Disclaimer: If you really think I own Yu – Gi –Oh, I pity you.

Sorry the chapter took so long to update, but I've been lazy this summer, not to mention I was out of town. I hope this chapter answers any questions the reviewers had. If not you can review and ask. Okay, that sounded stupid. Can you tell I'm tired? Anyway, ignore my ramblings and enjoy.

Chapter 5: Joey's Past

I had enough scars on my arms now that one had to use more than their ten fingers to count them. I wasn't the ideal kid with the ideal life. There were just too many things wrong with me, or so I had come to believe. I didn't have any friends or anybody who even remotely cared for me, except for my sister, until I moved here a couple of years ago. Well, there was one, but only one. His name was Falk Huo. Oh that name brought back memories.

It had all started one day when I was 4 years old. I lived in New York, and I was an only child. Also, my parents didn't really appear to care much for me. I never really knew why, just what I had overheard them saying. It seemed they thought I was a bit of a freak for some reason, not to mention that they didn't want a boy. (AN: Stupid reasons, I know, but his mom always seemed like one of those people that would hate you for the slightest thing) My parents then got a little happier one day, and realized they were having another baby. They seemed sure it would be a girl. I heard them say things like, 'There's no way a mistake like him could be made twice'. I don't know why they kept doing that, but I was happy for the new addition. Maybe the baby would like me.

It was the night my little sister had just been born and brought home into her own room. I wanted to see her, so I went into her room and looked at her. She looked cold lying there in her crib with only a thin blanket to cover her, so I was thinking of how to warm her up when her blanket started to flame. In shock, I was shaken out of my thoughts, and as my concentration had diminished, so had the flames. Happy my sister was safe, I was also curious, so I decided to experiment. I was young, but I knew just what to experiment on and not on. So I wandered outside so my parents wouldn't know about my new trick. I wanted to see how it worked, so I stared at my hand to see if I would have any ideas. When I didn't get any, I started pouting and said in a put out voice, "Where's fire?", while thinking of the flame. As soon as I said that, my whole hand seemed to be enveloped in fire. For some reason though I wasn't scared, in fact I was in awe at the flame licking at my skin. It should have been hurting, and burning, but I felt no pain only contempt. The fire didn't hurt me at all. Did I control it? Excited at the new prospect, I didn't want anyone to know so I ran inside. I forgot to extinguish the fire, so my parents saw it when I ran into the kitchen. They screamed and pointed at my hands. Disappointed that they had already realized my trick, I put the fire out mentally, a feat I had just recently mastered. It seemed like I was learning about my gift very quickly.

Once I was clear of fire, my father grabbed my arm and shoved me out the door. He then drove us to a weird building, muttering things about how he couldn't believe one of them was his dastardly son. Once we arrived at the building, which I would soon learn was called the 'Mutant Hospital and Raising Facility', the place where mutant kids were dropped off at, so they could become someone else's problem and not ruin the family's social standpoint, we were met by a tall man named Derek Jones. He was the owner of the facility. A few hours later, he was leading me, none to gently, to a room on the fourth floor, that they had labeled the Fire room. It was where fire controllers were sent. When we got there, he told me the rules and regulations of the facility, before shoving me into the room. He told me that I was to care for myself and only myself. They would provide us with one meal a day at 11:30 sharp, and if I was late, I would clean up the room, not eat that day, and any other punishment they decided to bestow upon us. We would have to be up, showered, and dressed at 6:00 in the morning for training at 6:30. If we were late we were once again punished. We would train until 11:00, when we would get showered again, and be dressed for the meal. After the meal, we would have one hour to ourselves in our rooms to what we wished, if you weren't doing something for a staff member. At 2:00, we would resume training until 10:00 when we would go to sleep. We were not to mouth off or cause any trouble.

This place had sounded like a prison/ training facility to me, rather than a place for people like me to live together. It didn't help matters that I had a bad sense of time and always slept in late. Needless to say, the beginning of my stay wasn't good. There started out to be only a few times that I actually made it for meals, so I was quite thin and had many punishments. I soon learned those punishments ranged from doing strenuous chores, to beatings. The training wasn't much better. It was rigorous and unpleasant, even though I was only 4. I didn't have any friends or acquaintances during my time there, and spent my free time drawing and learning music. I found it very relaxing, and helped me free my emotions in a way that wasn't anger. This helped my tendency to be a trouble maker and mouth off. I paid for those mistakes dearly, but I didn't stop, because I wouldn't be the perfect little assassin, retriever, and infiltrator I knew they were training us to become. They had figured that they would use the ones they considered to be the scum of the earth to do their dirty work and be killed instead of the good men.

Fortunately you had to have a roommate as a partner and be 12 before you could do that. I had and was neither, for that I was glad. The days continued like this until I was 12, and the idiots found another pyro. He was transferring from another facility in Domino City, Japan. He had been the only one there, so they put him here so we could start working. When we first met, we hated each other. He was a quieter more reserved kid who made it his sole mission to not get in trouble. I didn't like that fact, and I never let him forget it. He had a similar problem with me about being one to not follow the rules and to always get in trouble. We would still do our missions, but we had yet to assassinate anyone, for which we were both glad. That was our one mutual agreement.

When I turned 14, I did something that got me in a lot of trouble, and it ended in the worst experience of my life. The one who gave us our assignments, had wanted me to assassinate someone, but I wouldn't do it. I openly defied him, and he in return defied me. (AN: I don't think I need to say what happened to him. If you really don't know, ask me in a review and I'll tell you) Needless to say, I didn't want it to happen again, so I went through with the assassination with my partner. He was even angrier with me, but he knew nothing about why I did it, and I wasn't about to tell him. He did end up finding out though, when it happened again. He had been looking for me so we could leave on out mission. He had found me blacked out on the floor covered with blood and fluid. That was when we started to get along. He helped me and then told me that was the very reason he started to do what he was told and obey the rules. We then became good friends and trusted each other with our lives and secrets.

For the next year, it was like this, until we got a mission in Domino City, Japan. While there, something happened during our execution of the plan. I ended up having him run, and I would cover him. He didn't much like the idea, but reluctantly agreed. I never saw Falk again. I had been caught and thrown in jail. That's when I stopped using my "fire power". (No pun intended)The police told me that my parents had divorced, and my old man had moved here. He was then the one who had to come get me out, and would have custody over me. There was the beginning of another nightmare. He had blamed me for the divorce, and beat me for it. I had also been enrolled in high school, where I met Tristan Taylor. We became friends and trouble makers around the school. I would stop doing work in class, so my grades weren't great. Eventually I met Yugi Motou, and a whole new adventure started for me.

That was when I started getting depressed again, and cut. When I finally tried to end it, someone saved me. They told me not to do it again, and they would make sure I wouldn't. I was amazed after figuring out who this person was. I turned out to be Falk, and it looked like he still worked for the Facility. And that's how I ended up here sitting in this hospital bed, looking at the closed door in wonder of what my old friend was doing here and about who his new partner might be. Before I could contemplate the matter further, I collapsed onto the bed in physical and mental exhaustion. It was physical exhaustion from my suicide attempt, and mental from the mental pain of my memories.

Outside the door, Falk stood. He noticed Joey finally fell asleep, and realized it was probably time for him to finish his mission so he could talk to Joey when he woke up. He headed out of the hospital and towards the park, his mission being his only focus. 'You better be okay Joey, and not try anything or do anything stupid. For if you do, and up dead. I'll kill you myself you idiot.'

Okay, so to be honest I think that chapter sucked. I hope that answered some people's questions about what was going on. I'll do the same for Falk's past in a few chapters, but for now read and review. And do you think I should make Falk's new partner an OC or a Yu –Gi-Oh cast member? If you want, you can submit your own OC, and whether or not you want to be in a romantic relationship with anyone other than Joey, Seto, or Malik/ Marik. So just press that purple button.