Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Things Aren't Always in Black and White ❯ Explinations ( Chapter 1 )

Joey groaned as consciousness slowly returned to him. Quietly at first, but growing louder with each passing second, the sound of talking and laughing wafted past his ears. A zephyr brought with it a gentle scent of wild flowers, the smell of wet grass and a soft ocean mist.

As the blond lay there, regaining his senses, he was vaguely aware of the sound of footsteps approaching and someone grumbling under their breath. When the footsteps died away, there was a small pause before something nudged his shoulder.

"C'mon, you," and exasperated voice called to him. "Get up. I don't have eternity" - quieter - "unlike you guys…"

Joey gave a soft grunt as he opened his eyes to see a blurry figure standing above him. As his vision cleared and the image of whoever it was sharpened, he saw just what it was.

And screamed.

Seto Kaiba bolted inside the hospital, nearly running down several people. As she just about slammed herself into a nearby service desk, she managed to pant out, "Joey Wheeler… What room…? Tell me now…!"

The secretary blinked looked up at the multi-billionaire's disheveled appearance. Seto was dressed in a pair of black jeans with the right leg torn off halfway down and a deep violet shirt with the sleeves missing. Her emerald hair was wild, as if it hadn't met a brush in quite a while. Wolf-gold eyes burrowed into the secretary's as he spoke.

"Gomen nasai, demo, only family is allowed in right now…"

Seto practically collapsed on the desk. "Nani?! What the heck do you mean 'Only family'? What about me?!"

"Hospital rules, Kaiba-san."

Seto glared at him for a moment before speaking once more.

"Oh, you suck."

Mieuu looked up from his clipboard just long enough to see a brilliant flash of golden light.

"Great!" the humanoid black cat cried. "Another one!"

Heaving a sigh, he walked up to the new arrival and, after scribbling the word 'banished' on his clipboard and switching to a new sheet, looked upon them. Quickly his golden eyes took in ever detail of the arrival and he scribbled them all down. Just as he was about to arouse the blond, loud screaming caught his ears. Growling and twitching his tail, he cursed whoever thought it funny that he be stuck with the job of guarding the new gods and goddesses that happened along.

Within the blink of an eye, Mieuu had transported himself from close to the edge of the God's Playground to the mountainous region near the middle. At finding the source of the screaming, the black cat growled. He turned to a goddess with a sickly green glow.

"Rosetta! Cut it out!"

The goddess smirked and asked innocently, "Cut what out?" She then threw the bowling ball she held at a nearby village, causing more screams.

"That!" Mieuu cried, exasperated.

Rosetta looked to the crushed village, to the cat, then shrugged and began to throw the pins about. Mieuu growled and was about to start yelling when there was a flash of crimson, and a dragon-half god flung himself at the offending goddess. Rosetta gave a cry and blinked out, reappearing on her feet next to the island's forest.

"Ryuujin you jerk! You just have to ruin all my fun, don't you?!"

The boy merely lashed his scaly tail. "When you become a full goddess and never have to return, you can be as black-hearted as you want, but until then you will obey all of Mieuu's laws."

Rosetta snarled before vanishing to a distant part of the island. Ryuujin turned to Mieuu, who gave him a gracious smile. "Thanks, Ryuujin."

"Don't worry about it. I know she's been giving you trouble - she had it coming." Ryuujin grinned and fluttered his leathery wings. "Besides, you need to get the new arrival."

Mieuu made a face. "Thanks for reminding me," he mumbled, sarcasm dripping off his every word.

Ryuujin smirked and flew off to help repair the village. Mieuu sighed and transported himself to where the blond last lie. After a surprised blink as to why the boy wasn't up yet, the cat shrugged it off to him hitting his head. He reached out and nudged the blond with his toe. "C'mon you." At the boy's unresponsiveness, he growled. "Get up. I don't have eternity - " he then added softly " - unlike you guys…"

Finally, the boy grunted softly. Opening slightly glazed chocolate brown eyes, he blinked softly. At last the blond focused completely on Mieuu, who quirked an eyebrow at him.

The boy screamed.

Seto growled softly as she plunked down in a chair just outside Joey's room. After several minutes of whining, Yuugi had caught up with her and one puppy-eyed pleading later, the two were off.

Not that it did anything for Seto's mood in the least.

The light emerald haired teen looked up and gave the boy a grateful smile. "Arigato, Yuugi."

"Don't worry about it Seto-chan. I'm sure you're just as worried about Joey as we are."

Seto smiled gently. "Ne… Just were are the others?"

"Well, his mother and Shizuka are on their way here with Ryou. Isis is back in Egypt along with Honda, so that'll take them a while to get here. Anzu is in New York at that dance school. And, last I heard, Angel, Yami, Shaenaur, and Malik were on their way, but you know about how hard it is for them to navigate that Temple of theirs."

Seto groaned and tilted her head back, a soft smile playing on her lips. Oh, how she remembered. The sisters had been showing their friends around their Zelda-like Temple of a home, but, unfortunately, Angel had held the map. Ultimately, they had found themselves three floors up and in front of a wall before the half-breed had figured out the map she was holding was upside down. It was an experience Seto never wanted to repeat again in the course of her existence.

Yuugi gave her a knowing grin. "Worst day of my life, too. I thought we'd never get out of there."

Seto lifted her head slightly, grinning. Before she could say or do anything, the door to Joey's room opened and a doctor stepped out. The golden eyed teen leapt to her feet

"What happened? Is he ok? Can we go in? Is he ok?!"

The doctor held up a hand to silence the teen. He then looked first at her, then to Yuugi.

Joey's eyes were wide with fright. He scrambled back a bit, focused on the cat. It slowly uncovered its ears, glaring at him.

"Please tell me that isn't your name. I will die if I have to hear it over and over again."

It shook its head and glanced at him. "That isn't your name… is it?"

Joey blinked in confusion and shook his head.

The cat readjusted the grip it had on its clipboard. "Then what is your name?"

"Joey," the blond stated without thinking. "Joey Wheeler."

The cat scribbled it down without hesitation. "Species?"

Joey blinked again. "Nani?"

The cat sighed. "What is your species? From the looks of it human, but I can't see your ears…"

"I'm human."

"Alright. Now, what dimension?"

The blond gave it a blank stare. "… What?"

Another frustrated sigh. "What dimension are you from. You're human and you speak Japanese, so that would narrow you down to Mobius, Mars, Earth -"

"There. I'm from Earth," Joey interrupted, feeling a bit creeped out. As the cat scribbled away, more and more questions filled the boy's head. Why was this thing asking him so many questions? Where was he exactly?

Finally, the cat finished writing, placed the clipboard on the ground, and stuck out a paw. As the cat spoke, he sounded almost bored with the whole thing. "My name is Mieuu, blah, blah, blah…" Joey took the outstretched paw after a moment out thought and was hauled to his feet. "I'm here to help you, yadda, yadda." The cat held his shoulder and began to dust the boy off. "Under my training you shall become a full god and bring whatever you wish - peace and lover or torment and pain - it doesn't matter to me one single bit. Any questions?"

Joey blinked and stared at Mieuu. So many questions buzzed around in his head, but one made itself know immediately. "God…?"

Mieuu nodded. "Yes, you are one of the few from your dimension the twins Destiny and Fate have selected to come here, the God's Playground, to receive training."

"What are you talking about? And what do you mean 'receive training?"

The cat gave a frustrated growl. "It means, that of the billions of people in your dimension - Earth - you were chosen to receive the training to make you a god."

Joey blinked slowly as the information sunk in. "Then… that means…"

"You are now a Demi-god."

Seto paled as the doctors words echoed through her head, drowning out all other thoughts.

"He's in a coma."

A rough hand clasped her shoulder. "Are you going to be alright, Kaiba-chan?"

She nodded vaguely, "H-hai… May we see him now?"

"One at a time, of course."

Wolf-gold eyes met amethyst.

"Go ahead, Seto-chan. I… I don't think I can look at him right now."

The teen nodded, concern for the pale boy swallowed up by the need to see her friend. Shakily, she stepped up to the door and, after a moment's hesitation, stepped inside. Her gaze was held by the sight of the tall blond boy laying on a bed in the sterilized white room. Tears filled her eyes as she glanced over his life-support system. Unconsciously, she sought out a chair and sat down. Reaching out, she gently caressed his arm.

"Joey…"

First chapter done! Go me!

Kura : You suck!

Angel: Shut up! Do the translations!

Kura : *grumble grumble*

Gomen nasai - I'm sorry

Demo - but/however

Nani - What

Arigato - Thank you

Ryuujin - Dragon King

There! Happy?!

Angel: Nevah!

Yami: *rolls eyes* Ok, children. Stop fighting.

Angel: *latches self to Yami; stick tongue out at Kura * Jerk…

Kura : *growl* Aren't you forgetting something?

Angel: *sigh* Might as well. I dun own Yugioh. I am simply not that creative.

Kura : As we can all tell from this… *gets his with a blunt object*

Yami: *puts blunt object away* Now I see why you do this all the time - it's fun!

Angel: *grin; turns to readers* Now, first off, I realize I made Kaiba a girl - please stop telling me this. Allow me some originality. Also, I need y'all's help… I need to know what creature Joey should get. I'm leaning towards wolf, really, but I wanna know what you think. Ato de aimasho!