KD: So just to avoid confusion ,we are still in the past right now, working to the present, aka chapter one. We were going to flash back and forth, but then we realized that would just be confusing. So there ya go. Enjoy the chapter. :)

Chapter Three: Tough It Out, Watapon!

Songs for chapter:

I will survive- Stephanie Bentley

I get knocked down- Smashmouth

It was the day after the interview, and Joey was dreading going to school. He knew he friends would ask how he did on getting the job and when he would start. Joey didn't know what to tell them. It was too embarrassing to tell them that he would be dressing up as a costume character. He remembered the measurements that Seto took and he started to turn red with anger.

"Morning Joey. What's up?" Yugi's perky voice caused Joey to snap out of his thoughts.

"Morning Yug." Joey said back quickly. 'Please don't ask 'bout the interview. Please don't ask 'bout the interview,' Joey chanted in his head.

He thought his plan had worked, until, "Hey, Joey how did the job interview go?" Tea said exactly what he didn't want to talk about.

'Why Tea? Why did you have to ask first thing in the morning?' he kept to himself. "It went great. Got the job of course. After all, how could someone say 'no' to me?" Joey pointed to himself with a false grin.

"That's great man," Tristan started. "What are you doing?"

Joey's froze for a few seconds, he already decided that he was not going to tell his friends that he will be wearing costumes, but as usual didn't think far enough ahead to come up with a fake job for his friends. "Um…I'm…um…..dealing with kids." Joey stammered without thinking.

"That's perfect for you Joey!" Yugi exclaimed excitedly. "You're great with kids." Yugi's smile just made Joey feel worse for not telling the whole truth.

"Yeah, he acts so much like one he'll fit right in with them," Tristan joked.

"Hey, take that back, wise guy," said Joey turning to face him.

"Make me."

"So when do you start work, Joey?" Tea asked distracting the two from their minor squabble.

"First thing next week," Joey told him.

"Hey, maybe we'll come visit you while you're at work," Yugi suggested happily.

"You really don't have to," Joey said, while praying they didn't follow through with that plan.

Tristan checked his wristwatch. "We better hurry, guys. Class is gonna start soon."

They all nodded and headed to their homeroom. Joey felt very thankful that he didn't have to answer any more questions AND that Kaiba had moved out of their homeroom to a higher leveled class. Everyone was surprised that Kaiba hadn't switched classes sooner. He was the smartest student in that class even though he was gone almost every day. After all, Seto had more pressing matters to deal with than going to school.

*one week later*

After school was out, Joey bid a quick farewell to his friends before heading over to Kaiba Land, which already was booming with business. Kids of all ages were running around trying to accomplish as much as they could before the park closed or they had to return home. Joey went to the information desk, letting the person there know that he was there to begin his job.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Wheeler. What you'll want to do is go to the theatre area," the woman said pulling out what looked like an employee pass and handing it to him along with a map of the park. "Just go around back of the largest building and use this to get in. There will be a locker room. You'll have your own personal locker and your costume for today should be ready and waiting for you. Do you have any questions?"

"Nah, I think I got it," Joey said taking the pass and smiling in thanks.

Joey followed the woman's directions and found where he needed to be. As she had said, he had been given his own locker, plated with his name, Joseph Wheeler. He had to admit, that was pretty neat.. There was plenty of space in it to put his bag as well as his uniform in it. Now all he needed was to find his outfit. He looked around the room and spotted something lying on one of the changing benches with a paper pinned to it. On the paper was his name, but a feeling of foreboding rose within him the moment he spotted the thing. Hoping he was wrong, he went to the bench and picked up the costume, unfolding it and holding it up. The sense of mortification had never struck harder as he stared at a duel monster he recognized; Watapon.

"Wah… are they serious?" Joey said picking up the fuzzy pink costume. He was hesitant to put it on, but swallowed his pride, because that's all it seemed he would get to eat on this job, and got dressed into the costume. His legs fit in the stubby slots perfectly, but it was odd for him to have no hands.

He heard the door open to the room, and a young female employee stepped it. "Watapon are you dressed yet?" She walked deeper into the room, "I found you Watapon." She sang glomping it, causing Joey to fall over.

"Who is this woman, and why is she so crazy?" Joey thought to himself. He picked himself up off the floor by rolling back and using all his force to pull forward. "Who are you?" Joey finally asked confused why this crazy woman was in the room. Her face was small and childish-looking with freckles. She had shoulder length strawberry blonde pigtails tied with ribbons and bright hazel eyes round with enthusiasm.

"I'm Kit!" She said with a wide smile, "I'm here to take you to where you will stand and make sure all the kids stay in order!" She flashed a victory sign, "And if I'm enough to knock you over, you will have an even harder time with the kids. They can be brutal…Well, let's go then." Joey was thankful that she could not see his face because he was already overwhelmed with her peppy attitude.

"Seto assigned her ta me on purpose. That pompous jerk," Joey, thought. "I didn't think anyone could be perkier than Tea." He followed Kit to his post near one of the maps that showed where everything in the park was. He noticed a small sign that said:

'See Watapon Here

9:15, 11:15, 1:15, 3:15 '

Kit moved the sign out of the way, putting up standards so the lines would form in an organized manner. "Alright, Watapon, let's have an awesome day!" The kids started coming, and Joey never realized how hard it was to not talk in his life. It had only been 15 minutes and 4 kids had cried when he was with them and 2 had kicked him. Most of the kids were cute, truthfully, giving him hugs- mainly the little girls, though.

The worst part of the job was the unbearable heat. The costume was insulated, and it felt as if he was stuck in an inescapable furnace. His shirt was sticking to his sweaty body and it was difficult to maintain any sort of enthusiasm. Several times he lost his balance, the worst scenario being when he had fallen on his back and ended up being tackled by half a dozen kids. Kit managed to save him before they managed to do too much damage to him or the costume. Regardless, he kept up his vigor for the children's sake. By the end of the day, he was finally able to get out of the outfit and breathe again.

"Free at last!" he cheered.

"You did great today," Kit told him. "And don't worry, you won't be playing Watapon every day. We try to incorporate as much variety as possible since children have so many favorites. Tomorrow should be a little easier."

"Really?" Joey asked. "Who am I playing tomorrow?"

"Ah, ah, ah," Kit said, shaking her head and wagging her finger. "That's a surprise. So I'll see you tomorrow, then." She gave a small wave before skipping out of the room.

"Well, I suppose anything is better than that," Joey thought, giving the pink, fuzzy costume a reproachful glance before getting his stuff together and leaving the building.

In his office, Seto was watching his computer screen with an amused smile. He had one of his technicians stream the security videos from Kaiba Land to his office computer so that he would be able to personally witness his new 'employee's' progress. "Wheeler did better than I thought." Seto gently placed his chin on top of his folded hands. "I'm surprised how he was able to handle himself. Maybe he is not completely useless after all."

There was a light knock on Seto's door, "Come in."

The door opened and Mokuba was there. "I heard from Kit that Joey did great on his first day at work." Mokuba was smiling wide. "He didn't even complain about the costume once and most of the kids really seemed to love him."

Seto was nodding lightly while sipping his coffee. "Let's see if he can keep up this performance."

Joey got home from work and plopped backwards in his bed. "That was surprisingly easier than I thought. But those kids can kick." Joey lightly rubbed his shins in remembrance of the original pain. "But at least no one sees my face to know it was me, especially Kaiba. That jerk would get just a kick out of it."

The doorbell rang, causing Joey to jolt up. He looked around the living room before opening the door. Tristan was standing there, his motorcycle helmet in tow. "Hey man came to check up on ya." Tristan hopped into the apartment while taking his shoes off. The two boys went to Joey's room, closing the door behind him, "I won't be long, just wanted to see how you were holding up."

Joey was happy that his friend cared enough about him to come over, but at the same time was nervous, he really didn't want Tristan finding too much stuff out. "Thanks, Tristan. I'm doing okay. A little exhausted from the first day, but it ain't nothing Joey Wheeler can't handle."

"Well you certainly look exhausted," Tristan said digging into his bag and pulling out a paper bag that smelled of fast food. "I figured this might happen so I brought you a little something."

"Hey, thanks," Joey said accepting the bag and opening it to see a burger and fries. "Alright! Take out from Burger Land. My day has officially been made. You da man, Tristan."

Tristan gave him a friendly slap on the back. "Sure thing, dude. What are friends for?"

Joey grinned. As long as he had his friends to help him, he could get through this, no problem.

KD: Yay, first day at work. We were kinda mean putting Joey in Watapon the first day, but we thought it'd be fun. Btw, we didn't realize this until later, but Kit is pretty much us two co-writers merged together into one psychotic being, meaning Seto better steer clear. :P Hoped you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to the next. :D