Sorry that it took so long to get this chapter out. With college and all, and trying to keep it that way, well that kind of stuff had to come first and I literally didn't have any free time to even think about updating one of my fics. Again I'm sorry for being late in doing this. But now that I'm on winder break, I have a lot of free time.
I hope you all enjoy.
Chapter 7
The next day didn't start off so good for Sere, as she almost made them late for she was trying to sleep in and it took both Tea and Yugi to wake her up and get her out the door. But the good thing out of all of this was that they made it to school one time…just barely that is. But once she had her lunch, she started to look more alive. Then the day went on as just another day at school, or at least was Sere thought was normal day at school. After school got out, things started to change. Yugi, Sere, and the gang all met up on the roof of the school. And so the telling of the events last night has begun.
"You can't be serious. You mean to tell me that that rich punk Kaiba is throwing his own exclusive Dual Monsters Tournament?" Joey asked not quit believing what he was just told.
"Yep." Was Yugi's only reply
"And the whole thing kicks off in less than a week." Tea add, almost excited.
"Grr…I can't believe Money Bags didn't send an invite me! I was the runner up at Dualist Kingdom! Where's the respect?" Joey yelled in frustration.
"Here's a news flash for ya Joey. Kaiba doesn't like you." Tristan pointed out, from his spot over by the fence, while still not in the main group that the rest of them made.
"I'll give him something not to like!" Joey yelled back.
"Ya know, this is exactly how he wants you to react." Tristan calmly pointed out.
"Ya got a good point there Tristan. Maybe I don't need to enter Kaiba's snooty competition." Joey answered, realization hitting him. "What about you Yug? Are you going to enter the tournament?" Joey asked, turning his attention to Yugi.
"I have to. I just found out that entering Kaiba's Battle City Tournament is the only way I can achieve my destiny." Yugi answered, with a nod of his head.
"Your destiny? What are you talking about?" Joey asked confused.
"Well, it's kind of a long story." Yugi replied.
"I've got no where to go." Joey replied, still confused.
"Alright, some kind of evil force is coming back from the past and I'm destined to join this tournament and defeat him." Yugi explained.
"Then it's my destiny to help!" Joey exclaimed, pulling a card out of his school jacket. "I've got just the card! I'm talking Red Eyes Black Dragon folks."
"So, what's your saying is that you've changed your mind again and now you are going to enter Kaiba's tournament." Tristan plainly said, with both him and Tea giving him looks that clearly said that Joey was in over his head.
"That's what I'm saying alright. Yugi inspired me. And with this baby in my deck, I've got it made. With my Red Eyes, I'll put Kaiba to shame." Joey said, trying to make it sound like this was the most logical thing to do.
This display made Sere sigh, turning around to face the fence. She put her hand on the fence, and just stared out at the city around them. She still had that same feeling that she had last night, that there was more to this than Kaiba, but it seemed to her that they all thought that Kaiba was the main threat. Of course, her actions went unnoticed by the others around her.
"Didn't you learn your lessen the last time you dueled Kaiba?" Tea asked, almost matter-of-factly.
"Tea's right, Joey. Your Red Eyes is a powerful card, but it doesn't guarantee that you'll bet Kaiba." Yugi pointed out, agreeing with Tea.
"Yeah, you've got a point." Joey agreed.
"You'll need to have a little patience. First you should get use to his new, more advanced, version of the Dual Disk." Yugi advised.
"The old ones were too advanced for me. They cost me the dual." Joey said, remembering what happened the last time, at Dualist Kingdom; which was frustrating him even more.
"You're a much better dualist now than you were then, Joey. But before you jump right into another dual with Kaiba, you should practice with the new Dual Disk." Yugi advised.
"Then what are we waiting for? I've gotta try and sign up for this thing." Joey said excitedly, running off to get a head start. Tristan, Tea, and Yugi watched Joey as he went, almost embarrassed by his actions.
Sere only sighed again at Joey's excitement. She thought it was good and all for Yugi to get all the help that he could, but there was also apart of her that said that this probably wasn't a good idea. For some reason, she thought that the more people that helped out, the more that would get hurt in the end.
Tristan and Tea followed after Joey, but they decided to walk instead. Yugi took one step to follow them, then noticed that Sere was over by the fence, so he walked over to her to tell her that they were leaving.
"Sere?" Yugi questioned, trying to get her attention.
"Hmm…" Sere answered, pretending that she was lost in her own thoughts.
"We're leaving now. We were going to go and sign up for Kaiba's tournament. Wanna come?" Yugi asked, after gaining her attention.
"Sure." Sere answered, with a nod of her head.
"Come on." Yugi said, leading the way off the school roof and back to the others.
On there way to have Yugi and Joey register for Kaiba's tournament, Sere was lost in thought. Unlike last time where she was pretending to be lost in thought, while, in reality, she was actually listening to the conversation Yugi, Tea, Joey, and Tristan were having before they left the school. No matter how hard she tried to not think about it, she just couldn't get rid of the feeling that there was something more to this tournament than meets the eye.
Sere's current mood went unnoticed as the group stopped just outside of the shop that was used to register for the tournament and pick up the Dual Disks for the tournament. Once the group stopped, Joey immediately let to the shop window trying to get a good look inside while he wanted for them to go in.
That is, Sere's current mood went unnoticed until someone noticed that she wasn't complaining or having a some what embarrassed look on her face because of Joey's antics. And this someone that noticed was Tea.
"Sere, are you alright?" Tea asked, placing a hand on Sere's shoulder.
"I'm fine." Sere simply answered. She was still debating with herself if she should voice her thoughts about Kaiba and this tournament to the group or not. Then Sere noticed Joey looking in the window of the shop and quickly hid her mood from those around her. "Come on. Let's go inside already." Sere said cheerfully, grabbing a hold of Joey and dragging him in with her. The other three of the group watched as Sere dragged Joey along with her. All they did was just look at each other, shrugging there shoulders and followed the two inside.
"How can I help you?" Asked the clerk behind the counter as they came in.
"Hi, we came to register for the Battle City Tournament and get our Dual Disks." Yugi stated the reason for there being there.
"Well then my young friends, you have entered into the correct place. You are fortunate, since I have three Dual Disks left on my shelf. But first I have to see if you qualified to register." The clerk explained. Sere thought that this was simple enough.
"Ok, I'm Yugi Moto." Yugi answered back, understanding what needed to be done, while Joey and Tristan stood there a little dumbfounded.
"Alright, Yugi Moto." The clerk repeated to himself as he walked over to his computer that held all the information to see if a Dualist qualified for the tournament. "Not bad, you've got five stars. That's the highest rank." The clerk explained after looking up the info on his computer.
"Where does this information come from?" Yugi asked, curiosity starting to take over.
"Kaiba Corp. preformed extensive research on dualists around the world, and compiled the results into a database. This shows your skill level and the rarest card that you've ever played in a dual." The clerk explained, turning the screen of the computer to face his customers. "To ensure that only the best dualists enter, Mr. Kaiba has gone to great lengths to learn everything about you and your decks." This surprised all of them. Even Sere was a little taken aback by this.
"Everything? Knowing ever card in our decks, gives an unfair advantage to Kaiba." Yugi said, pretty much voicing his comments out loud.
"That's not cool." Tea stated, agreeing with Yugi.
"I agree. It is unfair." Sere agreed as well. 'Was it really necessary for Kaiba to learn all of this, especially if he is going to be competing himself?' Sere thought to herself, still not quit sure if she should voice her opinion.
"Well, as promised. Since you qualified to enter, you get this. Kaiba Corp.'s new and improved Dual Disk System." The clerk said as he grabbed on of the Dual Disks and handed it to Yugi.
"Awesome. Thank You." Yugi said excitedly, as he accepted the Dual Disk offered him. Sere couldn't help but have a small smile grace her face; she couldn't help but feel happy for Yugi.
But this happiness didn't last long for Joey, after clearing his throat, stepped in front of Yugi. It was now his turn. "I wanna register also. Joey Wheeler's the name." Joey said, getting a little too excited.
"Let me see, Joey Wheeler." The clerk repeated to himself, turning the screen back to himself, and looking up the info on his computer once again. "Hmm…I'm sorry, but you've only got one star. Your ranking is much to low to enter."
"That can't be! Kaiba fixed those results. I came in second back at Dualist Kingdom!" Joey stated while throwing a fit.
"Hey! Joey! Just calm down! Quit having a cow." Tristan said, while trying to hold Joey back. Sere was glad that Tristan tried to subdue Joey, for she feared that if he didn't do what he did, she was sure she would've had to do something.
"It is weird that he doesn't qualify." Tea stated, trying to calm Joey down, but this didn't quiet work as planned, for it just angered Joey even more. All Sere could do to this was sigh and watch the scene unfold.
"He's gonna burst a blood vessel." Tristan said, stating what could be the obvious if Joey didn't calm down soon.
But just after Tristan said this, the clerk noticed something on the screen of his computer that intrigued him. What interested him so much was the fact that Joey's rarest card was the Red Eyes Black Dragon. While the others were preoccupied with trying to calm Joey, the clerk hit a few buttons on his keyboard, making it so Joey was able to register. "I'm sorry, Joey. It appears that my hard drive was malfunctioning and you actually have four stars. Congratulations, you qualify." The clerk corrected himself, sounding cheerful in the process.
"Yeah! I knew it! Let me see those beautiful stars." Joey exclaimed as he ran over to the counter, turning the screen to himself once he got to the counter. The others following right behind him, all were amazed. Well, except for Sere, she had this feeling that something was just not right.
"I knew the computer was wrong. That's how I was able to stay relaxed and keep my cool while he fixed it." Joey said, standing back next to Tristan, with Tristan giving him this look that said that it was the total opposite.
"Best of luck…" The clerk started to say to Joey has he held out the box that contained the Dual Disk.
"Come to Papa!" Joey said, while scooping the box out of the clerk's hands. All Joey could do was laugh at his good fortune and feeling triumphant. "Yeah!"
"Battle City Tournament, here we come." Yugi said happily to the rest of the gang, now that Joey had his own Dual Disk. Sere couldn't help but smile at this too. She couldn't help think that Joey sometimes acted like a big kid, but his antics sometimes made her smile.
"Who's the man?" Joey asked while they exited the shop, with Tristan right next to him.
"Way to keep your cool, Joey." Tea teased as she to exited the shop, with Yugi right next to her.
"Thanks." Joey said in response to Tea. He obviously took it as a compliment.
Sere followed them out, but stopped at the door. She took one last glance at the clerk at the counter, than followed her friends, and family out of the shop. Her bad feeling followed her as well.
Now that it was getting dark, they all decided that it was time to head home. For most of the way, they walked together.
"Hey, guys. I've got to get goin'. My sister, Serenity's operation is tomorrow and I told her I would stay at the hospital tonight." Joey said, telling them the good news.
"Alright, wish Serenity good luck for me Joey. I'm sure everything's going to be fine." Yugi said happily and encouragingly.
"Me too, and that I would like to visit her at the hospital when I can." Sere said cheerfully to Joey.
"Thanks a lot, Yug. Good bye guys." Joey said as he took off for the hospital.
"Good bye, Joey." Tea said to his retreating body. "Good luck."
"Sere, I'm pretty sure that Grandpa wouldn't mind if you wanted to go with Joey to the hospital to see Serenity." Yugi said, turning to his sister.
"It's alright Yugi. I'll visit Serenity later. Besides, I think it's best if Joey sees her by himself, a sort of sibling reunion." Sere explained.
"I hope he's going to be alright. Going to that hospital's not an easy thing for him to do." Tristan stated, watching as Joey left.
"Huh?" All three questioned, not understanding what Tristan meant.
"Joey's mother is going to be at that hospital too. She was the one that separated Joey and Serenity when they were kids. He hasn't spoken to his mother since." Tristan explained.
"No way! But that means that Joey hasn't seen or spoken to his mother in almost seven years." Yugi said, in a way, amazed.
"Which is all the more reason why Joey should do this on his own." Sere added.
"Yes and why I'm going to make sure that the Wheeler family unites once again!" Tristan declared.
"Aren't you getting a little carried away there, Tristan?" Tea teased.
"Not if he's trying to be a hero to impress Joey's sister, Serenity." Joey stated, in a way, also teasing Tristan. Tristan couldn't believe he was caught. He didn't think he was that obvious. All Sere could do was quietly laugh to herself, at Tristan's expense. She thought that this was quiet amusing.
Once Sere was done laughing, they all continued on there way home for the night, saying there good byes to each other as they all went on there separate ways.
"Grandpa, we're home." Yugi yelled as he and Sere came into the house, closing the front door. There was no answer. They found that there was no sign of anyone downstairs, so they decided to look upstairs. "Grandpa?" Yugi repeated once they reached the top of the stairs.
"Ah, there you two are. How was your day?" Grandpa said, as he came out of the bathroom. He was in his pajamas; he was obviously getting ready for bed.
"It was alright." Sere answered first.
"It was great!" Yugi added. "I registered for Kaiba's tournament today. And it starts in about a week!"
"That's great news!" Grandpa said excitedly. "Now that gives you a week to prepare, but don't let that make you forget your chores Yugi." Sere would've giggled to this, but all she could to was try to suppress a yawn. And this reaction out of Sere didn't give Yugi a chance to complain, for Grandpa had noticed. "It would seem that the two of you had a really exciting day. Now I think it would be a good idea to go and get some sleep."
"Sure thing, Grandpa." Yugi said, bounding off to his room.
Sere, though, didn't need to be told twice, she headed off to her room, trying to suppress another yawn, and wondering how Yugi could be so energetic at a time like this.
Sere had a hard time trying to get to sleep. The day's events and the feelings that came from them kept bothering her as she tried to get some sleep. It took her about half an hour to an hour for her to finally fall asleep, or at least that's what if felt like to her.
The sun was just starting to rise when Sere shot straight up in bed. She had just awoke from a dream. She really didn't know what to call it or classify it as. She didn't know if she should've called it a nightmare, for it only made her worry. And because of the worry, she knew she wouldn't call it a good dream. All of this worry was focused on one person and one person only, and this time it wasn't about Yugi and this tournament. She was now worried about Joey.
Now that she had finally rubbed all of the sleep out of her eyes and was now fully awake. She looked about the room and noticed that her blankets where tossed about and tangled. If anyone had come in at that moment would be able to tell that she was having a hard time trying to sleep. She sighed, getting out of bed and heading over to her window. Not even the beauty of the sun rise could make her feel better, her worry was still there. "Joey…" Was the only thing she could say as she put a hand on the window.
A couple of hours later, Sere heard the phone ring. Curious as to who it would be this early in the morning; Sere tore herself away from the window and out of her room. The closer she got to the living room, the more she heard Yugi talking on the phone. Sere got there just as Yugi hung up the phone.
"Yugi, who was that?" Sere simply asked.
"Sere, what are you doing up? The phone didn't wake you up, did it?" Yugi asked, surprised to see his sister up and fully awake.
"No, it wasn't the phone. I just couldn't sleep." Sere answered, as if it were nothing. "So, who was it?"
"It was Joey's mother. He didn't show up at the hospital last night. She's getting worried. She doesn't know where he is." Yugi explained, worry starting to take hold.
"Oh no." Now Sere was really starting to worry. In her dream, Joey never did show to visit his sister. This worry was really starting to show on her face, and Yugi was noticing it.
"Sere, what's wrong?" Yugi asked, now worrying about two people, her and Joey.
"Why I couldn't sleep. My dream. I…" Sere trailed off, rambling. With the thought of her dreams coming true, her legs gave out beneath her.
"Sere!" Yugi almost yelled, running over to her side.
"I…I…" Sere stuttered, not really knowing what to say or where to start.
"Come on, Sere. Let's go over to the couch and you can tell me all about it." Yugi suggested, helping Sere over to the couch the best he could.
"I…The…The dream that I had…" Sere started to explain when she was finally on the couch.
"What about the dream?" Yugi asked, trying to sound encouraging.
"It's the reason I couldn't sleep." Sere continued to explain, not really looking at anything but the floor.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Yugi asked, trying to be the best brother he could be for Sere. Just like Joey was for his litter sister, Serenity.
"That's what I thought it was, just a dream." Sere continued, as if she didn't hear Yugi's last question. "But, then you told me who was on the phone and that Joey was missing…"
"What does that have to do with your dream?" Yugi asked, now getting curious.
"Because Yugi, in my dream…Joey never made it to the hospital to visit Serenity!" Sere exclaimed, almost in hysterics and tears.
Yugi wasn't to sure if he was hearing was correct or not, but he was going to take it as fact. "Sere, are you sure you don't have Ishizu's Millennium Necklace hidden on you somewhere?" Yugi couldn't help himself; he just had to ask to make sure.
"W…Why?" Sere was taken aback by this question she was just asked.
"I was just wondering, because Ishizu told us that her Millennium Necklace gave her visions of the past and the future." Yugi explained.
"I know, but I don't have it. She never gave it to me. But when I first met her, she told me that I was able to get visions, just like her, but on my own. She told me that I didn't need any kind of Item or help to do so." Sere said, starting to calm down, surprising herself in the process.
"I see." Yugi took in what he was just told. This was just going to be apart of his sister that he was just going to have to get use to and accept.
"I thought it was just a dream. That is until you told me that Joey was missing. Then I was starting to think the same thing, that it might have been a vision instead." Sere said, strangely calm for some reason. "I don't know if I'll ever get use to it or not."
"You don't need to worry about that. I'll always be there for you, and so will Grandpa. And I know Tea, Tristan, and Joey will be too. That is, once we find where Joey disappeared to." Yugi said, adding the last sentence as an after thought. This made Sere look Yugi straight in the eyes, and a small smile graced her face. "Come on, Sere. Let's go find Joey." With that said, they went back to there rooms to change, and left in search of Joey.
Once outside, they met up with Tea and Tristan. It would seem that Joey's mother had called them too.
"Hey Yugi. Any sign of Joey?" Tea asked as she came up to join Yugi and Sere.
"No. This isn't like him. I'm really worried." Yugi answered, looking to Sere as he said the last sentence. Sere looked like it was her fault that Joey was missing.
"Sere?" Tea asked, noticing the look on Sere's face.
"Don't worry Tea, she will be alright. That is, once we find Joey." Yugi explained, so Sere didn't have to say anything and break down into tears again. Then Yugi just noticed that Tristan pulled up on his motorcycle. "Well, anything?" Yugi asked Tristan once he had his helmet off.
"I didn't see him anywhere. And I checked all of his usual spots. There must be someplace that I'm not thinking of." Tristan answered.
"Why don't you check downtown on your bike?" Tea suggested.
"Not a bad idea at all, Tea." Tristan agreed, looking at his motorcycle. "We should split up and check ever corner of the city." Tristan suggested, looking back at the group.
"It just isn't like Joey to miss his sister's operation. Something must have happened to him." Yugi pointed out.
"Yeah, he would never let Serenity down." Tristan agreed.
"He was supposed to have gone to see Serenity at the hospital at about nine o'clock last night. So, whatever held him up from doing that must have happened right after we left him." Yugi pointed out.
"Time is running out." Tea said, after checking the time on her watch.
"Alright! You guys should check up here. I'm heading downtown." Tristan suggested, putting his helmet back on. With that said, Tristan took off on his motorcycle, heading downtown, and Tea and Yugi heading in different directions, with Sere following Yugi.
After quiet awhile of searching, Tea, Yugi, and Sere net back up, with Tea checking her watch once again.
"We checked everywhere, Yugi." Tea said, still looking at her watch.
Just then Sere heard someone honking there horn. "Look!" Sere yelled out, pointing to the motorcycle heading there way. Yugi and Tea turn to see what Sere was trying to show them.
"Hey! Look who I found!" Tristan yelled out as he past them.
"He's got Joey!" Tea yelled out cheerfully.
"He's alright! He can still make it for the operation." Yugi said excitedly.
"I so hope so." Sere said, almost at a whisper. She felt the urge to just run after them. But she forced herself not to, for she knew that Joey should still see his sister on his own, and if someone is to be by his side, it would have to be Tristan, for he knew Joey best, as if they were brothers.
I guess the only thing we can do now is to go back and wait for one of them to call once they get to the hospital." Yugi suggested, walking up next to his own sister. "Right, Sere?"
"Yeah…" Sere answered, almost at a daze.
With that said, all three of them headed back to the game shop to wait for that one phone call saying that everything was alright.
After a little while of playing the waiting game, they finally got there long awaited phone call.
"Hey Joey." Yugi said, greeting Joey over the phone. "Serenity's operation went well? That's great news." Yugi turned to make sure the two people behind him heard.
"Awesome!" Was all Tea had to say. But Sere, all she could do was smile at the news.
The conversation between Joey and Yugi over the phone finally came to an end, and Yugi hung up the phone, turning to look at the two behind him. The look in Sere's eyes were telling him that she wanted to know why Joey went missing.
"Well, it would seem that on Joey's way to the hospital, there was a gang that challenged him to a dual, and they wouldn't let him leave until he did. They played using Battle City rules. In the end, Joey lost the dual, and before he could even get his rarest card, they took it by force. He said that they preferred to take it by force anyway." Yugi explained the conversation he had over the phone with Joey.
'I'm glad everything turned out alright.' Sere thought to herself, before she left the room, leaving Yugi and Tea alone.
"I wonder what's wrong with Sere." Tea voiced her thoughts out loud.
"She really didn't all that much sleep last night." Yugi explained.
'Poor Sere.' Tea thought to herself.
Sere's feet brought her back to her room, and back to that window she was at earlier that morning. Sere, once again, put her hand on the window, again lost in her own thoughts. So many things were happening, and happening so fast. She wasn't sure how much longer she could take it.
Once again, I am sorry that it took so long for me to update one of my stories. But I hope that all of you enjoyed it. Until next time, see ya.