(M & M: We don't own Yugioh or Final Fantasy, so NO SUEING! Mewlon: Time to head down to Sector 7. Milleniumon: To a little bar, known as 7th heaven. And also, on another, note, thank you too all the readers for reading this fic!)

CHAPTER 3

The cold steel train ran down, grinding the steel rails, until it slowly pulled into the station of Sector Seven. It braked to a halt next to the platform, releasing steam all around. The conductor on the platform walked up to the passenger car and opened the door, letting the people out. An old couple came out from the train and walked quietly down the lonely road.

After a couple of other people had gotten off the train, the members of Avalanche started to walk towards the exit of the train and to platform. Miho scouted the area quickly to her left while Weevil took the area towards his right. Rex walked a bit further up the train and checked to see if the coast was clear. Once the area was secured, Joey walked out from the train and towards the open.

"Yo! Get over here, all'ya!" Shouted the blonde as he shook his gun arm at whoever was close by.

Upon hearing the voice of their leader, Rex stopped his scan of the train and jumped out from the door. Miho turned around and ran towards Joey as not to get in trouble with him. Weevil, quickly, followed by. 'Yeesh, you think he can yell any louder then this?' Thought the bifocal youth as he fixed his bug shaped glasses.

Yugi had heard the yells of Joey from where he had stood on the far distance of the train. 'Gah! He's so loud!' The young swordsman growled as he walked towards the gunman. 'I don't want to aggravate that guy anymore, if not I'll never hear the end of it.' Yugi walked towards the small circle that was formed and waited for what his leader had to say. When Avalanche was gathered around, Joey briefed him.

"This mission was a success," stated Joey as he looked at his crew, "but don't get lazy now! The hard part's still to come! Don't y'all be scared of that explosion! 'Cause the next one's gonna be bigger than that! Meet back at the hideout! Move out!"

Once Joey had said that last statement, he broke the team and headed out in his direction leading west. The blonde gunman started to run towards his hideout. Miho, Rex, and Weevil soon broke out into a mad dash towards the same direction, after their leader. Yugi kept his distance and looked at the four members. 'They really are amateurs…' thought the tricolor hair youth. 'If they are seen together like this they might get into trouble.'

The young man shook his head at the sloppiness of the team. Yugi felt no need to hurry so he just walked in their direction. He seemed to cross though what looked like a junk yard, as he saw Avalanche running through. Old, dirty junk lay on the ground. Clothes that were torn, or completely destroyed, were on the ground. The smell of trash filled the nostrils of the young man as he continued to walk through the streets.

Rex had stood in one part of the junk yard. Taking out a gun, the brunette kept his eyes open for any intruders. When he knew that no one was really coming his way, he took up his left index finger and started to pick his teeth. Weevil on the other hand, rushed through the junk yard and towards the clearance of it. Keeping his beady eyes open, the short teal hair man pointed his gun at invisible enemies. Meanwhile Miho tried her best to guard Joey's back.

Yugi looked to the north, to see steel fence and gate, and the plate support beam that held up the plate above Sector Seven. Nearby he saw a man doing…something… Yugi felt a little uncomfortable watching the man's movements, and hearing the man's grunts and groans, and seeing where his hands were, so he and decided to move on, but not before shuddering a bit. 'Ooooh… That's nasty…' He thought as he shivered.

He head out of the junkyard, and he found himself in the slums of Sector Seven. As he walked closer, he saw Joey rush into a bar. The tiny building was a soft cream color that sadly was stained with the cruel weather or rather bar fights. There at the top was a sign that had read "Seventh Heaven" in big purple letters. Some of the windows had been stained with either alcohol or blood itself. As far as Yugi remembered, the owner of the bar had loved the color purple a lot.

His eyes widened as he heard gunshots, the sound of Joey's gun-arm. People began to run right out of the bar, screaming in terror. 'Aw God…' Yugi thought. Then sure enough he saw Joey storm out, beating his chest like a wild man and pointing his gun arm at them again, threatening to shoot them if they didn't leave, before standing guard at the stairs.

Out from the entire thing, another shadow appeared, trying to apologize for Joey's behavior. When the blonde leader heard the apologies, he turned to his companion and order for the shadow to return to the bar before anything can happen. Yugi did his best not to smirk as he casually walked down to the bar. He noticed the members of Avalanche scurrying around the bar, making sure no one else was inside.

"Well I guess that must be there hideout…" Yugi told himself as he walked towards the bar. "Looks like a dump, that's for sure. I still can't believe she would work here."

Yugi stopped in front of Joey who had his arms crossed. Miho, Rex, and Weevil scampered towards the entrance of Seventh Heaven and closed the door behind them. Joey looked behind him, seeing that the coast was clear and nodded to Yugi.

"Ok! Go on ahead." Spoke the blonde gunman as he moved out of the way for the skinnier man to go in.

Yugi nodded and walked into the bar.

"Daddy!" Piped a rather high and sweet voice.

As soon as Yugi walked in a little blond girl with pigtails came running in. Her soft emerald eyes lit up with such glee and joy in them as she knew her father would be home. Her soft yellow dress brushed against her skin along with the pink sweater she had worn. The young girl then saw Yugi, she ran off and cowered in the corner of the bar.

"Rebecca! Aren't you going to say anything to Yugi?" Spoke a somewhat voluptuous voice.

From behind the counter of the bar stood another blonde woman. She was much older looking then the other Avalanche members, but still retained a brilliant beauty about her. Long, soft hair brushed against her lovely back. She wore a somewhat tight and white tank top and a short black skirt that hung loosely on her skin which were held by overalls.

Her soft amethyst colored eyes looked concern at the small child and then walked out from behind the counter. Her soft and voluptuous curves were rather teasingly seductive. Yugi couldn't help but glance at her body with such…wanting eyes. But quickly he turned his head around and thought of something else. Rebecca said nothing but hid behind woman timidly, as she walked up to Yugi.

"Welcome home, Yugi." Spoke the blonde woman as she smiled at him. "Looks like everything went well. Did you fight with Joey?"

"Yeah…we fought, Mai." Yugi sighed.

Mai sighed. "I should have known. He's always pushing people around, and you've always been in fights ever since you were little. I was worried." Mai then noticed the red rose tucked in Yugi's belt. "Flowers? How nice... You almost never see them here in the slums. But… A flower for me?" Mai blushed slightly. "Yugi, you shouldn't have..."

"No big." Yugi shrugged. Suddenly he had an idea, one that made him smile inwardly like a Cheshire Cat. "Actually… It's from Joey… He wanted to give it to you in person, but the big lug was too shy." He lied as he held out the flower to Mai.

Mai blushed even deeper now, at the mention of Joey's name, as she took the flower, and sniffed in its scent. 'It's been so long since I actually had a flower'. Mai thought as she pondered about the flower. 'Back then, in Nibelheim, they were everywhere. The air was much cleaner….there it was much safer…at least until when he came….'

"Oh that shy hunk! How sweet of him." She giggled as she walked towards behind the counter and tried her best to forget about that one time. "Thank you, Yugi. It smells wonderful. Maybe I should fill the store with flowers."

She motioned all around the bar, with sparkling eyes. Mai then looked for a vase and placed the flower in it with some somewhat clean water from the faucet. Yugi chuckled. 'Well, that's my good deed for the day.' He walked over to the table wear Avalanche, minus Joey, were drinking and eating to their hearts' content.

Rex Raptor noticed Yugi and called to him. "Hey Yugi, why don't you sit down and have a drink with us?" He said with a smile.

"Sure." Yugi replied as he took a seat near the brunette. 'I'll let him have his fun.'

"Hoo yeah! That's the spirit!" Rex shouted as he swung a giant mug in the air. "You may have been with Soldier but you're still a rookie here. So, I'll show you the ropes!" He took a huge swig of his beer.

Yugi laughed. 'He's drunk.' He thought as he made his way to the door, wondering where Joey was. When he looked outside, he heard the sound of stampeding feet and charging form coming at him. 'Oh Shit!' Yugi cursed mentally as he flew to the side and jumped on one of the tables of the bar. In came Joey with a rather anxious looking face.

"Daddy, welcome home!" Rebecca came running towards Joey and flew into his arms.

"Der's my girl!" Spoke the blonde as he caught the vibrant girl, lifting her into the air and setting her down on his shoulder.

Mai smiled at the scene before him and walked up her boyfriend. "You all right, Joey?"

"Great!" Joey said embracing his girlfriend. He suddenly felt huge lip smack on his cheek. Upon impact of it, the blonde let out a blush. He grinned at Mai and then asked, "What was that for?"

"That kiss was for the red rose you gave me." Mai purred in his ear. "Yugi delivered it to me from you, but you shouldn't be so shy…" Mai told him kissing him again.

Joey looked to the side seeing Yugi wave at him, smirking. He smirked back and mouthed "thank you" to him. Rebecca looked at both embracing adults and wondered if Mai might be her new mommy one day. As Joey fixed himself up, he looked at his team. Weevil was busy stuffing his face with Mai's homemade food, while Rex was pissed drunk. Miho was the only one that seemed to be doing something productive; she was reading a book.

"Get in here, fools! We're startin' the meetin'!" He and Rebecca walked up to a pinball machine and flicked a switch, carrying them down, while Rex, Weevil, and Miho jumped down after them.

Yugi nodded to Mai, before the Pinball elevator came back up, and he too went down to HQ. As Yugi went down to an elevator with a pinball machine, he saw Avalanche all doing their own thing as part of the team. But the only thing Yugi cared about right now was his money as he walked up to Joey who was beating the hell out of a punching bag, with Rebecca cheering him on.

Joey sensed Yugi's presence and stopped boxing to talk with him. "Yo, Yugi! There's somethin' I wanna ask ya. Was there anyone from SOLDIER fighting us today?"

"None. I'm positive." Yugi responded as he just shook his head.

Joey cocked an eyebrow in response. "You sound pretty sure."

Yugi smiled smugly. "If there was anyone from SOLDIER you wouldn't be standing here now."

Joey began to twitch with rage at that remark. "Don't go thinkin' you so bad jes cuz you were in SOLDIER." He said warningly.

"..." Yugi just gave a passive glance.

Joey lost it as he tried to make a lunge at Yugi, but Rex held him in place, trying to calm him down. Joey, fed up with Rex shaking him turned around and threw him into the wall, knocking him out. Joey calmed down and resumed a level headed conversation.

"Yeah, you're strong. Probably all you guys in SOLDIER are. But don't forget that your skinny ass's workin' for AVALANCHE now! Don't get no ideas 'bout hangin' with Kaiba Corp."

Yugi's eyes flashed angrily. "Stayin' with Kaiba Corp? You asked me a question and I answered it... that's all." He walked up and got right in Joey's face. "I'm going upstairs. I want to talk about my money."

"Wait, Yugi!" Shouted Mai as she came down on the elevator, and ran to Yugi.

"Mai! Let him go! Looks like he still misses Kaiba Corp!" He said bitterly

That is when Yugi's temper exploded. "Shut up! I don't care about either Kaiba Corp. or SOLDIER!" He stomped away to the elevator, and then turned to Avalanche. "But don't get me wrong! I don't care about AVALANCHE or the Planet for that matter!" He yelled at them before heading upstairs in a rage of fury. He growled slightly.

Joey, at the same time, had gotten pissed off himself. As his anger rose, he let out his fury onto the punching bag. The rest of Avalanche, including Rebecca, had backed away from Joey or they would end up just like Rex who was still on the floor unconscious. Mai had a look of worry on her face as she looked at Joey then looked at where Yugi had gone to.

When Yugi was back in the bar, he stepped away, still fuming. "Damn Joey… He can keep his money! I'm out of here!"

But before he could go through the door…Mai came up on the pinball elevator, a pleading look on her face. 'There he is!' Thought the blonde woman as she rushed towards the swordsman. 'Maybe if I can talk to him, he might come to his senses.' She grabbed Yugi by the wrist and made him face her.

"Listen, Yugi. I'm asking you. Please join us." She begged as she had a look of sadness on her face.

Yugi's anger disappeared as he saw her pleasing look, but something inside told him there was nothing he could do. "Sorry, Mai."

"The Planet is dying. Slowly but surely it's dying. Someone has to do something." Mai told him.

Yugi had had enough of this "Planet is dying" crap. "So let Joey and his buddies do something about it. It's got nothin' to do with me." He said angrily and turned to leave. "Besides, what do you need ME for! You've got Joey now, so I'm just a third wheel!"

"So! You're really leaving?" Mai snapped, grabbing Yugi and forcing him to look at her. "You're just going to walk right out ignoring your childhood friend?"

"What...? ...Sorry." Yugi started to feel guilty.

"...You forgot the promise, too."

"Promise?"

Mai sighed warily. "So you DID forget. Remember...Yugi. It was seven years ago..."

INSIDE OF YUGI'S MEMORY

"Look at the well. Do you remember?" Mai said, pointing to the well.

Yugi nodded. "Yeah... back then. I thought you would never come, and I was getting a little cold."

FLASHBACK

A young Yugi was sitting at the well, waiting for Mai to show up. His clothes consisted of a black, tight shirt with a belt buckle laced around his neck. He wore a white shirt over the black one along with dark blue pants. It was getting quite cold, and he wondered if she would come. Sure enough, the said girl appeared, and sat next to Yugi.

"Sorry I'm late." Mai apologized as she sat down. "You said you wanted to talk about something?"

Yugi took a deep breath, and then spoke. "Come this spring... I'm leaving this town for Midgar."

"...All boys are leaving our town." Mai told him. 'He brought me here to tell me THAT?' She thought with a confused tone.

"But I'm different from all of them." Yugi explained. "I'm not just going to find a job. I want to join SOLDIER. I'm going to be the best there is, just like Marik!

"Marik... The Great Marik." Mai had only heard things, about the Marik, SOLDIER'S finest warrior. "Isn't it hard to join SOLDIER?" She asked.

Yugi nodded. "Yeah, I probably won't be able to come back to this town for a while." He thought he heard Mai sigh. "...Huh?"

"Will you be in the newspapers if you do well?" Mai asked hopefully.

"I'll try." Yugi assured her.

Mai's eyes lit up as she got an idea. "Hey, why don't we make a promise?" She asked. "Umm, if you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind... You come save me, all right?"

"What?" Yugi wondered if her heard right, as he cocked an eyebrow.

"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." Mai explained.

"What?" Yugi was still puzzled.

"Come on--! Promise me----!" Mai pleaded.

Yugi laughed a bit, the nodded. "All right... I promise."

END FLASHBACK

"You remember now, don't you... our promise?" Mai asked.

Yugi sighed sadly. 'She doesn't get it, does she? Joey's got her heart now, so why does she still bother with me?' "I'm not a hero and I'm not famous. I can't keep... the promise."

"But you got your childhood dream, didn't you? You joined SOLDIER. So come on! You've got to keep your promise..." Mai pleaded. 'Come on Yugi… You can STILL be a hero…'

Joey suddenly came up on the pinball elevator, looking calmer than he was before, but still a bit ticked. "Wait a sec big-time SOLDIER!" He yelled, holding a sack of gil. "A promise is a promise! Here!" He tossed the bag to Yugi.

Yugi counted the money in the bag. He counted 1500 gil. Suddenly he began to smirk. "This is my pay? Don't make me laugh."

A glimmer of hope shone in Mai's eyes. "What? Then you'll...!"

Yugi nodded then turned to Joey. "You got the next mission lined up? I'll do it for 3000."

"What...? 3000?" Joey could hardly believe his ears.

Mai ran over to her irate boyfriend and tried to calm him down. "It's ok, it's ok." She then leaned over and whispered. "We're really hurting for help, right darling?"

Joey tried to restrain his anger. "Uh...ugh..." He too whispered. "Honey, that money's for Rebecca's schoolin'..." Sighing angrily he turned to Yugi. "2000!"

Yugi laughed and shook his head. 'Mai sure knows how to get through to him.'

"Thanks, Yugi." Mai said, before turning to Joey. "Joey, honey, I think this might calm you down…" She turned Joey towards her, threw her arms around his neck, and gave him a full kiss on the lips. 'This'll calm the big lug down.' She giggled inwardly. 'But then again, his hot headedness is so sexy…and that's one of the things I love about him…'

When Mai's lips met his, Joey could feel all his stress and anger wash away. He returned the kiss in full, wrapping his arms around Mai's frame. 'She always knows how to make things seem a whole lot better.' Joey thought. 'Man, I love this girl…'

TO BE CONTINUED

(M&M: And so ends the 7th Heaven chapter. Up Next: Journey to Sector 5! Until next time!)