HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D IT'S 2013! WOOO!

Sorry for the delay, went on a retreat to Orlando for a week called SEEK 2013: What Moves You. This was originally going to be one long chapter but I decided to sperate them.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! See you at the bottom


"I told you so."

"I don't want to hear it right now."

"I friggin' told you tha' we're lost—"

"I've only been to your house once, Valon, so of course I'm not going to know where it is straight away. Besides, we aren't lost—we're just taking an alternate route!"

"Tha's takin' us this long t' find our way back? Right, Wheeler, now pull the other one."

Joey turned to scowl at the other teenager. "Don't make me punch you, wise guy."

Valon scoffed. "Oh please. You've punched me b'fore 'n' it felt like you were ticklin' me."

"Funny, I was thinking the same about you," retorted the blond, frowning as he studied his surroundings. His features brightened and he pointed down a darkened alleyway. "Okay, it's this way," he announced, starting down the road. "Come on."

Valon threw up his hands. "Tha's it. We're gonna die."

"We aren't going to die!" Joey snapped. He sighed and said, "Look, I don't know where your house is, but Yugi does. I'm going to go there and get directions from him, okay?"


"Should we be worried that Valon and my brother haven't returned yet?" asked Serenity nervously from her position on the sofa.

Currently, the group occupied the basement, as Ember had cleared out the space of her former laboratory and had allowed them to turn the room into a recreation room. Serenity was sitting on the couch with Lola, who currently had her nose buried in a magazine. Alister and Skyler were in the middle of a game of pool, while Raphael was sitting an office chair near the table; he was being the referee, as Skye had asked him to be, but really he was taking this chance to catch up on reading.

"I wouldn't be," Skye said, from her perch against the wall, applying chalk on her cue stick. She was currently watching the redhead focusing on aiming the cue ball in the right direction. "Can you hurry up? It's been five minutes," she whined.

Alister ignored her, instead turning to Serenity. "Keep in mind that it's Joey and Valon we're talking about," he replied. "Aside from the fact that your brother's only been to this house once a couple years ago, Joey could have snapped and strangled Valon. I for one would have."

He took his turn, the cue ball striking a colored one, but he grimaced when it knocked one of Skye's striped balls into the pocket instead. Skye shot him a triumphant grin and moved to the cue ball to take her turn.

Serenity shot Alister a worried glance. "Joey wouldn't really do something like that. At least, I hope not…he's been a bit bothered that I've been seeing Valon lately, but—"

"He wouldn't do that, Serenity," Raphael said reassuringly, finally looking up from the book. "I don't know Joey very well, but he seems like the type to at least attempt to hold back."

Skyler tuned them out, leaning over the table to strike the cue ball. Her back was to the stairs and her whole world was focused on the striped ball that was sitting innocently on the table. She grinned. Oh poor little ball, it would never know what hit it—

"Oooh, Skye, who's winnin'?"

The sound of Valon's voice next to her ear startled Skyler and she let out an alarmed squeal, her cue stick smacking into the cue ball and causing it to go airborne. The white ball hurtled through the air and, much to Skyler's alarm, toward Raphael's face.

Serenity had seen where the ball was going as well and her voice was laced with alarm. "Raphael, watch out, the ball's—!"

Raphael closed the book over one of his fingers to bookmark his place before looking up, and seconds before the cue ball would have smashed him in the nose he caught it and then casually rolled it back onto the table.

Lola let out a low whistle, visibly impressed. "I expected those kind of reflexes from Alister, not you."

Raphael arched an eyebrow at her. "Living with Valon has its perks."

Skyler, on the other hand, whirled on her heel to glower at the Australian. "You idiot! You scared me!" she snapped, and if it had not been for Alister very hastily confiscating the cue stick the girl might have hit Valon with it. The redhead subtly passed the cue stick to Raphael. "I could have hit Raphael in the face with the cue ball!"

Valon grinned. "But you didn', now didja?"

"…Raphael. Give me the cue stick." Skyler's voice was a low growl.

Raphael rose to his feet. "Why?" he asked, making it a point to hold the stick out of Skye's reach.

"I'm going to beat Valon with it. I'm not sure when I'll stop," she replied, trying and failing to look calm.

"Yeah, about that. What's rule one of the house? And don't tell me you don't know it, I've had to remind Alister about that particular rule more than once," he added when Skye opened her mouth to protest.

"…No one is allowed to kill Valon, no matter what he does."

Raphael then turned his attention on Valon and Joey (who had just limped down the stairs). "Now, you mind explaining why you were gone for so long and why you both look like you've come out of a fight?" he asked.

The look he was giving both of them demanded an explanation and Valon, having long since learned what that look meant, spoke first.

"This Gumby 'ere got us lost," he replied, jerking a thumb to Joey. "Not only tha', but 'e got us lost in one o' the worst parts o' town. D'you know 'ow many gangs we went through b'fore we finally found Yugi's little shop?"

It was only then that Skyler noticed the bruises and dirt covering both of the boys. Serenity had already risen to her feet and was hovering anxiously between the two of them, uncertain as to who needed to be treated first.

Alister rolled his eyes and then caught Valon by the elbow, steering him to the sofa. "I'll go get the first aid kit. Serenity, can you take care of your brother?"

The next few minutes were spent taking care of the two teenagers. Joey was not as badly beaten up as Valon and the moment Serenity finished with him he leaned back into the sofa. "Great, Rich Boy is never going to let me hear the end of this," he said gruffly, grimacing at the bandages on his arm.

Skyler, who had started a new game of pool with Lola (Alister had been tending to Valon), blinked. "Why would my cousin care? You're not seeing him anytime soon."

Joey stared. "Are you kidding? Rich Boy's tournament starts tomorrow. I got an invite."

A grin began to stretch across Valon's features. "No kiddin'? I'd forgotten about tha'!" he said excitedly, wincing when a sudden movement jostled one of his injuries. "I got an invite too! Looks like I get t' 'ave tha' rematch, Wheeler!"

Skyler's face darkened. "Oh joy," she muttered, heading toward a back closet.

"Wha's wrong with you?" asked Valon, his smile faltering. "I woulda thought you'd be excited. Aren' you in this tourney?"

Skye stopped and spun around, glaring at Valon. "My cousin hosted two tournaments. The first one involved a psycho Egyptian sending people fell into comas, while the second attracted the attention of that Siegfried weirdo. That's not even counting our incident. What do all these things have in common? Duel Monsters. I am not setting one foot anywhere near this thing!"

"…Your point?"

"I think what she's saying is that there's a real chance of Murphy's Law coming into play," Raphael replied, setting his book down. "I'm not participating in this tournament myself, but Alister, Valon, you two be careful."

Skyler stared at the taller blond. "Wait, Kaiba sent you an invitation. You're staying out of it?"

Raphael nodded. "I don't duel in professional tournaments," he replied. "I don't like putting myself in the spotlight—I spent enough time there after the shipwreck, remember?"

"Aren't you the North American Duel Monsters champ?" asked Joey. "I remember that Rebecca kid mentioning it."

"I could have been if I really wanted to be," he said. "But I decided not to pursue it."

Skyler's whole face brightened. "Great, now I've got a sideline buddy!" she announced. She shot Valon a triumphant look and said, "So there. I'm not in this tournament and that's final."

Valon and Lola exchanged glances, both sending the same silent message: We'll just see about that.


Uh-oh. What do Lola and Valon have planned? Stay tuned to find out!

Please review! :D