Ok

I tried to work ahead of schedule

But that didn't work out .

I caught the procrastination bug

And now I'm getting off my fat ass to pick up where I left off

Enjoy!

That night, all Joey could think about was how quickly and painlessly that had happened. He couldn't believe that Seto loved him. He couldn't believe he couldn't see that Seto loved him. He couldn't believe a lot of things. Everything just swirled around his head like someone swirling a fine wine in their glass. Questions needed to be answered. Why was he suddenly in love again?

But the one thing that perplexed him the most was….. How the hell did they get a hold of the news?

On the same day Joey and Seto confessed their love to each other, they went back to Joey's room and he found a note that said:

Congratulations on your newest love, Caspian! We expect great things from you in later times. We both sense Egypt will talk of your name for years. The man who caught the uncatchable! That's our boy. Sincerely, Red and Black.

Joey didn't believe this either. Did they just waltz right into the palace without being seen or causing any kind of commotion? Well, that's Marik and Bakura for you…

"Hmm, Joey?" Seto wondered.

"Yes?"

"What's this?"

Oh gods, no. Joey forgot one of the most important lessons: always destroy evidence.

He froze. There was nothing to do now but to tell Seto the truth.

"Caspian? Why is there a note addressed to someone named Cas… wait. That's the name of the highest ranking student of… of… no. No, that's not you, is it?"

"Well, I uh…"

"Is it?"

"Please don't tell anyone! I wasn't sent by them! They helped me get to where I was going. They helped me find you. I owe my life to them! Please leave them be for now. I promised. Please, don't." Joey threw himself at the mercy of his lover and felt single tears roll down unchecked by his cheeks.

Seto studied this for a while, and then bent down and hugged Joey tenderly. "Of course I won't tell the council about this. You said you weren't sent here to kill anyone. In fact, I bet they trained you to do that ka blast that saved my life that one time."

Joey nodded.

"Well then, I won't tell the council about me finding this evidence. But, if I run into Marik or Bakura, I'm telling them that you forgot one of their most important lessons I'm sure: destroy all evidence." Seto smirked as he watched Joey's eyes widen in happiness and fear of being lectured by his teachers.

"You wouldn't!" he exclaimed as he playfully punched his lover in the shoulder

"Hey. The least you could have done was eat the note." He retorted as he punched back. Seto didn't like stooping so low as to start a punching game with someone. But then again, this was Joey. Why would he care?

"How did you know that lesson?" Joey questioned. "That sounds pretty suspicious to me." He raised an eyebrow.

"A, common sense. B, even though I don't like my father, he always taught me to know my enemies well. And C, they taught you well, and you screwed up. I'm telling."

"Grrr…."

During this little playful spat, Kalim burst through the door, panting.

"Kalim, what happened?" Seto demanded.

"The Atlanteans. They've made their move. All council members must report to the Pharaoh immediately."

"Oh no. Hey! Can I come, too?" Joey asked hurriedly, knowing there was not a breath to be wasted.

"Yes. Let Joey come. He needs to know this as much as we do." Seto stated.

They raced down the hallway into the Pharaoh's private room. Nobody except council members were allowed to enter. Joey felt an extreme sense of pride swell inside him when he was given permission to step into such a sacred place. That pride quickly disappeared when he remembered why he was here.

Yami was already seated when the others came in. a map was spread out before him with Shada pointing out the fallen cities.

"We just got word that Memphis has fallen, but we don't know how many other towns and villages they have destroyed." Shada stated.

"How bad is it? The damage on Memphis?" Joey asked. He silently thanked the gods that Seto was right and that they took Tristan away before this horrible tragedy.

"The city is completely destroyed." Isis replied solemnly.

"How on earth did they get this much firepower? Atlantis may be a highly advanced civilization, but they can't possibly have that large of an army. It's an island, for Ra's sake!" Seto fumed.

"That's the problem. Seto, remember your spy a couple years ago that was executed by the Atlanteans? The only information he could give us was that their troops were headed south and will strike when the time is right?" Mahado asked.

"Yes I remember well, but what does this have to do with anything?"

"Well, Seto, I figured out the reason. Egypt wasn't 'scheduled' for total domination first. The island nation of Lemuria to the southeast came before us. They, too, are a highly developed nation, and Atlantis converted them to their side to facilitate their take-over of Egypt. That's why they went to the south and are now coming up north instead of the other way around." Mahado explained.

"I get it now. With more firepower, of course it'll be a piece of cake. But brutality isn't like them. Another reason they're going the other way around is because if they did it the way you guys thought, the capital would be first and other cities would be spared. But this way, they plan on Yami surrendering his kingdom by holding innocent cities and lives for ransom. They'll destroy everything in their path and leave nothing in their wake unless the Pharaoh surrenders. That's the way they want it."

Everybody turned their heads and dropped their jaws to find that this piece of accurate information did not come from a council member.

It came from Joey.

Seto was the first one to recover. "Joey. I, uh, that's to say…" Well, he didn't recover entirely.

"That's the most impressive thing I've heard all day." Yami corrected Seto in his state of shock. The others could only nod in agreement.

Joey changed from his 'look-I'm-so-smart' mood to a more somber and serious one. "And I don't want to upset a certain person in here, but at this rate, Thebes will probably be gone by now."

"I'm not worried. I've prepared for this day for years and my father years before me. If the enemy comes to Thebes, there is a pathway that will lead some where safe, and only our family knows how to open it." He held up a card around his neck with a scarab intricately carved into the gold card.

"Well, that's good ta hear." Joey sighed as he wiped off a bead of sweat from his forehead.

"Thank you. Now we are prepared with what they are planning to do. That is all I need to know right now. Meeting adjourned." Yami regally stated as he stood from his chair and walked out, and the others followed.

As they were all walking down the hall, they began to hear a commotion of people running about. "Get this man to an apothecary, quickly!" one said.

They all stopped walking and began to run to where the trouble was.

"What's the meaning of this?" Yami demanded.

"Pharaoh! A man came from Thebes and is terribly wounded. We believe Thebes has fallen, sir." Duke said while at the same time is trying to organize some help to go to Thebes.

Seto paled.

Joey saw.

They both ran to the man, Seto wanting answers, and Joey ready to comfort him if need be.

Seto reached the man and decided to ask quickly, for fear he may not live much longer. "You. What happened? Tell me quickly!"

The man replied, "Lord Seto. I'm so sorry. No one was spared. I'm sorry…" and then the he died.

And on the inside, so did Seto.

Oh ya/doing the happy dance/

Seto: WHAT DO YOU MEAN /doing the happy dance/ YOU KILLED HIM OFF YOU BITCH!

Shut up or you'll join him!

Seto: but why? That's all I have to say is "why?". You love Mokie to pieces! Why would you do such a thing? I can't believe you! You're a monster! I otta kill you! You are such a mean person. So cold hearted and EVIIIIIIIILLLLLLL!

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooookaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay…… you go rant, I'll go write.

Bai bai pplz

Review or die!
I'll do it too!
I killed Mokie
I'll kill you /luvves to rhyme/

Seto: Forget her! She's sugar high! She killed my brotherrrrrrrrrrrr! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!