Return of the Wild Gang Chapter 02
Disclaimer: I don't own YGO.
It was dark and Joey was being stalked. He made it to Hirutani's house and eagerly accepted his assignment. "Wheeler, you ready?" he asked. Joey nodded. "Alright, you take this envelope to the same guy, same place, he'll give you an envelope, you bring it back here, and I pay you in…protection." Hirutani gently pulled a handgun out of his jacket pocket-- just enough to let Joey see it, then slid it back in.
A gun? thought Joey. Well, now that I think about it, I could use the protection. Especially once Mai and I tie the knot. I may need to have it to keep her safe. 'cause if anything ever happened to her I'd never forgive myself. "Alright, I'll do it," Joey declared. He grabbed the envelope and headed to the beach. As he walked, the wind died down and his sense of hearing became slightly sharper. He was halfway their when he sensed that he was being followed. Of course, he couldn't say or do anything-- he didn't have the gun yet, and the stalker would most likely let him live as long as he played the innocent. Better pick up the pace. Maybe I can lose this guy. thought Joey. He slipped into an alley and scaled a fence. He made it further, about a block from the beach when it clouded up and began to start raining. Protecting the envelope with his life, Joey ran as fast as he could to the dark figure he'd seen several times before already.
"The envelope, Dweeb?" said the man. Joey handed him the envelope. "You can relax now, Dweeb. This is your last assignment."
"Whatever. I got a life to get back to. Smell ya latuh," Man, that guy seems familiar. thought Joey as he ran to Hirutani's house through the rain. He stopped to rest and the stalkers jumped him.
Joey awoke in the cemetery, still in the rain.
"Wua ha ha ha ha!" cackled an eerie voice.
"DYAA! Who's dere?" demanded Joey.
"It's me, Joey!" Bonz popped out from behind a tombstone; the rain made his face look twice as ugly. "I challenge you to a duel!"
"But I don't have my deck with me," whined Joey, truthfully.
"Then we're just going to have to take what we want by force!" snarled a British accent. Sid distracted Joey while Zygore pulled him to the ground. Mud bubbled underneath Joey's nose and mouth, and all he could acknowledge was the violating feeling of Bonz digging inside his pockets and stealing his wallet. Then, a kick in the stomach from the little guy, too.
"Next time bring your deck, Joey!" Bonz sneered angrily. They let Joey up and ran away, Joey was sure they'd broken a rib or something, not only that, but he feared he could get sick from the germy mud that had slipped inside his mouth. He spat, and blood came out. Walking in the rain, letting it wash off the blood, Joey went back to Hirutani's house to accept his prize.
"Nice job, Wheeler. You know you're almost at my level. But--"
"But I'll always be second-in-command. I know," sighed Joey.
"That's right. You planning on spending the night?" Hirutani added. Joey shook his head. "Suit yourself." Joey stumbled in the direction of Yugi's house. Soaking wet, he made a frightening appearance in front of Yugi. In his star-pattern pajamas, Yugi answered the door.
"Hmm, all the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle are here, so…what were you swimming around in a pool looking for this time?" Yugi asked sarcastically, referring to the time, back when he and Joey became friends, that Joey had shown up at his door, soaking wet, because he'd been swimming in a pool to retrieve a piece of Yugi's puzzle.
"I need a place to crash, Yug'," Joey groaned.
"OK, but be quiet; Grandpa's sleeping," said Yugi. He tiptoed upstairs, and opened the door to his room. "Here," he whispered, handing Joey his bathrobe and slippers. "hang your clothes up in the bathroom and I'll get you some blankets." Joey undressed himself down to his boxers, wrung his hair out in the sink, and put on his friend's bathrobe and slippers. Yugi got some blankets out of a linen closet and laid them out on the floor next to his bed. He heard Joey grunting and struggling to get the slippers on. They both had to face it-- Yugi's clothes were at least three sizes too small for Joey.
"Have mercy, you got some small little feet!" hissed Joey, shouting yet trying to be quiet. "Ah, thanks Yugi. Goodnight."
"Night-Night Joey," Yugi yawned, getting into his bed.
Early the next morning, Yugi got up and went into the bathroom to shower. "That was very nice of you to let Joey spend the night," said Yami.
"Oh, good morning, Yami!" said Yugi. "Thanks, I mean he's my best friend after all." Hmm, his clothes seem to have dried out overnight. I'll hang them over the heater to warm them up. Yugi laid Joey's filthy, white socks on the heater first. He tucked them so they hung down in between the radiator's ribcage. Next, his pants; Joey seemed to have only one pair of jeans, so Yugi did Joey the courtesy of washing them. He did notice that their was an awful amount of blood on them. Joey's T-shirt and dog tag were next; Yugi hung the dog tag around the bathroom doorknob and draped Joey's blue and white shirt over the radiator. The article of clothing that caused the most trouble for Yugi was Joey's jacket. As soon as he picked it up, the gun fell onto the floor and fired.
Scared half to death, Yugi breathed a great sigh of relief when he confirmed that the gun had not shot him, and that the sound had not woken up his grandpa. Hand over heart and hyperventilating, Yugi noticed a bullet hole in the baseboard of the bathroom. Whew! At least Grandpa won't notice!
"Yugi!" Joey burst into the bathroom. "Oh no, Yugi promise you won't tell anyone about dis!" Joey demanded.
"Joey, I don't know if I can…you brought a loaded gun into my house!" shouted Yugi, panicking.
"Sh! Don't talk so loud," Joey coaxed. "Yug', I honestly didn't mean to leave it lying around so carelessly. I need it for protection, you know how many gang fights I get into…" Yugi's eyes started to moisten with tears.
"W-where'd you get it?" he whimpered.
"Never mind dat, Yugi…promise you won't breathe a word about dis to anyone. Look me in the eye and promise me!" said Joey. Yugi looked his friend in the eye and nodded. "Thank you," said Joey.
"I…I hung your clothes up to dry," Yugi said. "and I'm washing your jeans right now."
"Ah thanks. Hmm, toast-y warm!" Joey smiled as he put his shirt on. He put the gun inside his jacket pocket and put his socks on. He let Yugi shower while his pants dried. By the time Yugi got out and finished drying his hair, Joey was gone. A little note was left on Yugi's pillow.
Thanks Pal. I'll call you later!
"Don't worry Yugi, I'm sure Joey will be safe. He's smarter than he lets on," said Yami.
"I hope you're right," sighed Yugi.
Joey ran back to Mai's apartment to check up on his fiancée. "Joey, where have you been? And why haven't you been returning my calls!" screamed Mai.
"Mai, it's OK. I was working. Check it out, five-hundred bucks!" I'm'll put it in da bank and start us a savings account," Joey said. Mai's expression changed from a bitter scowl to a tender and loving smile. She stroked Joey's cheek. "I'm sorry I made you worry, Mai."
"That's alright, Hon'," said Mai. "how are your grades Young Man?" she asked.
"Good enough to graduate by a nose-hair, and bad enough to skip college and marry you," he answered. Mai disapproved of him flunking and skipping college, but the man she loved was working to provide…she couldn't argue with that. Joey ran his fingers through Mai's hair and she wrapped her hands around his neck. "You're so beautiful," he said. "I could just stand here with you forever…"
"You're the most charming person I've ever known," Mai said. Then she noticed something. 'Joey, what happened? You have a new scar on your cheek."
"Uh, gang fights. You know me," Joey shrugged it off. Mai hugged him and he yelped in pain.
"What's wrong?" she cried. Joey cringed and held his ribcage. "Joey…"
"Agh! It's nothing…!" he lied.
"It is not nothing, Joseph, now let me see…"
"No!" he panicked. Mai pushed him onto the couch and pulled his shirt up. She gasped at a bruise the size of a baseball. Purple, green and red all mixed together.
"Joey! Did this happen in the same fight?" she screamed, her eyes filling up with tears.
"Mai, it's OK, don't cry."
"What are you doing, Joey? I thought you'd stopped fighting before I even met you!" she cried.
"Mai, it's just a little rumble now-and-then, nothing dangerous, I promise." But he could tell that Mai didn't believe him. "Mai, look in my eyes; I promise, I'm fine." Mai just sighed and let Joey cuddle her.
Meanwhile, at Tristan's house, Tea and had come over to discuss the encounters they'd all had with Joey. Tristan gave her a more elaborate description of what he saw with the Rintama Gang.
"So lets put the pieces together; Joey's been skipping school. He says it's because he's been job-hunting. He's been engaged to Mai for…well I don't know how long…and he's been hanging out with Rintama," said Tristan.
"Well, whatever's going on, none of us are getting the whole story!" said Tea.
"That's right. We have to find Joey and get some answers. I'm going to get Yugi. Let's all meet back here in one hour!" said Tea.
"Yeah!" said Tristan. Tea walked to the Turtle Shop and cheerfully greeted Yugi's grandpa.
"Hello, Mr. Mutou."
"Hello there, Tea. Yugi's inside, go right on up."
"Thanks," Tea went upstairs to find Yugi. "Yugi? It's me, Tea! Yugi?" she was surprised to find him mixing some putty and white paint, and smearing it onto a baseboard in his bathroom. "Yugi, what are you doing?"
"Nothing!" shrieked Yugi, turning around. "Oh, it's just you, I was afraid you were Grandpa. Um, I'm just patching up a hole in the wall. You know…don't want to get mice!" Yugi blushed, making his fib even more obvious.
"Yugi listen; we need your help…Tristan and I…we want to meet back at his house and talk about Joey. We need you because we figured if he told anyone anything else it was his best friend," said Tea. Yugi flattened and smoothed the putty, then got up and agreed to go with Tea. They said goodbye to his grandpa and then went back to Tristan's house.
"Tristan, we're back!" announced Tea. They all sat down in a circle. Well, as much of a circle as three people could make, anyway.
"OK," Tristan began the discussion. "our mission objective is…"
"Tristan, we're not secret agents," Tea complained.
"What are you saying, exactly?"
"Talk normal! Not like a spy!" ordered Yugi.
"Fine. Our goal is to find out why Joey has been hanging out with Hirutani, how long he's been engaged to Mai and when he was planning telling us. Now, no matter what we promised him, we all have to tell each other what we find out from him, alright?" Yugi and Tea nodded.
"Yugi, let's start with you."
"OK, well, um, Joey told me that he and Mai were going to get married and that he wanted to tell everyone himself. So, I don't know, maybe he would have told us all pretty soon. That's probably why he yelled at me when I blabbed it the other day. And last night…he came to my place to crash, so I let him spend the night. He left pretty soon in the morning so we didn't really get a chance to talk. When he left he had written me a note that said he'd call me later. I guess if he's calling write now Grandpa can take a message." said Yugi.
"Uh-huh, so he stayed at your house. Any idea why?" Tristan asked.
"Well…it was raining. Maybe he was really far from home and was too cold to walk back," suggested Yugi.
"Yeah, that's seems logical," agreed Tea.
"He will need a job if he wants to get married, so it's perfectly normal that he was job-hunting," said Tristan. "But then again, skipping school is no way to graduate. And that still doesn't explain why he's hanging out with Hirutani."
"Yugi…did anything else happen last night? Anything unusual?" Tea asked in concern. Yugi hated lying to his friends, but he hated betraying a friend's confidence even more. He tried not to think about that horrible jolt of terror he experienced when that gun went off, but he cringed in fear anyway.
"N-no, nothing else."
"I think it's time we confront Joey and Mai! Maybe she'll tell us something," declared Tristan.
"Sounds like a plan," said Tea. "Let's split up. I'll go to Mai's house, Yugi, you go to Joey's place…"
"And I'll go after Hirutani!" said Tristan.
"Be careful, Tristan," said Yugi as he and Tea left.
"Hey, it'll be better if I go than one of you."
"He's right, Yugi. Come on, let's go!"
Arriving at Mai's apartment, Tea impatiently rang the doorbell. Before one DING could end in a DONG she'd push the button again.
DING-DO-- DING-DO-- DING-DO-- DING!
"Tea, one ring is enough to-- what's wrong?" asked Mai when she answered the door and saw Tea's distressed face.
"Mai, uh, we know about your engagement to Joey…Tristan and Yugi and I. Anyway, we have to ask you if you knew that Joey's been hanging out with an old gang from junior high. Hirutani…bad guy…you know about that?"
"He didn't tell me that," said Mai. "He's been providing me with money. Earlier today he came by with five-hundred bucks. Said he was going to put it in a savings account."
"Well," Tea began. "who's family would be paying for the wedding?"
"Not mine. I don't have a family," said Mai. "and Joey's dad is not the richest guy on the block, you know. His mother probably doesn't have any more money than the average schmoe, so Joey's going to pay for the whole thing, he must think."
"Then what are you planning on doing?" Tea asked worriedly.
"I guess we'll move in together. Somewhere out of town. I still work in the Duel Monsters cruise ship industry, but those are the kind of boats that don't leave the harbor. We wouldn't have to move far, if at all. I don't know what Joey's full-time job is going to be but…" Mai trailed off and shrugged.
"Well Mai?"
"Yes, Tea?"
"…can I be a Bride's-maid?"
The Torture Chamber. What a corny name and a typical place; an abandoned warehouse. I bet no one's been in here since Yugi fought the gang. But he didn't get them out of the way for good. Tristan thought as he tramped around the old shack. There were rat and raccoon droppings here and there, a few empty cigarette packages, and one left-over taser from the day Yugi showed Rintama no mercy. No sign of Hirutani.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Tristan Taylor…" said a voice. Tristan whirled around and immediately blacked out. "…then my name isn't Bandit Keith."
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End of Chapter 02