Sorry for the later than usual update. I've been having a bit of writer's block. I also apologize for how this chapter may have came out. I don't know if it came out as well as I intended. I'm also trying to tie it in with the canon.


"So what's the real reason you have the girl locked away?" Valon questioned.

Mai had once again stormed out, proclaiming that Joey was her target yet again and complaining about the fact that Valon stepped into their duel. However, Valon didn't want to leave her alone this time, even though Dartz advised that he should leave her be. So after catching up with Mai, he decided to have a one on one conversation. After discussing how he felt about their situation, the topic of Serenity came into context.

"What does it matter?" Mai spat back, glaring at Valon. "That's none of your business."

"That may be, but you've been keeping her all to yourself and I haven't seen much evidence of psychological torture towards Joey as of late. I can tell that you don't plan on getting rid of her any time soon, so you must be keeping her for something more than just blackmail."

Mai didn't feel like arguing, all the while not wanting to admit to Valon's accurate assumption.

"I have my reasons."

"Yes, that's true, but you also have a reason for wanting to defeat Joey, which you love vocalizing. What makes this any different?"

She looked away for a moment.

"Context. The uses and emotions are plentiful, but there's only one person who I could never condemn, no matter how much I dislike their connections. She has provided an adequate amount of damage to Joey so far, I just haven't found a need to recently. What she's done for me is something you wouldn't understand."

Before Valon had a chance to respond an RV came rushing towards them, out coming a young blonde girl and a black haired teen, who he would soon learn were friends of Joey and the pharaoh. Rather than shoving them aside, Valon took their dueling offer with pride.

The duel will end with Valon as the winner, but Mai left him in the dust. She wanted to get away, wanting to get her space and to check on Serenity. She was glad to see that Serenity hadn't left, especially since she gave Serenity a second chance at a greater range of mobility. From what Mai could tell, Serenity had already feed and cleaned herself up.

Serenity still barely spoke to her, acknowledging her presence with a glare. Such glares of distain troubled Mai, but she never let it show. She was puzzled about how to respond as Serenity boarded herself back in her room. However, Mai had to let it go, knowing that she couldn't change Serenity in her favor just yet. To do that Joey would have to be out of the way.


I know, I know, it's a bit short, but this is what I could get down for this chapter. Hopefully I'll update sooner. I do have a bit of a plan of where to take the story now. I feel that it will probably have a few more chapters to this story, each one meeting up with some key elements of the canon of this season. I know Joey hasn't appeared too much, but I want to kind of focus on Serenity and Mai (be it indivudially or in the same scene).