Return of the Wild Gang Chapter 11
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Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, or anything I might make references to.
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Joey was questioned and found pretty much guilty. They locked him up in a cell with a snoring man. He only had his school uniform to turn in for an orange jumpsuit to wear. He sighed and sat down on the bottom bunk of the cell, and began to cry. The snoring man stirred.
Soon the sobs became louder, and the bed shook. Now the snoring had stopped. The man was so irritated by being awoken from his sleep, and show he was ready to throttle Joey into shutting up.
"Will you SHUT UP ALREADY!" he growled. "Oh, great. JUST who I wanted to be locked up in a jail cell with!" Joey looked up…it was Bandit Keith.
"Oh no," he said.
"Okay, Dweeb, you've gotten on my last nerves for the last time!" said Keith. He picked Joey up by the collar and punched him in the gut. Dropping him to the floor, he growled in resentment. Then he kicked him again and again. Joey coughed and wept silently. Soon they heard a guard approaching. "If you say a word, you'll be sleeping in the ground, if you catch my drift!" threatened Keith. Joey basically replied by letting his head nod off into unconsciousness. Keith stuffed him onto the bottom bunk and then climbed back on the top for a nap.
Meanwhile, the police were questioning Mai. Had she known what Joey was doing even after he'd promised to stop, she'd have been brought up on charges of housing a criminal. But since Joey hadn't told her about his latest crimes, she was telling the police all that she could.
"So you and Wheeler are engaged, Ma'am?" asked the cop.
"Yes."
"Since when?"
"Um…about a month ago," Mai swallowed.
"Hmm, pretty nice rock he gave you," commented the cop.
"My ring? Oh, yeah, well, that's what you do when you propose, right?" said Mai.
"Did he have it engraved by any chance?"
"Um, I don't know. I don't think so," she admitted.
"Do you happen to know if he paid for that with his own money?"
"Now that you bring it up…he doesn't even have that much money. I don't know if he did…actually…purchase
this," Mai sighed.
"Ma'am, please remove the ring and let me see it," ordered the cop. Mai did so. Soul-mates Forever it said inside.
"This ring perfectly fit's the description of a ring that was stolen from a jeweler's store six months ago," said the cop.
"Oh no," groaned Mai, putting her head in her hands.
"Well, I think we've got ourselves a suspect," said one cop to the other. "Thank you for your cooperation, Ma'am, you've been very helpful. I'm sorry, I'm going to have to confiscate this ring, as it is now evidence."
"Not a problem," said Mai. "I'm beginning to see what it was worth all along. And if it's not too much trouble…could you give me a lift down to the prison?"
"No trouble at all," said the cop. They got into the cruiser and drove down to the prison.
Joey was overjoyed to see Mai. Keith had beaten him up pretty badly, but all the bruises in the world couldn't compare to being apart from her.
"Mai!" he yelled. He leaped up from the bottom bunk and gripped the bars of the cell, trying to get as close to her as possible. "I'm so glad to see you," he sighed. But one look into her eyes told him that the feeling wasn't mutual.
"Mai…?"
"If you weren't behind bars I'd slap you!" shouted Mai.
"What?"
"How could you? Stealing an engagement ring? Our marriage would have been illegal, Joey!" tears welled up in here eyes, but she blinked them back.
"I didn't steal no ring, Mai!" Joey tried. But before he could even say 'please,' she had bolted from the prison.
On a more upbeat subject, Solomon Mutou was taking everyone out to shop for college supplies- everything they would need for their dorms. Tristan's and Tea's parents had lent them their credit cards- Solomon was only paying for Yugi's supplies.
"Well kids, where should we start?" he asked.
"How about bed sheets?" suggested Yugi.
"What's the matter? Suddenly Khurriboh sheets and pillows aren't good enough for you?" Tristan teased.
"Shh! Tristan! Not even Tea knows about that!" hissed Yugi. So the friends collected new linens first. Then Tea insisted she'd need a shower caddy for all of her shampoos and conditioners and stuff. When she returned from the bath supplies section she had news.
"You guys! I just found the most hilarious thing! Come here!" she led her friends to an aisle full of fuzzy slippers. She grabbed some powder-blue ones and held them up to Tristan's face. "You should get these!" she giggled.
"Oh, stuff it!" said Tristan, laughing too.
"How about a mini-fridge?" asked Solomon. Tristan and Yugi's faces lit up.
"You mean it, Grandpa!" Solomon nodded.
"ALRIGHT!" Tristan grabbed Yugi and spun him around in joy. Tea sighed. She would miss them…especially Yugi.
After the gang stocked up on linens and things at Linens 'n' Things, they went to SEARS and bought a mini-fridge. Yugi and Tristan were so grateful they offered to clean the game shop so that Solomon could relax for once. Tea started to get sentimental about all the good times she'd had with here friends, and how much she'd miss them in New York, but she decided to cheer up and call Mai.
When they first met Mai, Tea didn't exactly like her that much. She thought she was shallow and arrogant. Mai, on the other hand, befriended Tea right away and insisted that they girls stuck together. Tea was a bit jealous of Mai and thought that she would seduce Yugi…and Yami. After learning that Mai meant no harm to Tea's and Yugi's relationship they began to bond and became good friends. Tea almost regretted doubting Mai at all.
Mai's phone rang but she decided not to answer it. She was too depressed.
Let it ring, she thought.
"Mai, it's Tea. I was just wondering how you're doing. I haven't seen you since Yugi's party, and I was hoping we could get together and catch up! Call me!" …
Mai perked up when she heard it was Tea, but she didn't want to tell Tea that she'd dumped Joey. She was too humiliated at the moment, and still debating with herself if dumping him was the right thing to do.
"Whew!" said Tristan, dumping out the contents of a dustpan into the trash. "How does this place get so dirty?"
"How should I know?" shrugged Yugi.
"You know, we haven't seen Joey since graduation. I wonder what he's been up to," said Tristan.
"Yeah, I was getting a little worried. And what ever happened to Hirutani?"
"I don't know. But let's just hope he's not stirring up trouble," the shop was silent for a moment after that. Just then, Tea came bursting in with some news.
"Guys!" she panted. "I just talked to Mai…she's calling off the engagement!" Tristan dropped the broom and it clattered on the floor.
"What!" screamed Yugi.
"She said he's a liar and a thief…and she can't marry a criminal," Tea explained.
"Joey? A thief?" gasped Yugi. "No way!"
"Way," said Tristan. Tea and Yugi both looked up in disbelief. "He's a former gang member. It's not so unusual that he would steal something. Hirutani and his gang…you never know."
"Joey stealing? No! I don't believe that!" said Yugi.
"Well…where do you think he got that diamond ring?" asked Tea Yugi gasped.
"Y-you don't think he stole it, do you?" Tea looked down.
"I don't know what I think anymore," she sighed.
"Where is he? I'm going to kick some sense into his butt!" Tristan stated.
"Uh…" Tea stuttered.
"Did Mai tell you where he is?" asked Tristan.
"Mm-mm," Tea shook her head to add gesture to her fib. Yugi could kind-of tell she wasn't being entirely truthful, but he decided not to say anything. He knew Tristan could be rash and short-tempered when it came to Joey doing certain things.
"Yugi, is everything alright down there? I heard yelling," said Solomon from upstairs.
"Uh, well, um, thanks for helping clean up the shop, Tristan! But I'm sure you have lots of stuff of your own to do, so I won't keep you, off you go now! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" said Yugi, nervously, pushing Tristan out of the shop.
"Um, okay, see you later," said Tristan. Yugi gave a huge grin and waved until he was out of sight. Then, after sighing a breath of relief, he turned to Tea.
"Okay Tea, where's Joey?" he asked. Tea bit her lip.
"Jail," she said from the back of her throat.
"Oh no…" whispered Yugi. Tea hugged him and they both cried.
A week later, Hirutani came back. His gang left him and he was totally alone. He was too tough and mean to admit it, but he was really hurt inside. He had no friends. All he ever did was fight other gangs, but now that he'd pretty much dropped out of school and driven his gang away, he was alone. The only friend he's ever known was Joey, but even he'd rejected Hirutani. He decided to put his ear to the ground and eventually learned of Joey's whereabouts.
At the prison, Joey and Keith still weren't on speaking terms. Keith snapped a nasty look at Joey ever time Joey looked him in the eye. Joey was just as lonely as ever. And every time he thought about Mai his heart ached.
"What are you cryin' about?" sneered Keith. He'd been watching Joey from the top bunk, guessing what he would do next. He never expected him to cry.
"What do you care?" Joey sniffed.
"This place is more boring than an art show. I just want something to do, so I figure; ask the dweeb why he's crying!" said Keith.
"You saw her, Man!" Joey choked. "She came, she yelled at me, and she doesn't want to marry me!"
"You're still hung up on that skank?" grunted Keith.
"HEY!" all of a sudden, Joey was up and an inch away from his cell-mate's face, holding him by the collar. "Don't you ever talk about Mai Valentine dat way! She is not a skank! She's a smart, beautiful, talented, sweet person!" he yelled. But the thought of each and every one of Mai's good qualities just made him remember that he'd never get to be around those traits of hers again. He got so sad that he broke down again.
"Fine, Dweeb…let it all out. But by lights-out, if you don't shut up I'm going to beat the crud out of you!" Joey didn't care. He had already been beaten up where it hurt the most.
Joey was not the only one hurt by Mai's actions. Yugi and Tea were both devastated, and even Tristan shed a few tears. Mai of course, was heartbroken by the fact that Joey was a criminal. She cried her heart out that night.
Around midnight, when all the prisoners were supposed to be asleep, someone in a dark cloak began to sneak around the prison. They lightly scurried around the guards, and when they got to one of the night watchmen, they took drastic action. With a little dab of chlorophorm on a rag, and the motion of holding it up to his face, the guard passed out. The figure swiped his keys and strolled down the hallway of cells like it owned the place.
It flicked open a cigarette lighter to illuminate the place. Finally, it found what it was looking for.
"Hey Joey! Psst!" it whispered. The lack of vocal tension made it hard to tell if this cloaked figure was male or female. Joey looked up, but couldn't make out who it was.
"Who are you?"
"Not important. What is important is I got the guard's keys! Just be quiet and I'll bust you out of here!" it whispered.
"No way, I'm going to do my time," insisted Joey.
"What's going on here?" asked Keith, once again rudely awoken from his slumber.
"Dis person wants to break us out of here!" said Joey.
"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Keith. He grabbed the keys for himself and let himself out. "Come on,
Dweeb! We're free!" but Joey stayed.
"No," he said. "If I leave I'll just get in worse trouble than I already am. So you can go, Keith, with whoever the
heck this is, but I'm stayin'!"
"Come on, Joey," insisted the cloaked figure.
"No! Now get out of here or I'll scream!" Keith and the cloaked figure looked at each other, then took advantage of Joey's courteous silence to steal away into the night.
The summer was dragging out, but finally it was July. Joey had done his time and was released. He was too scared to go back to Mai's house, too ashamed to try and stay with Tristan, and too polite to go to Yugi's again. He was planning on going back to Mai's just to pick up his stuff, but apparently Mai was already way ahead of him, because she'd put his stuff in a box out in the alley, along with his suitcase. He found it, and decided to skip town. He'd screwed over just about everyone he knew, and was so ashamed that he didn't even want to be seen in the town of Domino again. That night he decided to sleep on a park bench.
He kept an eye open for the cops for about an hour before he went to sleep. Pretty soon, it was obvious that no one was coming to chase him off the bench, so he closed his eyes. No sooner than he had, two hands grabbed him and dragged him into the alley. One of the hands was clasped over Joey's mouth, but when he was finally released hi yelled,
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" It was the same cloaked figure from the prison! "Oh, it's you. Who are you, anyway?" Joey raised his fist, preparing to strike the figure, but it moved back and removed its cloak, hat and sunglasses.
"Easy, Joey, it's me!" Joey couldn't believe his eyes.
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END OF CHAPTER 11