Chapter 55

'Alright rich boy, enough is enough; the final stage of the game finished ten minutes ago and we all passed. Get your rich boy butt back here with my son right now,' Joey's whole body was tense with anger. 'I mean it!'

'You don't think something bad happened to them, do you?' Mokuba began chewing on his lower lip.

'Don't make me laugh,' he rolled his eyes. 'This is happening because you're brother's being a jerk. You hear that Kaiba; you're a jerk!'

'Insult the guy who has our son, that's a sure fire way of getting him back,' Ahna glared at him.

'It's not like anything else is working,' he balled his hands into fists. 'If he doesn't get back here with my son right now, I'll…'

'You'll what, Wheeler,' Kaiba's voice sounded from behind them.

They all turned to see Kaiba stood behind them, leant causally against the wall. His head was lowered in a deliberately arrogant manner which just made Joey's already boiling blood reach new levels.

'Where the hell is my son?'

'He's with Tristan.'

'And where's that exactly?'

'Somewhere safe.'

'I bet you think you're being really funny right now,' Joey gritted his teeth, 'but Crovell is my son and you have no right to keep him from me.'

'I'm not trying to keep him from you,' Kaiba's voice was tight, but level. 'Your son is more powerful than I am; hell he's more powerful than you are. Do you really think I would be able to hold him hostage?'

'Not on your own, but with Tristan's help...'

'Please Wheeler, Tristan's the only one with him right now and he's still not come back to you. Doesn't that tell you something?'

'Yeah, it tells me that you're not really here,' Joey took several steps towards him. 'I know exactly how powerful the Pure's telepathic projection is you know.'

'You're really convinced I'm holding your son against his will, aren't you?' Kaiba rolled his eyes. 'Tell me, why the hell would I do something like that?'

'I can think of at least three different reasons right now. But I think the most pressing one has something to do with Tristan. You really think behaving like this is going to convince me you should have anything to do with him?'

'It's not your choice,' Kaiba glared back at him, 'it's Tristan's. A real friend would understand that.'

'No, a real friend would let that person know when they think they're about to make the biggest mistake of their lives. And trust me, him having anything more to do with you will definitely be the biggest mistake of his life if this is the way you're choosing to behave.'

'I told you Wheeler, this is your son's doing, not mine.'

'Why the hell wouldn't he want to come back to us after everything he's put us through?'

'I don't know; you'll have to take that up with him.'

'Which I would gladly do if you would just tell me where the hell you're keeping him.'

'I can't; he won't let me.'

'Are you trying to tell me my son has telepathic control?' Joey met and held his gaze.

'No, but he does have the redhead to give the orders for him,' Kaiba folded his arms.

'This is ridicules,' Joey shook his head, 'you're making it up. You're holding my son captive because you're a selfish, immature bastard who will do whatever it takes to get whatever the hell he wants.

'How many times do I have to tell you; you're son is the one keeping himself away. I don't know why he's doing it. Maybe he's realised having someone with an intelligence level which would make a monkey look like a genius for a father is not something he really wants, I don't know. What I do know is you carrying on like some tantruming five year old is not helping this situation. Now I have a message for you, from your son, do you want it or not?'

'Go ahead,' Joey's face pulled into a sour expression, 'what is it; this should be good.'

'Work out where he is and find him,' without saying another word Kaiba disappeared.

'Well that could have gone a lot better,' Ahna glared at him again.

'He's holding our son hostage and I'm the one you're pissed at?' Joey shot her a look. 'Give me a break.'

'Joey,' Mai gave a strange half sigh and shook her head, 'sometimes you can really be so dense.'

'What?'

'If Kaiba were holding Crovell hostage he would have made some kind of demand.'

'Are you honestly saying you believe him?' Joey gawked at her. 'You really think my son wouldn't want to come back to me.'

'I honestly think your son would do whatever it takes to get what he wants,' Mai folded her arms. 'Look at everything he's put us through in order to get a few small changes; what makes you think there isn't something else that he wants.'

'What else could he possibly want?'

'Kaiba and Tristan together.'

An involuntarily arrogant laugh burst out of Joey. He found himself staring at her for a few moments, knowing she was being entirely serious, but still completely unable to believe she'd said it.

'Why would he want them together? What would he possibly gain from that?'

'Who knows, but... considering how this little game has panned out for the two of them...' Mai shifted her gaze to one side.

'For what it's worth, I agree with her,' Ahna gave a heavy sigh. 'Crovell wants his village to be the best it can be, right?'

'And them being together will make it the best it can be? Really?'

'Yes, because they'll be happy.'

'For how long though,' Joey threw his hands up in exasperation. 'We have no guarantee Kaiba really gives a damn about him and I will not let the Pure and Tristan suffer because of that.'

'Why are you so sure my brother's feelings are false?' Mokuba jutted his chin out. 'You don't know. You haven't seen them together the way I have. How do you know he's not really...?'

'I'm not saying that they're definitely false, I'm just... I just want to be sure. I want to sit him down and talk to him about all of this properly. I'm not trying to keep them apart, but I'm finding it very difficult to justify letting them be together right now.'

'So basically you're saying you need proof my brother cares about Tristan? So if he were to tell you...?'

'This is about more than just hearing him say... whatever Mokuba. This is about me believing what he says; believing his motives and trusting that he knows what he's doing.'

'It's like I was saying earlier, this situation is complicated,' Mai's voice was soft but calm, 'so I understand where Joey is coming from here. But... as ridicules as it sounds... I trust Crovell's judgement. If he is the one manipulating this situation and if his end result is trying to get Tristan and Kaiba together then...'

'Then we have to trust he knows what he's doing,' Ahna smiled at her.

'You're all ganging up on me, aren't you?' Joey rolled his eyes. 'None of you know for sure what Kaiba really feels and yet you're all willing to believe he's in love. When did you all turn into such sickly romantics?'

'I'm not sure I'd use the word romantic to describe this situation exactly,' SK gave a nervous cough as his tongue skated across his lips, 'and if I'm being totally honest here, I'm not totally sure what to believe about this situation. But... I don't think hanging around here arguing like this is very conducive to our situation.'

'The neurotic's right,' Jay folded his arms, 'we shouldn't be stood around arguing right now, we should be looking for them. Whether you believe this is Kaiba's doing or Crovell's doing or whatever, we're not going to find them here, are we?'

'Finally, someone who's talking sense,' Ahna grinned at him. 'You're right, we should have moved out by now. I've gone far too long without my little boy and right now I need him more than ever.'

'So... do we try Jumping to where they are or...'

'No, I think we'll probably need to walk. I mean, it makes sense after everything we've been through that he wouldn't want us relying on our powers right now,' Ahna tilted her head to one side. 'I noticed an opening in the far corner of this room a while ago and figured at some point we'd be exiting through it.'

'Well that makes sense,' SK's tongue skated across his lips again.

'Seriously is this what we're doing now?' Joey cocked an eyebrow at them.

'What do you mean?'

'I mean, are we seriously making this whole situation normal?'

'It's not normal Veronie,' Ahna shot him a look, 'nothing about this situation is normal. But then nothing about our lives is normal. So why don't you stop being so childish and try to remember what's important here. Our son. Crovell.'

'Yeah, yeah, yeah,' he rolled his eyes.

'Don't you dare yeah, yeah, yeah me Veronie Lutoni, not when it comes to the well being of our son,' her look turned into another glare.

'Fine, I'm sorry, I'm just a little worked up right now.'

'Well you know the perfect cure for that, don't you?' She smirked at him. 'Walking.'