Chapter 27: Awakening

"Wha…what happened?"

"Welcome back, Joey!" The nurse greeted as the blonde looked around. From what he could see, he was in a white room, lying in an elevated bed, wearing the traditional hospital gown. Yep, he was in the hospital. "We almost lost you."

"What the he-Oww…" Joey winced as he felt pain near the area of his left shoulder. Remembering that he got shot after saving Kaiba from Tyrell… "Got any painkillahs here?"

"We'll see what we can do." The nurse said as Joey looked at her. She had long green hair in curly pigtails while wearing a white nurse's uniform. Was he in heaven, because he was definitely looking at an angel!

Joey shook his head, what was he thinking? He already had a girlfriend, much hotter to be exactly. Maybe it was just his normal male hormones getting to him. He looked down to his left and saw that he had a patch where his gunshot wound was. Tristan would have a kick out of this, but that wasn't the deal. He managed to spot a calendar pinned on the wall as he saw the date May 23!

Joey eyes went wide. "What the fuck? How long I've been out for?" Thoughts of how much school work he missed came to his mind. It was already bad enough that he was having some trouble with his school work, due to trouble with a certain elitist prick, without having to be way behind. And what about Serenity? Arisa? Yugi? Hell, everyone! That day, everything he did not want to happen happened. Kaiba followed him, a major conflict went down, and worst of all, somebody got shot. The few good things about it is that Yugi made a friend, Syd, and Joey managed to keep Yugi from getting hurt…even if it was himself who took the bullet – literally!

"Calm down! I'm sure that your school matters are being taken care off." She assured him as she walked over with a small cup of water and another cup with two pills inside. "Do you want something to eat? It's not wise to take pills on an empty stomach!"

"Nah, s'alright!" Joey assured as he took both cups. He placed the two pills in his mouth before washing them down with the cup of water. As he looked towards his left shoulder, he saw a huge bandage in the area where the shoulder met the chest. "What's the damage?"

"It was a close one." A new voice said as Joey looked towards the door. A tall, lanky man in a white lab coat walked in. "If it would've moved just a bit more, you would need a wheelchair?"

"Wha?" Joey blinked. "Was it that serious?"

"I'm afraid so. From our diagnostics the bullet's path was in a slanted direction and went straight through. If it would've moved, it would've hit your spine, consequentially paralyzing you for life. You are a very lucky young man Mr. Wheeler."

"Tell me sumthin' I haven't heard." He scoffed a bit, remembering the speculation that all of his duels won were by luck and chance! So what? What if he lost? It'd be because of luck and chance too! Gamble decks were basically a double-edge sword: They could help you or hurt you. Especially if they're rigged by some lying, cheating lawyer! But Joey got tired of Kaiba's comments about him relying on luck that, when he first got new cards that he could use in his deck, he mostly got rid of the majority of cards that were based on coin toss and dice rolls. The only cards of that kind that were left were Fairy Box, Maximum Six, Graceful Dice, and Skull Dice. Winning duels became easier for him, but he still couldn't beat Yugi. In fact he barely tied with him! He could beat Kaiba, but we all knew the result of that… "When can I get outta here?"

"You've lost a lot of blood and you were out for quite a bit, so you'll have to stay her for a couple more days to recover!" He said. "Would you like something to eat? Ice Cream perhaps?"

"It'd be nice to have sumthin' in my stomach, but save the Ice Cream till lata, would ya?" Joey suggested. Knowing a certain blonde girl who'll want to eat more than his share of ice cream when she showed up in a few hours…

"Fair enough, but you need to eat something."

"How 'bout some donuts?" Joey suggested.

The middle-aged doctor smiled. "That could be arranged." He said before leaving the room. Giving Joey time to think about all that has just happened. Him getting shot, Yugi having to witness him getting shot, just to name a few! For the first time in his life, he really began to think that he should've just listened to Kaiba, let alone done what he wanted him to do. If he would've just accepted the duel, Kaiba wouldn't have followed him and Yugi to the building and he wouldn't have started a ruckus which almost got him shot! Nevertheless he knew there would be hell to pay when he was released and could only pray that he could successfully do some damage control.

(Later That Day…)

Pairs and pairs of feet could be heard as a group of high school students…and two middle school students ran inside of the hospital! Ever since they've heard the news, they couldn't wait to see him. Of course, to say that it'll be emotional was an understatement while a few wanted to slap the person they were worried about because of the trouble he put them through.

Serenity was one of the most worried. Ever since she's heard about Joey's injury, she's been in a nervous wreck. Even her family life has been a living hell. After finding out the truth about how much their so-called "mother" cared about her son being shot, or lack thereof, Serenity didn't want to have anything to do with her. In the mean time, she's been staying with Téa for the past couple of days. Her parents were shocked and somewhat annoyed with having another mouth to feed, but Serenity refused to go home. Téa basically had no other choice but to keep Serenity at her place, as she wasn't about to let Serenity stay with Tristan or Duke for obvious reasons, Bakura's family was busy remodeling their home, Melody was still just getting settled moving back to Domino, she didn't know Kara's number, and Arisa could just kiss her ass. Serenity just couldn't figure out why Téa didn't like her, she was nice, after all!

Speaking of Téa, she was just about worried. Maybe not as much as Serenity, but sure as hell as a lot more than the half-pint Joey was currently dating. She sighed, wondering what Joey actually saw in Arisa Mallovic anyway. From what she saw from the other day, Arisa was just as much as loose cannon as Joey was. She might have been as cute as Dark Magician Girl… more like Toon Dark Magician Girl… but from that session at group, it was clearly shown that Téa had more class than her. Okay, she was jealous, but at least when Joey was crushing on Mai, it was someone who had class and held herself at a high standard, even if she was a bit vain at times. And unlike Arisa, Mai actually had respect for Téa, rather than rubbing in the fact that Joey was dating her not Téa. This caused the brunette to grit her teeth from thinking about it! 'Damn it, I am jealous!'

Tristan and Duke, as much as they wouldn't like to admit it, were having similar thoughts: See Joey, talk to Joey, and when it is revealed that he was alright, beat the living hell out of him for the trauma he put Serenity through! If he survived being shot, surely he can survive what the two of them would dish out. After all, his foolish move not only made Serenity a wreck, but Arisa went nuts as well! And where the hell was Yugi through all of this? Every since it happened, Yugi hasn't showed up at school and when they went to the card shop, from what they've heard from his grandpa, Yugi all of a sudden became an Emo-bitch. All because of Joey getting shot!

Tristan shook his head remembering the day before the two left for that place. Yugi wanted to go but Joey wanted not part of taking him there. Honestly, he didn't know who to blame more: Joey for taking Yugi there! Yugi for wanting to go there in the first place! Or the usual suspect: Kaiba for following them and then showing up, causing the event in the first place! From what he heard from Syd, everything was going fine until that loser showed up and started trouble. When Arisa jumped Kaiba, if it weren't for the fact that Mr. Moto and a few more adults were around he would've joined the fray and shoved his foot so far up that snob's ass that the sweat from his balls would quench Kaiba's thirst.

Arisa was shaking on the inside. She wondered if Joey was really okay or was there something they weren't notified about. Ever since that night, she couldn't sleep. Nightmarish thoughts entered her mind as she envisioned Joey getting shot, and Kaiba carelessly laughing at him. The thought of the CEO made her skin crawl. Everything that's happened to Joey was Kaiba's fault. Him getting in trouble! Him getting detention! Him giving up Duel Monsters, and now this! Her eyes narrowed, if Joey never fully recover from this, she would never forgive Kaiba!

Speaking of Kaiba, his brother Mokuba was with them. Arisa didn't know much about Mokuba, but he did seem to be nice. Much nicer than that jerk of a brother of his, that's for sure. Tristan had told her that when Joey nearly lost his life back in the Battle City finals, it was Mokuba who called the medics for him. That made Arisa wonder just how the hell a nice, sweet kid like Mokuba could have a prick like Kaiba for a brother. Oh well… somebody had to love him, she supposed. At least there's two people who could tolerate him. One was with the group while the other was going to Kaiba Corp.

Speaking of Kara, she was putting forth her plan into motion. Well…actually, she made a list of "chores" for her and Arisa to do. Arisa would talk to Joey while Kara would try to deal with Kaiba's issues. The blonde scoffed at the thought. Good luck with that. She's constantly told her that the plan was as pointless as legless man buying a new pair of shoes, but the blue-haired girl wouldn't quit. Originally she wanted to slap Joey for making her worry into a nervous wreck, but after what she was about to do, to say that he'd be irate would be an understatement.

The gang had made inside as they already knew the location of Joey's room. They proceeded to take the stairs to the 2nd floor before making a right. While the girls were wondering how Joey's recovering, Tristan wondered if Joey had some hospital food left over and Duke wondered if Kaiba has the balls to actually show his face. Probably not… As they were just close to the door they were met with a surprise, especially Serenity.

"Mom…?" Her eyes went wide as she saw her mother, the last person other than Kaiba she expected to be here. She was probably here to check the damage, and by "damage" she meant the hospital bills. Good thing the woman at least thought of getting Joey some health insurance…

"Well hello Serenity." The older woman said, a bit sternly. After all, her daughter did run away from home so it was understandable why she'd be angry.

"…" Serenity turned away as she looked down. "Hello Mother…" She said, not exactly excited to see her. On the other hand, if her mother was worried about her, she'd be hugging her right now. Telling her how worried she was and how much she missed her.

"You had me worried! Where have you been young lady!" She demanded as Serenity turned around, eyes narrowed.

"Not that you care, but I was with a friend of mine. A friend who's been more of a mother for the past few days than you've been for the past few years! She didn't care how angry her mother was getting, especially since it was in front of her friends. Serenity was sure that Joey already told them about how "great" of a mother she was.

"I'm trying the best I can!" The elder Wheeler shouted.

"Well you're not trying hard enough!" The youngest replied. "It's because of your selfish pride that our family is on life support right now. Daddy's God knows where, Joey's shot up in the hospital! But then again, in your eyes, that's a good thing! After all, you basically left Joey with that man to die."

"Well what did you expect for me to do? Your brother was becoming more violent and more prone to fighting every day and your father wasn't helping things! And now look where it's gotten him: Joseph's now in the hospital lucky to be alive! That's where bad grades and street fighting will get you."

"Maybe it's not the child. Maybe it's the parent who's the problem, and I'm not talking about daddy!" Serenity said.

Miss Wheeler blinked, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, 'Mother.' After all, bad children always come from bad parents." Serenity crossed her arms.

"Are you saying that I am a bad mother?"

"To me? You weren't so bad." Serenity admits. "But to Joey, Daddy may've been nothing but an abusive drunk, but at least he was there! You basically left your son to die! And I don't care how much you deny it, that's the truth! A real mother would make sure her child was okay, but all you thought about was yourself! The reason why you decided to take me was because I was 'the least trouble of the two.' And to make it look like you cared about your kids. Maybe if you managed to take him along and get him the psychiatric help he needed from becoming the person you don't like, we wouldn't need to have this conversation. In fact, we all could be having our little Family Fun night!

"And as for his grades…" Serenity scoffed, "They're not as 'bad' as you say they are! Maybe if you'd taken time to focus on what your son is doing instead of making these accusation and assumptions you'd know that his grades are quite good."

"If you're talking about food and nutrition and Phys Ed, otherwise I'll have to say that you lost it. His report card was shown with D's and F's last time I checked."

Serenity shook her head. Typical of their so-called mother to believe that she knows everything, yet she knows nothing! "You still think he's getting D's and F's… peachy… just peachy…" She let out a small chuckle as she walked away as her mother looked at the other teens. Wondering if they knew anything about this... "Do you…"

"We do!" Téa was the first to admit. "It wasn't too long ago, though. Apparently he's been hiding it from us."

Tristan sighed, "Yeah, just because he doesn't want to end up like Kaiba!"

Miss Wheeler scoffed. "That's ridiculous. You'd think that he'd want a good role model like Seto Kaiba! Joseph could actually learn a thing or two from him."

"Yeah right…" Arisa scoffed silently. "Maybe how to be a prick…"

"If you want to see Joseph, that's fine." The older woman sighed, "You'll at least be much better than his current visitors. One of them was quite rude and had a bit of an attitude."

"What kind of visitors?" Duke asked, but stopped. They wouldn't be those guys from that place where Joey got shot, right?

"I think I know who they are…" Tristan sighed as he, followed by the rest of the gang, walked over to Joey's room. When they were inside, their eyes were wide.

"Man, I still say you should've let his ass get shot up!" Ten Z said as Joey took a bite out of his green Jello that was on the burgundy tray in his lap. "Of course Rich Boy ain't gonna thank you! Mr. High and Mighty thinks he's too good to thank the lower class, now."

"As much as hate the guy, what I was thinkin' was this: I could just let Moneybags get shot, leaving Mokuba without any memba of his family an' thus sendin' him to an orphanage. Or I could say 'fuck it' and help the S.O.B so Mokuba wouldn't be alone. The kid looks up to Kaiba."

"The only family Kaiba and Mokuba have left are each other." Syd added, who was reading a magazine entitled Entertainment Weekly. "So it's not ridiculous that Mokuba likes the guy. Even, if he is the biggest douche since Tom Cruise."

"Well the kid needs a new role model!" Ten Z crossed his arms. "S'no reason why he has ta foll'a punk ass bitch like him around like he's his fuckin' shadow!"

Joey blinked as he noticed his friends walking in. "Umm…Z?"

"And I know that you and tha little man said that he wasn't into no gay pedo shit, but y'all can't be too sure! I know big business tycoons like him, G! I've heard the stories. They like to go to different places in the world into hotels and hire some personal service if you know what I mean! They get some fine bitch, usually a maid or some shit like that, and do all sorts of freaky shit. Oral, anal… Shit, I've even heard of one guy getting some 14 year old girl to piss in a box or some sick shit like that. So there's gotta be some secret Richie Rich's hidin,' know what I'm sayin'?"

"We know what you're saying, that's why we want you to stop!" Syd added as she noted the young boy's glare which could match his brother's.

Ten Z ignored Syd's warnings. "And you know how them kids are today! They least likely to tell anyone if they been groped! Shit, you know about that whole R. Kelly bullshit with tha' 14 year old! Fo all we know, Kaiba's probably runnin' his own little Ho House! Shit, I'm surprise he's not ev-OWW!" The ebony adult clutched his now-injured jewels as Mokuba moved his foot back from under his crotch from behind.

"It's not like I can't here you, you jerk!" He glared. "Don't talk about what you don't know anything about, especially about my big bro!"

"Shit…" Ten Z moaned. "Why didn't y'all tell me he was behind me?" This caused Joey, Syd, and just about everyone else to sigh.

"You seem to be doing well…" Duke observed before noticing Syd. A smile came to his face as he grabbed her hand. "Hi there, I'm Duke. And you are?"

"Not interested in you, that's for sure." The redhead snatched her hand away as Tristan mimicked a missile dropping down.

"Denied!" The brunette taunted.

"Better to be denied one time than one hundred times, eh Taylor?" Duke retorted.

Syd blinked at the two's current argument, "Are they wannabe playboys or something?"

"Just ignore them…" Arisa sighed.

"So what did I miss while I was out, Taye?" Joey asked.

"Other than what's going on in school, not much." The brunette replied.

"And how's Kaiba doing? Wait, let me guess:" Joey scoffed as he narrowed his eyes, rolled up his sleeves, and tried to sound as 'menacing'(Read: Constipated) as possible. "'That Mutt got what he deserved! If he died then good riddance! Low-class trash like him deserves to be wiped from the streets and out from existence.'"

Duke snorted a bit. "Heh, you sound just like him."

Mokuba sighed. He didn't like the way they were mocking and making fun of his brother. First that black guy, and now Joey! "Seto isn't that bad."

"Right, just keep on believin' that, Lil man." Ten Z stated.

"As shady as he sounds, he does have a point." Téa stated.

"Thank you! At least somebody's feelin' me on this!" Ten Z looked around. "Speaking of Lil Man, where's that spiky haired one?"

"Now that I think about it, where is Yugi?" Syd asked. "You'd think that he'd show up to see if his best friend is alright!"

"Hey!" Téa snapped. "You don't know what Yugi's going through! He did witness someone getting shot for the first time in his life!"

"Whoa, I was just wondering! I wasn't saying anything! Aren't you being a bit overprotective?"

"I just don't want my friends to be judged prematurely.

"Syd's gotta point, Taye. I am getting worried about the guy…" Joey looked around. "An' where's Serenity? An' before you get any ideas, don't even think 'bout hittin' on my sista, Z. I'm already got enough problems with Tristan and Duke!"

"Aw man, why you gotta playa hate?" Z protested.

"Just forget it! If Joey's not letting me get near Serenity, there's no way he'll even consider you even thinking about her!" Tristan crossed his arms as Arisa walked near the bed.

"Soo…what's the damage?" She asked.

"Right now, I'm here for the rest of the week." Joey shrugged. "If I'm doing very well, the earliest I could get out would be Saturday. So how much have I missed so far, in terms of what'll affect me the worst?"

"Well… for one thing…" Arisa lets out a soft sigh. "Like my school uniform?" She asked with a grin.

"It looks nice on ya! Pink's really ya color!" Joey placed his hands behind his head.

"Really? Well, my love… Better enjoy seeing it now, because by next year, it'll all be over!"

Joey blinked. "What?"

"That's right!" Duke explained. "The school board's decided to abolish school uniforms."

"Ya mean we'll never have ta wear our uniforms again?"

"That's right!" Tristan nodded. "Which mean's we'll get to see Kaiba's ridiculous trenchcoat of the week from now on."

"I already have the perfect shirt to wear on the first day." Arisa grinned wickedly.

"I hope it's not something that'll make the school 2nd-guess their decision." Téa stated.

"That's a relief…" Joey sighed as he took a sip out of a small cup of apple juice. "Least we won't have to wear those short-shorts in gym class anymore."

"Yeah, not your best look, Luvvie!" Arisa teased. "Also, final exams are coming up!"

"WHAT?" Joey blinked.

"Don't worry! You're a smart boy! You'll find a way to pass!"

Mokuba blinked a bit at the "smart boy" remark. Since when was Joey ever smart, or as his brother would ask? "Am I missing something?"

"S'long story kid." Joey told him, which made the young boy groan a bit.

"I'm not a damn kid! I'm 13 years old, thank you very much!"

They day continued to go well as old friends and new friends talked and managed to find out interesting things. For one thing, Joey still relied on luck in duels, but not in Duel Monsters. Rather in games such as "dice" and poker. As for his win-loss record? Let's just say that he won and lost the same amount of money in a couple of days. Tristan and Duke also found one more rival for Serenity's heart in Ten Z. Luckily, the two haven't met yet, and they were hoping to keep it that way. Especially since Serenity was 15 going on 16, and Ten Z was damn near 21. It would be just begging for Miss Wheeler to call the cops.

However, the sun began to go down as everyone had to return home. Syd, who was supposed to be grounded for another day, and Ten Z, who had made other commitments elsewhere, were the firsts to leave. Téa, Tristan, and Duke were next to leave, as they both had a group project to be finished. Of course Mokuba left, seeing as Kaiba would be worried about him coming home, and knowing how the CEO felt about Joey. Leaving Arisa alone with the blonde…

"So Joey…" Arisa asked, lying beside him on the hospital bed. "When are you going to ask for some ice cream?"

"Again?" He replied in a somewhat whiny tone. "You've already had about five scoops!"

"Seven's my lucky number, but I'm feeling generous!" Arisa smiled. "One more scoop, and that'll be all!"

"Okay…I'll ask the nurse if she could get one more scoop for ya…" Joey said as he went to grab the device that was used to call the nurse.

"You two seem to be happy!" Serenity mused as she walked inside.

"An' where have you been all day?" Joey asked. He figured she'd show up with the rest of the guys, and Yugi was still MIA.

"I was here earlier, but after I saw Mom, I…" She sighed. "She just makes me so angry lately! First with you being in the hospital, now, after ten years ago when we left, and she still won't admit she was wrong, much less apologize. So I just took a walk around town thinking…"

"About what?"

Serenity turned away as she looked down at her white sneakers. "What if she never comes around? What if she still sees you the way she does now?"

"Look Serenity, at this point I don't care what she thinks about me." Joey sighed. "I've already realize that there's always somebody that'll eitha' misjudge or flat-out act with bias against ya. The only thing that matters is that you don't let 'em get to ya. I'll tell ya what, as much as they fight, Ma and Pops had plenty of things in common: They both fuck up their lives, they both fuck up each other lives, they've already nearly fucked up my life beyond the point of no return, and now they're trying to ruin your life though all of this mess. I'll be honest with ya, seen those kids who come to schools with guns?"

Serenity nodded, "It's scary when you think about it. I mean violence in schools?"

"Ya know what causes those things to happen? Anger and depression, specifically from loneliness! I was already feelin' lonely and depressed. I mean my life really sucked. I was already being discriminated because of who I was, where I lived, and my laughable economic status. I already had a drunk of a father, and you all know about Ma's 'parental duties'…or lack thereof. Tristan was the only real friend I had. At that point, I was already like 'If I am nothin' but a worthless street punk to these people, I'll give those bitches something to really bitch about!'

"Then Tristan and I met Yugi! He was a nice kid. He's still a nice kid, despite what's goin' on with him lately, and back then we hated that! I mean let's face it! He looked a bit short and wimpy and was too nice for his own good! He was basically a pushova, and it was up to us to toughen him up! After all, not everyone was nice and at the rate he was going, he was more likely to be tricked into going to some place and get anally raped. Much to my surprise, when Tristan and I got jumped that day, Yugi defended us, saying that we were his friends! Last I checked, stealing something that belonged to someone and then throwing it into the fountain wasn't very friendly. Of course, being the guilt-ridden softy that I am, I had to sneak into the school and find the puzzle piece."

"Wow…" Serenity blinked. "You were a real asshole!"

"Yeah… But Yugi ended up changing me… Got me into Duel Monstas which let me get rid of some of the built-up stress inside…" Joey then narrowed his eyes, "But that elitist piece of shit Kaiba had to get on my case, adding more stress for me to handle. It's like that prick doesn't have a life outside of pissin' me off, or sumthin'."

"Well look at it this way." Arisa smiled at the recovering blonde. "Kaiba's basically the reason why we're together!"

"WHAT?" Joey screamed as Serenity blinked. "THAT HAS GOTTA BE THE BIGGEST LOAD OF BULLSHIT I'VE EVAH HEARD!"

"Well think about it: If Kaiba haven't had pissed you off so much and got the teachers on his side, you wouldn't have made that outburst that made you go to anger management, and then you and I wouldn't have met and eventually be together!" She explained. In her mind, hopefully with this realization Joey won't be pissed off when he finds out that she and Kara are trying to make him and Kaiba become friends.

"Oh…right…" Joey looked down a bit, loathing the fact that there was one thing in this world he'd have to owe Kaiba for. Or was there? "But hey, it's not like we wouldn't have met! After all, it's basically fate, or destiny… oh way, it's just a bunch of…" Joey goes back to his pseudo-Kaiba voice, "'Hocus Pocus Fairy Tales!'"

This caused giggles from Serenity and Arisa. "Duke's right, you do sound just like Kaiba!" The blonde stated. "Thankfully you're not as much of a prick as Kaiba."

"That's a relief." Joey stated. "That's why I'm trying to flunk on purpose so I don't end up-" Joey then remembered that Serenity was still in the room. He did not tell her about him getting teachers to flunk him on purpose. One word came to mind: "Busted." He then mouthed, "Oh boy…"

"It's okay! I already know!" Serenity assured him.

Joey blinked. "You do? But how did ya-?"

"Well…" She smiled mischievously. "I was going to call a few friends of mine about a homework assignment and-"

His eyes narrowed, "You listened in 'Risa and mine's phone conversation didn't ya?"

"Well…"

Joey scoffed, "Figures…" That was the thing with Little Sisters: They were all capable of two things: Being a blabbermouth and getting into everyone's business. But at least it didn't negatively impact him… much.

However, unknown to him, or the two girls who were with him, from outside, a certain mother watched the whole thing as she began to have second thoughts. Perhaps her son wasn't as much as a bad seed as she thought… Perhaps she's misjudged him, not only lately, but during most of his life. Nevertheless, Miss Wheeler had a lot of making up and apologizing to do… to both her children.

Nighttime came as Serenity went home, with Arisa following suit about 30 minutes later. Leaving Joey alone to reflect on what's happened. His friends from the more dangerous side of town met his closet friends. Everyone got along okay…save for Mokuba and Ten Z, for obvious reasons. Joey and Ten Z might have gotten along well, but he couldn't blame Mokuba for reacting the way he did. If he had said something about Serenity, he would've had a Nike Air shoved so far up his ass.

Speaking of Serenity, Joey wondered just what else she knew about him that he didn't even knew she did. It was a good thing he didn't keep a journal or diary! For all he knew, it'd be a number one best seller. Was his life that intresting. With a sigh, Joey decided that it was best to get some rest. After all, the more rest he receive, the healthier he'd be, the sooner he could get out of here…

"Hello Joey…"

Joey blinked as he looked over to the side. He saw the face of someone he's been waiting to see, but was surprised to see him show up, due to circumstances. "Yugi! How are ya, pal?"

Yugi sighed, looking down to the floor as Joey saw how the past few days had been for him. He didn't seem to be the cheerful friend he had came to known over the years. He seemed to be broken, lost, and in pain. 'Man Tristan was right, Yugi really has gone Emo on us…' But at least he was here. "Things have been fair."

Joey noticed that Yugi wasn't looking at him face to face, nor was he even trying to. "Yugi, are you okay? C'mon, look at me."

"DAMN IT JOEY, HOW CAN I LOOK AT YOU? HOW CAN I LOOK AT YOU THE WAY YOU ARE NOW?" Yugi screamed as tears began to come from his eyes. "Just look at you! You're here in this bed, lucky to be alive! All because of me…!"

"Look Yugi, it wasn't your fault! You're not the one who pulled the trigger! You're not the one who even took you to the place, knowing that something like that can happen! If it's anyone's fault, it was mine for getting you there! I was the one who basically made you excited, god knows how I did it, to go there anyway! I should've just kept my mouth shut! Therefore, it's-"

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Yugi snapped! "First Grandpa, then my mom, and then Yami tried to say that it wasn't my fault to protect me! To keep me from punishing myself! Now you're trying to protect me, saying that none of this is my fault! Well damn it, it is! I don't need to be protected from anyone! Not you, not my mom, not Yami, not my Grandpa, or anyone! I can protect myself. And most importantly, I know how to protect myself!"

"What are ya talkin' about Yuge?" Joey asked, now deeply concerned for the blonde. There were only a few things in the world that scared him. Not as in things that would make him into a coward, mind you. But rather things that affected his family and friends! The people who he cared most about! Unfortunately, this was one of those things as Joey at that moment saw a sight he had never thought, much less hoped that he'd ever see. "Umm…Yugi…where'd ya get that?"

Yugi held up what appeared to be a jet black pistol in his hand. "I got it last night! Pretty cool, huh?"

Joey frantically shook his head. "No Yugi, that's not cool! That's not cool at all! You know how dangerous those things are!"

"I know that! But at least with this, nobody will ever mess with one of my friends again!" Yugi said coldly. "When I see Tyrell again, he'll wish that he never even bought that gun when I'm done with him!"

"No…Yugi, just don't do this!" Joey pleaded with the shorter boy. "I know that it looks that it's the only way, but believe me! Holdin' a gun? It's like an addiction! Once you shoot someone out of revenge, it won't stop a thing! They don' call it 'The Permanent Route' for nuthin'! Let's say that you do get Tyrell! Knowin' him, he's probably got his own posse who're looking for a reason to shoot someone! Revenge is how a gang war starts, Yugi! Then they'll be out for blood, going after everyone you care about, just to get to you! I'm already an easy target! Look at me! I'm lucky to be alive right now! I'm the one who got shot! It should be me who should be out for blood! But I know this, and take it from someone who used to be in a gang! Violence is just going to make things worse! I've seen a lotta guys who get shot, let alone killed! Sure, this may earn ya a bit of Street Cred! But think about it in the long run: People won't wanna fuck with you, but other people, the people you do care about won't want to get close to you because they'll be afraid of you! Afraid of what you might do and what violence may happen while you're around! You'll be considered dangerous to be around. Do you want that, Yugi?"

"I… I…" Yugi closed his eyes, tears pouring out. "I DON'T WANT TO LOSE ANY FRIENDS!" He then dropped down to his knees. "IT'S MY FAULT! IT'S ALL MY FAULT! YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU DIDN'T WANT TO TAKE ME THERE AND YOU TOLD ME WHY! BUT I DIDN'T LISTEN! YOU TRIED TO WARN ME WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN, BUT I JUST KEPT PUSHING YOU TO TAKE ME THERE! AND NOW LOOK AT YOU! YOU ENDED UP TAKING A BULLET FOR KAIBA, ALL BECAUSE OF ME WANTING TO GO THERE! IF IT WASN'T FOR ME, KAIBA WOULDN'T HAVE FOLLOWED US AND YOU WOULDN'T BE HERE IN THE HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW! DAMN IT, EVERYTHING WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER IF IT WEREN'T FOR ME! I WISH I WAS NEVER BORN!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH YUGI!" Joey screamed. "SAY ANOTHER WORD AND I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL JUMP OUT OF THIS BED AND SMACK YOU ONE!" This was very harsh, he knew. But this was serious! Yugi was basically ready to throw his life and his innocence away by a simple pull of the trigger, and he was not to let that happen. He wasn't going to let Yugi reduce himself to becoming a thug, a street punk… Joey wasn't going to let Yugi reduce himself into becoming like him. That would've been a twist of cruel irony: Yugi becoming the thing Joey would've become if it weren't for him. "Just give me the gun Yugi."

"But I-"

"JUST…give me… the gun!" Joey said sternly, his rage once again building as Yugi reluctantly walked closer, trembling within each step. He could sense the emotion inside of Joey as he saw the fearful look in his eyes. This wasn't the common "Run for your life" fear, but more of the "I can't believe this is happening" kind. As he held up the gun, his grip was still tight. But gradually, it became more and more loose the nearer he came. When he was at the bar of the bed, Joey took the gun from his hand.

"This never happened…" Was all Joey said! What he was going to do was simple: He was going to hold onto the gun, and if anyone asked, it belonged to him. He was going to have it just incase someone tried to finish the job at the hospital. Yugi never came to the hospital tonight! Hell, Yugi never even held a gun, much less bought one. His life was already fucked, but at least he could save Yugi's from that same fate.

"Joey… I'm…" Yugi tried to speak, but Joey cut him off.

"This never happened, Yugi!" He repeated. "You never even showed up, tonight!"

Yugi nodded as before he went to leave, he said his last words. "Joey… I'm sorry…"

As Joey watched Yugi leave, he couldn't help but feel that a part of him died. Out of all people, he'd never thought that Yugi would hold a grudge much less one which would involve the use of a gun. To Joey, Yugi was somewhat of a role model to him. He never told this to anyone, not even Arisa or Serenity, but he always thought if he did as half as many good things Yugi did, maybe he'd at least go from a thug to a not-so hopeless commoner. Maybe improving his life from the better! But instead, he just saw Yugi almost make the biggest mistake of his life and, as much as everyone would disagree, and Tristan and Arisa would probably smack him for thinking it, it was Joey's fault! He played a small part, if any, of nearly robbing Yugi of his innocence and bringing him down to his level. And so that night, as a tear came from his eyes, Joey silently cried… cried for what could've happened to Yugi if he didn't had stopped him.


What started off as a cheerful chapter soon turned depressing and heartbreaking. Next chapter, "Operation: Enemies to Friends" goes underway as Kara deals with Kaiba.