Eliminator 2
Magicman: I see that chapter one met with some success. Very good! Now that the awkward moment is out of the way, I'll introduce you to my associates. First there's Smokegirl, my evil side.
Smokegirl: *shoves Magicman off scene* Don't listen to him. He's MY good side. Next up is basically whatever gang of anime characters we happen to be writing about.
Magicman: *trips Smokegirl and she falls off scene* But there's still Dilandau-with-a-cowboy-hat, my own creation.
Dilandau-with-a-cowboy-hat: I provide the musical accompaniment for the fics! *Strums on a guitar*
Smokegirl: Hi yah! *Smashes Magicman with a sledge hammer*
Magicman: Ow..... *falls over unconscious*
Smokegirl: There! Now that the unwanted bilge is out of the way, we can get down to the actual writing.
Dilandau-with-a-cowboy-hat: The boss thought this might happen, so he sends his apologies to BECA. He really tried not to make Shannon a Mary Sue, but he has no idea what they are. As such, he may have failed but it's too early to tell. Either way, enjoy!
Smokegirl: Or else.
***
"Checkmate."
Joey stared at the board in shock. Espa had taken him apart in less than thirty moves. "Jeez! That's four in a row! How'd you do that?"
Espa shrugged modestly. "I was always good at chess."
"Really, man, you should try out for one of those tournaments and be the next Bobby Fischer."
"Oh no! Bobby Fischer could kick my ass."
Joey shrugged and stood up. "Sure he could. Either way, I've gotta go. Simon and I are going to look up some famous duellists on the Internet."
"Okay. Bye." Espa started to put the chessboard away but paused. "Have you seen my brothers?"
"Serenity took them down to the arcade with Mai and Tea," Joey answered. Mentally, he thanked the girls. Tristan, Yami, and probably Yugi would throw fits when they found out he was working for Pegasus, but the girls were more rational. After a few initial comments indicating disbelief and some latter comments indicating that Joey had lost what little mind he had, the girls agreed not to tell the rest of the gang. In exchange for certain considerations, of course. Mai wanted a date with Simon and Tea just wanted to be present when Yugi and Yami found out.
Not for the first time, it occurred to Joey just how devious girls really were.
With a final goodbye to his colleague, the blonde stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked down the hallway of the most spacious hotel he had ever seen. Violet carpets lined the floors wall to wall and crystalline lamps sat in silver holders on the walls. The best part was that Pegasus had an entire floor continually rented so his eliminators essentially set up a base of operations in it. They had their respective private quarters, a meeting room where they all went to discuss things, and they even converted one of the suites into a computer room. To this last room, Joey was headed.
Actually, the computer room only had two computers in it. When Joey entered the room, Simon was already on one and he was busy contemplating a duellist's profile. The thing was, Simon could look things up himself but Joey knew a lot of duellists personally and could add his personal comments.
Simon looked up when Joey entered and nodded his head in greeting. "Mako Tsunami", he said out loud. "Ranked third in the country. He has an ocean based duelling deck and his favourite card is the Legendary Fisherman."
Joey looked over Simon's shoulder at the profile. "That's Mako, alright," he announced. "He's the real thing. Don't bother with electricity when you duel him, he knows just how to counter it."
"Fair enough. Ocean decks must be a new thing," he commented, "I don't remember any of them being around back in the day."
Joey shrugged. "I don't know. Mako's is the only one I've ever seen, and he's good with it too."
Simon went to the next profile. "Rex Raptor AKA the Dinosaur Duellist. Uses a beat down deck primarily of dinosaur and dragon cards, hence his nickname. Traps and magic cards vary, but mostly strengthen his monsters. Ranked number two in the country."
"Rex was probably my toughest duel ever. He knew how to use the field so I never saw him with a monster with less than 2000 attack points. He hits hard too." Joey smiled at the old memories and wondered how Rex was doing.
Simon made a mental note and scrolled down. "Weevil Underwood, AKA the Bug Brawler. Very tricky. His deck has no single strategy, but his best monster is Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth."
Joey scowled. "That little bastard is a good for nothing cheat!"
Simon raised an eyebrow and regarded his friend. "You speak from experience?"
"A friend of mine had a set of Exodia cards. We were on the way to Duellist Kingdom when Weevil found out about them. He stole them and threw them off the cruise ship. Then he used the tournament's secret rulebook to try and lure him into a trap. The little creep got kicked off the island like he deserved!"
"Hmm," was Simon's response before he moved to the next profile. "Keith Howard, AKA Bandit Keith. He uses a machine based beat down deck. Officially, he's the intercontinental champion but he hasn't duelled in any tournaments for some time."
"I know", Joey smiled smugly. "I beat him at the Duellist Kingdom finals and he got kicked out for cheating."
"You have quite a profile yourself", Simon commented casually as he passed Joey's smiling visage on the Internet.
"Really? What does it say about me?"
"It says that you have a classic warrior based deck." Simon smiled wryly. "I guess the duel analysts haven't updated in a while."
Joey smiled too. With Pegasus' massive card database at his disposal, he'd added certain elements to his deck that would be sure to throw certain opponent's for a loop. He still had his trusty warriors and his beloved Red Eyes Black Dragon but he had added new traps and magic cards. If he ended up duelling Yugi or Yami again, they'd be in for quite a surprise.
His thoughts were interrupted when the second computer 'pinged'. Curious, Joey checked it out. "Hey, I've got mail." He announced. Simon leaned over to listen while Joey accessed his message. The blonde scanned the message, ever more incredulous the further he got.
"What the hell? The boss has made a new version of the old Duel Monsters rule set. This thing says he's sending it out to all the guys he's inviting to the tournament."
"New rules?" Simon sounded intrigued. He got off his chair and strolled over to Joey's screen. Analysing the words, he pondered their portent. "4000 lifepoints, a new sacrifice rule, and a rarest card ante? Hmm....." He smiled. "Sounds fun."
"I don't think it's such a good idea to make different rules for the game."
"On the contrary, there're several different rule sets for different tournaments. I remember hearing once about a set called the Deckmaster system. I never saw it in action though." Simon shrugged. "Different rules make people think more strategically."
"I guess so," Joey conceded reluctantly. "But I'm going to have to go over my deck again."
"Don't worry just yet. We've got a whole week left before the tournament starts."
"Really?" Joey checked the date on his watch. Time really did fly when you were busy. And speaking of dates..... "Whoa! Uh, hey Simon, are you busy tonight?"
"Not really. Why?"
***
Pegasus frowned at his guest while she sipped her tea. "Are you sure your fears are well-founded?"
"I am very sure Pegasus." The Egyptian woman spoke with total certainty. "The Rare Hunters have been very active recently and they have stolen two of the God cards. They can only be looking for the third."
Pegasus sighed and slumped in his seat. "If I still had my Eye I could see what they want" he muttered. "As it is, we can only bumble along without a clue while they steal the most powerful cards in Duel Monsters."
The woman put down her cup. "Why did you create them? Why did you risk awakening their power once again?"
The man waved a hand. "Pride, Ishizu", was his answer. "Simple pride. I wanted Duel Monsters to be complete, and for the game to be truly complete all the elements must be in place. The God cards had to exist, despite the danger. I had no doubts at the time. Now....." The billionaire sighed.
Ishizu watched her friend with some compassion. "The situation is no so bad that we have no options." She said. "They have only two of the God cards. They will try to take the third. And with your upcoming tournament, we can be sure that they will be there."
"That's true. With so many famous duellists participating they won't be able to resist. Especially if they think one of them has the third God card. And when they arrive we'll be able to take them." Pegasus smiled. "Who does have the third God card, anyway?"
Ishizu hesitated before telling him. Pegasus fell off his chair. "What?! You gave it to Kaiba-boy?!"
"I had my reasons. A duellist of Kaiba's experience will be able to defend the card from the Hunters. And after you damaged his business he needs to protect every asset he has."
"Yes, but he could use the God card against us", Pegasus countered. "You don't know him like I do. He never forgives anyone for anything. And I think he may be going crazy! I talked to him just after the court decision and I saw the look in his eye!"
"Don't worry, my friend", Ishizu reassured. "Kaiba will return the card to me. I have foreseen it." She placed a hand on the ornate gold necklace at her throat. "I do not know how, but he will. Whether willing or not."
"I wish I had your confidence. Better than almost anyone else, I know what those cards are capable of. If Kaiba has the one, soon he will want the others. What if he joins the Hunters?" Pegasus suddenly had a thought. "This is why you asked me to make some new rules for this tournament, wasn't it? When Kaiba and the Hunters are beaten, they will have to relinquish their rarest cards!" He smiled at his friend admiringly. "Ishizu, you're brilliant!"
The Egyptian woman shrugged, but she smiled too. "I only see the future and make plans for it. That is all any of us can do. But my brother....."
Pegasus' smile ceased. "Yes. We'll stop him. He won't get all the God cards."
"That part of the future is strangely clouded. I can't see what will happen. All I know is that there are several goals involved." She looked at Pegasus' left eye meaningfully. "From several different people."
Unconsciously he rubbed the eye. Suddenly he stood up and extended a hand to his guest, who looked at him in some confusion. "We've been locked in my office all day. It's getting late now and we're both tired. Why don't we go out and relax? I know a nice little restaurant that makes the most spectacular ravioli you'll ever see anywhere, even in Italy! Which is strange, because I'm pretty sure the chef is from Lebanon. Anyway, what do you say?"
Ishizu considered. "I still have a lot of work to do at the museum." She said slowly.
Pegasus made a face. "You know what they say about all work and no play, right? It made one of my employees have a psychotic episode."
"Really? Is he alright?"
"Oh yes. At least I think so. Dr. Turner told me his condition is improving."
Ishizu tried not to laugh but she couldn't quite contain a chuckle. "Well, when you put it like that it seems I have no choice. I'm sure that my work can wait, and I am partial to pasta."
"Excellent! Then shall we go?" Pegasus offered her his arm gallantly. She took it politely.
***
After wandering the city for a while, Joey found Shannon walking along the sidewalk. She was carrying along a paper shopping bag and was lugging it with some difficulty. She seemed mellower than she had been when Joey first met her. Her hair was clear of streaks and the only braid she wore was a simple ponytail. Instead of bright pink, she wore a simple green shirt and a pair of blue-ish black pants. When she saw him she smiled and waved. "Hi Joey! How's life?"
Joey shrugged. "I can't complain. You need a hand with that?"
The two blondes reached each other and Joey took the bag. He nearly keeled over in surprise. "Whoa! What the heck do you have in here???"
Shannon reached in and pulled out a Star Wars comic and a manga. "Every month I go around and pick up all the new issues of Bomber Girl and City Hunter and the new Star Wars stories and stuff like that. You'd be surprised at how good the stories are." She opened the manga and showed Joey a picture.
His eyes bugged out. "Is she Bomber Girl? Wow, she's hot."
Shannon smiled sweetly. "How about this?" She turned the page, showing the heroine brutally killing two terrorists. Joey gulped. "That's a little too much."
The two walked along the street to Pegasus' building. "So why do you walk around like this? The only rich guy I know drives a limo everywhere."
"Walking is good exercise. Besides, it's a beautiful day. Why should we waste it?"
Joey looked about, watching Shannon casually from the corner of his eye. "It's pretty alright. I've seen prettier things though."
Shannon smiled surreptitiously. "Thank you." She murmured.
They walked along peacefully, lightly flirting with each other as they went. Just before they reached the office building, they ran into Tea and Serenity.
"Hey Joey!" Tea called out and waved to get his attention. "Over here!"
"Tea!" Joey and Shannon stopped and let the girls catch up. "What have you two been up to?"
"Tea's been teaching me how to dance", Serenity said with a smile. "She's really good! She beat that guy with the dreadlocks and she didn't even break a sweat."
Tea smiled proudly. "Johnny Stepps is all flash and no real dancing talent. Throw some Tae Kwon Doe into your routine and he doesn't stand a chance." She struck a martial arts pose.
Joey whistled. "I didn't know you studied martial arts."
"Just a bit here and there." Tea shrugged. "I prefer not to be caught defenceless in dark alleys. Anyway, who's your friend? We haven't met."
"Oh right. Meet Shannon, Pegasus' daughter. Shannon this is my friend Tea."
They shook hands. "I've heard a bit about you," Shannon said as she smiled. "It's nice to meet you finally."
The little group walked along, exchanging thoughts and discussing bits of news. To be fair, the three girls mostly talked while Joey lugged Shannon's literature.
"I'm fairly new in Domino", Shannon confessed. "Where do you go for a good time?"
"There's the arcade or the game shop", Tea suggested. "The park has an ice cream stand/pizza parlour and there's a beach not far away. But to really have fun, there's a dance club I love to go to. We could all go."
Joey frowned at Tea's back. He did not want his sister in one of those sleazy clubs.
"Thanks, but it is getting a bit late. I should be getting back to the hotel soon."
"Alright then. I guess I'll see you another time. It was nice meeting you."
"I should be going too then," Joey added. "Serenity, you coming?"
"I was going to stay over at Tea's tonight," his sister said. "If that's alright with you."
"Sure, go ahead. Want me to send over some of your stuff?"
Serenity shook her head, her reddish brown locks floating about her head. "I'll just borrow some of Tea's clothes to sleep in."
Joey nodded. "Alright then. You just call me if you need anything, okay?"
"Alright. See you tomorrow Joey!" With a wave goodbye, the two girls walked off down the street.
Shannon smiled as they went. "They look cute together."
Joey wasn't sure he heard right. "Eh?"
"Oh nothing. Come one, I'll race you to the hotel!"
Laughing, Shannon took off. Joey looked back in the direction Tea and his sister had gone before taking off after the object of his interests.
***
Magicman: If Shannon sounded out of character this chapter, that's because she was meant to. That will be explained later.
Smokegirl: *hits Magicman over the head with a frying pan*
Magicman: OW! What was that for?!
Smokegirl: We're not doing that anymore?
Magicman: NO!
Smokegirl: Oh.
Dilandau-with-a-cowboy-hat: *plays a little country music*
Magicman: I see that chapter one met with some success. Very good! Now that the awkward moment is out of the way, I'll introduce you to my associates. First there's Smokegirl, my evil side.
Smokegirl: *shoves Magicman off scene* Don't listen to him. He's MY good side. Next up is basically whatever gang of anime characters we happen to be writing about.
Magicman: *trips Smokegirl and she falls off scene* But there's still Dilandau-with-a-cowboy-hat, my own creation.
Dilandau-with-a-cowboy-hat: I provide the musical accompaniment for the fics! *Strums on a guitar*
Smokegirl: Hi yah! *Smashes Magicman with a sledge hammer*
Magicman: Ow..... *falls over unconscious*
Smokegirl: There! Now that the unwanted bilge is out of the way, we can get down to the actual writing.
Dilandau-with-a-cowboy-hat: The boss thought this might happen, so he sends his apologies to BECA. He really tried not to make Shannon a Mary Sue, but he has no idea what they are. As such, he may have failed but it's too early to tell. Either way, enjoy!
Smokegirl: Or else.
***
"Checkmate."
Joey stared at the board in shock. Espa had taken him apart in less than thirty moves. "Jeez! That's four in a row! How'd you do that?"
Espa shrugged modestly. "I was always good at chess."
"Really, man, you should try out for one of those tournaments and be the next Bobby Fischer."
"Oh no! Bobby Fischer could kick my ass."
Joey shrugged and stood up. "Sure he could. Either way, I've gotta go. Simon and I are going to look up some famous duellists on the Internet."
"Okay. Bye." Espa started to put the chessboard away but paused. "Have you seen my brothers?"
"Serenity took them down to the arcade with Mai and Tea," Joey answered. Mentally, he thanked the girls. Tristan, Yami, and probably Yugi would throw fits when they found out he was working for Pegasus, but the girls were more rational. After a few initial comments indicating disbelief and some latter comments indicating that Joey had lost what little mind he had, the girls agreed not to tell the rest of the gang. In exchange for certain considerations, of course. Mai wanted a date with Simon and Tea just wanted to be present when Yugi and Yami found out.
Not for the first time, it occurred to Joey just how devious girls really were.
With a final goodbye to his colleague, the blonde stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked down the hallway of the most spacious hotel he had ever seen. Violet carpets lined the floors wall to wall and crystalline lamps sat in silver holders on the walls. The best part was that Pegasus had an entire floor continually rented so his eliminators essentially set up a base of operations in it. They had their respective private quarters, a meeting room where they all went to discuss things, and they even converted one of the suites into a computer room. To this last room, Joey was headed.
Actually, the computer room only had two computers in it. When Joey entered the room, Simon was already on one and he was busy contemplating a duellist's profile. The thing was, Simon could look things up himself but Joey knew a lot of duellists personally and could add his personal comments.
Simon looked up when Joey entered and nodded his head in greeting. "Mako Tsunami", he said out loud. "Ranked third in the country. He has an ocean based duelling deck and his favourite card is the Legendary Fisherman."
Joey looked over Simon's shoulder at the profile. "That's Mako, alright," he announced. "He's the real thing. Don't bother with electricity when you duel him, he knows just how to counter it."
"Fair enough. Ocean decks must be a new thing," he commented, "I don't remember any of them being around back in the day."
Joey shrugged. "I don't know. Mako's is the only one I've ever seen, and he's good with it too."
Simon went to the next profile. "Rex Raptor AKA the Dinosaur Duellist. Uses a beat down deck primarily of dinosaur and dragon cards, hence his nickname. Traps and magic cards vary, but mostly strengthen his monsters. Ranked number two in the country."
"Rex was probably my toughest duel ever. He knew how to use the field so I never saw him with a monster with less than 2000 attack points. He hits hard too." Joey smiled at the old memories and wondered how Rex was doing.
Simon made a mental note and scrolled down. "Weevil Underwood, AKA the Bug Brawler. Very tricky. His deck has no single strategy, but his best monster is Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth."
Joey scowled. "That little bastard is a good for nothing cheat!"
Simon raised an eyebrow and regarded his friend. "You speak from experience?"
"A friend of mine had a set of Exodia cards. We were on the way to Duellist Kingdom when Weevil found out about them. He stole them and threw them off the cruise ship. Then he used the tournament's secret rulebook to try and lure him into a trap. The little creep got kicked off the island like he deserved!"
"Hmm," was Simon's response before he moved to the next profile. "Keith Howard, AKA Bandit Keith. He uses a machine based beat down deck. Officially, he's the intercontinental champion but he hasn't duelled in any tournaments for some time."
"I know", Joey smiled smugly. "I beat him at the Duellist Kingdom finals and he got kicked out for cheating."
"You have quite a profile yourself", Simon commented casually as he passed Joey's smiling visage on the Internet.
"Really? What does it say about me?"
"It says that you have a classic warrior based deck." Simon smiled wryly. "I guess the duel analysts haven't updated in a while."
Joey smiled too. With Pegasus' massive card database at his disposal, he'd added certain elements to his deck that would be sure to throw certain opponent's for a loop. He still had his trusty warriors and his beloved Red Eyes Black Dragon but he had added new traps and magic cards. If he ended up duelling Yugi or Yami again, they'd be in for quite a surprise.
His thoughts were interrupted when the second computer 'pinged'. Curious, Joey checked it out. "Hey, I've got mail." He announced. Simon leaned over to listen while Joey accessed his message. The blonde scanned the message, ever more incredulous the further he got.
"What the hell? The boss has made a new version of the old Duel Monsters rule set. This thing says he's sending it out to all the guys he's inviting to the tournament."
"New rules?" Simon sounded intrigued. He got off his chair and strolled over to Joey's screen. Analysing the words, he pondered their portent. "4000 lifepoints, a new sacrifice rule, and a rarest card ante? Hmm....." He smiled. "Sounds fun."
"I don't think it's such a good idea to make different rules for the game."
"On the contrary, there're several different rule sets for different tournaments. I remember hearing once about a set called the Deckmaster system. I never saw it in action though." Simon shrugged. "Different rules make people think more strategically."
"I guess so," Joey conceded reluctantly. "But I'm going to have to go over my deck again."
"Don't worry just yet. We've got a whole week left before the tournament starts."
"Really?" Joey checked the date on his watch. Time really did fly when you were busy. And speaking of dates..... "Whoa! Uh, hey Simon, are you busy tonight?"
"Not really. Why?"
***
Pegasus frowned at his guest while she sipped her tea. "Are you sure your fears are well-founded?"
"I am very sure Pegasus." The Egyptian woman spoke with total certainty. "The Rare Hunters have been very active recently and they have stolen two of the God cards. They can only be looking for the third."
Pegasus sighed and slumped in his seat. "If I still had my Eye I could see what they want" he muttered. "As it is, we can only bumble along without a clue while they steal the most powerful cards in Duel Monsters."
The woman put down her cup. "Why did you create them? Why did you risk awakening their power once again?"
The man waved a hand. "Pride, Ishizu", was his answer. "Simple pride. I wanted Duel Monsters to be complete, and for the game to be truly complete all the elements must be in place. The God cards had to exist, despite the danger. I had no doubts at the time. Now....." The billionaire sighed.
Ishizu watched her friend with some compassion. "The situation is no so bad that we have no options." She said. "They have only two of the God cards. They will try to take the third. And with your upcoming tournament, we can be sure that they will be there."
"That's true. With so many famous duellists participating they won't be able to resist. Especially if they think one of them has the third God card. And when they arrive we'll be able to take them." Pegasus smiled. "Who does have the third God card, anyway?"
Ishizu hesitated before telling him. Pegasus fell off his chair. "What?! You gave it to Kaiba-boy?!"
"I had my reasons. A duellist of Kaiba's experience will be able to defend the card from the Hunters. And after you damaged his business he needs to protect every asset he has."
"Yes, but he could use the God card against us", Pegasus countered. "You don't know him like I do. He never forgives anyone for anything. And I think he may be going crazy! I talked to him just after the court decision and I saw the look in his eye!"
"Don't worry, my friend", Ishizu reassured. "Kaiba will return the card to me. I have foreseen it." She placed a hand on the ornate gold necklace at her throat. "I do not know how, but he will. Whether willing or not."
"I wish I had your confidence. Better than almost anyone else, I know what those cards are capable of. If Kaiba has the one, soon he will want the others. What if he joins the Hunters?" Pegasus suddenly had a thought. "This is why you asked me to make some new rules for this tournament, wasn't it? When Kaiba and the Hunters are beaten, they will have to relinquish their rarest cards!" He smiled at his friend admiringly. "Ishizu, you're brilliant!"
The Egyptian woman shrugged, but she smiled too. "I only see the future and make plans for it. That is all any of us can do. But my brother....."
Pegasus' smile ceased. "Yes. We'll stop him. He won't get all the God cards."
"That part of the future is strangely clouded. I can't see what will happen. All I know is that there are several goals involved." She looked at Pegasus' left eye meaningfully. "From several different people."
Unconsciously he rubbed the eye. Suddenly he stood up and extended a hand to his guest, who looked at him in some confusion. "We've been locked in my office all day. It's getting late now and we're both tired. Why don't we go out and relax? I know a nice little restaurant that makes the most spectacular ravioli you'll ever see anywhere, even in Italy! Which is strange, because I'm pretty sure the chef is from Lebanon. Anyway, what do you say?"
Ishizu considered. "I still have a lot of work to do at the museum." She said slowly.
Pegasus made a face. "You know what they say about all work and no play, right? It made one of my employees have a psychotic episode."
"Really? Is he alright?"
"Oh yes. At least I think so. Dr. Turner told me his condition is improving."
Ishizu tried not to laugh but she couldn't quite contain a chuckle. "Well, when you put it like that it seems I have no choice. I'm sure that my work can wait, and I am partial to pasta."
"Excellent! Then shall we go?" Pegasus offered her his arm gallantly. She took it politely.
***
After wandering the city for a while, Joey found Shannon walking along the sidewalk. She was carrying along a paper shopping bag and was lugging it with some difficulty. She seemed mellower than she had been when Joey first met her. Her hair was clear of streaks and the only braid she wore was a simple ponytail. Instead of bright pink, she wore a simple green shirt and a pair of blue-ish black pants. When she saw him she smiled and waved. "Hi Joey! How's life?"
Joey shrugged. "I can't complain. You need a hand with that?"
The two blondes reached each other and Joey took the bag. He nearly keeled over in surprise. "Whoa! What the heck do you have in here???"
Shannon reached in and pulled out a Star Wars comic and a manga. "Every month I go around and pick up all the new issues of Bomber Girl and City Hunter and the new Star Wars stories and stuff like that. You'd be surprised at how good the stories are." She opened the manga and showed Joey a picture.
His eyes bugged out. "Is she Bomber Girl? Wow, she's hot."
Shannon smiled sweetly. "How about this?" She turned the page, showing the heroine brutally killing two terrorists. Joey gulped. "That's a little too much."
The two walked along the street to Pegasus' building. "So why do you walk around like this? The only rich guy I know drives a limo everywhere."
"Walking is good exercise. Besides, it's a beautiful day. Why should we waste it?"
Joey looked about, watching Shannon casually from the corner of his eye. "It's pretty alright. I've seen prettier things though."
Shannon smiled surreptitiously. "Thank you." She murmured.
They walked along peacefully, lightly flirting with each other as they went. Just before they reached the office building, they ran into Tea and Serenity.
"Hey Joey!" Tea called out and waved to get his attention. "Over here!"
"Tea!" Joey and Shannon stopped and let the girls catch up. "What have you two been up to?"
"Tea's been teaching me how to dance", Serenity said with a smile. "She's really good! She beat that guy with the dreadlocks and she didn't even break a sweat."
Tea smiled proudly. "Johnny Stepps is all flash and no real dancing talent. Throw some Tae Kwon Doe into your routine and he doesn't stand a chance." She struck a martial arts pose.
Joey whistled. "I didn't know you studied martial arts."
"Just a bit here and there." Tea shrugged. "I prefer not to be caught defenceless in dark alleys. Anyway, who's your friend? We haven't met."
"Oh right. Meet Shannon, Pegasus' daughter. Shannon this is my friend Tea."
They shook hands. "I've heard a bit about you," Shannon said as she smiled. "It's nice to meet you finally."
The little group walked along, exchanging thoughts and discussing bits of news. To be fair, the three girls mostly talked while Joey lugged Shannon's literature.
"I'm fairly new in Domino", Shannon confessed. "Where do you go for a good time?"
"There's the arcade or the game shop", Tea suggested. "The park has an ice cream stand/pizza parlour and there's a beach not far away. But to really have fun, there's a dance club I love to go to. We could all go."
Joey frowned at Tea's back. He did not want his sister in one of those sleazy clubs.
"Thanks, but it is getting a bit late. I should be getting back to the hotel soon."
"Alright then. I guess I'll see you another time. It was nice meeting you."
"I should be going too then," Joey added. "Serenity, you coming?"
"I was going to stay over at Tea's tonight," his sister said. "If that's alright with you."
"Sure, go ahead. Want me to send over some of your stuff?"
Serenity shook her head, her reddish brown locks floating about her head. "I'll just borrow some of Tea's clothes to sleep in."
Joey nodded. "Alright then. You just call me if you need anything, okay?"
"Alright. See you tomorrow Joey!" With a wave goodbye, the two girls walked off down the street.
Shannon smiled as they went. "They look cute together."
Joey wasn't sure he heard right. "Eh?"
"Oh nothing. Come one, I'll race you to the hotel!"
Laughing, Shannon took off. Joey looked back in the direction Tea and his sister had gone before taking off after the object of his interests.
***
Magicman: If Shannon sounded out of character this chapter, that's because she was meant to. That will be explained later.
Smokegirl: *hits Magicman over the head with a frying pan*
Magicman: OW! What was that for?!
Smokegirl: We're not doing that anymore?
Magicman: NO!
Smokegirl: Oh.
Dilandau-with-a-cowboy-hat: *plays a little country music*