And it's chapter three! Any ideas on who Raven is/what happened to her? Fear not... all shall be revealed soon.

Disclaimer: I'm still writing fanfics, ergo I still do not own YGO. I only own Raven and [bits of] the plot.

'I have the connection working,' Kaiba announced.

'Finally,' Joey muttered under his breath. 'Only took four friggin—'

Tea elbowed him in the side and he quickly shut up. After four hours, he'd learned to shut up when told to; proving, as Raven had suggested upon her return, that even the stupidest of dogs could learn new tricks.

Seto had promptly told Raven that she was now considered his best friend.

Raven had promptly replied that the only "friend" he'd ever have was his right hand, before proceeding to insult all the companions until Valon dragged her from the room amidst swear words in two languages.

Ignoring both Tea and Joey, Kaiba turned to Yugi. 'Tell the Pharaoh to get out here now. He'll want to see this.'

Yami instantly appeared. 'What do you want?'

'The signal the message talked about. I have a track on it.'

'You do?'

'Yeah, I do.' Kaiba smugly folded his arms. 'What do you say?'

Before Yami could reply, a voice snapped, 'Tell us where the signal's coming from or you'll be eating with your asshole.'

Six pairs of eyes turned to the hallway.

'Yeah, I'm back. Yeah, I'm sorry. Not really, but Valon won't shut up until I say so.' Raven strode forwards. 'So tell me where the signal's coming from. Now.'

Valon jogged in behind her. 'Raven, what did we just—'

'I said sorry.'

'Didn't sound it.'

'Well, I'm not,' she snapped.

'Being honest for once, are you?'

She turned to face Yami, only to find Yugi in his place, arms folded and a frown on his face. 'What do you know, the shrimp's out again.'

Instantly the Pharaoh resumed control. 'I—'

'Forget it, Yam,' she ordered.

'My name is not Yam,' Yami snarled, re-folding his arms.

She ignored him. 'Seto, where's that signal coming from?'

Yami was about to snap back at her when he noticed Valon shaking his head frantically. Grudgingly, he fell silent. He hated the nickname Raven had come up with; no, scratch that. He hated her.

Seto, now smirking, turned the screen of his portable laptop to face Raven. 'As I was about to tell Yam over there, the signal was hard to isolate again but…'

'Thanks,' a voice muttered in Yami's ear, distracting him from Kaiba's monologue.

'I'd say "you're welcome", but I wouldn't mean it,' he replied softly.

Valon shrugged. 'Fair enough.'

Stepping back from the companions, Yami turned to face the teen. 'Care to explain what you're thanking me for?'

He regarded the ancient spirit for a few moments before whispering, 'Thanks for not making an issue of her bitchiness.'

Yami started, and Valon noticed. 'What, you think I won't bitch her out behind her back?'

'Well, yeah,' Yami said. 'You two seem—'

'Bitching people out is second nature to me.' His joking tone quickly disappeared. 'Look, I'll make it quick. Raven is the queen of pushing buttons. If anything can make you mad, she'll find out what it is and then use it as often as possible. She lives to piss people off. Doesn't matter who they are, what they've done—more often than not, nothing—she'll piss them off for her own gain.'

What could she gain out of it, though? Yugi's question echoed in Yami's mind.

'Yugi asks what she gains out of it,' Yami said.

The brown-haired teen shrugged again. 'Like I know. I just thought it'd be best to warn you before things got much worse.'

Yami looked back over to his companions, who were now crowded around Kaiba and his laptop. Raven was now arguing with Kaiba over some matter.

He looks more angry than he was with Pegasus, Yugi said.

I'm not surprised, hikari, Yami replied.

What's she saying?

Yami listened for a moment, then shook his head.

What? Yami, tell me!

I wouldn't dream of defiling your ears in that manner. Suffice to say, she knows more Egyptian curses than I do. Ancient Egyptian, too.

Oh. Yugi retreated back into his soul room.

'…for fuck's sake, Raven, just shut up!' Kaiba shouted.

Raven was smirking happily, but before she could answer, Valon clapped a hand on her shoulder. 'Come on, Kaiba, tell us where we're kicking ass already,' he demanded.

She shot him a look of reproach, which he ignored.

'A warehouse on the other side of this rubbish town, twenty minutes out of the city,' Kaiba replied.

'I suggest tomorrow,' Tristan piped up.

'Sounds good,' Joey agreed. His stomach rumbled.

'Let me guess. You're hungry.' Tea rolled her eyes.

'There's a few takeaway joints in town,' Valon offered. 'Pizza, pasta, greasy crap—'

'Pizza!' Joey was instantly on his feet.

'Just how do you plan to pay for it?' Raven asked, thin-lipped.

He sunk back down again. 'Didn't think of that.'

'Don't you guys have some money?' Ryou asked.

'Yeah, of course we do,' Raven replied.

'Seriously?'

'No, you idiot, of course not.' She pulled a thin leather wallet out of her pocket. 'Though this ought to work. Thanks, Seto.'

'You—hey!' Kaiba shot to his feet, grabbing at his pockets. 'That's mine!'

'Mine now,' she corrected, pulling out a hundred-dollar bill. 'Jesus, how much cash do you need?'

He snatched his wallet back. 'How'd you get that?'

'Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies.'

Glaring, Kaiba settled back into his seat. The hundred dollars was no big loss; not for a multi-millionaire. But the sheer audacity of her daring to steal his wallet…

'Quit your death-staring, Kaiba,' Valon said. 'It doesn't work on her.'

'I wasn't death-staring.'

Ignoring the remark, Valon turned to the group. 'Give me the orders and I'll get the pizzas.'

'Valon—'

'Raven,' he said firmly, 'Will stay here.'

She crossed her arms, satisfaction at stealing Kaiba's wallet evaporating. 'Why?'

'Cause the way you ride, you'll end up eating tarmac again, and I'm not about to come fetch your ass from the ER today.'

'Bastard.'

'Just looking out for you, bitch,' he replied. Neither seemed ruffled by the names. 'Orders?'

'Meatlovers,' Joey said, apparently not bothered by the language either.

'Seconded!'

'You're really going to eat a whole pizza on your own, Tristan?' Tea asked.

'I haven't had anything since breakfast.'

She shrugged. 'Hawaiian, please.'

'I'll share,' Ryou offered.

'Two Meatlovers, one Hawaiian,' Valon repeated. He turned to Seto and Yami. 'You two?'

Not hungry, Yugi said, even as their shared stomach rumbled.

'Vegetarian,' Seto said. He wasn't a vegetarian; this was merely the least disgusting option available. He hated cheap food.

'Something with as little cheese as possible,' Yami said.

But I like cheese, Yugi said.

I thought you weren't hungry.

Having no reply, Yugi lapsed back into silence.

'So two meats, one Hawaiian, one veggie, something without cheese. Got it.' Valon turned to Raven. 'All or none?'

'All,' she said.

'Good,' he replied. 'I'll grab some garlic bread and drinks.'

'Make mine a whiskey.'

'No booze, Raven.'

'I'm not riding tonight.'

'Doesn't matter.' He picked up his helmet. 'I'll be back in about an hour.'

'An hour?' Raven whined. 'You're leaving me here for an hour with these fucking—'

'It'll do you good,' he said firmly. 'You don't like it; tough. You're gonna have to be on good terms with them before all this is over. By the time I get back you'd better have gotten to know each other.'

And with that, he grabbed his keys and left.

'Fucking bastard!' she yelled. When it became apparent Valon wasn't going to reply, she snorted and turned to face the companions. 'Look, I'm not interested in knowing any of you. So I'm going to the gym area out back.'

She spun around and marched out. 'You tell him I didn't talk to you, you're dead.'

'Ain't she a ball of sunshine,' Joey remarked.

Ryou sunk onto the couch. 'I guess we'll have to wait until she trusts us a bit more.'

'I'm not waiting,' Kaiba declared. He tapped a few commands into his laptop and a video screen popped up.

'Hi, Seto!' Mokuba's voice echoed happily from the speakers. 'What's up, big brother?'

'Hey Mokuba,' Seto replied. 'I need you to do a background check for me.'

'Who on?'

'One Raven. Approximately seventeen years old, female. Probable Egyptian national. Unsure of last name.'

'On it. Anything else?'

'Check out Valon, too,' Tea suggested.

'Yeah, another background,' Kaiba said. 'One Valon; last name unknown. About seventeen, male, probable Egyptian national.'

'I'm on it, Seto,' Mokuba chirped. 'Stay safe.'

'I will. Seto out.' He switched off the video feed. 'We should know by tomorrow.'

Suddenly, a cacophonic blast of noise blared from the back of the house. The more musical of the gang could make out clashing guitar chords; most just heard screams and growls over noise.

'What in Bast's name is that?' Yami yelled, covering his ears.

'Music,' Joey replied. He seemed completely unfazed by the noise. 'From the sounds of it, metal or heavy rock.'

'Whatever it is, she can turn it down,' Kaiba spat, angrily rising to his feet. He strode towards the gym area. Uncertainly, the five remaining friends trailed him.

Aibou, do you really think Kaiba will be able to get her to shut the noise off? Yami asked.

Not a chance in hell, Yugi replied glumly. More's the pity. She'll strangle him before he gets the chance.

Yami sighed, chuckling softly to himself. That wouldn't be so bad.

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Next chapter will be up soon [I hope...]

^_^"