Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Destined for More ❯ The Mooch ( Chapter 3 )

Destined for More

Chapter Three

Tobias brought Joey to his room. "This is where you will be staying," he said as he opened the door.

Joey walked in and gaped. The bedroom he was in was downright huge. There was a king-sized bed on one side, and across from it stood a television. There was a desk next to the bed and a night stand on the other side. A door led into a tile bathroom complete with hot tub.

Joey was speechless. All he could say was, "This . . . this is a nice room!"

"Well, I'm glad you like it," Tobias said. "I'll leave you to unpack. Dinner is at six o'clock." Tobias then left.

-3-

Joey arrived in the private dining room. Even for a room meant solely for the Royal Family, it was impressive. A chandelier hung overhead and there was a fireplace on the opposite wall. In one corner stood a marble sculpture of a Chaimellan. One thing that seemed to weigh on his mind was the fact that so many things here were white. He felt rather out of place wearing his black T-shirt underneath his red jacket.

King Gabriel and Serra were already seated. The king motioned to the seat across from him. "Have a seat, Joey."

Joey grinned sheepishly as he sat down. "Ah, thanks, Your Highness," he said. "Just . . . taking in the new surroundings, that's all."

King Gabriel smiled. "Ah, yes, of course. Finding yourself in unfamiliar surroundings can be quite intimidating."

"So, what's on the menu for tonight?" Joey asked. "Just curious, even though I doubt I've heard of any of it."

"Actually, the food tonight is food common on Earth," King Gabriel said. "Chicken noodle soup, Caesar salad, and prime rib."

Joey's eyes went wide. "No way! Awesome!" Serra giggled at Joey's response, which caused the young man to blush.

"So, from what I hear, you're one of the Earth's top three duelists," King Gabriel remarked.

Joey looked over at the king, surprised. "How did you know that?"

"It comes from a galactic data network," King Gabriel responded. "It is much like your Internet, only more advanced and it spans the entire galaxy. It includes information about Earth."

Joey tensed. That could give people a very bad impression of humans. "Uh, I hope people don't judge the human race by Hitler," he said out loud.

"Hitler?" Serra asked, confused. "Who is Hitler?"

Joey sweatdropped. "Erm . . . you're better off not knowing. Trust me."

"It also said that the only two duelists who are better than you are Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba, is that correct?" King Gabriel asked. "Do you personally know either of them? What are they like?"

"Well, Kaiba . . . how do I put this . . . Kaiba is . . . well, a jerk," Joey said. "He runs a multi-billion dollar company called the Kaiba Corporation, or KaibaCorp for short. He took it over from his adoptive father, Gozaburo Kaiba, who used it as a weapons manufacturer, and made it into a game company. There's no doubt that Kaiba is a great businessman. However, his personality leaves a lot to be desired. He's cold and emotionless, and usually treats people like they're an inferior species." Joey gritted his teeth. "I happen to be one of his favorite targets. The only person he even seems to care about is his younger brother, Mokuba."

Serra frowned. "Gee, he doesn't sound like a very nice guy."

"Well, do you know the other duelist, Yugi Moto?" King Gabriel asked.

Joey nodded. "Yugi is my best friend. Without him, I would never have gotten as far as I have in life. He is, without a doubt, the greatest person I have ever known. He gave me the money to help my sister, and he saved the world on two different occasions."

King Gabriel raised his eyebrows. "Saved the world? Do explain."

Joey took a deep breath. "Well, Yugi had this ancient artifact called the 'Millennium Puzzle.' He was the first person in five thousand years to complete it. The Millennium Puzzle held the spirit of an ancient pharaoh, or ruler, who had saved his people once and was called to save the world again.

"The first time, we fought a guy by the name of Marik Ishtar. He also had a Millennium Item, the Millennium Rod. He also had this card." Joey pulled The Winged Dragon of Ra out of his pocket. "This monster is an Egyptian God Monster. It's virtually indestructible." He gave the card to King Gabriel so he could have a look at it. "Even worse than Marik, though, was an evil spirit that lived in his soul. This spirit was sealed away by the presence of Marik's adopted brother, Odion, but when Odion lost consciousness, the seal would be broken. Another duelist by the name of Mai Valentine dueled this evil Marik, as did I, and we both lost. It was Yugi that was able to finally defeat Marik.

"Then, there was a guy named Dartz. He was the reincarnation of the king of a lost kingdom. He decided that the people of Earth were too evil and would kill all except a select few. They took the souls of strong duelists and fed them to some kind of beast. They took the souls of Yugi and myself, and even the souls of their defeated comrades. However, Dartz was stopped by the spirit of the Pharaoh and Kaiba.

"Actually, the fight against Dartz and his followers gave me a special monster." Joey once again reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. "This is the dragon Helmos. It can combine with any other monster on the field, and often the results are amazing. It only responds to me. Yugi and Kaiba also have dragons like Helmos. Yugi's dragon is Tamaeus, and Kaiba's is Critias."

Serra frowned. "All right, I'm lost. Can you run that by me again?"

Joey sweatdropped. Then, the chicken noodle soup arrived. "All right, but can you wait until after dinner? I'm starving, and I don't want my soup to get cold."

King Gabriel nodded. "Fair enough."

-3-

After the soup was finished, the salad was brought out. They quickly finished their salads and waited for the main course to arrive.

"So, Joey, how is your family life?" King Gabriel asked.

Joey frowned. "Well, Your Highness, not too good. But it wasn't always that way. When I was still a little kid, we were one big, happy family. Then, my parents got divorced. My mother took my younger sister, Serenity, and I ended up with my father. I didn't get to see my sister again until two years ago, when she came to my hometown for eye surgery. She cheered me on in one of my tournaments, but I haven't seen her since."

"Oh, how sad," Serra commented.

Joey looked down. "I hated my life, to tell you the truth. I was forced to live with my father, like I said before. The divorce . . . changed him. He started drinking. A lot. He also got addicted to gambling. I was forced into too many part-time jobs to pay off debts that never went away. I found myself on the street, and toughened up. Then, I met Yugi, and my life changed for the better."

"What's your family situation now?" Serra asked.

"I live on my own now," Joey answered. "I keep in contact with Serenity - my sister - through e-mail, and she seems to be doing all right. But living on my own doesn't mean that my dad doesn't involve himself in my life. He comes once a month trying to mooch off my money from duelist prizes and advertisements, and he always seems to get it, too. I don't know how, but he raids my bank accounts. I basically told him that if he did it one more time, I'd file a lawsuit against him. Dunno if that's enough to stop him, though. I'm betting we have to settle this family dispute in court."

Serra covered her mouth in shock. King Gabriel frowned. "Have you tried changing your account number?"

"Seven times, Your Highness," Joey said. "On all three of my accounts. He's withdrawn money from each account."

"That is perplexing," King Gabriel remarked. "The only thing I can think of is an inside job. Are all three with the same bank?"

"No, and that's the weird part," Joey answered. "I have two accounts - savings and checking - with one bank, but I have the third - a backup account - with a completely different bank. I've put my backup account in three different banks, but he got money from all of them."

Suddenly, Joey's eyes widened and his face turned white. "Crap! I forgot! This is the time of month my dad comes around looking for money! If he finds out I'm no longer on Earth, he'll empty all three of my accounts! I have to get back!"

King Gabriel frowned. "Sorry, Joey, but it will be at least two weeks before we get your ship fixed."

"Well, is there any way that I can at least contact someone or something?" Joey asked.

"Yes, there is," King Gabriel responded. "We have a satellite telephone. You can use it to call someone back on Earth. I'll let you use it after dinner."

-3-

Yugi yawned. It was a Saturday, so he didn't have any classes. However, on Saturdays, his grandfather had him running the store. Today was a slow day. Then, the phone rang. Yugi picked up the receiver. "Game shop, Yugi speaking."

"Yugi! Thank God I got through!"

Yugi's eyes widened. "Joey? What do you mean?"

-3-

"Well, before I begin, I want to let you know that everything I'm about to say is true," Joey said.

There was a moment's pause. Then, Yugi responded, "All right."

"Yugi, when I left the shop last night, some scientist guy showed me a spaceship and asked me to try it out. I did, but there was an accident, and I'm stuck on another planet."

There was a pause. "Joey, surely you can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious, Yug," Joey responded. "And I'll be stuck here for at least another two weeks."

"Wait!" Yugi exclaimed. "Doesn't your father come looking for money around this time of month?"

"Yeah," Joey answered. "That's why I called. If Dad finds out I'm off-planet, he'll empty my bank accounts!"

"Oh, no!" Yugi exclaimed. "What are you going to do, Joey?"

"I can't do anything," Joey responded. "That's why I called you."

"Well, Joey, I don't know much about managing bank accounts," Yugi responded. "Grandpa still does all of that. However, I do know of one person who can help you."

Joey began to sweat. He knew who Yugi was going to suggest, and he didn't like it one bit. "Don't say it, Yugi. DO NOT SAY IT."

"I'm sorry, Joey," Yugi responded, "but Kaiba is the only person I can think of who has enough financial knowledge to help you."

Joey sighed. Yugi was right, as always. "All right. Guess I have no choice. Okay, see you in a couple of weeks."

"Bye, Joey."

Joey hung up the phone. "Man, this really sucks."

"What's wrong?" Serra asked.

"Yugi doesn't know what to do," Joey responded. "I'm going to have to call Kaiba and pray that he's in a good mood today."

-3-

Seto Kaiba was in his office, working, as usual. He took a sip from his mug of coffee as he browsed the stock reports. Suddenly, a red light flashed on his intercom system.

Kaiba set the newspaper down and pressed a button on the intercom. "Yes?"

"Mr. Kaiba, there is a call for you on line one," came his secretary's response.

"Tell them I'm busy," Kaiba responded.

"Mr. Kaiba, forgive me, but the person making the call says it's urgent."

Kaiba sighed. "All right, put him through." He picked up the receiver. "Seto Kaiba speaking."

"Kaiba, I need to talk to you."

Kaiba's eyes widened. "You're lucky I'm not in a bad mood, Wheeler, or I'd hang up right now."

"Well, maybe you'll lighten up after you hear this: I need your help."

Kaiba's eyes widened in surprise. Quietly, he turned on a tape recorder and held it up to the receiver. "Can you say that again?"

"Turn off the tape recorder, Kaiba. I know you too well."

Kaiba frowned as he turned off the tape recorder and placed it on his desk. "All right, what do you want? If it's money, the answer is no."

"No, I have no need for your money," Joey responded. "Listen. I was asked to try out a spaceship and I'm stranded on another planet for a couple of weeks."

Kaiba heard this and, deciding that Joey had lost it, cursed himself for turning off the tape recorder. "Right. I think I'll press the little button that says 'Off' now . . ."

"Kaiba, I can prove it!" Joey shouted. "Run a search on Dr. Ludwig Straussen!"

"What?" Kaiba exclaimed. "How could you possibly know about Dr. Straussen? He's an astrophysicist who wants to work in secrecy until . . ."

"Until he finished his spaceship," Joey finished. "Well, it's finished."

"All right, Wheeler, you've managed to convince me," Kaiba said. "Now what do you need help for?"

"Kaiba, my father comes once a month looking for money," Joey explained. "I always refuse, but he somehow manages to get into my accounts anyway. If he finds out that I'm stranded on another planet, he'll empty my accounts! I've tried everything, and nothing works."

Kaiba frowned. As much as he disliked Joey, he would help him. After all, he also knew what it was like to be raised by a bad father. "All right. I'll put your accounts in the same bank as my own. They should be safe there. Your problem seems to be a hacker. One of your father's friends is hacking into the computer databases and getting your account information that way. At the bank where my accounts are, the computer systems are so well-protected it would require a hacker trained by the CIA to get in. Just give me your account numbers and I'll move everything first thing Monday morning."

"All right," Joey answered and gave Kaiba his account numbers. As much as he disliked Kaiba, he had no choice but to trust him now.

"Don't forget, Wheeler," Kaiba said. "The annual championship tournament is in one month. If you're still stranded on whatever planet you're on, you're disqualified and you lose your status as the world's third-best duelist."

Joey turned white. He had completely forgotten about the tournament. "Uh . . . no, I remember! I'll be there, don't you worry!"

"We'll see," Kaiba responded. He then hung up.

-3-

Joey placed the receiver back on the cradle. "What's wrong?" Serra asked.

"Princess, can you get the ship repaired ASAP?" Joey asked.

"Well, I can try, but I can't overwork the men," Serra answered. "Why do you ask?"

"In one month, I have a tournament to attend," Joey explained. "If I'm not there, I'll be disqualified and stripped of my title."

Serra put a hand to her mouth. "Oh! Well, I'll try to get the workers to hurry, then!"