Author's note: Well guess it's Christmas in March, it looks like the leprechauns were doing the Irish Jig around a Christmas tree this year. (Ok, here's the part where all you people laugh at my sorry excuse for a joke.)
In other news, I got the 8th, or should I say 1st volume of Yu-gi-oh Duelist over the weekend, go me!
But enough about me, I'd like to point out that due to the fact that it was taking to long, I split up the big climax into two chapters; man I can never get to the point, I just have to keep rambling on and on and on…Anyway I know I said that I'd be updating more often I just didn't have the time to write the next chapter yet. (Stupid essays and school projects!)
One more note, some characters will display OOC ness, but it is intentional, and there is a reason, and most will be normal again by next chapter. Ok on with the fic
Reviewers:
Sami Ryou's Hikari: No problem for not reviewing last chapter, we all can get pretty busy. Glad you like it.
butterflybg: I guess it's safe to assume that your brother's bald by now? Well it's not so bad, I mean they do show two new episodes a week, (usually) maybe that's why they run out of them so fast.
Evil Furby Queen: You mean there's actually a song about Radioactive Hamsters! Wow. Now I must find a copy and listen to it.
gohan11: Glad you liked Tea's advice, I find it very hard to write humor for the females so I basically try to write funny dialogue for them, and slapstick, and physical comedy for the guys.
cute-Baka: You'll get to find out this chapter.
Sister of Juel Haruna: I know what it's like to have a sister; in fact I'm not yellowfairy, but her sister writing on her account. I'll see if I can persuade her to click off the "No anonymous reviews". I'm happy you think so well of my work, and I will try to fix the grammar mistakes. Spelling doesn't come easy for me, and I even read through my chapter before I update. Any way, thanks for the review!
Juel Haruna: I'm pleased that you like it so much too! Sorry you think I can get a little wordy in the Author's notes, I just wanted to make sure I didn't leave the readers with any questions. Come to think of it I might have switched hot dogs and buns around, oops.
marinadaearthgoddess: Thank you for updating, hope you like this next chapter too!
caddyl: Thanks for reviewing! I really appreciate the praise.
Warnings: slight language, and the use of weapons.
Disclaimer: Don't own, never will. Unless of course some one would be willing to hand over the rights? Anybody…no? Oh well, guess I still don't own it, darn!
All I Want for ChristmasChapter 23: The Strange Occurrence
Despite Tea's tips, Serenity was still nervous when she approached the guests waiting to give their orders. "Umm…may I take your orders?" she squeaked.
"Yes, I'll have…"
'Ok, just remember; never argue, never write down…Oh wait! It's always write down everything…Ahh! What was he ordering?' Serenity scolded herself, "I'm sorry, what was that last part?" the girl bowed slightly in apology.
Right behind her a man got up from his table. Wanting to go outside for a while he reached for his jacket, which hung on his chair. Unfortunately he was still talking to a friend in front of him, while his jacket was to his back. Needless to say the man stretched a little to far and grabbed something else.
"Ahh!" Serenity's face grew red in embarrassment and swiftly turned to face her assaulter. 'Rule number three!'
The man turned to apologize but instead received a face full of fist.
Thud!...
…Went the man's limp form as he hit the ground.
Tristan, who was just pouring a white wine into a glass, some tables away witnessed the man fall by Serenity's hand and continued to pour until the glass completely overflowed. "Serenity!" he hissed, ignoring the woman's protests of having expensive wine dumped all over her dress.
"You knocked him out!" the brunet exclaimed running over.
"I didn't mean to hit him so hard!" The girl cried out in a panic, "But the rules…he touched me and…"
"You did what you had to." Tristan stopped the girl, having come to his own conclusion about the man on the floor. "Joey would be proud." He added, looking impressed him self.
"MISS. WHELLER!"
"Unfortunately, he wouldn't." Tristan groaned as he saw Kaiba stock over to them.
"Care to explain why there is a man unconscious at one of your tables Miss. Wheeler?" The CEO said in disturbingly calm voice.
"Umm…well…" The girl shock in unease as she spoke to the tall brunet.
"The guy stiffed me on a tip so I hit him." Tristan said matter-of-factly.
"Oh really?" Kaiba asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yep."
"Taylor, come with me." Kaiba snapped, leading Tristan away. The brown-eyed boy looked back once and gave a thumbs-up to the girl who looked on in a mixture of shock and gratitude.
Tristan was then escorted into the kitchen, and gently placed beside the sink. That's what Tristan would have liked to have happened. Instead he was dragged into the kitchen; Kaiba's grip on the other teen's arm so strong that Tristan felt it would come off at any second.
Yugi watched on in amazement as Kaiba lead Tristan in the room and practically threw him to the counter near the sink. All the while Tristan had his chest puffed out in pride and wore a huge grin, looking as though he had just won a medal for performing some heroic deed.
"Miss. Valentine," Kaiba said in an even tone, although the others could tell he was finding it hard to keep his temper in check, "take Mr. Taylor's place."
Mai snapped to attention and after giving a wave to the group headed out the kitchen doors.
"He obviously can't control himself." Kaiba's eyes narrowed into such a glare, that if looks could kill, Tristan would have been in a coma at the very least. "Any more screw ups Taylor and I'll have your head on a platter."
"What was that about?" Malik asked after Kaiba had left the room.
"Nothing to important." The brunet answered.
"Yeah well, I'd take Kaiba's threat seriously if I were you," Ryou said nudging his head toward the door. "He looked mad enough to make good on it and serve that platter to the guests."
BathroomJoey growled under his breath, then coughed as a mixture of cleaners and toxic fumes entered his nostrils. 'Stupid Kaiba!' In his frustration, the blond began to strangle the plunger in his hands, imagining it was the CEO him self. "Ha, Ha, Ha! Take that rich-boy! Cough! Cough! Cough!"
Suddenly Joey turned a slight tinge of green, 'Oh man, fumes must be getting to my head.' For fear of passing out, the blond staggered out of the rest room, he immediately sunk down to the floor. 'So tired…'
Upon making his rounds, a very pissed CEO found Joey, apparently snoozing in the hallway. "Wheeler!" It took all his patents not to yell, lest he draw attention to them.
Kaiba strode over and swiftly kicked the blond in the side. Joey immediately fell over. "Hmm… what?" the brown-eyed boy asked sleepily.
"What are you doing on the floor mutt?"
"Oh. Hey Kaiba!" Joey started to wave merrily, "Night, night." He mumbled before resuming to saw logs.
'I don't believe this!' Kaiba screamed inwardly. 'They're purposely trying to sabotage me!' he stopped mid mental rant when he saw a fine white mist pour out from under the rest room door. He kneeled down to examine it further.
"What?" Then Kaiba felt it, a slow, steady dizziness sweep through his body. He rose a little too fast and then the brunet swayed slightly, but steadied him self. The CEO opened the door to the rest room, and gasped. The mist poured out of a vent near the other end of the wall. Kaiba scowled, realizing that there was no latch to close it. 'There must be one main switch.'
Kaiba quickly tore down the hall, handkerchief over his mouth and nose. 'Why, does Isizue always have to be right about these kind of things? Stupid necklace! I need to shut down the ventilation system before we're all catching Z's.'
Kitchen"Hey Odion?" Ryou asked a little shakily.
"Yes." The Egyptian turned to face the British teen.
"I think your dish is burning." The white-haired boy pointed at the oven
"I have nothing in there, Ryou."
"Well then where is all this smoke coming from?"
Yugi blinked and looked around them, Ryou was right, it had become a little smoky in the room. Amethyst eyes landed on a small vent near the stove. "The vent!" The other four all turned and gazed.
"Crap!"
"Oh dear!"
"What in the name of Horus!"
"Quick! Give me something to cover it with!" Malik yelled stepping near the vent, and kneeling down.
"Is this stuff smoke?" Yugi asked as Tristan grabbed a spare apron and threw it at Malik.
"No, I don't think so…" Malik trailed off before he started to snicker.
"Malik?" Odion asked in concern.
"I don't see anything funny about this." Ryou said to the tan boy.
"Wow," Malik nearly teetered over as he spoke, "Ryou, you have three heads."
"I what!" The British teen looked bewildered.
"See there's on there," Malik pointed to air, "and there," again the Egyptian pointed to nothing, "and…" He never finished as he suddenly toppled forward.
It was all Ryou could do to keep the Egyptian from falling face first on the floor, catching him, but soon sinking with Malik to the cold tiles below. "Some one, help me!" Ryou cried.
"Malik!" Odion was at his side in a second while Tristan began to cover the vent as best he could.
"Yugi!" The brunet called, "Get help!"
"Right, I'll find Kaiba, Hold on guys!"
"Hey mates, I'm not feeling so good…" Ryou said groggily.
"Not you too!" Tristan yelled, while trying to keep his nose and mouth covered. "Stay with us man!" 'What is this stuff?'
"Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket…never…let it…yawn…fade…away…" The British teen sang before passing out.
"Odion, get them out of here and try to wake them up!" Tristan told the taller of the two.
"Fine, but what about you?"
"I can handle it, now go before we all pass out!"
Main HallIsizue played a low, sad tune on the piano. She couldn't believe it, she felt like Cassandra of Toy, clearly able to see danger approaching but unable to do anything to stop it. 'It's to late to call the authorities. There is no time, there is no hope for any of us.'
A sudden burst of anger shot through the raven-haired woman, 'I can't believe Kaiba threatened to tie me to the piano bench if I got up again!' Her eyes traveled warily over to the guard stationed a few feet away.
Isizue finished her song and watched as Mokuba walked to the head of the table.
"Excuse me everyone." The young boy called silencing the chatter of the guests. "On behalf of my brother," he then added under his breathe, "who seems to have disappeared, and myself I'd like to say thank you for coming..."
BasementArmed with a wrench and flashlight, Kaiba ran through Town Hall's basement. 'Where is that valve?'
A Hallway"Kaiba! Something's wrong in the kitchen!" Yugi ran through an empty hallway, desperate to find the CEO. "Kaiba! Wow, Joey!"
While the short teen was unable to find the brunet he did find a sleeping blond. "Joey! What's wrong?"
"Mmm…funny…fumes…Come back giant pizza…"
"Oh no! That white smoke's here too…"
The tri-colored haired boy looked at the swirling mist at his feet. "Gahh! Sorry Joey, I'll come back for you!" 'I need to find Kaiba. He's probably the only one here who can get ride of this stuff.'
Kitchen'I don't know how…much longer…I can last!' Tristan thought desperately. 'I'm losing it!'
Main Hall "No way! Serenity knocked him out?" Mai whispered to Tea as Mokuba continued his speech."And knocked out a few teeth too." The brunet sighed, "I just hope the guy doesn't press charges."
"Where would Serenity get the idea to hit someone?" The blond asked.
"Yeah…you see Mai the thing is…" Tea stopped and stared wide eyed over Mai's shoulder.
"Hmm?" Violet eyes stared at Tea in concern.
"Why's Odion carrying an unconscious Ryou and Malik out of the kitchen?"
"Tea what are you…" Mai was cut off as the blue-eyed girl spun her friend around. "Oh my God!" With out further delay the two rushed over to see what had happened.
Basement"Finally found it." Kaiba groaned as he struggled to turn the rusty valve off.
A Hallway
"This stuff is everywhere!" Yugi yelled desperately trying to get away from the mist now pouting out of practically every hallway door. 'I need help!' The amethyst-eyed boy tugged with all his might at the latch of a window that refused to open.
/Yami/
Pier
The spirit of the puzzle shot nearly ten feet in the air at his hikari's sudden entrance into his mind.
/Yugi? What's wrong? You sound nervous./
Not forgetting what he wanted to say earlier the short teen said/Yami look, I want to say I'm sorry./
/No, I should apologize Yugi./
/I shouldn't have yelled…Oh never mind, now's not the time. I need your help. Something's wrong at Town Hall. There's this smoke that's knocking people out/
With out hesitating the spirit replied/Don't worry I'll be there as soon as I can. Hang on Yugi/
Bakura and Marik stared at the Pharaoh; Yami seemed to have gotten the spark in his eyes back. "Yugi needs help."
"Well he sure came running back to you fast. What the shrimp get him self into now?" Bakura asked.
Kitchen
"Mr. Taylor!" Odion shouted, running across the kitchen to the brunet still trying to keep the smoke out of the room. "How are you holding up?"
"Ha, ha, ha!"
"Not you too!"
"Mommy, is that you?"
"He's hallucinating." The Egyptian muttered dryly to him self.
"I love you!" The teen announced, and then latched on to the golden-eyed man's leg.
"For the love of Osiris!" Odion groaned while dragging Tristan, who was still clutching on to his leg, out the kitchen.
"Whee!"
The two females watched on in amazement as Odon brought forward a clearly delusional brunet.
"Looks like the fumes got to him too." Tea sighed, and then tried to wake Malik up. "Malik, please snap out of it."
The Egyptian's response was a jumble of Arabic before falling silent once more.
"Come on Ryou, time to get up." Mai cooed.
"Five… more…min…" The white-haired boy murmured.
"Ugg! This is impossible!" the violet-eyed woman growled in frustration.
"Some one should tell Kaiba" Tea told the others.
"Mr. …ugg…Muto already left to find him." Odion explained setting a snoozing Tristan down. "But I'm concerned, he has been gone too long."
"Then I'll tell Mokuba." The blue-eyed girl said, getting up.
"And I'll try to contain that smoke." The Egyptian said also raising.
"No way, you'll just pass out too!" Mai yelled.
"I have no choice Miss. Valentine, the smoke is already coming in here."
"Just be careful." Mai called after the Egyptian's retreating form. "Heaven knows I won't be the one to drag you out." She muttered under her breath, trying to wake the three teens. She then added thoughtfully, "I'll get Joey to do it."
Pier
"Come on we're wasting time!" Yami growled under his breath.
"Why should we help?" Marik asked, amused at the spirit of the puzzle's anger.
"Because for all we know your hikaris could be their too." The Pharaoh crossed his arms in annoyance.
"I'm checking on Ryou." Bakura announced to the other two darker halves.
"Aww! Someone's worried!" Marik yelled into the thief's ear.
"Shut up, or I'll cut out your tongue." The tomb robber replied. "I only want to see if Ryou knows anything about this."
/Hikari, what's happening at Town Hall/
/I've got a lovely bunch of…Oh yami! How are you/
/Umm…a little cold, and you're…singing/
/Yep/
/Is there a reason why you're this happy/ Bakura asked a little un-nerved.
/Do I need a reason to be happy, my wonderful fluffy yami/
/Fluffy/
Bakura gave up any hope of having a sane conversation with Ryou, and turned to his fellow darker halves. "He's lost it."
"What?" Yami raised an eyebrow.
"He's singing through the bloody mind-link." The thief replied dumbly.
"I always knew your lighter half was soft in the head Bakura," Marik nodded his head and crossed his arms, "But I'll ask Malik if it will stop you two from whining."
/Hey hikari! Pharaoh wants to know if you and your idiotic friends are all right./
/Ha, ha, ha, he, he, he…/
/Excuse me/
/Hi Marik! Ha, ha, ha…/
/What may I ask is so funny/
/I just…Ha, ha, ha, he, he, he…your so funny/
Marik winced at the sheer volume of Malik's voice, 'what the hell? If I didn't know any better I'd say he's actually…ugg! Perky.'
/I won't allow any hikari of mine to be cheerful, do you hear me/
/(Snicker) Yes, he, he/
/Malik…/
/Ha, ha, ha/
"He's impossible!" Marik yelled, pulling at his own hair.
"What's wrong?" Yami asked.
"He won't stop laughing!" Marik's face twisted in frustration.
"That settles it then." Bakura said to the other yamis.
"What, that our lighter halves are drunk?" Marik asked.
"No you idiot, what's settled is that we're going to Town Hall." Yami said stalking off in the direction he hoped was right.
Kitchen
Odion coughed as more of the fumes swept through the dishtowel he used to cover the vent.
Basement
"A little more…" Kaiba gritted his teeth as the valve finally gave way. The CEO grinned in triumph as the air vents closed. "Heh, no machine an beat me."
Kitchen
The tall Egyptian sighed in relief. 'It stopped.' The golden-eyed man wobbled slightly as he left the kitchen.
Main Hall
Mokuba was in the middle of his speech when Tea came up to him. "I'd also like to take this time to thank…hey Tea I'm kind of in the middle of something."
The brunet quickly bent over and whispered their present predicament to the boy.
Mokuba's eyes widened, then he turned back to the crowd, "Thanks for coming, dinner will be served shortly! Bye!" He said in a rush before running off with Tea, toward the kitchen.
A Hallway
"Joey! Joey, I'm back!" Yugi yelled to his friend, "I managed to open a few windows." The amethyst-eyed boy knelled down next to the blond and shacked him gently. "Please wake up."
Slowly, Joey stirred in the smoke free hallway. "Hmm? Your not the giant pizza." The blond murmured, causing Yugi to break into a smile. "Oh! Yugi!" the brown-eyed boy said having realized who was crouching next to him.
"Are you ok?"
"I'm ok, but Yug I got a question."
"Yeah Joey?"
"Why am I on the floor?"
Entrance
Nine figures stepped up to Town Hall's front door.
"Has it been long enough?" the group's leader, a slime man with a long blond ponytail and piercing green eyes asked.
"Oh yes," came the voice of a brown eyed man, whose short brown bangs were spiked up. "By now everyone should be knocked out, they won't know what hit them."
"This will be like taken candy from a baby." A huge muscular man chuckled.
The leader sighed in aggravation, "You mean, 'it will be like taking candy from a baby' dim wit."
"Are we going in, or are we just going to stand here arguing over grammar?" A red head asked from the back.
"If you want to keep your life, I suggest you never question me again." The blond leader said snidely. "Lets move!"
Duke stood by the door, surprised that people would be coming this late to the party. 'But then again, I'm guilty of doing the same thing.' "Hi may I help you gentleman?"
At first the leader stared, 'What is he doing up?' and then he heard the chatter of people from the next room.
"What do we do now Leon?" the brown haired man whispered to his boss. For a moment all nine men looked confused at finding that the knock out gas did not work.
"Relax Jake, time to move to plan B." The others nodded in approval at their boss' suggestion. "Sal," the big man stepped forward, "you know what to do."
By now Duke was getting slightly nervous at the group's strange behavior. The raven-haired teen began to back up, before turning to get help. His retreat was soon stopped however when the huge man came up and pinned Duke's arms behind his back. "Hey! What gives?"
The emerald-eyed teen's protests were soon cut off as a redheaded man pointed a gun to his head.
"Nice job boys." Leon said to his men before directing his attention at Duke. "Care to take us to the hall?"
Duke swallowed, and glanced around at his assailants before looking back at Leon. The teen smiled weakly before replying, "Smoking or non?"
Well there's the chapter.
Next time: What happens when a bunch of thugs hold up everyone in Town Hall?
One more note, I'd like to wish everyone a late, Happy St. Patrick's Day. The one time of the year when everyone's Irish!
Ok I'm done, now I must go and slave over a four hundred-word essay.