Lu: Hey, I am writing, I swear! I finished this ages ago and just didn't put it up. Heh. I apologise sincerely for that. New plan: I'm going to put up one new chapter, and then one revised chapter.
Yami Lu: About time you gave up, hmm?
Lu: Never! Anyway, I won't do review replies because this is a revised chapter. This is chapters 1-5 for previous reviewers. Guys, PLEASE REVIEW! Even if it's a short, anon. one, just please review! Anyway, here's the second chapter of Conflict Duel Tournament.
Chapter 2 - Duel: Kaiba vs. Joey
As Joey and Kaiba pushed through the large, elegant wooden doors that lead to the meeting room, Mokuba approached them.
"Joey, you look... different," said Mokuba, trying to suppress the laughs that were pushing to come out. He couldn't help it. Joey in a dog suit was just too funny to bear.
"How is the company today?" asked Kaiba, drawing the attention away from Joey, for which he was very thankful, although he would have preferred it if Kaiba would simply let him get out of the dog suit.
"The tournament is costing a lot of money," said Mokuba. "And the virtual game..."
"Another one?" groaned Joey. Kaiba kicked him, and then turned back to Mokuba.
"Is costing quite a bit," continued Mokuba. "But duel disk sales are up, and more and more duellists are renting arenas. Overall, we have a bit of a profit, but not a huge amount."
"Well, that's better than nothing," said Kaiba, sighing. "Thank you, Mokuba."
"What are you going to do now, Seto?" asked Mokuba.
"Well, I usually get challenged to a duel right abut now, but I think I'll use my situation to my advantage," said Kaiba, looking at Joey. "Let's teach the puppy dog a few tricks." Joey growled, hating the prospect of being bossed around by Kaiba.
"Bad dog," said Kaiba, hitting Joey over the head. Joey howled, a sharp pain running through his head.
"Seto, be fair, give him a break," said Mokuba softly, finally sympathising with Joey.
"He agreed that he'd do whatever I wanted," said Kaiba. Joey gulped and nodded.
"OK, mutt, sit," said Kaiba. Joey sat down like a dog. "Joey, beg," said Kaiba. Joey remained where he was, not wanting to discredit himself further. "OK, let's sweeten the deal," said Kaiba. He got a donut from a plate on the coffee table in the middle of the room. "Beg, Joey," repeated Kaiba. Joey weighed up the advantages.
'I'm losin' my dignaty... What am I talkin' 'bout? I'm in a bloody dog suit! And I did say dat I'd do whatever he wanted me to... and a donut can't hurt... oh, what the hell...' Joey attempted an impression of a dog begging. Both Kaiba and Mokuba laughed, Mokuba a hearty laugh, Kaiba a sneering laugh.
"Good boy," said Kaiba, and threw the donut on the ground. Joey tried to pick it up, slipping one pawed hand under it and pushing it into his palm.
"Act like a dog, eat like a dog," reminded Kaiba. Joey got down, and picked up the donut in his mouth. He chewed, swallowed, and looked back at Kaiba.
"Now, let's see how your friend is doing," said Kaiba. "Come, mutt." Joey followed Kaiba into yet another room. This one seemed to be a security room, with screens showing all the arenas.
"Here," said Kaiba, pointing at a screen. Tea and Tristan were cheering, and Yugi and Rex were shaking hands, Rex looking disappointed but pleased, Yugi looking like he had enjoyed himself.
"Woof," said Joey joyfully.
"Yes, he does seem to have won," said Kaiba. "Anyway, I'll duel you to pass the time." Joey looked at Kaiba.
"Me? I mean, woof?" said Joey disbelievingly. Kaiba never thought that duelling Joey was a worthwhile pasttime. In fact, on the contrary, he thought of it as a complete waste of time.
"Yes, I need a simple duel for once," said Kaiba. Joey swallowed the insults that he wanted to say, and dug inside his jacket pocket to retrieve his deck.
'OK, lunch money, booster pack, wallet and deck,' he thought, naming each items as his fingers passed over them. He took the latter from his pocket.
"OK, let's just have one here, not publisise it," said Kaiba. Joey nodded, and they went back into the meeting room.
"Yugi, Tea, Tristan and Mai are here to see Joey," called Mokuba from the door.
"Please," said Joey, looking up at Kaiba. Kaiba kicked him, but nodded to Mokuba.
"Let them in," he said. Mokuba opened the door. The gang rushed in, Mai in the lead. Her blonde hair billowed behind her.
"Joey, how can you let him do this to you?" she asked breathlessly as she reached him. Mai saw the gang about once a day, as she usually met them at the Game Shop after they got home from school. But today she had a duel arranged with some guy, who Joey hadn't taken the time or care to learn the name of, and hhad obviously met the gang after her duel.
"Woof," said Joey once again. He wanted to ask her how her duel went, anything to take her attention off him, anything to keep him from breaking into a blush. But he couldn't.
"Oh, Kaiba, at least let him speak," Mai cried, her violet orbs sending daggers at Kaiba. If looks could kill, Kaiba would have been dead 10 times before he even knew he was dead. A/N: OK, so that is an over used line but I thought it was the most likely reaction for a woman in love. ::ahem::
"No, he agreed to do whatever I wanted," said Kaiba matter-of-factly.
"Bark," said Joey, nodding to let her know that it was true, although he didn't want her to think that he just did it because he felt like it. He wish Yugi or Tristan or Tea would tellher why he was crawling on the ground in a dog suit.
"Yugi, how long does he have to do this?" asked Mai furiously, turning her furious glare to Yugi. Yugi flinched slightly.
"He still has to do nine days," said Yugi cautiously, not wanting to make Mai blow up.
"Kaiba, you're not going to make him go to school like that, are you?" said Mai, trying and failing to maintain a cool attitude. She had to admit, she would like to pick them up from school or something simply to see him like that, but that thought was quickly banished from her mind. Although she would like to taunt Joey about it to watch him squirm, it wasn't worth lowering his self-esteem more than it already was.
"Maybe I will," said Kaiba evasively.
"Kaiba," said Mai warningly, still kneeling on the ground next to Joey. Her fingers were curled around Joey's, although she hadn't seemed to notice yet. Joey sure had though. He could feel his palms sweating underneath the suit, and he was sure it wasn't from heat.
"Joey and I were about to have a duel,"said Kaiba quickly, trying to draw her away from this topic. The thought of Joey losing miserably should do it, in his opinion. Mai groaned.
"Joey, did you agree to this?" asked Mai.
"Bow wow," said Joey, nodding. "I was bored, OK?" Mai stared at him pointedly, not believing that he would simply submit to Kaiba's will like that. Kaiba kicked him again. Joey howled.
"Kaiba, this must stop!" shouted Mai. Joey shook his head. "Why are you doing this?" she asked, turning on Joey, who blushed and shook his head.
"Umm, he was stopping Kaiba picking on Tea and I," said Yugi. "We tried to stop him, but he insisted. He didn't know what Kaiba was going to make him do."
"I would have done it anyway, Yuge," said Joey. But after another nudge from Kaiba, he seemed like he would never speak again. Mai gripped his hand tighter, making him lose his breath. He didn't remember Mai ever being this close to him, except when he had tried to save her from Marik's shadow spell and his Winged Dragon of Ra.
"Shall we begin?" asked Kaiba. Joey nodded.
"You can speak now, because I can't have a duel with a dog, although I have heard you are not much better than one," said Kaiba with an evil smile. Despite the fact that he had duelled Joey twice, he refused to acknowledge the fact that, in the second duel, Joey had done fairly well.
"Kaiba, leave him alone," said Tea. Joey placed his deck on the coffee table, and took off the puppy dog suit, running his hand through his hair until it fell back into its messy state. Kaiba followed suit, and knelt down. They drew their first cards.
Yugi peered over Joey's shoulder. Joey had drawn Red Eyes Black Dragon, Polymerisation, Time Wizard, Kunai Whip Chain and Baby Dragon. Yugi was amazed how good Joey's hand was. In fact, this hand was probably the best first hand he had ever seen.
"You can go first," said Kaiba.
"I summon de Baby Dragon," said Joey. "And I place a card face down." Kaiba recognised this combo. He knew that Joey only ever played his Baby Dragon with his Time Wizard.
"I play the Hitotsu-Me Giant," said Kaiba, "and attach this magic card, Mystical Moon, to it, to increase its attack and defence points by 300. Giant, attack the Baby Dragon!"
"Activate trap," said Joey, turning over his face down card. "Kunai Whip Chain," said Joey. "Baby Dragon, destroy his Hitotsu-Me Giant!" Kaiba was shocked. He had thought beating Joey would be simple, but Joey had already set a trap for him that he hadn't expected. Maybe he had underestimated his opponent, something he didn't often do. In fact, the only time he could remember that he had underestimated his opponent was his first duel with Yugi, when Yugi had summoned Exodia the Forbidden One to destroy his Blue Eyes White Dragons.
Joey drew a card. "I play de Time Wizard," announced Joey, "Time Wizard, Time Roulette!" The roulette landed on Time Warp, and his Baby Dragon was changed into the Thousand Dragon.
"Thousand Dragon, attack his life points!" shouted Joey. Kaiba's life points were reduced to 1600. Kaiba scowled, but drew a card. But his scowl changed to a smile when he saw his card.
"I'll play a card face down, and end my turn," he said.
'Why is he so happy? I'm just about to wipe out de rest of his life points, and he's still smiling. What is he planning? Could dat face down card be a trap, or just another monster for me to destroy? What should I do?' he thought. He thought hard about it, and decided against attacking. "I'll pass," said Joey. Kaiba smiled.
'If I draw the right card this turn, I can win this duel easily,' he thought. He drew his card, hoping that it would be the right one, because otherwise Joey would probably win the duel. He looked at his drawn card, and smiled. The Blue Eyes White Dragon!
"I play my three Blue Eyes White Dragons!" shouted Kaiba triumphantly. "And fuse them with my face down card, Polymerisation, to create the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Attack Joey's Thousand Dragon with White Lightning Blast!" Joey's life points fell to 2100. Behind him, the gang groaned at Joey's misfortune. Joey drew a card, scowling furiously.
"I play a monster in face down defense mode and end my turn," he grumbled. Kaiba smiled villianously and drew a card.
"I summon Spear Dragon," he announced victoriously. "Just to let you know, Spear Dragon's special ability means that when I attack a monster with lower defense points than the attack points of my Spear Dragon, the difference is caused as Battle Damage to my opponent's life points. So that means, when my Spear Dragon attacks your face down monster, you will lose more life points! Spear Dragon, attack his face down monster!" Joey's face down monster flipped to reveal Alligator's Sword. It was destroyed by Spear Dragon, bringing Joey's points down to 1400.
"No!" yelled Joey, slamming his hands onto the table.
"Too bad, Wheeler, you've lost. Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack his life points directly to end this duel!" Joey's life points fell to 0.
"But... but..." stammered Joey.
"Now that the duel has ended, mutt, you know what has to be done," said Kaiba. Joey grumbled, muttering incoherently under his breath. But he did as Kaiba suggested, and climbed into the dog suit. Kaiba patted him on the head, to which Joey replied with a growl. Kaiba countered this with a strong kick, which sent Joey tumbling.
"Leave Joey alone!" shouted Mai, kneeling beside Joey. She took his hand and pulled him into sitting position, but when she had finished, she did not release his hand.
"Mai, please, I'll be fine," hissed Joey. Kaiba prepared to kick him again, but Mai sat in front of him, preventing Kaiba from hurting Joey.
"Move out of the way, Valentine," spat Kaiba. Joey prodded her away from him, but she held steady,
"No, Kaiba, leave Joey alone," she said, slowly and clearly.
"Mai, come on, I made a deal, please, just move out of the way or he'll kick you too!" said Joey. Mai seemed unhappy to abide, but she did as she told him, and let Kaiba kick him. Joey glared at Kaiba grudgingly, but found that it was hurting less and less.
"We better go," said Tristan. He yawned widely after this statement, showing everyone how tired he was. Then he looked pointedly at Mai, as if willing her to come.
"No, I'm not going until Joey is set free," said Mai. She kneeled beside Joey again, and put one arm around his shoulders. Joey's face flared up, but Kaiba sighed.
"Well, you're going to be here a long time. He gets the weekend off, but apart from that he's stuck with me," he said, and, although his words seemed repentful, his eyes showed evil laughter. Mai grimaced.
"I pity you Joey," she said quietly. She took his paw in her hand, and squeezed it, making Joey's heart leap. "I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow after school. I'll meet you at Yugi's game shop, OK? Providing Kaiba," -at this point she shot a glare at Kaiba- "lets you come." Joey nodded eagerly.
'Wow, Mai's bein' really nice. Nicer dan usual. It's like... no, she wouldn't,' he thought. Mai held his pawed hand for a few prolonged seconds, before releasing it and returning to the rest of the group, glancing over her shoulder at Joey and giving him an encouraging look.
'You'll be OK Joey, I know you will. You're too strong-willed to let Kaiba get to you. You know we're here for you,' she thought as she gazed at him, willing her message to reach Joey, although she know it was impossible.
"See you at school, Joey," said Yugi. Tea, Tristan and Yugi waved goodbye and exited the room, and Mai followed after winking at Joey. Joey was left alone once more with Kaiba and Mokuba.
Kaiba stood up. "We better get home, they don't need us here anymore," he said. Mokuba and Joey followed him outside, and they went back to Kaiba's mansion in a limo.
"Well, it's getting late, what do you say to some dinner?" said Kaiba to Mokuba once they were inside the Kaiba mansion and in the dining room.
"Sure thing, Seto!" said Mokuba happily.
"What should we have?" asked Kaiba. He always left the choice of food up to Mokuba, as he had long since lost any enthusiasm for anything in his life, with the possible exception of his company.
"How about pizza? It's easy to get, I'll just go and call take away," suggested Mokuba.
"Sure," said Kaiba. Mokuba ran off to make preparations for dinner. Kaiba collapsed on the sofa, absolutely exhausted. "Down, boy," he said in a tired voice. Joey lay down in a dog-like fashion. He had also lost any energy he had left. As he lay there, in complete silence, his mind raced along every topic contained in his head, and settled on his friends.
'Yuge's a great friend, he'd do anything for me, and I'd do anything for him,' he thought. 'Tea's cool too, and Tristan's a great mate. And Mai... well, what can I say? There's not enough words to describe her, nor are there any words great enough. Intelligent, independant, amazing, tough... sexy, beautiful... wait, what am I thinking? She's just my friend, nothing more. I do NOT like her! But when she touches me, or talks to me, or holds me... it makes me feel-' His thoughts were interrupted by Mokuba running back in.
"It'll be here in 10 minutes," he said enthusiastically.
"That's great Mokuba," sighed Kaiba, not sounding at all thrilled or interested.
"What's the matter, Seto?" asked Mokuba, picking up on his brother's mood. Kaiba usually tried to show some interest in what Mokua was saying, even if he wasn't interested, but tonight he wasn't even trying.
"Not now," said Kaiba, jerking his head irritably towards Joey. Joey, however, didn't notice this gesture, as his mind was fixed on Mai.
"I don't think he's listening," whispered Mokuba, nearly bursting into giggles at the look on Joey's face: a mixture of confusion and longing.
'How in the world am I meant to figure out if I like her? I mean... I like to be with her... Do I want more than that?' Joey continued to ponder, thinking about whenever Mai was with him, and trying to capture what he felt when he was with her, but not quite getting there.
"Come on Seto," said Mokuba. "He's obviously thinking about something else."
"OK," said Kaiba, resigned to the fact that Mokuba was not going to give up. "Well, I just feel so lonely. You're my only real friend, and no offense Mokuba, but that's kinda depressing, seeing as you're my brother. I always thought I didn't need anyone... but I think I need someone else. I mean, look at the mutt! He's hardly best friend material, and yet he has heaps of friends: Yugi, Gardener, Taylor, Valentine, Bakura... I just don't see how he does it," he finished bitterly. It was true: Joey had plenty of friends, but Kaiba hadn't realised just how loyal Joey was to his friends.
"Why don't you try being friends with them?" asked Mokuba, as if it was the most obvious and easy thing to do.
"Mokuba, you know I don't like them," said Kaiba furiously.
"I get along with them," said Mokuba, shrugging.
"Well, I don't," snapped Kaiba. Mokuba remained quiet. Kaiba didn't really go at his throat very often, unless he brought up this subject. Joey was still staring absent-mindedly at the wall.
'When she was with me before, I felt embarassed when she touched me... and I wanted to kiss her... so that must mean... crap... how do I tell her I love her? And when?" he thought hopelessly. The fact that he admitted to himself how he felt was a great step. Admitting it out loud to someone was the next. And then, to Mai herself...
'How can he just sit there and not hear a word we're saying?' he thought incredulously. 'I mean, it's just as well, but I can't believe how he can just sit there and pretend he's deaf.'
"Seto, why don't you just try?" asked Mokuba pleadingly.
"No, Mokuba, it's too late," said Kaiba. "All chance of friendly interaction died out long ago. The pizza will be here by now, I'll go get it." Kaiba stood up hastily and exited the room with the swish of his trenchcoat.
Lu: Hello! I sooooooo wanna see the new episodes, like, Doom, but they aren't out in Australia, and Darkhope, those downloads on the website weren't working when I tried. I'm gonna go and try again now. Review!