Chapter 3: The Seductive Sniper

The team was back at the card shop. Moon was reading the newspaper when she noticed an article.

"Psychotic killer captured abroad a cruise ship." she read on. "He has been sent to a mental ward for recovery."

"Anything about us?" Yugi asked. Luwa skimmed through the pages. She furrowed her brow.

"A group of teenagers and the ship's crew were the survivors." her face hardened. "This sucks! We weren't mentioned in solving the case or even are names!" She threw the newspaper down on the table.

"Don't overexert yourself." Rex said. He took an icepack out of a freezer and handed it to Weevil. He placed it on his back for a moment and went back to working on a device.

"I've been wondering about something." Yugi abruptly said." What did you guys do for summer jobs before the agency?" Rex moaned and said,

"Guess this." He put his fingers in the shape of a phone. "Hello, can I take your order? Would you like fries with that?" Joey snickered.

"A fast food restaurant! I can't imagine you with a hairnet." Joey jeered.

"Like you got any better!" Rex snapped. Joey twiddled his thumbs.

"I was fired from being a pizza delivery boy because I had a tendency to eat some of the pizza (sweat drop)." Joey whimpered.

"What about you Weevil?" Yugi asked. He momentarily stopped his project.

(Flashback)

"Ugh, I was a self-stocker for a supermarket. It is really hard to do that when your not even five feet tall."

An old woman was behind Weevil as he desperately reached for a top shelf item. He was delicately balancing on a ladder edging closer.

"Yes, that one sonny." she dryly said. The ladder wobbled as he plummeted toward the floor.

"Aw, crap!" he plopped like a rock on the floor. The old woman just walked off as he lay there motionlessly with the wind knocked out of him. "Clean up on aisle six." he grunted. "Me."

(End of flashback)

Yugi cringed at the thought.

"And you, Luwa?" he questioned. She rolled up her pants to show her ankle. There was a long pale scar on her ankle.

"This is the reason why I hate little kids. I babysat Satan's child." she whimpered. Weevil grinned as he finished his device.

"I finally finished it!" he declared. He held up a palm-sized robot that looked like a bumble bee.

"You're a really quirky bug you know." Joey said as he raised his eyebrow.

"Don't backtalk! It will help us in our cases."

"By making the fugitive piss himself to death."

"It is my A.N.T. Borg."

"It looks like a bee to me." Rex retorted.

"You ninny, A.N.T. is codename for agile numbing tranquilizer." He pressed a button and a needle extended out of the end.

"Whatever." Joey nonchalantly said as he took a soda out of the fridge.

"Hey, the diet is mine." Luwa barked.

"Too late sucka!" he grinned. Weevil pressed the button again and the syringe launched out of the device and nailed Joey in the neck. He teetered around like a soused up teen.

"Did anyone get the license plate of that mosquito?" he drunkly said and plummeted on the couch.Luwa promptly seized the soda and popped the lid open.

"Sharp shootin'." she grinned. Yugi shook Joey's body roughly.

"Is he okay?"

"He'll be up in about an hour." Weevil proudly said as he secured it in a box.

"Where in the hell did you nab that technology?" Rex shouted. "Only Detective Conan has that technology." Weevil just pushed his glasses (he is so sexy when he does that).

"Let's just say I'm a bit of a hacker." he grinned with his signature cackle.

Yugi picked up the mail and cheered.

"We have been invited to a Duel Monsters tournament!" he rushed in with jubilation. Joey was just starting to stir.

"Some action finally." Rex jumped up.

"It is tomorrow." Yugi read on. "So let's go home and get ready." Joey finally sat up and let out a weak "yay".

"And no cheating worm boy." Joey threatened to Weevil. "Or I'll be on you like flies on…"
"Alright, sheesh enough with the bug puns." Weevil sneered.

The next day they went to Duke Devlin's shop for the local tournament. Duke fiddled with the loudspeaker.

"First pairings are up!" Duke struggled to use the loud speaker. The pairings appeared on the board.

"I didn't know you even dueled, Luwa." Weevil said with bewilderment. They were the first pairings.

"Good luck." Rex said to Luwa with a firm slap on the butt. She slapped him and he had a large, red, sting mark on his face. "Just being supportive."

The duel had begun and they cut each other's decks. Weevil looked back at the crowd and he saw a reflecting light that was in his eyes. He shielded his eyes and he continued the duel. The cards had just barely begun when a booming sound echoed through the stadium. The crowd was in a clamor. There was a bullet hole in the side of the table they were dueling on just inches from his chest.

"Someone tried to kill me!" his voice quavered in a panic. His lower lip was quivering uncontrollably. The stadium was evacuated and Duke was in a fit.

"Someone is tarnishing my rep," he panicked. "Ack! I'm losing all of my customers." He ran up toLuwa and grabbed her collar. "Find that person, detective!"

"Easy on the merchandise," she smacked his hands off her. "But I'm on the case."

A week later there had been no leads whatsoever.

"This really bites," Joey snapped. Luwa was under a lot of stress. She had her face in her book in deep concentration. Rex finally noticed she had slipped into sleep. He shook her awake.

"You're falling apart at the seams." She weakly awoke.

"Why is everyone touching me?" she grunted. Yugi picked up the mail and announced a letter he received.

"You have been invited to a formal party at Raphael Dwile's mansion. The following people are the exclusive guests of great duelist champions: Yugi Mouto, Joseph Wheeler, Weevil Underwood, Rex Raptor, and Luwa Wolf." Yugi read. "It is tomorrow at 5 p.m."

"I don't even have formal clothes," Joey groaned.

"Well just don't look like crap!" Weevil retorted.

The next day they met each other at the card shop. Rex had obviously made an attempt brush his unmanageable hair. Yugi's grandpa had lent him his suit that was too short and too wide. Joey was in his school uniform because it was the best thing without food stains. Weevil was wearing his formal clothes that he wore at Duelist Kingdom, yet it was starting to get too small for him. Luwa wasn't too interested in wearing dresses, but alas she had to be formal. She was wearing a red dress and tied up her brunette hair with a hair band that had a black rose on it.

"Hello, madam," Rex joked in an English accent as he tipped his cap. "Shall we take a jolly ol' walk around the lake?"

"Very funny," she sneered. They started out on the walk toward Dwile Mansion. The summer sun was up with a calm breeze.

"Do we have any leads yet?" Joey asked.

"No," Luwa said disgruntled.

"Damn!" They approached the block and stared up.

"This is it," Yugi said. They looked up at the massive mansion.

"Holy crap!" Weevil shouted. They entered through the gates and up the porch. Luwa tentatively rang the bell. A well dressed fifteen-year-old greeted them.
"Well hello fellow champions," he warmly greeted them. He was very tall with well-combed blonde hair. He was wearing a very fine suit and he had thin half moon glasses with sky-blue eyes. His face was gentle looking and he had a pleasant smile. "I am Raphael Dwile." He said as he shook their hands. He grabbed Luwa's hand and kissed it lightly. Her ears went red. "And hello to you malady." Rex and Weevil looked at each other and mumbled in unison.

"What a show-off." In front of them were a beautiful dining hall and a huge banquet.

"Sweet!" Rex said drooling. He stared at an odd dish.

"What the hell is this crap?" Weevil stated pushing up his glasses. Rex decided to wing it and tried it. It was very odd. Joey came over to them.
"Wow! You're brave enough to try tripe." Joey said with astonishment.

"What's that?"

"You didn't know that! It's sheep stomach," Rex turned deathly white.

"I'm…gonna…hurl!" Rex ran to the bathroom and loud wrenching sounds were heard there.

"Hmmm. Dinner and a show." Weevil said blandly. Raphael poured a glass of wine.

"My father was very successful in the stock market. That's why I held this party." Raphael spoke to Luwa. "My parents are out on vacation and I'm in charge." He handed Luwa a glass of wine. "So enjoy." Yugi and Joey decided to get a glass of wine. When Rex exited the bathroom he got one too. Weevil walked outside on the patio holding a glass of wine looking into the distance. Raphael was talking with Luwa on the loveseat and she was blushing cherry-red.

"You are quite interesting," he said romantically. Weevil just scoffed.

"What an ass kisser," he scowled. Rex joined him on the patio and took a sip of wine.

"What's wrong? Do I sense jealously?" Weevil put his glass down.

"Why can't I get women?" he moaned.

"Well let's look at examples (he comes Weevil's anger meter). Now look at Raphael. He's intelligent, rich, a charmer, better dresser, and sharp looking. Now you Weevil. You are short (16), a failure duelist (39), you sound like a hamster on helium (74), your plans always fail (107), you have horrible fashion sense (149), your squinty-eyed (177), have a freaky obsession with bugs(221), and you are a frickin' cheater(235)," Rex declared. Weevil hung his head and sighed. He just put the glass to his lips when he heard something upstairs. It was Raphael and Luwa.

"This is my quarters. You look pretty in the sunset," he wooed. Weevil gritted his teeth and gripped his glass with such fury it cracked and exploded into shards in his hand. He was growling deeply under his breath.

"I think I should leave you alone with your pent up rage," Rex sauntered off. Weevil just stood there in front of the sunset. He was lost in a depression of reality.

He heard a loud thud. He rushed back and saw Rex passed out on the floor. He tried to shake him, yet not one twitch came from him. He had only one glass of wine. He turned and saw Joey in the same condition on the couch. He ran up the stairs and saw Yugi knocked out on the stairwell. He had his glass in his hand. Weevil figured it out. The wine had been tainted with tranquilizers. Luwa had drunk the wine also! He rushed to the bedroom and stopped cold in his tracks. Outside the bedroom he could hear a gun load.

To be continued…