Quick post huh? I wanted this chapter to be more discrpitive than it is, but overall I'm happy with it. After all desribing every little thing isn't that important is it? I don't know, I might just revise it sometime, but for right now I'm satisfied . . . which is always a watch-out sign for my readers. Oh there's a sware word in here, not that it matters, but it's a heads up.
Growing Pain- Yeah, I am usual hard on myself, but I've always been like that. I also love to read more of the darker realistic stuff because nobody is sweet all of the time. Life is hard, so I like to portray it. I always found writing about Mai a great way to do that. I like her being evil and expressing herself. Huh, maybe I shouldn't, but I tend to like the evil type characters more. I dunno, if it's a good show then they usually have a great backstory. I also like to follow evil characters through redemption (hint, hint) Anywho, I'm babbling, which I have a tendecny to do. I was glad I could fit my little Mexican joke in there somewhere. . . it briefened the mood at least for a second. More reviews would be cool, but as long as somebody is ready the story, I'm happy! Oh and I can tell you, Mai will not end up with Mokuba. . . but that is a very unique idea . . . but it's not for me. In fact I've never read a Mokuba/ Mai fic. It would be pretty funny though. But I'm glad she's in character. My biggest fear is that Abby and James would seem to Mary Sue-ish . . . but I couldn't think of any characters I could use so I had to make something up! lol, thanks for your review, I'm glad it was long.
5animefan- Thanks, I like to keep the suspense going, keeps it interesting.
Disclaimer: I don't own YGO. Or the quotes or songs I put before the chappie, they inspired me and certain parts of them reflect the chapters, they usually do though.
"Sometimes I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear
And I cant help but ask myself, how much I'll let the fear take the wheel and steer
It's driven me before, it seems to have a vague
Haunting mass appeal" Drive-Incubus
"You're getting closer to pushing me
Off of life's little edge
Cause I'm a loser
And sooner or later
You know I'll be dead
You're getting closer,
You're holding the rope,
I'm taking the fall
Cause I'm a loser, I'm a loser, yeah
This is getting old,
I can't break these chains that I hold
My body's growing cold,
There's nothin left of this mind Or my soul" Loser- 3 Doors Down
"If you don't expect too much from me
You might not be let down" Hey Jealousy- Gin Blossoms
Kaiba had been typing relentlessly at the computer for hours. Well, it seemed like hours, but realistically it had only been one. It did take a long time for the computer to start up and twice as long to connect to the internet.
When he finally tracked down Mokuba, the computer crashed on impact and he lost all of the information. He wasn't even given a second to look at it.
"I hate this computer." he shouted miserably. Yugi only sighed, maybe he should have purchased a new one sooner than he planned. Then again, who would have predicted this mishap.
Due to history, Yugi should have, so he sat on the couch helplessly listen to Kaiba complain.
Yugi had nothing to do. He was sure if he stood over Kaiba's shoulder, Kaiba would just snap. He had no idea where Duke was, or Joey for that matter. He didn't know how much Tea, Tristan, Abby or Serenity knew.
All Yugi knew was that he heard Mai's name mentioned.
He figured that it wasn't a good sign.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Kaiba shouted from the corner. Yugi immediately jumped up from the couch and glanced at the chair Kaiba pushed over.
Kaiba must have jumped up too.
"What?" Yugi asked nervously. Kaiba didn't answer, he only shook his head in disbelief.
"Kaiba, what is it?" he asked again.
"His chip was disassembled. I'm not even getting a signal. If your computer was faster, I would have been on my way much sooner.'' he grumbled.
"Sorry about that." Yugi added, in what he hoped was sympathetic. Although, he didn't see how Kaiba could blame him when he was just trying to help.
"I just, I'll trace back where the virus came back from . . . but I've got to break into my own system first." Kaiba mentioned.
Yugi watched him curiously. Kaiba, who was know standing, was typing so fast that Yugi thought his keyboard would be on fire.
"I wonder where Joey is." Yugi whispered somewhat curiously to himself.
"Who cares, knowing the mutt he's off chasing some . . . " Kaiba started to say, but then stopped completely. He turned his head toward Yugi and he threw the keyboard on the ground before stomping out of Yugi's store.
Yugi was confused.
"Kaiba?" he called as Kaiba started walking away. Kaiba didn't hear him and only continued walking. What Yugi didn't know was that Kaiba had an idea of who was doing this to him. Yugi only grabbed his coat and chased after him.
She took a deep breath. She knew that Valon was up to something, what exactly she didn't know. She turned on the ignition and drove out the parking lot faster than she drove in it.
"Valon." James called. They, amongst others (and a hostage) had found themselves in a new secret area. In it was a huge computer. On the said computer was a map with a blinking red dot. It was moving from the parking lot toward what looked like the main city.
"No, what is she doing?" Valon asked to himself. Again he thought of failure, of everything they worked for, of their new splendid life together. Yet there she was messing it up.
"I'm not sure." said a busy worker as he tried to zoom in on the map.
"No, we'll use plan B. Send in the squad, the one that looks like it's Kaiba's. She doesn't need to get in trouble over this. Stupid . . . I told her to go to Mexico, trust me after this she'll be on that plane faster than you can say Holla." Valon instructed.
People quickly got to work on making phone calls and such things.
They heard a muffled yelled from a boy who had been gagged and tied in a corner. His hair was muffled and his face was one of disgust. He had been in this situation countless times.
At least this time he wasn't thrown in a cellar . . . or dreaming about floating in darkness. Well at least not yet anyway.
"Oh, Mokuba is it? This isn't against you or anything, so just calm down." Valon said in a careless manner. It seemed that all the power had gone to his head.
Mai speed as fast as she could down the highway. Her radio was unusually silent as she was more concerned over the previous events.
Not only had Valon betrayed her, but she had fallen for his act again. The same act that drew her in the first time.
Mai remembered when they met up again.
She had left his beach side retreat in search of a better life, one that never muttered the words San Francisco.
It was her new beginning, her chance of wealth and independence. Her chance to show everyone what she could make out of herself.
It just so happened to be a rainy day in New York City. But the rain didn't bring her down, no it refreshed her.
Her modeling company had just offered her a promotion as a top model.
The top model was the one on the covers, the one who went to the fashion shows and big parties.
It was as if she was floating on air. She hadn't dueled for quite sometime and she was pleasantly surprised on how well she was succeeding without it.
As mentioned, it was raining . . . and she was becoming terribly wet outside. Like most, she was trying to walk more . . . after all being fit was an important part to being a model. So she decided that that day would be the day she would walk from place to place instead of driving.
She shook her head at her idea and walked into the first restaurant she saw.
"Just my luck.'' she whispered to herself as she tried to ring the water out of her hair.
She noticed that she had entered a small Italian place, which somewhat raised her mood, as she loved Italian food.
Of course, she was still happy, just wet.
Upon entering she went to the bathroom even before reserving a table. She tried to make her hair do something instead of hang limply, but nothing was working.
She hated when her long curly locks went straight. The reflection in the mirror didn't even look like her. She wiped off her previous makeup and reapplied it. After all, a model has to look good.
Unfortunately she didn't carry a portable hair dryer.
Rolling her eyes in disgust, she got a table.
A salad would definitely cheer up her mood.
That and a bottle of water. She didn't drink pop because of the hidden calories, and she didn't drink alcohol because of bad memories. Water was the only other thing she could tolerate, as long as it was lemon flavored.
She quickly ordered from the homely waiter and waited patiently.
It was odd, her sitting by herself. She had become accustomed to eating with someone else. She had associates and had been on a few dates of course, but she didn't have any real friends.
Sighing she checked her cell phone for any missed messages. She had several but decided to ignore them. She noticed that the restaurant was full and there weren't any tables left. At least she was lucky enough to get a table.
She faintly heard somebody complaining about not having a table and she was secretly glad it wasn't her.
At least everyone else was wet though.
Her drink arrived and she sighed in boredom.
She could return her messages, but dealing with her boss just wasn't in her. She didn't want her happiness spoiled.
Suddenly the hostess approached her.
"Miss, I have somebody else dining by themselves and I wonder if they could sit at this table with you." she inquired in such a soft voice that Mai would have a hard time telling her no.
Mai sighed, rolled her eyes and approved, though she didn't plan on talking to the mystery person.
She was looking through the dessert menu or the 'I can't eat anything on it menu' when the other person arrived.
He sat across from her quietly in awe.
She didn't look up. Her plan was to ignore the person altogether, after all it was an awkward situation for her.
Mai knew at some point she would have to look up from the menu though and she did so grudgingly.
Her eyes met his face and she was frozen. She couldn't even thank the waiter when he gave her salad and took his order.
He seemed fine with the situation. She shook her head for a few moments, hoping that she was hallucinating.
"I saw . . . " he tried to say, but she stopped him by saying, "Don't talk to me."
It was quickly followed by her saying, " What are you doing here?"
He laughed at her question, and she glared.
"I was on my lunch break." he answered simply.
"You work in NYC?" Mai asked, unsure of the coincidence.
"No, but I was sent over here by my investing company to the NYC branch. I'll only be here for a few days." he answered. Mai nodded.
"Investing huh? Didn't expect that . . . never saw you as a business suit type guy. . . maybe a taking over the world duelist guy. . . or a motorcycle repair man." she observed. He shrugged.
"I don't like to get my hands dirty." was his simple response. Mai raised an eyebrow, this didn't sound like the man she once knew.
"I did expect seeing you as a model, that didn't surprise me." he said openly. There was no doubt in his mind that Mai was not ugly. She was gorgeous to him.
"Listen, Valon . . . I can't do this talking thing with you right now." she said as she leaned against her seat. He only watched her with a knowing expression.
"I figured from all the phone calls." he responded, sounding the least bit angry.
"Are you better?" she asked as she absentmindedly played with the latch on her purse. No matter how much she opened and closed it, the fact that it was magnetic amused her and took the focus off the issue at hand.
"Mostly, I'll be honest though. I still dream about it, but Raphael will listen to me babble on for a while." he answered. That caught Mai's attention.
"You still talk to him?" she asked in a small whisper. Why wasn't she informed of the little group get together . . . why was she in NYC suffering alone because of what she did.
"Yeah. We figured that you would have been talking to Wheeler and such, well he figured, I knew better." Valon explained, his voice sounding fairly pleasant to Mai's ears. At least somebody thought of her.
"Then why . . . never mind. It's not important." she said to herself mostly, but Valon hung on every word.
"But how are things for you, really?" he asked, trying to get as much insight as he could. She shrugged.
"Well there are the dreams, of course. I mean you have them too . . . but mostly better. I mean I model . . . I've been to court over harassment of course because everybody wants to sleep with me . . . my ex-boss that is. Um, other than that, everything is . . . good." she explained in a dull tone.
"Doesn't sound so good." Valon observed. Mai laughed bitterly.
"So says Mister Perfect." was her sarcastic remark.
"Never claimed that. Just trying to help." he replied.
"That doesn't lead to good." she answered. His eyes suddenly became clouded as he watched her mope. He felt there was something she wasn't telling him and there probably was. She was never outright with her feelings, yet she was just about the most outspoken person other than himself that he knew.
"It can." he said, throwing the phrase out there to see if she would pick up on it.
"Oh really, how?" she asked, picking it up. Valon smiled. It was as if she was the only fish in a huge ocean and threw in the juiciest worm he had. Why wouldn't she pick it up?
"Easy you become owner of said company, no more harassment . . . just money, and the one thing you always wanted, power. And I can help you." he said, leaning back smiling.
Mai glared at him.
"Shut up Valon, I don't want to hear any more of your crazy ideas." she said, throwing her hands in the air.
"Yes, you will." he answered. Mai bit her lip and stood up shaking her head. She hurriedly walked out of the restaurant, leaving Valon to pay for the meal she didn't touch. He did, knowing that she would have to come back to him eventually.
He was right, the words stuck in her head a little more each day.
Especially when she heard things like, "Make that skirt shorter, no . . . no. . . bend down more."
She would then return home and listen to the television talk about the 'great Kaiba and Yugi rivalry'. As if that was the highlight to her day.
Returning to an empty apartment also brought her down.
It was as if each day she was becoming lonelier and lonelier. Sometimes she would wonder, " What would Valon say to that?"
She found herself calling him, and it started out simple enough. They talked. She worked. They went out to dinner. She rose in her company. He encouraged her ideas, and she went through with them.
She really did do everything by herself, but he was there to support her. He was there to listen to her.
Shortly after he moved in and permanently worked in the NYC branch. She traveled.
He cooked her dinner, she'd do his laundry.
It was the closest to normal than the two ever had, or ever would.
But now, she realized that he was in it for himself. Unlike her, he never got off of the power high. She did, and he reintroduced her to it.
Mai had been driving faster than before and was slightly annoyed with the helicopter noise she heard.
It was odd how it seemed to be following her for the past mile.
She noticed how three black cars, one in front, in back, and one beside her also had been with her for the past mile.
It was when the black car in front of her slammed on his brake when she figured somebody was following her.
She almost hit it, but pulled out of the way. She could have sworn she saw small sparks as she scratched the car beside her. She was desperately trying to push it out of the way with her car, and it was working. Luckily it made a gap big enough for her car to fit through.
She could feel the wind coming through the windows from the helicopter as she drove on. The other three cars were right behind her, traveling faster than before. Suddenly Mai heard a loud noise and the pressure of the wind became larger. The helicopter skimmed the top of her car, and she was sure of the sparks that were there.
She could feel the wait of the helicopter pushing down on top of her car and she could see it making dents. Afraid for her own safety she leaned into the seat just as the space above her head started to crash down.
One of the cars behind her somehow caught up. It slammed into her bender with so much force it actually pushed the car farther. She was amazed that the car didn't get stuck as her body banged up against the steering wheel. Mai could feel the rim of the wheel push into her chest and her breath becoming short.
Mai wouldn't give up though. She kept speeding away. She constantly tossed her head to the side, looking behind her for the cars. Luckily her inside mirror still worked. Somehow through the incident, her side mirror fell off. She guessed it was when she tried to make that previous small gap.
Taking deep breaths, she drove in a zigzag pattern and tried to avoid all of them.
One car almost was at her side, but she cut it off. Unfortunately the small bump to her back was all her car needed to lose its fender.
She thought a fender on an already traveled highway would at slow them down, but it didn't.
Out of the corner of her eye, Mai saw a semi in the approaching lane. It wouldn't approach her for some time though.
The chase continued, sometimes the cars were able to bump hers. With each bump, she flew forward in her seat, bumping the steering wheel. Suddenly she heard a shooting noise. Looking up from her windshield, she saw a bullet coming from the helicopter.
As she leaned back into her seat, the bullet came right through the window. Glass shattered everywhere, and she was covered in it. Another bullet came through her back window, and more glass covered her.
Using what was left of her mind, she pulled on her wheel to the right, making the car move over into the oncoming lane. The other cars followed her, as it was their mission.
With her last bit of strength she put all of her weight on the gas and just missed the semi that was trying to swerve out of the way.
As planned, the other cars didn't. The back of the semi hit each of the cars, colliding them into each other, causing a huge explosion. The semi happened to be carrying gasoline.
Mai's car was floating in air and with her last bit of strength she pushed her door open and fell out onto the wooded area below her. Her car sailed through the air and crashed directly into a tree, causing it to fall over.
A small fire grew from all of the cars, and Mai doubted the lives of any of the drivers. She could make out a small KC logo from one of them as it slowly burned. The smell of gasoline and rotting flesh came to her nose and she automatically threw up.
How she was even standing up amazed her. She was leaning against a tree, but she had landed on some very hard sticks and rocks. She was bruised all over, but she couldn't tell. It was if she was leaking blood. For some time she watched it drip from her head until it made a small puddle in the ground.
She watched the fire grow from the remains of the accident, but she could hardly see anything else through the fog of smoke that the fire had made.
The smoke was pushing itself down her throat and filling her lungs. Breathing was becoming harder and harder. Mai could feel herself beginning to pass out and it was strangest sensation.
She pushed herself up against the tree again. All she could feel was the hard texture of the bark and she wouldn't let go of that feeling.
She did see the helicopter being blown away from the impact of the crash. She figured that everyone must have been going at least 120 mph, if not that, more.
Everything was becoming fuzzy and she saw double of everything. The air around her became more humid and hazy. The scene swirled around in her head and it was taking all of the strength she had to be stable.
The last thing she saw was a person walking toward her, but she wouldn't be surprised it that was a hallucination.
Suddenly everything went dark and she experienced a new pain, one she hadn't felt before. It wasn't mental or emotional, it was physical . . . and her breathing became slower.
Mai could feel herself falling to the ground. Trying to ready herself for the impact she closed her eyes and let herself go.
"Over here." a not to distant voice called. It belonged to man and he was quickly walking toward where Mai had fallen.
His face fell as he saw the remains of the car and the broken woman that laid not even 20 feet away.
His accomplis, had disappeared, but he was somewhat glad. He didn't want him here right now anyway.
He walked over to Mai and kneeled down to her level.
"Mai, c'mon wake up." he gently instructed. He rolled her over so that she was facing front wards. The sight sickened him.
She was covered in blood and marks and dirt on top of it all. Her mascara mixed in with the mess on her face.
Her body was cover in the mixture, not to mention the other various bruises he was positive she had.
"C'mon, get up." he pleaded. She just laid there. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed her arm.
"I'm going to help you Mai." he said. He held her wrist, luckily she still had a pulse. The thought cheered him up immensely.
Upon feeling her wrist moving without her own consent, she tried to do something else. Mai desperately wanted to open her eyes, jump off, brush herself off and continue her journey. Yet all she could do was lie there.
Suddenly she made a very small coughing noise. The smoke had become thicker, and breathing was still difficult.
She could feel herself being pulled up.
Using what strength she had, she opened her eyes. They automatically met honey- brown ones.
"Joey?" she asked meekly.
"Yeah, I'm going to help you." he responded in his most gentle voice. Full of anger, she pushed herself away from him and fell against the remnants of her car.
"No . . . " she whispered. Joey rolled his eyes.
"I need to help you, quit being so stubborn." he said. Finding her out her like he did scared him. The thought of her becoming worse was something he wouldn't let come true.
"I have to find Kaiba." she said through heavy pants. Everything kept spinning around her and she couldn't see where Joey was. She didn't even know if he was really there.
"Not like this, I won't let you." he said. She rolled her eyes, sure she was talking to herself.
"Shut up." she muttered. She could feel something else now. It was rain, cold and somewhat refreshing.
When she was a child, she loved playing in the rain for hours and hours, but not anymore. It was only fitting that the one thing she loved from being a child would wash away her bloodstains, her memories.
"You need to go to a hospital." Joey replied. Mai didn't hear him though, she was in-between trying to hold on and pass out. She didn't know if the gray in front of her was from the smoke or her mind.
"C'mon Mai." Joey said, his voice changing from brokenhearted to cold, hoping that reverse psychology would work.
She just stayed on the ground, letting his voice drift into one ear and out of the other. Breathing was becoming a difficult task, as she had to force herself to do it.
"I don't know what happened . . . "she whispered mostly to herself.
"You went to far . . . and then you tried to backed out . . . that's what." Joey replied in an angry manner. Mai shook her head, ignoring him entirely. She was sure that she was making him up. After all, why would he keep coming back to save her. She wasn't worth it.
"I don't know how I ended up this way. . .I don't know what happened to me. . . " she muttered entirely to herself. Joey sighed. She wasn't even listening to him and the way she was acting was frightening him just a little bit.
"Snap out of it." Joey exclaimed, hoping his cold voice would awaken her like her cold voice awakened him.
"I can't. . . "she whispered so low that Joey could barely hear it. He studied her for a moment.
She was a total wreck, and he was sure that she was losing blood at a rapid speed.
Joey kneeled down to her level.
"You have to." he told her.
"How? How do you keep going when . . . when you don't have a purpose . . . this world, everything in it is so hard. I've spent so much time hiding from the pain and being somebody I'm not . . . and see where it got me . . . why . . . I'm so alone . . . I don't want too keep going, it's not worth it." Mai whispered. Her voice was quivering and a tear fell from her eye down to the mess that was her body.
"You keep going for the people that love you . . . because it's the right thing to do. Life is hard, I get that . . . but you've beaten this before and you can do it again." Joey replied sadly, hoping something, anything would let him help her.
"This power and this rage . . . I can't do it Joey . . . I tried, I'm not strong enough. There isn't time to save me." Mai whimpered, her breaths becoming shorter.
"I don't know what happened between us Mai . . . and sometimes I wonder. And I admit I lose sleep over it . . . but this thing . . . it's bigger than both of us . . . you want to know how to keep going? You have to have faith that everything will work out. You used to be able to that . . . I guess you lost that along the way." Joey said. He waited for a response, but none came.
Suddenly he heard a ringing noise from out of nowhere. Peaking out of Mai's pocket was her cellphone. Miraculously it wasn't hurt at all.
Joey was tempted to answer but he let it go. A few seconds later it started to ring again.
Mai grabbed it and answered it.
"Mai, where are you what happened? I heard that your flight was delayed." a voice lied through the other side of the phone. A sick smile crossed her face. Joey stared at her curiously. He was amazed at how she was even able to hold the phone.
"It was Kaiba . . . " she said. Joey didn't know who she was talking too and concluded that she was in a delusional state of mind.
"Kaiba's uh . . . cars that did . . . '' she started to say, but couldn't continue. The voice on the other end was shouting her name.
"He knows." Joey whispered.
"I didn't . . . " Mai started to say, but didn't finish. Joey patiently waited for her to continue, but her voice was quivering now from the cold rain.
"You bastard." she said. Joey thought she was talking to him, but she continued.
"You betrayed me . . . I trusted you . . . well I quit . . . I quit your stupid takeover . . . I quit you . . ." she mumbled.
"Mai?" Joey asked. Suddenly she threw the cell phone as far as she could, which wasn't very far.
She took a deep gulp. Tears were rolling down her eyes and she was frozen to the spot.
"I lied." she said, her tears falling more freely than before.
"I need help, and now would be good." she whispered slowly as she passed out. Joey gave a small smile as he picked her up in his arms.
He heard someone distantly shouting Mai's name. Glancing down at the cell phone he noticed the caller id said Valon. With much anger he stepped on the phone until it broke in half.
He was drenched in rain when he finally met up with Duke.
Joey was now covered in dirt and blood from Mai, but the tears on his face were definitely his own.
"Hospital." was the only word that came from his mouth, but Duke understood.
They jumped in his car and laid Mai in the backseat.
"Kaiba found out." Joey said emotionlessly. Duke sat silently for a while, letting the image of Joey and Mai freeze in his mind. He couldn't picture Kaiba physically doing that to her.
"He did that?" Duke asked, somewhat sceptic.
"She knew, and she was still going to help him . . . I don't think she meant for anything to happen to Mokuba." Joey deducted.
"How do you know?" Duke asked. Joey shrugged and glanced out the window. He was also silent, thoughts running through his head, but there was one in particular.
"You knew about Valon didn't you?" Joey asked. Duke nodded.
Joey ran his hand threw his hair and punched the side of the car. Duke bit his lip and drove more quickly than ever.
Valon leaned against the wall. Tears were streaming down his check. He heard Joey in the background. He lost her.
He didn't mean for that to happen. He just wanted her scared, not killed.
But what did it matter, she didn't need him or want him. She was over him.
Because of Wheeler.
He punched the wall, causing his knuckles to bleed. On top of that, the wall had a gaping hole in it.
He would teach them both, he was better than Wheeler, he was better than Kaiba.
He had the power.