A/N: Geez, that last chapter was depressing! So let's have a little fun at the expense of… Joey! AND GUESS WHAT! THIS IS NOW OFFICIALY (sp?) MY LONGEST FIC! Whooo! Everyone gets a celebratory cookie:D
Review Response:
Dragonlady222: Heh, they may get to go up... And about Mokuba having no need for adventure after this? I wouldn't count on it... heeheehee...
Disclaimer: I do not own YGO
Now, let's get on with it! Poor Seto, his nightmares are about to come true as things spiral steadily more and more out of control...
Fourteen: Saint Joey
"So, what did I miss?" Jenna asked. They all glanced at each other, which made her a little nervous. "No, seriously, what?"
"I'll tell you later…" Ryou muttered, placing a hand on her shoulder as he walked past. "At the moment, we need to figure out how to get out of here…"
"We have to go up." Azreal shrugged.
"But the only thing that's up there is the ceiling…" Yugi replied. Sure enough, all there was was a plain white ceiling, slightly cracked and flat. It looked as though it had once been domed, but had long since sagged. Although the windows filled all the walls and ran the complete height of the room, the ceiling was as plain and ugly as any other. The floor they were standing on was covered in sand, causing everyone to have to move their feet every few seconds to avoid sinking. As it was, this caused them to not notice something…
"Do you feel that?" Mokuba asked suddenly.
"What?" Jenna asked.
"A rumbling…"
Sure enough, there was a slight shaking in the floor, getting more powerful as it travelled up the floors.
By this time, they all knew what that meant, and threw themselves to the floor, sand flying, huddling together. Floors shifted, walls collapsed and the building generally rearranged itself. Some moments later, as the big finale, the floor flipped violently, and they were all thrown up into the air before landing painfully, sand falling in torrents like rain around them.
"Everyone okay?" Yugi asked, spitting sand out of his mouth.
"Yes, but now that that's over…" Anna said, brushing sand off herself gingerly with her good hand. "I really need to do something about my wrist. If it wasn't broken before, it will be now…"
"Well, I'm just great, Yugi." Jenna groaned. "I've been ill, kidnapped, beaten up, nearly electrocuted, had a door blown up in front of me, nearly been killed by lasers, forced into a fight with some Physco who stabbed himself, grew wings, and disappeared, ill again, and now I've been thrown up into the air and landed in the same place, rather painfully I might add, and all this in the last weekend! Yes, Yugi, I'm just awesome." She laughed.
"If I didn't know any better…" Ryou said, digging his way out of the sand "I'd swear you were enjoying this."
"I guess I kinda am…" Jenna said thoughtfully, sounding surprised. "Not an experience I'd care to repeat, but…" She shrugged. "Hey, it beats daytime TV. Especially Japanese TV…"
"Hear hear!" Azreal agreed, having failed in her attempt to find someone who had bandages on them, and so had pulled out her hair band, hair cascading down her back as it was released, and then, stretching the Alice Band to it's full potential, was proceeding to use it carefully as a very, very makeshift bandage. "Girl after my own heart…" She grinned, her pale face the only sign to how much she wanted a pain killer right about then.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
One person, however, was taking a painkiller, but not as strong. Joey Wheeler had one hell of a headache.
"Painkillers!" She said, walking in, catching him in the act. "Admit it, Joey! You are Hung Over!"
"I am not!" Joey insisted, getting a little annoyed. At first he had been kinda pleased when Téa turned up for the weekend for a surprise visit, but it had quickly gone sour when he realised the invitation Serenity had extended to her was anything but a friendly reunion. And now this was getting beyond a joke.
"I can't believe you'd do this to yourself Joey…" Serenity said, looking at him with mournful eyes. "You saw what it did to our father… Why are you doing this!"
"I'm not doing anything!" Joey roared, frustrated.
"You've been going out every night, Joey." Téa said sternly. "And then you come back at some unearthly hour every morning and wake up with a headache."
"I haven't been out drinking!" Joey replied stubbornly. This whole scenario was laughable. Okay, so he did have an occasional drink, but they were as rare as a full moon. Honestly, didn't they know that growing up with an alcoholic father was enough to put him off for life?
"That's what dad always said!" Serenity yelled, sobbing. "That's what he always said, and no wonder mom left! I haven't said anything to mom, but I had to do something…"
Suddenly Joey didn't find it so funny when his 16 year old sister started crying. "But Serenity, I-"
"No buts!" Téa roared, suddenly going into Xena-butt-kick mode. "What are you doing, Joey? Alcohol will ruin your life!"
"Téa…" Joey laughed in bewilderment. "If you'd let me get a word in edgeways-"
"You have to stop convincing yourself that it's okay!"
"You're the one who needs convincing! I-"
"How are you affording it, anyway? Oh, Lord, don't tell me you're stealing to!"
"Téa! If you'd listen-"
Téa continued to rant and rave about the dangers of alcohol and what it would do to his body. Rolling his eyes, Joey ignored her and began to dial a number in on the kitchen's telephone.
"…It'll kill your liver and kidneys and…" Téa blinked. "Hey! Are you even listening? This is important, Joey! Serenity phoned me because she was worried about you!"
"Oh, shut up." Joey replied, tossing the phone to her. He folded his arms and leaned back on the kitchen counter as Téa listened to the Phone ring.
"Hello?" Came a voice at the other end finally.
"Oh, um, hello…" Téa replied glaring at Joey.
The line fell silent for a moment, and then: "Can I… help you at all?"
"Well…" Téa flustered. "You see, I was having a conversation with my friend Joey and he tossed the phone at me… Who am I speaking to?"
"Joey!" The woman on the end said in delight. "Oh, he's a saint, isn't he?"
"Um…"
"He comes here every night and the children just adore him!"
"Just who am I speaking to?" Téa asked, looking questioningly at Joey, who looked at the floor.
"Why, the I Believe Youth Centre, of course." The woman said in surprise. "Surely he's told you about us?"
"Actually, no…" Téa said, hardly daring to believe. "Would you mind explaining?" She heard a click as Serenity, who had left the room a second ago, picked up the extension.
"Certainly." The woman replied curtly, before proceeding to recite as though she was reading out of a leaflet (Which, she in fact, was): "All over the country there are children who cannot bear to be at home. Who social services have overlooked. Who are too scared to ask for help and who are chucked out onto the street every evening. The I Believe Foundation will not overlook these children, giving them friendly ears and sound advice; places just to come inside and have fun and make friends. We are completely discreet with any information children give us, giving it only to the necessary people to improve their quality of life. With our team of willing, non-paid volunteers, we hope to give these youngsters a happier present, as well as a brighter future."
"Right…" Téa said. "And Joey would be one of these volunteers?"
"That's right!" The woman trilled happily. "One of the best! And so dedicated! He's goes to work all day and then comes to us and then goes to night school so he can get some qualifications so he can get a better job…Has he had his results yet, by the way? He said they were coming today!" She didn't give Téa chance to answer before continuing "Anyway, It's obviously something he's passionate about!"
"I see…" Téa broke into a grin and Serenity re-entered the room. "Well, Thankyou!"
"My pleasure!" The woman responded, before hanging up.
"You see?" Joey asked "No drinking."
"But the headaches…?" Serenity asked.
"Ever spent four hours hanging round with three year olds who get beaten if they so much as breathe loudly at home? They get hyper!" Joey shook his head. "When I first walked in there, I couldn't believe that parents let kids so young wander round on their own…"
"You really are a saint!" Téa informed him happily, hugging him. "I can't believe you're doing youth work and never told me!"
"Well, I've kinda been there, you know…?" Joey said uncomfortably, wishing Téa would let go of him. Why did she think he hadn't told her in the first place? Téa was about to respond when a happy, bouncing, jingling tune echoed from upstairs.
"Oh, that's me!" Serenity said. "I'll be right back!" She pounded up to her room to locate the sounding Mobile.
"I'm so proud of you!" Téa continued, hugging him harder till he could barely breathe. He tried to push her off, grabbing her sides and trying to get the message across by pushing and pulling-
Which was, of course, when his mother walked in, back from her early morning swimming class. She mumbled something in embarrassment, before backing slowly out of the door.
Fifteen minutes later, Joey, his mother and Téa were gathered around the table eating breakfast. Serenity was still upstairs. Joey ate automatically, wishing he was anywhere but here. So when the phone rang, he, naturally, was the one who dived to answer it.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Hello?" Joey's voice came eventually, sounding desperate. "If this is a wrong number, feel free to hang around!"
"Joey?" Solomon Motto asked warily. "Um… Maybe I should talk to Serenity? If this is a bad time…"
"It couldn't be a better time! So, what's up, Gramps?"
"I was just wondering whether you had seen Yugi."
"No, not since Serenity's birthday. Why?"
"It's just…" Solomon sighed. "I went on a trip with the club, I just got back yesterday."
"Oh? Did you have a nice time?"
"Yes, it was wonderful," Solomon replied impatiently. "But that's not the point! Yugi seems to have disappeared. Tristan thought maybe he'd come up to you with Téa… seemed to be quite offended that he hadn't been invited, but…"
"Maybe he's out drinking." Joey spat sardonically.
"What!" Solomon yelped.
"Nothing, never mind…" Joey replied hastily. "Anyway, I think there's something fishy going on here… Anything else I should know?"
"Nothing else unusual is going on… There was a sale at the paint shop, the Kaibas have thrown in the towel, Tristan got a new bike…In other words, no."
"Wait, wait! What did you say?" Joey couldn't believe his ears "About the Kaibas?"
"Well, the factory hasn't been working all weekend." Solomon shrugged.
"But Kaiba would never…!"
"I hardly think that's important right now, Joseph!" Solomon snapped. "The workers are probably on strike or some such. I just wanted to know where my grandson is!"
"This is too weird to be unrelated!" Joey moaned. "Grandpa, we'll be there in just under three hours!"
"What…? Joey, what're you…?" But the blond had already hung up.
Solomon sighed. He hated Mondays…
"Roll on retirement…" he groaned, though, if he was honest, he pretty much was already.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Joey hung up and began to quickly outline the situation to Téa, who responded in much the same way as he had. Just then, the sound of footfall came on the stairs, and a moment later Serenity entered the room.
"This came in the post for you, Joey." She said, tossing him a letter having picked it up on her way through the hall. She gave a few more letters back to her mom, and then turned worriedly to Joey and Téa. "That was Tristan on the phone. He said that Yugi-"
"We know!" Joey and Téa chorused, Joey adding: "Though it took him an awfully long time for him just to tell you that…" He let the matter rest- for the moment. At the moment his focus was on the letter he was reading. The room fell into silence, making him a little uncomfortable, as he read. Then, he finished, slammed the letter down, and stood up.
"Well, ladies," He said, turning to Téa and Serenity. "Who's up for a little trip down to Domino City?" They both nodded.
"We need to get there as quickly as we can!" Téa agreed.
"Right." Serenity said.
"Then let's go!" Joey said, beginning out the door.
"Hold on just one moment!" Joey's mom said, as though to a three or four year old rather then to a 16 and a 19 year old. "Now, I have to say that I think you're all over-reacting!"
"Mom…" Serenity began.
"No, listen to me!" She continued, not letting Serenity into it at all. "One old man can't remember where his grandson is- bless him- and a factory goes on holiday and you all act like it's the end of the world!"
"It could well be." Joey muttered. Serenity looked at them in confusion.
"What factory?" She asked.
"Apparently the KC factory has been silent as the grave all weekend." Joey said, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh! I hope Mokuba's alright…" Serenity fretted. Joey decided for his own sanity that he would not look any further into that comment, and continued regardless.
"Anyhoo, Yugi and Kaiba disappearing at the same time? That cannot be a coincidence…" He finished, punching one hand into the other. As one, the three people began to walk towards the door again.
"But Joey!" His mom protested "You have to work today, or you'll be fired…" She sounded very sympathetic, Téa thought. She later found out that this was because Joey was stuck in a dead-end job with a Taxi firm, with a terrible boss, and that he hated every minute of it. His family had never been well-off, which was why he had gone straight into work, so he could earn something. However, ever since he started he had been going to night school, for once desperate to work his way out of his rut via study.
"Fine!" Joey shrugged, striding across the room to the phone, punching a number and waiting.
"Joseph…?" His mother asked uncertainly.
"Hey…" He said, gesturing at his mom to sush. "Mr McDonald!"
They could hear his boss bellowing at him down the phone, asking what he was doing phoning when he should be on the way to work.
"Yeah?" He gave a slightly manic grin. "Well, you don't have to worry, cause I quit!" He went to hang up as the bellowing increased volume, but then seemed to think of something better to do. "You know… there's always something I wanted to say to you… I'm sorry, but you smell about as rank as the taxi you drive. Baaaaaad."
The volume increased some more, but Joey couldn't resist a final, parting shot.
"Oh, by the way, according to the contract, unless I'm fired I get to keep the car. So thank you!" He hung up, and turned to the now silent room. "Get them where it hurts!" He grinned. "Right in the wallet!"
"Joey!" His mom screamed "What have you done!"
"Chill Ma!" Joey waved the letter at her, gesturing at Téa and Serenity to start heading towards the door. "I don't need that job! I passed night school!"
"Joey, that's wonderful!" His mom yelled, going to hug him. "We have to celebrate!"
"Sure…" He said, running off. "Celebrate! Throw a party! Go wild, you know! Later!"
He dashed towards the door, leaving his mom to shake her head behind him. She was too proud of him to be annoyed.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Okay, so here's the plan…" Joey said, speeding down the roads. "We get into Domino ASAP."
"That's it?" Serenity asked indcredously "That's the entire plan?"
"Well…" Joey defended. "We'll hafta go look around, see what we can find…" He growled in frustration as the radio kept barking out orders at him. He turned it off.
"Maybe we should get Tristan and Ryou on the way round…" Téa said thoughtfully. "They'd probably want to be in on this…"
"Hey, that's a thought!" Serenity added, before Joey could say anything. "Seeing as he's here to visit, if anyone knows where Yugi is, it'll be Ryou!"
"Well, give him a call!" Joey enthused, slowing down as they passed a speed camera.
"Okay…" His sister frowned. "Anyone know the number for his flat?"
"I can't remember after all these years…" Joey said sheepishly.
Téa rolled her eyes. "Honestly. It's 1-2-3-2-5-8-6-8-3-4-7."
"How do you remember stuff like that?" Joey asked in exasperation as Serenity dialled the number into her mobile.
"Sorry, the number you are trying to call does not exist." The phone insisted. "Please redial and try again."
"There's no answer…" She sighed a moment later, looking worried. "It says the number doesn't exist. Are you sure that was what the number was, Téa?"
"Hey, over the years I've learnt to never doubt Téa's memory…" Joey said, for once sounding worried. "Guys, I don't like the look of this at all…"
"And over the years, I've learnt to never doubt Joey's instincts." Téa added. "Let's go, people!"
Serenity suddenly felt glad that it was the law to wear a seatbelt.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Joey gritted his teeth, and, ignoring his instinct to swerve, slowed down, pulling up to the kerb. The old woman who had been trying to catch their attention for the last fifteen meters smiled as he rolled the window down.
"Yes?" He asked, feeling a little stressed.
"Oh, thank goodness you're here!" She twittered gratefully. "I really need a taxi!"
"Miss, this isn't a taxi." Joey replied, reigning in his urge to yell at the silly woman.
"But…" The woman trailed. They were blatantly sitting in a taxi!
"It's out of service." Joey explained, roughly.
"Oh…" She said in disappointment. "But my daughter's in hospital about to have a baby and I promised I'd be there…" She looked like she was about to cry.
Joey sighed, his conscious not letting him just drive off and leave her. "Well, okay, I'll give you the number for the taxi firm and you can give them a call-"
"I did!" The woman sobbed. "And I've been waiting here fifteen minutes!"
"We are going past the hospital, Joey…" Téa whispered gently.
"Fine…" Joey groaned resignedly. "Get in the back with Serenity; we'll give you a lift…"
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Goodbye!" Téa called.
"Congratulations!" Serenity added.
They all breathed a sigh of relief as the old woman disappeared from sight.
"I don't envy her grandchild…" Joey muttered.
"Joey!" Téa scolded. But it was true. For someone who had just been taken pity on and who had just got a free ride she didn't half complain…
"Let's go…" Serenity moaned, rubbing her arm from where the woman had pinched her countless times, saying she was too skinny or that girls today thought too much about boys or that they thought too much about careers rather then looking after their children or that she should be seen and not heard every time she tried to speak or that girls today were ungrateful or about a dozen other things.
Joey nodded, leaving the window open in an attempt to let the smell of wee and cats out now that the woman was not there to complain that it was too cold.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"You have to turn here."
"No, I have to take the next turn."
"No, it's first right and second left."
"It's second left and forth right."
"That cannot be right! Joey! You're going to miss it!"
"Téa, I'm a taxi driver!" He snapped in frustration. "I know where I'm going!"
"Well, you obviously don't, or you would be about to turn!" Téa sniffed.
"Fine!" Joey roared "Fine! Then let's go this way!" He yanked hard on the wheel, swerving round the corner just in time, horns blaring behind them.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"This cannot be the right way…"
"You think?" Joey asked sarcastically. "And here was me thinking you always got dried up, barren, wastelands in the middle of what, according to you, should be a city. I told you it was the other way…"
"There was nothing wrong with my directions!" Téa insisted. "You just didn't follow them properly!"
"Oh, so now it's my fault!"
"Yes! If you learnt how to follow directions-"
"Well, if you knew how to give them-"
"Stop it, guys!" Serenity screamed at them. "Come on! You're supposed to be friends!" They looked at the floor, shame-faced. "Whatever the reason, the fact is, it's almost sunset, we've been driving all day, we're hopelessly lost in the middle of nowhere and things can't get much worse!"
Right on cue, the car's engine gave a whirr of protest, puttered, stalled, and came to a stop.
"I told you we should've filled up at that last petrol station…" Joey sighed eventually, breaking the silence.
"Well, how was I supposed to know? I thought we were nearly there! Besides, it would've taken too much time…"
Joey growled in frustration. He wasn't feeling much like a Saint anymore…
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"We're still in the same room…" Yugi realised. "It looks like we've just sunk underground…"
He was right. Through the glass windows, you could see pure dirt and soil, piling up in layers. It was actually kinda cool…
Unless you were claustrophobic. Like Azreal.
"Well, how are we going to get out?" She asked nervously. "We know there was no way out through the ceiling…" She turned to where Mokuba was playing in the sand. "Yo, boy genius." She said, slightly exasperated. "We could use your help… now is not the time for making sand castles!"
"I'm not…" Mokuba muttered distractedly, continuing to draw in the sand. What he had in front of him was a rough, but exact copy of the Blue-print they'd seen earlier. "This is where we came in…" He mumbled. "And here's the cells… the room where we met the others… so that had to fold to there… which means that that had to…"
The others watched in amazement as slowly, and carefully, Mokuba began to re-draw the building as it was the first time it had re-arranged. It was a slow and logical process, assuming that the floors and walls and ceilings could not go through each other or change shape; and that the building had to remain at roughly the same dimensions to remain concealed within the hologram that Mokuba was sure now eloped it once again. Then he started all over, trying to work out the latest re-arrangement. This was harder, considering all he had to go on was that the dome had sunk. However, eventually, he had an idea.
"You have something…?" Seto asked, sounding impressed in spite of himself.
"Maybe…" Mokuba warned. "It's very rough, a lot of guess work…" Seto looked over his shoulder.
"Mokuba, if this is right…" He said slowly. "Then the ceiling and the floor switched places…"
Mokuba nodded as they all looked up at what, supposedly, used to be the floor.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
A/N: Oooh, clever Mokuba! And I just feel I should share with you all that in the first draft, Joey was a milkman. Really. But it didn't work out… Pity, really. I liked him that way! On the way to upload this, I saw that the site will be down tomorrow. I'll do my best to put up tomorrow's chapter today, but I hafta write it first. Oh, and on Monday I am off to Gurnsey on a school trip till Friday, and I'll do my best to get a chapter written for next weekend, but please don't hurt me if I don't make it! Do ya know what's irrataing, and a little worrying? That Fanfiction is warning us all about big changes and saying that we need to come with an open mind on Monday... But I won't get to see till Friday! Maybe even Saturday! Oh, the humanity...