Chapter 04 - Invasion: The Fourth Storm

Week 2, Day 2,10:19 AM

Joey was running down the street. Everything was strange to him. Last night, the strange lights in the sky had fallen, and he had gone home to try and sleep out the storm that was raging. By morning, he had woke up to find that the city had veeb damaged badly, and that people had uped and dissappeared! He didn't like it. Thankfully, Yami and Yugi, and Honda were okay. Anzu, sadly, was missing. Kaiba, on the other hand...he had to see if he was home. Joey ran up to the gates and checked the call pad. As supsected, the electricity was dead, and probably the backup generator was gone as well. Doing the best he could, he climbed OVER the fence and ran up to the mansion, banging on the door. "KAIBA! Kaiba, please tell me you're there!"

Annoyed blue eyes looked out the window of one of the upper floors. Joey looked up, glaring a bit, but looked relieved to see he WAS up there.

Seto opened the window finally. "What are you doing here mutt?"

"Making sure you were still alive, thanks!"

"I appriciate your concern, but it was wasted."

"I'm sure you noticed your electric's off, am I right?" Joey glared back at the brunette.

"I've known that since last night."

"You saw the lights, right?"

"Of course, I'm not blind after all."

Joey thought of something. "Did you stay up to watch them or did you go to bed?"

"I went to bed afterwards of course."

"What about your brother?"

"Asleep, of course."

Joey nodded. "Okay...okay..." He thought. "Kaiba, more than half the town's population is gone."

An eyebrow raised slightly. "How strange."

"Weirder still, everyone I DID find said the same thing. They didn't know what happened to the rest because they were sleeping the rest of the storm through."

"Then maybe something in the storm took the others."

"That's what I think!" Joey heard thunder behind him before looking up, starting to get rained on. He sighed. "Can I please just come in?"

Snorting slightly, Seto nodded before closing the window. Joey opened the door and came in, feeling soaked by now. It was dark in the mansion, as expected, and he shivered ever so slightly. The brunette came down stairs with a candle.

"Thanks. Frankly, I'd rather be here with you, than out there. This whole thing's creeping me out."

"I can understand that. Go dry off."

Joey nodded and went to go find the bathroom to wring out his clothes as best as he could, and use a towel to dry off. Seto went around the place lighting candles to shed some light. Joey came out after a bit, his clothes damp, but no longer dripping as he started wandering about the mansion, the storm raging outside.

"So all your friends safe?"

"Except Anzu..."

"Oh?"

"Yea, I went to check on her...she's gone...like everyone else."

The brunette merely shrugged.

Joey followed after Kaiba, looking about. "Listen...about last week..."

"What about it?"

Joey flushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Thanks. I didn't want to admit to you about what the hell was going on between my dad and me, but...lets just say that storm from that night had me way out of it. I was kind of suprised you even offered to take me to your place to heal up..."

"Someone has to take care of you."

"I'm suprised you even bothered..." Joey refrained from making a snide comment about taking care of himself.

Seto merely snorted slightly before going to the cooler he's stashed all the frozen and refridgerated foods in.

"Mind if I look around for a bit?"

"Go ahead but don't bother Mokuba, he's getting over a fever still."

"Alright." Joey went upstairs to look around the mansion for a bit.

Shaking his head slightly, Seto fixed up a salad. Joey had wandered into Seto's room, looking around with amazement at how neat and clean it was kept. Always the curious bugger, Joey began to look through the desk to find anything interesting, just for the hell of it. The brunette peered into the room after a moment, figuring that's where the mutt would wonder to. Fingers encountered a very small box. He opened it and whistled at the prize inside.

"I believe that's private."

Joey flushed and closed it, putting it away. "Sorry, couldn't help looking..." He grinned and looked at Kaiba. "Guess there's some beautiful girl you're waiting to spring that baby on, ne?"

"Like I said, private."

"I see." Joey put his hands in his pocket as he looked around. "Nice room."

"Get out."

Not having to be told twice, Joey scurried out of the room.

Blue eyes watched him carefully before closing the door.

Joey went downstairs and poked around the kitchen. "Hey...is it okay if I fixed me up something to eat?"

"Go ahead."

"Thanks." Joey gathered quiet a few things of food together to make him a rather awesome looking lunch. "Heh, haven't had a quick fix in a long time..."

An eyebrow raised slightly at that.

Joey looked at Kaiba as he went to sit. "What?"

"You call that a quick fix?"

"Well, yea. Its not a meal unless you spend at least 30 minutes preparing it."

"If you say so, just clean up after yourself."

"No problem." Joey was actually just that, being rather neat about cleaning up the kicthen, looking at some of the utensils. He looked a bit dissappointed at the condition of them, though they were fine by anyone's standards. They were just food prep tools after all...

Seto headed for his reading room. Joey settled into the living room, after finding himself a cookbook to look through, bored. Keeping an eye on the candles, the brunette settled down.

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Week 2, Day 2, 6:15 P.M.

About sometime after six, Seto heard Joey up and rummaging through one of the bathrooms, looking for something.

"Looking for something pup?"

Joey pulled out a bottle of pills and tossed it to Seto. "Here, you'd better take some of these, now."

Seto looked at him in confusion before looking at the bottle. Sleeping pills.

An eyebrow raised slightly. "'Nother storm coming?"

Joey nodded. "Lights are starting to fall. I dunno about you, but I'd rather not risk the chance of my theory being right by staying up to watch them."

Shrugging he took a pair. "Mokuba took some earlier to help ease the fever."

"Good." Joey took one and swallowed. "This is gonna sound stupid, but I don't think I want to be sleeping alone tonight."

"You get the rug."

"Wha?" Joey lifted an eyebrow. "Um...kay."

Content for now, Seto merely returned to his book. Joey sighed and went to find a spot to lay on, finding the floor very hard and discomfortable. Great, the only way I'd could really sleep were to- Seto merely ignored him for now.

Joey couldn't stand it, he popped up on the side of Seto's bed. "Um..."

Seto merely pointed to the end of the bed. Satisfied, Joey popped onto the end of the bed and curled up. It took all of 5 seconds to realize how Seto was treating him. "HEY!" He sat up sharply.

The brunette merely chuckled softly in reaction.

Joey growled. "That was low!"

"You fell for it."

Without a second word, Joey was out the door, intent to head downstairs. Lights or no lights, he didn't think he could take staying there anymore.

"The storm is about to start."

"Yea well maybe its better to risk it after all. Maybe the world IS ending, but I rather face it alone, than to live through it and be HUMILIATED for the rest of my life. Besides, who needs ol Joey? Not like my presence really MATTERS anymore now the world's ending."

"The world is not ending or else Yami would not be here."

"What can Yami do at this point? I saw them this morning, they were just as freaked as I was." Joey started to head out the door, staring at the rainstorm, and the lights that were falling like fireworks that had already exploded.

Sighing, the brunette followed before delivering a nerve pinch to Joey's neck to knock him out. Joey fell in an instant, right into the brunette's arms.

"Stupid mutt." Bringing him indoors, Seto took him to his own room.

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Week 2, Day 3, 1:01 AM

1:01 AM. Joey was startled awake by a small explosion from outside. He was somewhat suprised to find that his wet clothes had been removed. And...something warm wrapped around him... The brunette was sound asleep nearby. Joey looked upwards towards the brunette, before hearing noises outside. Joey moved to try and remove himself from Kaiba's arms before he stopped. Kaiba had been holding him this whole time? With no clothes...what...the...hell... Seto stirred slighly at feeling the other move, only to quiet down again.

Joey got up out of the bed, grabbing his now dry pants to put on while he looked out the window. Eyes widen as he walked back to Seto and touched his shoulder. "Kaiba..."

Startled at the touch, Seto jerked awake.

Amber eyes looked at him. "Kaiba, there's...something outside..."

"Wha...?"

"Come look..."

Slowly, Seto got out of bed, still groggy from the sleeping pills. Joey led him to the window, peeking out. Far out to the street, were lights from a strange walking machine, like sparks that would shoot from a grinding stone. Some strange looking creatures were slowly inspecting through the damage, looking armored...and armed...

"I do not like this."

"Something tells me we'd better pack up our things and get out of here with Mokuba."

Seto merely nodded and went to start packing. Joey went to put on the rest of his clothes, grabbing his backpack where he had his personal belongings in, before grabbing some sleeping bags and the bottle of pills, just in case. He also got some packaged snacks and bottled water just in case. And Mokuba's medication. Gently, the brunette picked up his brother.

"We need to find a way to sneak out of here and get to the civic center downtown."

"The back door."

Joey nodded and lead the way to get out of the mansion, startled when he saw machines of all shapes and sizes trekking across the landscape in the distance. "Whoa!" They dodged behind a tree as a spotlight from a HUGEass walking machine stepped over the mansion itself.

"Keep quiet."

Joey nodded, waiting until they could find an opening to escape, running clear across the yard towards the backwoods. "Its an invasion!"

"I said quiet!"

Joey looked around, worried as he shut his mouth, leading the way through the woods. It was late in the night, and eventually they got FAR away from the machines. They seemed to stay away from the heavily wooded areas.

"What of the others, mutt?"

"We need to get to them, sure, but we're never gonna make it tonight. Need to get a chance to get our heads on straight over this...its...its a lot to take in."

Snorting slightly, Seto searched for a good place to stay.

Joey pulled out a flashlight and started looking for a good spot to camp out for the night. "Here's a good spot. Let's get your brother down, and see if he's doing any better."

Nodding, Seto pulled out one of the sleeping bags and got it set up before laying his brother in it.

Joey went and picked up some fallen wood to use for a small fire. "No sense in wasting batteries."

Seto checked his brother's fever for a moment before smiling softly. "His fever is breaking slowly."

"Good." Joey set up a small campfire. "No big deal...just like...just like camping..."

The brunette merely nodded.

Joey was trying to make small-talk, trying to hide the fact he was nervous about the whole thing. "Ever been camping, Kaiba?"

"Only before my parents passed away."

Joey nodded. "Yea. When I was little, my dad used to always take me camping. It was fun...but then he got divorced...and the drinking started..."

"And been like that since."

Joey sighed in defeat. "Yea..." He touched a faint bruise on the back of his neck. "I...went back to the apartment yesterday morning...after the first storm..."

Blue eyes glanced towards him.

Joey sighed. "Building was trashed. I got my stuff out. No one was in there. I think he dissappeared in the storm."

"Better if he was."

"I guesso...still...I missed him...the old him. A lot."

Nodding slightly, Seto got the rest of their camp set up.

Joey hovered near the fire, looking at the rations in the backpack. "So what do you think? World domination, occupation, or resource gathering? The creatures I mean..."

"Could be all three for all we know."

"True. Looks like they were looking for survivors." Joey looked around. "Wonder why they're not out in the wilderness..."

Seto snorted slightly. "Think about it. Trees too close together for machines to travel thorugh."

"True. Guess that makes it lucky for us..." He sat, thinking. "Gotta organize ourselves. Find a place to hide from them, rescue survivors, gather our resources, and plan a strikeback."

"Best place to hide is caves."

"Caves near some woods."

Seto merely nodded in agreement.

Joey looked at Seto across the fire, deep in thought for a moment. "Kaiba..."

"Yes?"

"I..." Joey sighed and looked down, just as he started to rummage through the backpack again, seeing what all they had. The ringbox from earlier fell out. "OH...oh yea...I save this for you..." He picked it up and handed it to Seto. "I figure...it might give you a bit of hope for whoever it is you have that for..."

Seto's eyes softened slightly. "Actually, it was ment for you"

This time, Joey stopped, whispering quietly. "W...wha...?"

Seto's eyes looked towards him.

Joey looked right at him, eyes softening. "But...eeh...isn't it an...engagemet ring...?"

"You've guessed correctly."

Joey gasped softly, cheeks flushing. "You...you mean..."

A faint smirk appeared finally.

Joey was silent for the longest time, trying to let his brain process this information. "I...I thought you..."

"Thats what I wanted everyone to think."

Joey became quiet at this. "Guess that no longer matters..."

Seto merely nodded. Joey looked down for a moment, licking his lips for a moment before finally sliding closer to Seto. Hesitantly, he held his hand up for Seto.

Smirking slightly, Seto pulled the blonde into his lap. Joey gasped a bit as he found himself in Seto's lap, looking up at him with a flushed face.

"Much better." Smirking still, Seto slipped the ring onto Joey's hand.

Joey's heart was beating rapidly at this point. This was all so much to take in. The disaster, the invasion, now...proposal from a guy so freaking far into the left field, that the baseball just smacked him in the head? But he didn't react. Yet. Instead, he just listened.

"Will you be mine forever Joey?"

Finally, Joey's mouth hung open, nearly speechless. "I...I..."

Blue eyes merely looked at him calmly.

Joey held a hand to his head, to keep it from swimming, but he stopped, and pulled his hand away to look at the engagment ring on his finger. Seto Kaiba...in love with him? His heart pounded as he processed this information. He was about to give his reply, but the butterflies in his stomach decided to give him a swift kick in the gut from all the excitement. So, instead, Joey paled and muttered as he stared off. "...I'm gonna be sick..."

Disappointment showed on Seto's face at that. In fact, Joey swiftly got up and ran for the nearby tree before leaning against it and chucking up the contents of his stomach to the ground, retching and coughing violently. Sighing, the brunette went to check on his brother again. Finally, Joey came back, grabbing a bottle of water to sooth his torn up throat, just praying he wouldn't retch again anytime soon as he fell to his knees near the fire. Seto remained silent as he watched him.

Finally, Joey recovered to look back at the ring on his finger, studying it with fascination on how beautiful it was as he touched it with his other finger. "...Seto...?"

"What is it pup?"

"...am I dreaming...?"

"Pinch yourself and see."

Joey laughed softly. "Actually...I already did..." He flushed slightly before going back to sit with Seto. "Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

"Its alright, long as you're safe."

Joey pressed himself against Seto. "It was a bit much for me to take in at first...I didn't think anyone would care about me in that way...least of all you..."

"You'd be surprised at what a poker face can conceal."

Joey was curious at this. "So...what WOULD you be like right now without it...?"

"Its hard to drop it, its become a habit."

"Oh..." Joey rubbed his arm. "I was hoping to see..."

A faint smile showed. "My eyes are the best source to know how I feel."

Joey looked at him, looking close. The normally cold eyes were looking back at him gently. Joey smiled finally and hugged him. Tightly. Grinning, Seto returned the hug.

"Seto...yes."

"Good, cause I don't want to lose you."

"I understand why you stopped me now."

Smiling, Seto tucked the blonde's head under his chin. "Good."

Joey looked around. "Should we try to get some rest?"

Seto nodded slowly. "Definately."

Joey nodded. "In the morning, we're gonna try and get to the civic center. Hopefully Yami and Yugi will be okay."

Seto nodded quietly. "Knowing Yami, there won't be a hair missing from Yugi's head."

Joey laughed softly at this. "Yami can be very scary at times when someone threatens Yugi."

"I agree with you completely on that."

Joey sighed before nuzzling up against Seto. "We'll face this disaster together...I promise."

"Good, now sleep pup."

Joey nodded before drifting off into sleep. Smiling, Seto tucked the blonde into a sleeping bag before heading to sleep himself.