Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Things Change ❯ Joey Wheeler: Dead Man ( Chapter 19 )

Let's get this chapter started! Just so you know, I decided to (finally) change the title into something that actually made sense, seeing how the story is about change. A quick warning, in later chapters things will become a bit dark.

 

cherry-star-aus - Yep, he's pretty much fucked isn't he?

 

MagicmanSmokegirl - I figured that Kaiba doesn't want to be reminded of being an orphan! He's the type of person who'd want to forget about the past, as it could be seen before the Marik/Yugi duel IIRC. Especially when he mentioned that he wanted everyone to act as if the Noah Arc never happened.

 

Chapter 19: Joey Wheeler: Dead Man.

 

Late at Night

 

Joey was busy getting prepared for school tomorrow as he was once again on the phone. “Okay, so what's the plan again?”

 

“There's a movie coming up Friday Night! Meaning that the four of us can go on a double date! Just you, me, Tea, and Yugi!” Arisa suggested on the other line, already under the covers of her bed.

 

“This isn't fool proof, isn't it?” Joey simply said.

 

“Not if you screw it up!” Arisa teased.

 

“Hey, it's not like I don't want it to happen. I'm up for it, and I know Yugi would love an event like this! But the problem is what'll Tea think!”

 

“Her only logical reason's no longer a valid one since we're together!” Arisa reminded.

 

“And then, there's Tristan too! Knowin' him, he will be like `Oh can we make it a triple date and have Serenity and I as a couple?' It'll be just an excuse for him to bug my sista!”

 

“Oh Joey, what's wrong with that?”

 

“It's that I'm starting to feel that it's not just about wanting to be with Serenity anymore for him, as it now appears to be a competition against him and Duke Devlin.” Joey than heard a beep on his line. “Look, I have a call waiting!”

 

“Go ahead Joey! I'll see ya tomorrow.”

 

“Kay lata!” With a click of his cordless phone, Joey answered the call waiting. “Y'ello!”

 

“Joey?”

 

The blonde's eyes narrowed. “Devlin, if this has anything to do with-”

 

“No, it's not about Serenity!” He assured. “It's about you!”

 

Joey sighed. “Okay, what's the deal?”

 

“Well, I've been hearing around town about a rumor concerning you!”

 

“So you know about the duel, huh?”

 

“Joey, I'm gonna tell you this, as a friend. Kaiba's pissed at you!”

 

Joey sighed, “Isn't he always been lately?”

 

“No, I'm serious! He's really pissed off at you! I heard from a friend who works at Kaiba Corp that he was screaming in his office, something about you being a dead man! So I suggest that you skip school! Better yet, get transferred to another school district, even better get transferred to another country!”

 

“Like I'm scared of Mr. Excitement!” Joey said, not making this as big of a deal as Duke was right now!

 

“You know how Kaiba gets. All I'm saying is that you watch your back, okay?”

 

“Okay Devlin, I'll be careful. Nite!” Joey then hung up the phone as he sighed. `What the hell do you want form me, Kaiba?'

 

The Next Day

 

The sun has risen into morning. At this time, students of Domino High were getting ready to for school! One, in particular was oversleeping as usual!

 

“Joey…time to wake up!” Serenity sweetly said, as she was only dressed in a tight black T-shirt and her navy school skirt. However, her brother was still asleep. “Maybe a new, more effective method was needed…” She said as she leaves the room.

 

Joey continued his slumber, as he appeared to be smiling. “…an' tha crowd goes wild…” He mutters in his sleep as then, a loud trumpet was played on a high note resulting in his eyes quickly opening! “HEY!”

 

“Hay's for horses! Don't have a cow!” Serenity smirked as she hid the trumpet behind her.

 

“You don' have to play it in my ear, y'know!” He complained, rubbing his ears.

 

“How else am I supposed to wake you up? Don't you have an alarm?”

 

“Y'know I trashed that a month ago! Remember, when you set my alarm for 4 O'clock in the morning with the alarm set up high!”

 

“It's not my fault you're a sound sleeper!” Serenity said as Joey went to leave his room and headed to the bathroom to prepare for the day. “Oh and Joey?”

 

“What?” He squeezed out a bit of crest toothpaste as he went to brush his teeth for about a minute.

 

“I don't mind going with Tristan if you guys are going on a double date, making it a triple date!” She informed as Joey did a spit take with the toothpaste mixed with his saliva.

 

“WHAT!?”

 

“You and Arisa are trying to get Tea and Yugi together by having a double date, right? So why not have Tristan and me make it a Triple Date?” She explained as Joey narrowed his eyes.

 

“Were you listening in on our conversation?” He asked as he opened a bottle of mouthwash.

 

“Maaaaaaybe!” She teased as Joey began to gargle before spitting out the liquid into the sink.

 

“How much did you hear?”

 

“Not much…” She said as she left the bathroom! “Just up to Duke Devlin basically saying that you're a dead man!” She then skipped off for her to finish dressing herself.

 

Joey sighed, “Little Sistas…” He went on to get dressed.

 

Outside the Apartment

 

As Joey, now fully dressed, was leaving his apartment door, he slid on the stair railing down as he had a friend waiting for him.

 

“Dead man walking…”

 

Joey glared. “You heard too?”

 

Tristan shrugged. “Hey, word gets around quick. Where's Arisa? I figured you'd be walking with her!”

 

“I dunno…probably overslept!”

 

“Overslept? Maybe you're being a bad influence on her!” He joked.

 

“Hey, I don't need this from you! From what I'm hearin' I'm already gonna have a hard time today!”

 

“I still say you should've beat him!”

 

“Then he'd bug me for another duel, saying some crap about it being dumb luck.”

 

“Just like how you get rare cards?” Tristan said, much to his friend's annoyance.

 

“Well excuse me for not having a checkbook as big as Kaiba's!”

 

“Oh Joey! Tristan!”

 

The two turned around to see Arisa running towards them! “Good, you guys are okay!”

 

“You heard too, huh?” Joey said, knowing where this was going as Arisa then gave him a cattle prod. “What's this?”

 

“That's just if Kaiba jumps you!” She said as Joey sighed. Even she had heard about Joey's situation with Kaiba.

 

“I can handle myself! It's not like Rich Boy has his own posse!” Joey reminded as the trio headed to the school.

 

Domino High School

 

Kaiba stood outside of Joey's locker, arms crossed. He didn't care if it took all morning, all day, or all night for that matter! He was going to be the first thing Wheeler sees when he got here. If he wants his books, he'll have to get past him. And when he saw him, that hack would get the worse beating of his pathetic-

 

“Hey Kaiba!”

 

Kaiba looked over and saw Kara waving at him. “You know that's Joey's locker you're standing next to, right?”

 

“That's the idea.” He coldly says. “Wheeler's going to get his books. And when he does, I'll be right there! And then he'll get what he deserves!”

 

Kara sighed, “Okay, I've heard about this whole `dead man walking' thing around school!”

 

“Word does get around.” Kaiba glared. “Wheeler has made a fool of me for the last time!”

 

“What did he do now…” Kara sighed. She had heard from Arisa about the “relationship” between him and Joey. Apparently they've been going at each other's throats for years. Usually, Kaiba has had the upper hand. Now the tables have turned, and since then Kaiba showed uncontrollable anger, which resulted him being in the Anger Management group in the first place. Sadly, this would now be another “regular” day for them.

 

“If there's one thing I hate, it's being treated like a weakling, a charity case, a dependant chump!” Kaiba declared. “Wheeler had the duel won and he decided to let me have the victory? He could've took out the rest of my Life Points with that damned Spell Card of his, but he decided to just let me have the victory, as if it was some giveaway!”

 

“Kaiba…it's just a game…” Kara said, which at the look on his face, she regretted saying what she just said.

 

“Just a game? JUST A GAME!? “ He screamed.

 

“Kaiba, calm down!”

 

“Now you listen to me Kara! I'm supposed to be the number one duelist in the world! I know that I haven't beaten Yugi yet, but that's not the point! How am I supposed to be number one when Wheeler, someone who I've not only beaten, but crushed twice already, apparently turned out to be lying about his deck all along and wasn't playing seriously! Thank about it! All these idiots would probably ask `What if Joey Wheeler was playing seriously? Would Seto Kaiba actually have beaten him, or will he lose to him just like he did to Yugi?'”

 

“Okay then, if you feel like this duel's the Holy Freaking Grail to you, then why don't you just talk to him and get him to accept another duel!” Kara suggested. She was becoming annoyed with this. Not only with Kaiba's ranting about how being the number one Duelist means to him, but the whole rivalry between him and Joey in general! All this was doing is not doing any favors for the both of them, and it needed to come to an end.

 

“Well for your information it is the Holy Freakin-” Kaiba stopped as he recalled what Kara had just said. All he needed to do is to get Joey to accept another duel, and to make sure that he doesn't try to lose on purpose. If he was going to crush that 3rd-Rate chump, he was going to do it on his own terms, not Wheeler's or anyone else's. A grin grew on his face. “Thanks Kara, you just gave me an idea…”

 

“You're welcome…I think.” She sighed as she began to walk away. “I just hope you two settle this like civilized people…”

 

Now arriving, Joey, Tristan, and Arisa walked inside of the building as the other students looked at them. Comments such as “We'll be missing ya, Wheeler!” “He was so young, so brave!” And the ever popular humming to the Funeral March.

 

“I wish people would get a grip! It's not like Kaiba's in war paint carrying a tomahawk, looking for a fight!”

 

“WHEEEELEER!”

 

The three turned around and saw Kaiba storming towards him. “That loud war cry, on the other hand, may give them suitable grounds.”

 

Kaiba was now face to face with his adversary as he then glared at the other two. “Move…”

 

Tristan tried to explain. “Hold on, Kaiba! You really need to control that-”

 

“MOVE!”

 

“Joey, I gotta…well…meet up with Bakura!” Tristan said as he quickly walked away in one direction.

 

“And I…umm…well…gotta be somewhere else, later Luvvie!” Arisa ran in another direction, leaving a nervous Joey alone with the enraged brunette.

 

“Now Kaiba…can't we just-”

 

“I'M THROUGH WITH YOUR BULLSHIT WHEELER!” Kaiba snapped.

 

“Remember group Kaiba? We have to control our-”

 

“I don't care! I told you back at Kaiba Land, I decide when you lose! I had you hook line and sinker with Magic Cylinder! But now I find out that you had a Spell Card that could've won you the duel and you didn't use it?”

 

“So you won! Big freakin' deal! What's wrong with that? You never complained about it before!”

 

Kaiba clutched onto Joey's jacket as he then slammed him into a locker, “DOES THE WORD PRIDE HAVE ANY MEANING TO YOU!?”

 

“Um…yeah?” He replied a bit startled by the CEO. Who wouldn't after being slammed into a locker?

 

“Then why are you continuing to take mine away? Tell me that!”

 

“Kaiba…you're wrinklin' the jacket!”

 

“Your jacket should be the least of your worries, Dog!”

 

“You can bitch about it in group later, Kaibs.” Joey broke Kaiba's grip as he went to walk away, but Kaiba grabbed his arm.

 

“I'm not done with you yet! To hell with the group, after school we're going back to my dueling arena and this time you're not going to give me a cheap victory! Got it?”

 

“…I think I need to be somewhere else now.”

 

“You're not going anywhere until you accept my challenge!” Kaiba stated, eyes narrowing.

 

“Even if yer late for class and risk a detention?”

 

“Whatever it takes…” Kaiba's glare became even narrower…

 

“So I guess you can miss a few days of work, huh? After all, Detention's gonna cut into your precious work time!” Joey reminded. “Myself, aside from group, I don't really have anything to lose! Sure I'd miss hanging out with my friends, but I could always make that up! So between the two of us, you have the most to lose! Let's just hope Pegasus doesn't get word of this, otherwise let's face it: You'd really be fucked!” And with that Joey pulled his arm from Kaiba's grip as he walked away.

 

“Accept my challenge, Wheeler!”

 

“A few months ago, I'd accept. But as of yesterday, I'm retired!” He stated.

 

“Then get out of retirement! Unless you're too scared like the Puppy Dog you are!”

 

Joey rolled his eyes, “Are you done?”

 

“Just what I thought, you always talk big, but the truth is that you're just a scared little bitch that puts his tail between his legs and run!”

 

“Nope, just a guy who knows when to cut his losses and move on.” He continued to walk away as the bell rang.

 

“WHEELER, YOU WILL DUEL ME! YOU'LL DO ME IF IT'S LAST THING EITHER OF US DO!” Kaiba screamed at the blonde before going to his class. As much as he hated him, Joey did have a point. These detentions and the group meetings were beginning to take their toll on his work rate at Kaiba Corp. And he had the blonde Mongrel to blame for both of them.

 

Outside of Domino High! After School!

 

School managed to go by very quickly as luckily for Joey, today was the class he didn't have any with Kaiba. However, once school was out, that wasn't even going to matter…

 

Joey and Arisa had already left and changed into their regular clothes, much to the relief of the couple. Without either of them having a detention, much less having any other…distractions to deal with, no way they were not going to be late to the group meeting. Yesterday didn't count since technically it wasn't a meeting but more like a field trip to Kaiba Land!

 

“So did you talk to him about it?” Arisa asked.

 

“I'll be honest, I didn't even get the chance!” Joey admitted. “After all, I was busy trying to avoid Kaiba as much as possible! So talking to Yugi about the double date idea's nearly impossible.”

 

“Well…you know that you're going to see him in group, right?” She reminds.

 

“Honestly, I'm hoping that he decides not to go, for real this time! I can't be wasting my time with Kaiba anymore! Otherwise I'm not going to need to bring my grades down on purpose. I mean I want to graduate with some hope of getting into a good school an' having a successful career.”

 

“You're still thinking about it?”

 

“Yeah…But the main problem is the thing that we all know to have a bit of problems in: Money! Needless to say, I'm flat out broke! I know I got the money I manage to win in that contest, but not if I keep buyin' new packs!”

 

“You're desperate for Lv6 Horus, are ya!”

 

“I Just hate having cards that are so useless in my deck. Hell, the only time I used Knight's Title and Dark Magician Knight was in a duel against Yugi! It's just my luck: I keep getting these great cards, only to find out that they're useless to me!”

 

“Oh well Luvie, it could've been worse!”

 

“How worse?”

 

Arisa reached into the pocket of her leather jacket and managed to pull out a card: Three Star, Light Attribute, Warrior monster! 200 ATK, 700 DEF! It's only apparent use was to summon a monster that only one person in this world had! Yes, it was the notorious (read: useless) Kaibaman card. Arisa showed it to Joey. “Look Familiar?”

 

“I guess that explains Kaiba's fashion sense.” He mused. “I almost wonder why Kaiba didn't have that for a costume...er what was he again?”

 

“Vampire Lord.” Arisa shrugged. “But then again, it's all Kaiba's decision.”

 

“Eh? I had enough of Kaiba for one day! Let's just get this group meeting over with so we can-Oh god no!” Joey sighed as they've made it to the YMCA building. However, they had an unwanted guest waiting for them, arms crossed.

 

“Well…Wheeler and Mallovic. Nice to see you.” Kaiba smirked, standing in front of the door.

 

“What'd you want, Kaiba?” Joey asked, not really in the mood to deal with him right now.

 

“Debra told me that the meeting's cancelled.” Kaiba informed. “Apparently Delia has a family emergency she needs to attend to! And since Kara has an exam she needs to cram for, we all have the day off!

 

“That's too bad…” Arisa sighed. “At least we can get started on our project for video production class.”

 

“Not quite!” Kaiba informed. “Wheeler, since we don't have to suffer though another meeting, we can now head to my dueling arena and you'll give me the rematch I deserve!”

 

Joey sighed, “I told you once, and I'll tell you again! I'm retired! I have zero desire to duel, much less against you! I have nuthin' to gain, so thanks but no thanks!” He turned around as he proceeded to walk away.

 

“See ya around Kaibaman!” Arisa chirped before she went to follow Joey.

 

“Wheeler, you get back here right now and accept my challenge!” Kaiba called out. “Don't think you can keep hiding from me forever, Whimpering Dog!” He seethed. How dare he ignore him, let alone turn down his challenge! He started to consider threatening him to duel him, but then again, lately the Mongrel always managed to turn the tables, reminding the CEO that he had more to lose than him. Perhaps another persuasive method would be required to make him accept the duel...

 

 

For those of you who are wondering, yes I used the Kaibaman card, the card that, in another person's words, looks like Seto Kaiba in a chicken suit. Personally, I can't see the resemblance. It just looks as if Kaiba removed the buckles from his coat and put on a helmet over a long blonde wig. You be the judge. Back to the story! What plan does Kaiba have to make Joey Duel him? What will he do to get him to accept his challenge?