's all that matters, right? I hope so anyways...
kikoken- Thanks so much for the great compliment! It's always so nice to hear things like that. Makes me blush actually... Anyways, I won't waste any more of your time. I'm sure the story's much more interesting.
Yamiko Yakou- Cliffhangers are possibly the most evil tool that any writer can use... You're so right about that. For that, I apologize. And you're very welcome for reviewing your stories. It was great fun. I mean, you're one of my favorite authors. Which reminds me, I have to get around to actually plugging in my favorites into my account.
Eternity's Angel- Well, as for who's on the phone... you shall see. Lol. Don't you hate cliffhangers? But thanks, and I'll try to update often.
Sakura- Very good guess. It just seemed like the most logical thing, didn't it? And don't worry, Seto and Serenity will meet up again... very soon.
Baka Neko Molly-Chan- lol. What can I say? Thanks! Glad you liked it so much. Read on!
Princess Seren- Many thanks! I try to keep the plots interesting. But I do have a very bad habit of putting in cliffhangers. Sorry...
Elenion: I'll shut up now so that you can actually read the story.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 5
Joey listened carefully to the phone line. There didn't seem to be any reply. That couldn't be a good thing. He took a breath, trying to let the airflow calm his shrilly singing nerves.
"Hello?" he repeated, less shakily this time.
Silence.
Serenity wrung her hands worriedly together. From the confused look on her brother's face, it didn't appear that this call meant anything good for them. Despite herself, she just had to know. "Who is it, Joey?" she whispered softly.
There finally came a sound from the other line:
Click. Dial tone.
Serenity saw her brother's eyes widen as the telltale buzzing filled his ears. Hand beginning to shake now, Joey pulled the receiver away from his ear. He gazed fearfully at it as if it had just uttered his death sentence right then and there. Somehow, Serenity's older brother felt that something wasn't quite right. He closed his hazel eyes, thinking.
"Joey..."
His eyes snapped open to stare straight into a more innocent, yet still similar, pair of eyes to his own.
"... who was it?"
Serenity watched as her brother swallowed, as he hesitantly returned the receiver to its rightful place. "It was... nobody."
At that particular moment, Joey was wondering what exactly he should tell her. The young blonde man didn't feel up to coming right out and saying that the call had scared the hell out of him. It meant that someone knew where they were... but they didn't know who exactly that "someone" was.
His eyes wandered into all the dark nooks and crannies of the drab apartment. Everything felt so foreign, as if this whole revolution was just part of some distant nightmare- that none of this was actually happening. But it was real. Every little speck of dust on the windowsills, every cracked and creaking floorboard was just as real as his little sister standing by his side.
And suddenly, looking around, he knew that he'd miss none of it.
Suddenly, his eyes hardened with resolve. This had all gone on far too long. Joey locked eyes with those of sister once more. In the dark light, their sweet honey color had been transformed to more of an ebony. 'She doesn't deserve ta live like dis...What did she eva do ta anyone?'
Serenity chewed silently on her lip wondering what on earth was going through her big brother's head now. Some sort of change had come over him, and she didn't know what the outcome of it would be.
Putting on a brave face, Joey firmly grasped her slender, bruised hand. "Serenity, we're leavin'. Ta-night."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A pair of steely blue eyes gleamed with unreadable emotions.
Seto Kaiba felt a grin creep over his shocking features as he smoothly flicked his cell phone closed and stashed it in his pocket.
'Very interesting...'Methodically, his long, slender fingers traced over the engraved surface of the cold metal locket. It had become an inexplicable habit of his.
'So I found you, kid.'
Kaiba's gaze shifted to watch silently as the rebels' office building became virtually the size of a postage stamp. The soft purr of the Kaiba Corp chopper echoed all about him. His eyes were plagued with steely amusement. There would be hell to pay when Pegasus was informed that one of his confidential files had been bartered away. To Seto Kaiba, of all people.
The CEO's attention suddenly focused on the manila file folder laying open on his knee. At least the accuracy of this pathetic information was somewhat accurate. After some idiotic male had answered the phone, he'd wondered... But then he'd heard a familiar voice in the background: "Who is it, Joey?"
So her last name was Wheeler. When all was said and done, that didn't really mean much.
On closer examination, Kaiba saw that she did indeed have a brother- Joseph. The power-hungry man snorted contemptuously. 'Joey... What a stupid name...' It just rang of average intelligence, and that was one thing that the technology prodigy had really come to utterly despise.
But who really knew what else was in this file? Other than a phone number and some statistics, of course.
Ring!Kaiba's eyes narrowed dangerously. 'This had better be fucking good.' His hand calmly plucked the obnoxiously ringing cell phone from his pocket. 'Those morons can never do anything right.' The arctic eyes narrowed even further. How he hated incompetence...
"Kaiba," he said gruffly, yet authoritatively, into the small phone.
"Sir, there's some activity from one of your orders. I thought that you'd want to be informed about it."
At least it was something worth his while. "Which order?"
"One minute, Mr. Kaiba..." There was a small pause that left Kaiba just enough time to nearly lose his patience. "... It's Ishtar- the projection software and the... CRES."
Kaiba grit his teeth at the name. CRES. He had never meant to call his project anything so ludicrous, but while he had been debating over names, his employees had thought up CRES. Needless to say, it just stuck.
"Apparently they didn't suspect any tampering or surveillance on our part, sir."
Kaiba smirked, despite himself. So Marik had decided to use the CRES afterall.
The CRES- Chain Reaction Explosive System: It was one of Kaiba Corp's best projects- and most profitable(despite its title). From long distances away, any one man could control exactly when to set off a series of highly-mechanized explosives. In small doses, these explosives were relatively weak, but in large batches, they were unbelievably effective. It gave a whole new meaning to 'the power of teamwork'.
Kaiba's steely eyes gleamed.
But the real beauty of the Chain Reaction Explosive System was that the blast could be recalled by the press of a button. The moment that the operator decided to abort, a signal immediately stopped the next explosive in the line from igniting. It was an easily-controlled, efficient weapon. So far, both sides had used the systems for various destructions to each other... but just in case, Kaiba had decided to survey each CRES. It was something that Kaiba had decided not to tell his clients.
"They seem to be preparing their next target, sir."
"I'll be right there."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Serenity's head was bursting with new information as she was whisked through alleyways and past intersections. Her lungs were burning, but Joey didn't want to slow down. Not for anything. Granted, she couldn't blame him- the streets were no place for any unarmed person. However, the petite girl just needed some time to sort things out.
Insecure.
That was all she felt at that moment. Any other emotion she might have felt at that point had long since gone numb.
All her in her sight was a collage of dark images- mostly manmade. Streetlamps, parked cars, chipped sidewalks... It was going by so fast, Serenity barely had any clue where she and her brother were going. All in all, she felt liked she'd left her mind back in their apartment.
They came to an abrupt halt.
"We're... here," Joey panted.
Bewildered, Serenity gazed all around, trying to resume her normal breathing pattern. She didn't really know what he meant by 'here'. This place looked like just another dark alley. Nothing seemed to make sense. Long, heavy sprints were not something Serenity did on a daily basis... and it hurt. Every inhalation was painful, but Joey seemed unaffected.
"C'mon, sis," Joey said hurriedly, pulling her by her hand gently. He walked stiffly up to a door- it seemed just like any other apartment.
He knocked four consecutive times.
There was the obvious sound of bolts being undone on the door. With a creak on lopsided hinges, the heavy wooden door was swung open. Sparse lighting flooded through the open door, and someone stood silhouetted in the doorway... None other than-
"Mai!" Joey practically shouted in the quiet city air.
Her violet eyes gave him a dangerous look to shush him, yet at the same time, her hand shot out and dragged him and his little sister inside. "You're so surprised to see me, Joseph? I thought I talked to you about this not long ago..." Mai slammed the door nimbly behind them.
"I know, it's just-"
"This is the perfect time to get out of here, Joey. You obviously know that too."
Serenity began looking around the room. It was mostly compromised of shades of faded red. At one time, it had probably been quite colorful- elegant even. It rang of extravagance and something bright and happy that had become tired. But now, time had worn it down just like everything else. It stood as a monument of nicer times when opening a blind wasn't dangerous. There was another door on the other side of the room... So what were they waiting for?
As if on cue, the door in the back opened almost with a flourish. A young man- not much older than Joey- came into the room with a confident stride. He was good-looking, and he seemed to know it, as he stared at the three occupants in the room with blazing emerald eyes. He brushed a stray strand of black hair from his face, as if annoyed that it hadn't stayed tied up. "Valentine, Wheeler, and..."
His voice trailed off as his gaze rested on Serenity.
"Wheeler," Joey said, nodding his head at his little sister.
He raised one black eyebrow, fiddling idly with a small die hanging from his ear. "Ah, so this is Serenity..."
So he knew who she was? This only managed to bring a headache crashing down onto the already perturbed auburn-haired girl.
Joey tapped his foot impatiently. "Devlin, just cut ta da chase. Ya know why we're here."
"Tsk, tsk. You didn't even allow me to introduce myself," the man said smoothly sharp green eyes boring into Serenity's. "I... am Duke Devlin."
"... pompous jerk extraordinaire," Mai hissed under her breath, but just loud enough for everyone else to hear.
Duke's eyes rounded on the violet-eyed blonde. "And I'm also you're only ticket out of here."
Mai was immediately silenced, but that sure as hell didn't keep her from glaring daggers at him. It wasn't that she hated him. On the contrary, she found Duke Devlin to be an all right guy. But she was in a rotten mood- simple as that. Anyone and everything was getting on her nerves, and it seemed to be rubbing off on other people like a disease.
'Out of here?' Serenity sighed internally, feeling numbly defeated. So they were leaving the country afterall. It was only a matter of time before everything even remotely familiar to her was gone... and all she had were the clothes on her back and a useless ID.
"I figured you'd be back. You know, there's one leaving tonight. I can get you on it... for a fee." Devlin stated coolly. He was an operator for the rebels- he ran the cargo ships to and from neighboring countries. For a very large amount of cash, he was willing to "overlook" a few stowaways. But Serenity didn't know that. All she knew was that he was someone who was supposed to be able to pull some strings for them.
Everything had become corrupted, it seemed.
Joey and Mai exchanged a glance.
"Fine."
There was a rustle as an exchange of money for three small sheets of blue paper between the three people. Serenity bit back the urge to ask where exactly Joey had gotten money- of any substantial amount.
Duke flipped back that damned stray strand of jet hair, and with a flourishing smirk said, "Pleasure doing business with you." He then retreated back into the door at the back of the faded red room.
Creak...The door opened, and Serenity felt herself being tugged out the door by a strong grip. She looked around Domino, this time thinking that perhaps it might be for the last time. "Big brother, where are we going?"
"Dock 118," her older brother answered mechanically, probably reading her answer off the small blue sheet of paper.
Mai was silent. Her violet eyes were glazed over- but whether it was in sadness or anger, no one could tell. And no one really wanted to find out.
"No," Serenity said, whispering now, "I meant... where..."
Joey caught on and sighed. "Russia."
"Russia?!"
Despair came crashing down around her. The petite girl tugged worriedly at a strand of auburn as she was lost in thought. She didn't know anything about Russia, and never in a million years had she ever dreamed that she'd live there.
Joey glanced strangely at her from the corner of his eyes. He didn't loosen his grip. The three of them just kept hurriedly walking. "Well, its so goddamn big nobody can find us. It's eitha dere or Indonesia. China's got too many anti-immigration laws, and nowhere else is close 'nuff ta get dere by boat."
"Boat?" Serenity bit her lip after asking that. Of course by boat... hadn't he said Dock 118?
"It's da only ting we can afford," Joey said in a low voice. He couldn't deny it to his little sister... they were poor. Especially now. But it didn't really matter. All he needed to focus on now was finding Dock 118. In less than twenty-four hours, they would be safe.
Or that's what he thought anyway.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaiba strode confidently through the engraved metal doors into his main computer console room. It was state of the art, but then, what at Kaiba Corporation wasn't?
The outside darkness receded, and everything was suddenly sparks of deep colors and silver. His icy blue eyes reflected the large KC logo shining electronically in the upper-left of the holographic monitor for a moment.
But that wasn't what he was looking for. He proceeded past the monstrosity of a computer into his personal office. The lights were dim, everything in the large room cleaned vigorously.
This was his dark sanctuary.
The ever-intimidating CEO tossed the manila folder casually onto his desk for later examining. As much as he loathed it, he had more pressing business... Kaiba flicked his cell phone open and swiftly pressed redial.
"Kaiba Corp."
"What do you have for me?"
"Mr. Kaiba! I uploaded the surveillance to your laptop.."
Kaiba smirked. These guys were getting better at shit like this... "And did Marik decide on his fucking target yet?" He said it almost tiredly, as if he had been doing this his entire life. But somehow, Kaiba still managed to sound full of complete and utter disdain. At that moment, he was devoid of emotion. It didn't really matter what part of this hellhole Marik decided to blow to bits. But somehow, Kaiba liked to know. It kept him in control.
That was what he loved... the satisfaction that he was in control- no matter what was happening.
"Yes, Mr. Kaiba... It's... Dock 118, sir."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elenion: I know, I know... I left it hanging again... So sorry!
