Ch. 6... finally getting to it. I finished a story, so I'm happy. I do have to finish up some other stories, but I'll get on to ch 6 for you guys, kay? 'kay, here we go!
The four teens looked around the room. Joey stood up and looked around. As the realization that they were finally free started to soak in, he could feel his body tingling.
Suddenly, his hand started pulsing, yet again. He cried out, holding his wrist and falling to his knees. Tea ran to him.
"Joey!" She exclaimed. The others surrounded him as well.
"Joey! Are you okay! How bad is it!" Yugi exclaimed. Joey started shaking his head slowly.
"M-my hand..." he whispered. He started to peel off the bandage, and the others watched him. As soon as the bandage was off, they realized just how bad that bite must have really been.
The blackness now covered the very bottoms of his fingers, and almost half of his thumb. It spread across the front of his palm, and the back of his hand.
"Guys, we need to get Joey to a hospital, NOW!" Tea exclaimed. The other two boys nodded, and started to help Joey up. Joey, in the extreme amount of pain he was in, bit his bottom lip. The pulsing still wasn't gone. But... it had always gone away in a short period of time before! No... wait... that's right... he'd always poured water on it before.
"W-Water..." Joey whispered. The other three blinked in unison.
"Water?" Yugi asked. Joey nodded.
"Water, it's soothing to my hand..." he whispered. They all looked at each other.
"We'll get you to a hospital or something, they're bound to have water there!" Yugi exclaimed. The four started to lead him into the other room, when they stopped, dead in their tracks. Yugi stared wide-eyed at the walls.
There was no door.
"N-NO!" Tristen exclaimed, running to the wall. He started banging. "NO! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! NO!"
"We must have found a room that was joined to the sanctuary... where they stored files... this isn't a way out at all!" Tea exclaimed. They set Joey down against a wall.
"I'll get him water!" Yugi exclaimed, starting for the door back into the sanctuary.
"No!" Tristen shouted after Yugi. "The Komodo Dragons! They're still out there! They'll kill you!" Yugi looked back at the others with a hurt expression.
"But Joey's in pain! And he saved my life even though he could have died as well! I need to repay him!" Yugi barged out the doors, where the Komodo Dragons lay.
When Yugi opened the doors, however, the Komodo Dragons swarmed to him, trying to get at him.
"YUGI!" Tea and Tristen shouted in unison. They ran towards the door, when it shut. They attempted opening it, but had no luck. Tea fell to her knees.
"YUGI!" Tears descended her cheeks. Joey, who had watched the whole thing, got up, and started toward the door. Tea turned to Joey.
"Joey! No! Stay back! You're injuries–" Tea shouted. Joey shook his head.
"Yugi will be alright. He doesn't ALWAYS need us right there." Joey stated. "He is a lot more mature than you think. Plus, he has Yami." Tristen and Tea exchanged glances. Tea got a more relieved look in her eyes, but it was still full of sorrow and worry.
"You're right, Joey," Tea said. "For once." Joey smiled, when suddenly his arm started pulsing worse. He fell back, holding onto it. "Joey!" Tea exclaimed, kneeling to him. A slight smile, twisted in pain, came over his face, as he fell over, passing out.
"JOEY!" Tristen shouted, kneeling down to his friend like Tea had done.
Joey soon awoke, but the pain in his hand hadn't subsided. He felt himself being lifted, and moved. He opened his eyes, seeing that Tea and Tristen were moving him against a wall.
"I-is Yug back yet...?" he asked, weakly. Tea blinked, looking at him, surprised.
"Joey... you're awake..." she sighed softly, a saddened look coming over her face. "No, he's not..." Joey closed his eyes.
'C'mon Yug... you can do it...' he thought.
"I know I shouldn't bring this up, guys... but what if... Yugi doesn't come back...?" Tristen asked. Joey shivered.
"DON'T SAY THAT TRISTEN!" He shouted. He winced, getting a tighter grip on his hand. "He WILL come back... Yugi WILL come back..." Tea stared at Tristen.
"Tristen... how could you say something like that...? How could you?" she asked, tears forming. Tristen sighed. He got up and spaced himself from the other two teens.
Things were looking grim, Joey sighed, looking from Tristen to the now silently bawling Tea. His face turned to slight concern, watching hot tears fall down his friend's face. He closed his eyes, trying to bring back fond memories.
Joey felt a soothing sensation on his hand. He opened his eyes and blinked, looking at his hand, seeing Yugi pouring water on it. That was strange. Had he fallen asleep? He must have, otherwise he would have seen the door open and saw Yugi as he came back.
"Yug! You're okay!" He exclaimed with a smile. Yugi nodded to his blonde friend. Joey rubbed his forehead, sitting up.
"How long have I been out?" he asked, looking around himself, seeing Tristen and Tea. The two picked him up, and brought him towards a door - a small, regular door. He blinked. "Did Yugi find the way out while I was asleep? And you brought me here?" Joey asked, looking around frantically. The three pushed open the door. There was a light so bright, he had to block his eyes with his hand.
Joey opened his eyes, sitting up, blinking rapidly, looking around. Where did the light go? Where did the– oh no. It was a dream. He moaned slightly, laying back down. He could still feel the pulsing in his hand.
He must have fallen asleep while he imagined getting out of here. Yeah, that was most likely what had happened. He wished he really had gotten out, though...
The blonde looked over at his female brunette friend and examined her, trying to figure out if she was still crying or was asleep. He came to the conclusion that she was asleep, because she was breathing peacefully. He heard some movement on the other side of him and looked over, seeing Tristen getting up. He watched the other brunette teen walk over to the female and take off his sweatshirt, putting it on her. Tristen sat next to Tea and he turned her over onto her back so she could be more comfortable. Joey crawled over to the two.
"She's really worried about you, you know..." Tristen said. Joey blinked, he hadn't realized Tristen knew he was up.
"Yeah, I know..." he replied, regaurdless. Tristen pushed aside some bangs that were draped over Tea's face.
"I may not know much about girls... but I know that they don't like going through stuff like this. They are pretty fragile, and Tea's been through a lot... she saw you get bit, and she also saw when Yugi went out there. She really cares for all of us a lot, and it's really worrying her," Tristen said. Joey looked surprised at Tristen.
"Yeah, you're right. That was a bit insightful, though... very unlike you..." Joey said. Tristen smiled very slightly.
"In situations like these, people can be a bit different than there normal selves..." Tristen replied. He looked at Joey. "You're a great example of that. Taking charge when the time came. Putting up with us. Being serious when the time calls. True enough, you do crack a joke every now and then in serious situations... and in addition to all of this, you've kept your cool throughout this entire thing. Aren't you worried that you might die?" Tristen asked. Joey let out a slight sigh.
"Naww... I'm not gonna die anyway. They've got a medicine for everything nowadays," Joey replied. Tristen nodded slightly.
"But your snake bite is weird. We all know we've never seen anything like that," Tristen said. Joey shrugged.
"Maybe it's cuz we don't know much about snake bites?" Joey suggested. Tristen shrugged, nodding. He got up and went back against the wall.
"I sure do hope Yugi's alright..." he muttered. Joey nodded.
"Me too..." he agreed. The two sat in silence after that.
Joey suddenly sneezed. He blinked slightly, and looked at Tristen.
"Uh-oh, someone's talkin' bad about you," Tristen laughed. Joey blinked, and laughed as well.
"Well, whoever it is better be ready to take the consequences, because if I find out who did it, they're dead!" Joey exclaimed. "Nobody disses Joey Wheeler behind his back!" Tristen laughed softly.
"But there's over a million people in this city, do you really think you're going to find them?" Tristen asked. The two then went dead silent. They were starting to remember their family... and the city... the places they loved.
Joey sighed, laying down on his side. He closed his eyes, hoping he could either fall back asleep, or make the splitting pain in his hand disappear.
There was a sudden loud banging on the door to the sanctuary. Joey immediately sat up, looking at Tristen who was looking back. The two got up and ran off to the door. Tea had awoken at this point, and had gone with them to the door as well. They all three started to push the door open. When there was barely even a crack in the door, a familiar, exhausted-looking young boy fell into the room, Komodo Dragons swarming in behind him. Tea pulled the boy the rest of the way in while the other two pulled the door closed.
Joey and Tristen turned their attention to the boy. His blonde bangs hung out in front of his face, and he clutched in his hand a canteen. He opened his violet eyes and a bright smile came over his face as he looked at Joey.
"Yugi!" The three exclaimed in unison. Joey kneeled next to his friend.
"Yug, you're okay!" he exclaimed. Yugi nodded, holding the canteen out to his friend, and sitting up.
"The water for your hand," he explained. Joey nodded, taking the canteen and pouring the water on his hand. It was extremely soothing, and the pulsing and all the pain stopped as soon as the water touched it. He let out a relieved sigh, setting the canteen down, rubbing his hand a little.
"Thanks, Yug..." Joey said, gratefully. Yugi nodded.
"Of course, Joey. Anytime," he replied. The boy's breathing slowed, and his smile increased. "Is it better?" he asked. Joey nodded vigorously
"Much better," he replied. Tea then got in Yugi's face.
"Don't you ever do anything like that ever again, Yugi!" she shouted. The other three boys sweatdropped, watching Tea. "You had us so worried!" tears were forming in her eyes again.
"It's alright, Tea... I'm okay..." Yugi said, softly. "You don't need to worry anymore." Tea nodded, wiping away her tears. Tristen blinked, looking down at Yugi's foot. Joey, noticing Tristen, looked where he was looking.
Yugi's shoe seemed... burned, as strange as it sounds. Joey leaned forward, touching his shoe slightly.
"Yug, what happened?" He asked, a confused expression settling on his face. Yugi looked down at his foot where Joey was looking. Tea looked as well, and she got a shocked look in her eyes.
"Um... I don't... remember, really..." Yugi replied. He sounded completely honest.
"You don't remember?" Tristen repeated. Yugi nodded. Joey blinked, looking at his friend's face.
"You see, Yami took control of me while we were out there... I went unconscious, I guess... I don't remember much... only getting the water and the Komodo Dragons swarming me..." Yugi said. Tristen and Joey exchanged glances. Yugi's eyes brightened slightly. "I also remember a path!" he added. A flicker of hope spread through the other teens' eyes.
"You do!" Joey exclaimed, happiness lacing his voice. "Where was it!" Yugi's face darkened.
"Er..." he replied, looking down. The hope in Joey's eyes started to die.
"Oh..." he looked down as well, his eyes shadowed. Tea looked at Yugi.
"Do you think Yami will remember!" she asked, hurriedly. Yugi sighed, nodding. Tea blinked. "Well then why don't you ask him!" she asked.
"He... passed out..." Yugi mumbled. "I guess he – got hurt or something..." the other three teens exchanged glances.
Great. They're only lead was out cold. What were they going to do now?
OMIGOSH! I finally finished it! I am so sorry it took this long! But look! -points up- it's finished! -dances- Now I can get on with the next chapter! how awesome! See you next chapter everyone!