A/N: Okay, here we go! And it would have been done yesterday, if it wasn't for a bunch of minor annoyances, the biggest of which was Word not only crashing, but deciding to restore, rather then what I had saved five minutes ago, what I'd saved three hours ago. And then, when I sat down to re-write it, someone decided to go and play a Bugle, for no reason, very badly, in the MIDDLE OF THE STREET, for an ENTIRE HOUR. I'm telling you, by that point, I was about ready to go out and tell him exactly what he could do with his bugle… At any rate, by the time he shut up I was too stressed to do anything else, and the day was nearly over anyway. IT WAS THE PAPERCLIP, I TELL YOU! IT WILL HAVEIT'S REVENGE!

Ahem. Actually, I guess it was kinda a blessing in disguise, because I had been having a lot of trouble with this chapter- so the 3 hours lost hadn't been all that productive anyway- but this is still better then the last attempt. Meh. It's kinda boring, though, I think…

Review Responses:

Willowwind: Your reviews are getting as long as mine... Oh, alright. Well, I wasn't sure about 'turned on sixpence', because it was either as sixpence or a ninepence. As for 'Happy' vs. 'Merry', we mainly use merryto. If I understand the sentence correctly, you liked the chapter, so I'm glad. Remember when I spent the day with my Grandparents? Yah. Mistletoe-on-a-stick saved my sanity. Annnnd... I can't be bothered. In short, your fic is also funny, sodon't forget it.

Dragonlady222: Hey, I meant to ask last time, but I have a memory like a ripped sieve...? How was your holiday? And how were your relatives?They were from Australia, right,against whom we're actually WINNING the cricket? Heh. Not that I'm gloating, or anything... They've beaten us foralmost twenty years... annnd, back on track. Gasp! You're right! Nothing bad happened to Az! And it doesn't this chapter either! What is this fic coming to?My whole perception of reality is being changed! AHHHHHH!

Disclaimer: I own this (Measures with fingers) much.

And now, Gasp! It's time for the 500th Strip, but, as always, there's a spanner in the works…

Fourteen: The Common Cold

Christmas Day

Mokuba had finally got the PS2. He suspected Anna had probably convinced Seto, but it didn't matter. His older brother rocked, especially when he caved on an issue.

But, speaking of Anna, she had given them both presents to.

Mokuba opened his, a smallish rectangular shape, and was happy to find Soul Calibre, one of the most recommended games available.

Seto's was a box shape, so there were no clues to what it was. When the paper fell away, however, he found that, according to the picture on the front, it was a secondary PS2 controller. After all, Soul Calibre had a multi-player mode for a reason.

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James had been too impatient, despite his parents and indeed grandparents efforts to make him take it in turns, so they eventually let him dismantle his way through his pile of presents. As with so many kids his age, the boxes and bubble wrap was just as much fun as the toys themselves.

Anna laughed, watching him play. It was fun, just seeing him so excited. She could almost go without herself and still have a fun day-

"It's your go, Anna." Her dad said, handing her a package.

Almost.

Reading the tag on the present, it was from both Seto and Mokuba. She opened it to find a metal tin, about the size and shape of a floppy disk, albeit quite a bit thicker. It had a small clip on the back, designed to slip into a pocket or onto a belt. It was engraved slightly, but not with any instantly recognisable shapes, more swirls and abstract shapes- but as she looked more closely, she saw that it wasn't random after all. There was a fantasy world depicted on the tin, that showed a dragon flying majestically up through some clouds, with creatures swirling up and around and below him, centaurs and unicorns, fairies, Sprites, pixies…

An exact copy of those doors in the Kaiba mansion, in miniature. The doors Azreal had loved, but Seto hated. He must have had this specially made. And it was beautiful…

It opened with a slight 'click' and inside the silver case, in some kind of soft black lining, nestled a stack of cards. Or, more precisely, a deck.

Seto and Mokuba had built it for her. It had been designed to be effective but relatively easy to use. They had even tried to find cards that they felt Azreal would like. Scapegoat had been left on the top.

It was about time she learnt how to play, they figured.

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Joey was in his room. It was pity he couldn't have spent Christmas with his mom and sister, as usual, but at least he'd had a good time yesterday. And, what do you know? His dad had even been sober enough this year to get him a present.

It was just a shame that 'present' had been a half-drunk bottle of whiskey wrapped in newspaper. Having given his dad his present, the man in question had gone out, leaving Joey in peace, at which point he had tipped the whiskey down the sink. He wasn't exactly a 'good boy', but no way was he going the same way his dad had. Then he had snuck up here, and pulled out the pile of gifts from under his bed, where he'd hidden them. He'd unwrap these, and then Yugi had discreetly told him he was welcome to join him and his grandfather for the rest of the day at the Game Shop.

He smiled. There were presents here from Yugi, Tristan, Téa, Azreal, Serenity, his mom, Ryou, Mai, and even Duke had coughed something up. He picked up Azreal's and was rather surprised when it squeaked at him.

What on Earth…?

He opened it, anticipating. Azreal had a great sense of humour, and funny presents seemed to be her speciality.

Oh.

"So not funny…" He frowned, picking up the squeaky, bone shaped, dog toy.

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Ryou's flat only had one guest room, and Olivia had ended up in there. As he emerged, yawning, into the living room, Ryou saw that Seb had succeeded in falling off the sofa in the night, but neither he nor his sister was awake yet. Nor were any of his friends, spread across the city, although Ryou had no way of knowing that. Nine hours was a serious time difference, he knew that first hand.

As she saw him, Cassie stood up out of her basket, and padded softly over to him, nudging his legs. He wondered vaguely as they headed into the kitchen whether it was affection of just that she wanted breakfast. Yawning, Ryou started to put the coffee on. Back in the day, he would have had tea, but it seemed the Japanese were more crazy for it then the British were. There was an art to it. 'Chanoyu'- The Tea Ceremony. It had an almost religious reverence about it, and took ten years to learn in it's full extent. Ryou hadn't bothered. It was all herbal teas here anyway. All this caffeine couldn't be good for him, but he really hadn't taken to these herb teas at all, and that seemed to be all you could get. Not a box of… Earl Grey, or something… in sight… He wondered if the twins had brought any with them. It seemed unlikely, but…

Cassie barked indignantly, and Ryou shushed her hastily.

"I'm coming, I'm coming…" He murmured, empting some food into her dish. He tossed a treat in top as an after thought. He had brought her a toy, but she could have that later. He gave her a quick stroke as she went to dig in. "Merry Christmas, girl…"

He took her water bowl, filling it up at the sink before putting it back down next to her. Then he washed his hands off, and put some bread in the toaster. The usual, morning things. Nothing special.

By the time the toast popped up and the coffee was brewed, Cassie was done. She nudged his knees again as he vainly attempted to spread some jam. "Wait a minute." He told her. Normally she would just sit and wait where she stood, but today she did not. Nudge. Nudge. Nudge. Driving Ryou crazy.

He looked around, searching for something to distract her. He could always go and get that toy he'd brought her… Oh, no, it was in the cupboard that Seb was currently sleeping in front of. But wait! Azreal had handed him two parcels. One, she had explained, was for him. The second was for his 'cute dog'. Everything had just been dumped on the counter the night before, including presents off all the others to. Hastily, Ryou began to sort through them.

Ryou. Ryou. Ryou. Ryou. Ryou. Ryou! Ryou. Joey.

Joey?

Ah. It would seem that Azreal had somehow managed to give him Joey's present instead of Cassie's. Oh well. He knew Joey was going to the game shop later. He would leave it with Yugi when he took Cassie for her walk. But if Joey's was here…

It probably meant that…

Oh, dear.

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Yugi pounded down the stairs, just as he did every morning. But this morning was better then most, because it was Christmas Morning. Fun for all.

As he passed the front door, he noticed a parcel lying there, a small note attached to it. How odd- the postman didn't work today…

He jumped the last few steps and went to pick it up. He recognised Ryou's slightly erratic handwriting instantly.

Yugi! I think Anna gave me Joey's present, instead of Cassie's by accident… Makes you wonder who got hers… Ah well. Could you please give this to him later? Thanks a lot, and Merry Christmas! – Ryou.

Yugi shook his head. Mixing up presents… that was exactly the kind of thing Azreal would do… Oh well. Although, he was right. Yugi laughed as he realised that if Joey got Cassie's toy… Oh dear. He hoped someone had warned Azreal…

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Duke had not expected to get presents off his friends, not at such short notice. But even Azreal had got him one, when they didn't even know each other that well. He began to unwrap it, not knowing her reputation as far as presents went.

He found a pair of fluffy pink dice, designed to be stuck in a car window, and couldn't help but laugh.

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Ryou's present turned out to be a plectrum. Oh, and a doll.

The doll itself was obviously another hand-made-by-Anna one. The note attached to it read:

Ryou, you brought this on yourself, you know! You DID say to try something new, so I did! I'm sorry it's so terrible, but keep it for now, I'll make a better one someday, promise! And if you don't want itKarita can use it as a voodoodoll. Az

Ryou laughed, shaking his head as he looked at the doll, an uncanny likeness to himself. It had it's eyes closed and was holding a guitar.

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Téa and Mai had both been easy, and they opened their presents to find a perfume set. Combine that with the PS2 controller for Seto, the game for Mokuba, the plectrum for Ryou, the squeaky bone intended for Cassie, The microphone for Joey- he had mentioned that he was getting Flash for Christmas, but it wouldn't be much good without a mike- the fluffy dice for Duke, another set of chocolate cards which had proved popular last time and a variety of amusing motorbike bumper stickers for Tristan; plus the presents for her family, Azreal had brought a serious amount of gifts that year. It was amazing she could afford it.

But, when you thought about it, she still had all her wages from when she had been working- What was a thirteen year old going to do with 9000 credits a year?- which she had had converted to yen before coming down here, and besides that, she had an eye for a bargain.

Perhaps not so amazing after all.

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January

January is often the worst month of the year. It's still cold and wet, but Christmas is done and over, and there's nothing to do but drudgery. Colds and flues were running amok amongst the students of almost every school. Even Mokuba seemed to have got something. He had been very quiet all the way home, and was shortly discovered to have a fever. He was upstairs now, hopefully sleeping. Not wanting to leave him all alone while he was ill, and deciding that with the surround sound the Playstation that usually occupied her was too noisy, Azreal had taken the liberty of logging onto the internet. Only one of her friends was online, and it just so happened to be Téa.

Juilliard2009: Oh, poor Mokuba. It seems that everyone's getting sick at the moment…

Wings: I know what you mean. Speaking of which…

Wings: Did Joey look alright to you?

Juilliard2009: I know what you mean. He didn't seem himself, did he? Although, he HAS been very stressed out over that comic of his…

Wings: Well, it's the 500th Strip. It's important.

Juilliard2009: I don't see how it's anymore important then any other one of the 500 he's done…

Wings: Are you kidding! People expect something special from the 500th strip! If the 500th strip isn't memorable, popularity declines! 500 is what will make or break a comic!

Juilliard2009: Okay, chill! I know he's having trouble with ideas, but… Still, do you think that's all it is?

Wings: When he's shaking and sweating? No. He's defiantly sick. I'm surprised he doesn't stay off school. But then, I guess that would be admitting defeat and he'd never get the comic done… He's cutting it pretty fine anyway. I mean, he wants to put it up on his birthday, but so far all he's decided is that he wants to reveal who he is. Hey, maybe they'll let him in G&T after!

Juilliard2009: I'm worried about this. Surely his readers would understand? I mean, he really is ill, and does it really matter if they have to wait!

Wings: It would to Joey. You know how stubborn he is. We'll go visit him on his birthday! Saturday, right? Day after tomorrow?

Juilliard2009: That's right. Good idea!

Wings: Eww. I have to go… I have a feeling I'm going to have to clean a carpet to…

Juilliard2009: Eww… Bye, then.

Wings: Bye….

She logged off quickly, and headed to where she had heard the… noises…

Yup. That carpet was defiantly going to need cleaning.

"Sorry…" Mokuba murmured, sounding half asleep.

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Joey had not got any better. Actually, he had got worse, until all his friends were worried about him. Even the teachers were beginning to notice that this guy was sick. And the fact of the matter was, he wasn't thinking straight. No way could he make a comic in this condition, and trying was making it worse. So, at about eleven o'clock on his birthday, everyone who could make it arrived outside Joey's home, armed with gifts and well wishes.

When Tristan went up and banged on the door, there was no answer. But it did swing open slightly. A little worriedly, they entered the small hallway.

"Joey…?"

They came into the main room. Joey was lying on the sofa, sleeping fitfully. The fact that his sketch book and a pencil were lying haphazardly among a pile of screwed up papers suggested he had dropped off whilst still drawing. He still hadn't got the comic done.

"Oh, poor Joey…" Téa muttered, so not to wake him. "At least he's finally getting some sleep at last… It seemed like he hadn't slept in weeks…"

They hovered uncertainly.

"We know how important that comic was to him…" Yugi said uncomfortably. "He really wanted to get it done. If we don't wake him up…"

"We can't wake him up!" Téa protested in a hushed voice. "This might be the only way he's going to get over his sickness!"

"He might not see it like that." Ryou pointed out, as mild as ever.

Azreal, meanwhile, was looking through the crumpled up pieces of paper. "It looks like he was planning to make it in Flash… Say, have any of you guys ever used Flash, by any chance…?"

"I have…" Yugi muttered as they stared at her indcredously.

"No." Tristan said flatly. "We can't. He'd kill us."

"Well, it'd be the best of both worlds…" Téa said thoughtfully.

"We need only explain why the real thing had been delayed…" Ryou pointed out.

"…Okay." Tristan sighed in resignation. "But we must be crazy. And we'll just have to hope his dad doesn't come home while we're here…"

"Then we'll work fast." Azreal replied determinedly. "We are going to do this!"

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Joey woke up slowly, registering the fact he'd been asleep. His brain was foggy, sluggish… And why was there a pile of presents on the table?

He sat up. Yes, he hadn't been imagining it, there really was presents there. But who…? Had his friends been here…?

Disorientated, he looked at the clock, yelling in surprise. It was early evening already, and he still hadn't got the comic done! He hadn't even started!

It was going to be so special… He thought, bitterly. I was going to make it as an animation and reveal who I was and…it would have been so great… But there's no way I could get it done before tomorrow now… I don't even have any ideas!

His computer's power light was flashing. On… off…on…off… Driving him nuts. Didn't it realise he was trying to wallow in self-pity!

Wait. Why was it on standby anyway?

He began to get a sinking feeling as he headed over to the computer and hit enter to bring it back on. Sure enough, it was on, and, more to the point, opened to his webpage.

Feeling getting worse…

He scanned the page anxiously. Yes, there. A new link. Like when there was one to the current page. Only… It was to a Flash file.

His sinking feeling had hit rock bottom. Oh, please, no, they hadn't…

They had.

He pressed 'play' and sat back, dreading what he was going to see.

For a moment, there was just a blank, white, screen. He turned on the speaker. There were slight scuffling sounds, muffled voices coming from 'off camera'. A moment later, someone stumbled out into view, as though they had been pushed. She straightened up, and he could see that it was a girl, with wings, a brightly coloured jacket, glasses…

A chibified Azreal. A caricature. Oh, no…

On the monitor, she sweat dropped. "Ano… O-ohayo! Ano, Hougei gekiga!" She yelled (A/N: (Sweat drops herself) Please excuse my very bad Japanese. I've never had a lesson, so most of this is just what I've picked up and a bit of guess work. If anyone would care to correct me on anything, feel free, because I'd love to learn… but hopefully it's not too bad…) "Tsubasa to moshimasu, hajimemashite!"

Joey noticed English subtitles flashing up at the bottom. Of course. His European readers wouldn't be able to run a cartoon through a translator…

"Um… H-hello! Um, welcome to the comic! I am Wings, nice to meet you!"

The title screen flashed up, reading 'The 500th Comic! Or lack thereof…" In bright lettering, flashing different colours.

"Suteki da ne?"

"Isn't it wonderful?"

On screen, the title screen disappeared, leaving 'Wings' standing there. After a long pause, she sweat dropped again. "Ano… chotto matte kudasai!"

"Uh… Please wait a moment!"

She disappeared to the side. The scuffling sounds came again, and she flew back into view, defiantly kicked this time. You could tell because a foot came in with her before disappearing again.

She climbed painfully to her feet. (A/N: And here, my v. rusty Japanese runs out. Hey, I tried…) "…I bet you're wondering why I'm…we're here instead of your usual Author. Well, there's a very good reason."

Crickets chirped.

"He's asleep. Or rather, very, very ill. See?"

Joey regretted telling them that he was going to reveal who he was when a photo of him, sleeping, appeared on screen. But, man, he looked like the living dead.

"So we're filling in!" 'Wings' continued cheerfully. "By we, I mean me, and I ended up doing the drawing, which is why it's all the crummy Chibis. Also, we have DM-"

A picture of Yugi, again, chibified, sitting at something. Joey couldn't tell what it was till a label flashed up saying 'Computer'.

"Who's programming it all for us; Juilliard wrote the story-"

Yup, Téa was in on it to.

"Wikket is supplying the subs for all you English speaking peoples out there…"

And Ryou.

"And then there's this guy. Trojan Horse. And he… well, he just kinda hangs around. And he did the voices of some of the characters."

There was Tristan.

All of them in a group popped up.

"We've all been friends with AngelAuthor a long time." 'Wings' explained. "Except for me, I've been here less then a year, but it doesn't matter! A very happy birthday to AngelAuthor, and we hope you feel better soon, Joey! Now, roll comic!"

The comic itself, was a joke. It was just some stick-men vaguely recognisable as the regular characters having a conversation about the good and bad times of the last 500 strips, and making demands such as higher pay, dressing rooms, and peanuts in the make up room.

As it finished, showing his friends in an exhausted pile, wondering how he did every other day, Joey leant back.

He wasn't sure what to make of it. And goodness knows what his readers would think…

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Posted By: AngelAuthor

At: 12:47 PM JST

Subject: A few days later, one year older, Feeling much better…

Today. The REAL 500th strip, a few days late, but hopefully you don't mind. Although, it seems you guys liked the first one well enough… Over the last few days, my inbox has been bombarded- I even had to upgrade to one with a bigger memory! It's kinda flattering that so many of you guys can't believe I'm that idiot/want to wish me better or a happy birthday/loved my friends. Well, you're right, they do rock. But it's not just readers that have contacted me, I've also been invited to about a million conventions, so I hope to see you guys at at least some of them! In all honesty, this is all a little overwhelming for me…

Now, I have two announcements. First, after the success of the flash cartoon format, from this day on, ALL the comics shall be cartoons! The second, by popular demand, I'm pleased to tell you all that all my friends have agreed to join me permanently to help this comic along. I shall continue with the art work and story, but you will be seeing quite a bit of them, with, for the most part, the same as before. However, Wings will be helping Wikket with subtitles, as she's multilingual- but I fully intend to get her to do some Chibi t-shirt art for me, because I sure can't. Which, by the way, thanks to the help of Juilliard and Trojan Horse, we're finally getting a store! That's right! Slowly but surely, more and more AwBW products will be available! You asked for it, now you're getting it! But not yet. It would seem all but one of my friends, whilst here working on the comic, managed to catch my flu or whatever it was.

Oops…

This is a whole new stage for this comic, and so, here's hoping it works out!

Seto smirked slightly as he read the post. Joey still hadn't accepted it was him who was his forum master. Now he wasn't needed any more. Oh well. He quickly typed out an E-mail or resignation, lying through his teeth to make sure Joey thought that Azreal had lied. He'd tell her, of course, and she would understand.

It'd been fun, at times. Now, though, Wheeler had his friends, and Seto would be free at last. As the E-mail sent, he smiled. Now he'd have a lot more time to…

…Work.

Oiy. What a boring life.

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A/N: There. Next time, we see the return of cuteness because it's February- and that means Valentines day! Oiy, one of these days, all this cuteness is going to kill me… And now, I have to go work on… certain… other things… Oh, by the way, there probably won't be a chapter on Saturday. Why? Because I shall be in Aberystwyth. Which, considering I can spell that, is pretty amazing…