Here is Chapter 2 yay! Dinner begins and everyone is having a good time, but what happens next? Find out right now! Also, Joey and Valon's little romance progresses a little more :) I DON'T OWN ANYTING other than the story and plot! Enjoy!

Chapter 2

All the guests had arrived to the lovely estate. They all began to enter the dining room one by one. Joey, Tea, and Yugi entered the lavish room with a huge table enough for everyone invited and much more. Joey looked around the room frantically to find Mai, he didn't see her right away.

Joey continued his search, then on the other side of the room he found her, talking to Vivian Wong. Joey thought to himself "Well that actually makes a lot of sense, they are both the biggest divas I've ever met." The blonde began to journey to his old friend only to be interrupted by Croquet, he said "Dinner will now be served. If you could all sit at your place at the table we can begin."

Each place had silverware on each side of beautiful porcelin china. On each plate had a card which read one guest's name. Joey sighed and thought to himself "Well I guess I can talk to her after dinner." And with that he searched the table for his name card, he read the cards in his head "Let's see here, Rebecca...Bakura... Marik... Ishizu... " Then suddenly a familiar Aussie brunet yelled "Hey Joey! Over here mate, you're sitting next to me!"

Joey smiled at his friend and began to walk his way. He had made it to his spot and just as he began to reach out his hand to pull his chair out to sit, Valon said "Here, let me get that for you Joey." Valon pulled Joey's chair out for him and Joey said "Thanks Valon, but you don't half to do that for me." Valon replied "It's alright, I don't mind." Joey felt himself blush by Valon's act of kindness.

Valon couldn't help but smile at the rosey color on the blonde's cheeks, but he didn't want Joey to notice that he had noticed him blushing. Joey thought to himself "Am I blushing? That's wierd." The blonde merely shook it off and ignored the wierd sensation. Valon asked "So did ya get the chance to talk to 'er?" Joey shook his head and said "Nope, Croquet asked us to sit before I had the chance." Joey began to frown a little at the thought of how he acted towards her earlier.

Valon noticed Joey was a little upset so he said "Don't worry mate, I know you can't stop thinking about it, but I assure you she will understand and you guys will be fine." Joey smiled at Valon's kind words. He said "You know Valon, you're a great guy you know that? I'm glad we got this chance to hang out and whatnot." Valon grinned and said "Me too Joey. And you're pretty cool yourself."

Croquet cleared his throat, which got everyone's attention. He said "Now that everyone is seated, dinner can begin." Kaiba interupted and asked "Wait a minute, where's his majesty?" As Kaiba finished the last word the door to the dining room opened to reveal the one and only Maxamillion Pegasus.

Pegasus said sarcastically "Kaiba boy, I didn't know you thought that highly of me. I'm truly touched." Kaiba merely scoffed at the comment and looked the other way. Pegasus looked around the room and said "Well, it seems that everyone is here. Let me start off by saying thank you for coming out tonight. The whole gang is here, we have Yugi boy, and his little friends, Kaiba boy and little Mokuba, the Ishtars themselves, the DOMA boys, etc. I know it has been quite some time since some of you have seen each other. That right there is the reason I am hosting this little party, to reaquaint you with one another."

Croquet walked up to Pegasus with a glass full of his favorite red wine. Pegasus said "Why thank you Croquet, you are too kind my old friend." Croquet said "You're welcome Mr. Pegasus." Pegasus took a sip of his wine and then said "Tell the cook we are ready Croquet." Croquet bowed to his boss and walked out the door to the kitchen.

A few minutes went by and then several of Pegasus' staff came in with large trays full of salad plates. They placed each plate before each of the guests and were on their way. Mai over looked her salad and said "Wow Pegasus, I guess you went all out for this meal, I'm impressed and I havn't even seen the main course yet."

"You're right Miss Valentine, I made sure to have my cook prepare a dinner you all won't soon forget. Now please everyone dig in." Said Pegasus. Everyone at the table began to eat their salad. Mokuba said "Seto, I don't even like salad but I can't stop eating this." As the young boy shoved large bites of the salad into his mouth. Seto showed no emotion and said "I guess this is alright."

All the guests had finished their salads and the servants picked up their plates, only to bring the guests the main course. It was a plateful to say the least. There was a fairly large steak on each plate and next to the steak lied a large grilled chicken breast. And placed beside the meat were mashed potatoes with beef gravy and boiled carrots and green beans.

Tistan looked down at his plate and said "Wow, this is awesome." And nearly enhaled his whole plate of food in a single bite. Tea looked over at her friend and groaned out of disgust at the sight of him eating.

Everyone couldn't help but clear their whole plate considering how delicious it looked. With the main course out of the way the servants now brought dessert. Placed before each guest was a slice of New York style cheesecake topped with strawberries.

Joey looked down at his dessert and said "Oh, cool. Cheese cake is my favorite!" And quickly dug into the sweet treat. Valon looked over at Joey admiring his healthy appetite. Joey quickly finished his piece and said "That was the best cheese cake I've ever had."

"Do you want the rest of mine?" Valon asked the blonde. Joey looked at him curiously and asked "Are you sure you don't want it?" Valon smiled and said "I'm actually full. So it's all yours Joey." He then handed Wheeler his plate. Joey took the plate with much gratitude and said "Thanks Valon."

Valon noticed Joey had some of his cheese cake on his cheek. He said "Oh, Joey you have a little something by your mouth." And without hesitation Valon took his finger and wiped it off Joey's face. Joey turned beat red and thought to himself "Why do I keep blushing around Valon so much?" Valon said "Don't worry I got it." And just smiled from ear to ear.

Joey took a good look at the Aussie and thought "Wow, Valon really has a nice smile. Wait a minute, nice smile? What am I thinking?" Despite the fact he tried to fight it Joey only blushed more. Mai saw the pair from across the table and smiled. She thought to herself "Well, well. If I didn't know any better I would say Joey is enjoying Valon's company almost as much as Valon is enjoying Joey's company. But knowing Joey he is blissfully unaware of anything."

The guests finished their lovely dessert and sat in their chairs content and full. Pegasus got out of his chair and stood before his guests. He said "I'm glad to see everyone enjoyed their dinner, now if you would all be so kind, I would like to make a toast." He raised his glass in the air and in turn so did everyone at the table.

"Thank you all for coming out tonight to spend time together as friends. Here's to everyone in this room with me right now, you're all wonderful people." They all took a drink of the champagne they had been given. Then suddenly Pegasus froze and groaned a little. Everyone turned their attention to him. Pegasus then dropped his glass on the floor. Then he himself collapsed on the floor.

Everyone jumped out of their seats, they couldn't believe their eyes. "What just happened? Is he okay?"Asked Marik. Croquet ran to his fallen employer and checked his pulse. With a stern look Croquet rose up from the floor. He turned to everyone and said "Mr. Pegasus is dead." In unision all the guests said "What?" Vivian asked "Are you sure he's dead?" Croquet turned to the woman and said "Ma'am I believe I can count to zero."

Raphael asked "But how did he die?" Croquet replied "I don't know. He has been fine all day. This doesn't make any sense." Alister said "Well something tells me this was no accident." Valon turned to his former associate and said "What are you saying Alister? That someone murdered Pegasus?" Alister responded "That's exactly what I"m saying." Tea stepped in and said "Now wait a minute. Let's not jump to any conclusions. This could just be some kind of freak accident."

Mai said "I'm sorry Tea, but I don't think this was an accident. Perfectly healthy people like that don't usually just drop dead for no reason." Ishizu said "I will call 911, is there a phone around somewhere Croquet?" Croquet nodded and said "Yes follow me. As for everyone else please go to the lounge and wait for us there we won't be long." The older man led the raven haired woman out of the room as the rest of the party left the dining room as fast as they could.

Joey walked with Valon and said "Wow, this is so wierd. Why would someone want to kill Pegasus? I mean he could be annoying at times to certain people, but that wouldn't be enough reason to kill him." Valon replied "Well we still don't know if he was murdered or not, but I do agree. Something tells me there's something going on here we don't know about."

Everyone had gathered in the lounge awaiting Croquet and Ishizu to return. Joey looked out the window and saw the wind was picking up and it looked like there was going to be a huge thunderstorm. He said "Wow, the weather is looking pretty nasty out there. I hope it doesn't get too bad,the last thing we would want is to be stuck here for the night."

Croquet and Ishizu had returned. Mai asked "So any luck guys?" Croquet shook his head and said "It appears the phone line is down. There is no way of calling anybody." Vivian asked "Well could we use our cell phones?" Croquet said in return "Not likely, there isn't much chance of any signal out here." Everyone who had one looked at their phones and Kaiba said "He's right, there's no signal at all."

Rebecca asked "So what are we going to do? We can't stay here. If someone did murder Pegasus, then what's to stop them from murdering the rest of us?" Croquet said "There still is no proof that Mr. Pegasus was murdered." Alister said "Well there is no proof that he wasn't either. So if we all just leave then if he was the murderer would get away scott free."

"For once I agree with Alister, I don't think any of us should leave until we figure this out." Said Mai. Yugi asked "So what are you saying Mai? That we should try to figure out who "Killed" Pegasus?" Mai said with a stern look on her face "That's exactly what I'm saying Yugi." Tea said "Mai there are trained professionals for this sort of thing, let them take care of it."

"Tea, your trained professionals aren't anywhere near here and there is no way of getting ahold of them. We don't have a choice. I don't want to be here any longer either but if we leave we risk helping the killer escape, if there really is one." Replied Mai.

Joey stepped in and said "I agree." Mai appeared almost shocked by his statement and asked "Really Joey?" Joey replied "I sure do Mai." He smiled at her and she smiled in return. She then turned to everyone else and said "Alright let's go over what happened at dinner. Did anyone see anything suspicious in anyway?"

The group just sat in silence as they went over dinner in their heads. Leon said "Well I guess I saw something that was a little off." Joey asked "What did ya see Leon?" Leon looked at the ground and said "Well I looked over at Duke while we were eating and for some reason he couldn't look away from Pegasus. Once he noticed I saw him, he just smiled at me and went back to his meal."

"Well Duke? You have to admit that does sound kind of fishy. The man you were gawking at just suddenly drops dead, you have anything to say?" Asked Mai. "Well Mai, before you go assuming things I was looking at Pegasus, because in my invitation it said he and I were going to discuss a new deal with my Dungeon Dice Monsters game. I was just thinking about when I should talk to him about it." Duke said in his defense.

Mai stared at him for a second, then said "Alright. Anyone else see anything?" No one responded. "Alright since no one wants to talk, we will just go ever dinner. Now then let's think here, Pegasus ate everything we ate. So it couldn't have been the food. Otherwise we would all be dead." Pondered Mai.

"Wait a minute. We were all drinking that champagne,but Pegasus was the only one who was drinking that red wine." Valon brought up. Croquet said "Of, course he always drank his wine." Marik said "Well if he was murdered then that would be a good start. Where is that wine anyway?" Croquet said "It's still in the dining room, I set it down right before Mr. Pegasus died."

Mai said "Let's go take a look at that bottle shall we?" Vivian said "I'm not going back in that room with a dead body! You can't make me!" Mai groaned and said "Alright, who wants to stay with Viv? No one can be left alone until we figure this out." Tristan quickly responded "Oh I will! Pick me!" Vivian groaned in disgust and said "Ew get away from me wierdo!" Her tone quickly went from annoyed to sweet when she looked at Yugi, she said "Yugi, will you stay with me please?"

Yugi grew uncomfortable again, and Rebecca grew angry. Mai stepped in and said "Marik and Odion, you two stay with Vivian. The rest of us will go check this out." Vivian appeared very hurt Yugi was going to leave her. Rebecca sneered at the glamazon and said "Sorry Viv!" In a very sarcastic tone.

With that being said they all got out of their seats and returned to the dining room, with the exception of Vivian, Marik, and Odion. One by one the re-entered the luxurious dining room. Mai turned to Croquet and asked "So where is this wine?" Croquet responded "Right over there." Pointing to a small minibar near the corner of the room.

Mai walked up to the bottle and picked it up. She examined the bottle for a few seconds and began to walk to the other side of the room. Ishizu asked "Where are you going Mai?" She didn't respond but she did stop right in front of a fern like plant. She then poured the liquid in the bottle into the pot the fern sat in.

Then right before everyone's eyes the fern began to turn brown and die. Tea gasped and said "The plant, it's dead. Then that means..." Mai interupted "Pegasus was murdered. Well now we now how, but the real question is who did it? And why?"

She gave Croquet a stern look and said "Well Croquet, you were the one who gave it to him, so let me ask you did you know it was full of poison?" Croquet scoffed and said "Of course not, I have worked for Pegasus for years. He has treated me like family." Mai said "Okay then, but you are still a suspect." Croquet groaned in annoyance.

Mai then turned to Duke and said "So Duke let me ask you, did you know it was poisoned after all Leon said he saw you staring at Pegasus. Were you waiting for it to kick in?" Duke said "I already told you why I was staring at him."

Mai didn't say anything else to Duke and immediately turned her attention to Kaiba. She said "So Kaiba, you and Pegasus have always had a rocky relationship I've noticed. Did you want payback?"

Mokuba said "Hey, that's not fair! My brother would never kill anyone, even if Pegasus was a jerk to us in the past." Kaiba turned to his little brother and said "Let me handle this Mokuba."

Kaiba merely scowled at Mai and said "Pegasus was a fool. But I'm not, I would never do something as stupid as poison him. But let me ask you something Mai. Why do you keep pointing the finger at everyone else? You are a suspect too you know. How do we know you're not trying to distract us all from thinking it was you? And if I recall correctly, you were the one who locked Pegasus' soul away whenever you joined Dartz and his gang of biker thugs here."

Mai appeared very hurt at that moment,but it wasn't by Kaiba's statement. It was the memory of what she did all those years ago. She still hadn't completely forgiven herself for it. Joey noticed Mai's expression, and began to glare at Kaiba. Never had he wanted to just knock Kaiba's lights out like he did right at that moment.

Joey said "Look Kaiba lay off!" Mai appeared shocked again by Joey's words. Kaiba merely snickered and said "Oh, did I offend Mai's little guard dog? Look Wheeler I'm just stating the facts, she is a suspect just like you and me. So just stay in your corner and let the rest of us figure out what's going on here."

Joey began to growl at Kaiba as he raised his fist to him. Valon placed a hand on Joey's hand and said "No, Joey. Just let it go. He's not worth the effort anyways mate." Valon then turned to Kaiba and said "You know Kaiba, you really need a reality check. It's true you do have more money than the rest of us, but think about it what has it really gotten you? What makes you think you are so much better than the rest of us?"

Kaiba turned his head away and refused to speak to Valon about the matter. Valon said "I thought so." Joey just looked at Valon in awe, he was really flattered that Valon had stuck up for him.

Serenity said "That's enough guys! We have to focus on the matter at hand." She then walked up to her idol Mai. She placed a hand on the older woman's shoulder and said "I believe in you Mai. No matter what happened in the past, you are a better person now." Mai was truly touched by Serenity's words, she just smiled and said "Thank you Serenity."

Mai put her game face on and said "Alright then where were we?" And in the blink of an eye the power shut off and it was pitch black in the room and the whole mansion. Croquet said "Everyone stay calm, the power should be back on momentarily." Then down the hallway they heard a gunshot. Right afterwards they all heard Vivian Screaming at the top of her lungs in fear.

Yugi said "That was a gun shot! And it sounded like it came from the lounge!" Ishizu panicked and said "Oh no Marik! Odion!" Suddenly, the power returned thoughout the mansion. Mai said "Everyone get to the lounge now!" and Ishizu yelled "Marik! Odion! I'm coming!" As they all ran down the hall they continued to hear Vivian's screams of terror.

To Be Continued...

Oh no! The plot thickens, who will be the next target? Chapter 3 on it's way! Please review and comment!