Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Things Change ❯ Later That Night ( Chapter 24 )

Happy New Years to ya all, and for my New Years Gift, I give to you this chapter, finished at 3:00 in the morning. That shows how much I love you guys. Plus, I've been working on my version of R.Kelly's “Trapped in the Closet” but with a Yugioh Twist. Right now I'm thinking if I should post it or not. Anyway, enjoy this chapter.

 

Chapter 23: Later That Night…

 

Solomon Moto was worried. It was already worrisome enough that since the news of Joey being shot had been spread, Yugi hasn't been seen or heard from. Now, it appeared that he's been in his room, curled into a ball, all alone all this time.

 

“Yugi, are you okay?” The elderly man asked, concern on his face.

 

“It's all my fault…” The boy simply said. “It's all my fault…”

 

“What's your fault?” Solomon asked. What was it that Yugi was basically beating himself for? He shook his head, it couldn't be! “Yugi, you're not blaming yourself for Joey being shot, are you?”

 

“It is my fault Grandpa…” He admitted. “Don't try to say that it's not.”

 

“It's not Yugi! You're beating yourself over something that you had no control over.”

 

“DAMNIT GRANDPA, STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR ME!” Yugi screamed which shocked Solomon. Never did he have ever seen Yugi angry, much less to this extreme. He wondered what had happened. Tristan told him that they went to a bad part of town looking for duels. He already made it a point to talk to Joey later about this, when he was better, but that wasn't the case. The most important thing was Yugi's well being at the moment.

 

Tears began to pour down from his eyes. “Can't you see Grandpa? It is my fault! I was the one who wanted Joey to take me there in the first place. Joey tried to warn me not to go, but I wouldn't listen. I just couldn't resist a duel, no matter how dangerous it was. I mean, I've faced worst, right? How bad could those people be? But I found out…” He sniffed, “I found out… just how cruel things over there really were. Then Kaiba came, and everyone was angry. One of them went to shoot Kaiba, but Joey pushed him out of the way.” Yugi buried his head into his knees as he began to sob again. “It's my fault, Grandpa. It's all my fault.”

 

Solomon watched his grandson cried as he began to feel so helpless. Despite all he's already gone through up until now, he had managed still maintain his innocence about the world. He couldn't help but blame Joey, if just a little, for the way he was now. Joey's proven to be a nice guy and, when he wasn't lazy, could do well in anything he applied to if he put effort to it, duel monsters being one example, but let's face it: Joey was basically raised on the streets and was probably used to such unfortunate events such as gang wars and riots and wondered if him getting shot was really the first time. Up until recently he was prone to anger and violence. He suspected that his friends, his sister, and his new girlfriend were the cause of that change. Speaking of Arisa, he had saw her broke down and snapped at Seto Kaiba at the hospital. He began to worry about the girl, if that was any indication of how she was like if Joey wasn't around to keep her from going out of control, he prayed to never see how she was like if the fair possibility of Joey dying became a reality. The only thing he could do now was to embrace his grandson, ensuring him that everything would be fine! “Yugi, we'll find this Tyrell and bring him to justice.” He assured. “He won't get away with this.”

 

“Don't…” He said, much to Solomon's shock.

 

“What's wrong?”

 

“Don't tell me that everything's going to be okay, when it's not!” Yugi said. “So what if they do catch Tyrell? Who's saying that they won't stop someone else shooting another one of my friends? And before the ambulance came, Syd told me how none of cops would even bother coming around here, seeing that it was pointless in dealing with, as she called it, `a lost cause.' It's like the government take one step forward and two steps back. They hardly, if at all, care about what's happening to everyone, no matter where they live, no matter what their income is. Now I'm starting to realize why Joey hates cops, not because he used to get in trouble with them a lot, but because they don't care! All they want is an easy payday and an open and shut case.”

 

“Yugi…”

“Please Grandpa… I used to believe in our national justice system, that `To serve and protect' was the police's code of honor. Please, don't tell me any stories anymore…” As Yugi said those last words, he turned around and before asleep. Solomon Moto couldn't help but feel worried for his Grandson. This was a tough time indeed.

 

Gardner Residence

 

As it began to rain, Téa was placing her school uniform on the hook on her door for tomorrow. It had been a long day for all of them. It was getting late and the doctors weren't going to allow visitors anytime soon so they went home to get some sleep, and prepare for school the next morning. However, she began to worry if Joey would ever wake up from this. Last she heard, he had still didn't wake up, and when he finally did, she was going to smack him a few times for not only going there and nearly get himself killed, but to bring Yugi into this as well.

 

Speaking of her shorter friend, she didn't even have any idea where he could've been through all of this. He must've felt terrible, and why wouldn't he? He just saw one of his closest friends shot by some idiot for one reason or another. It was safe to say that after all of this, Yugi, the Yugi she's known for basically forever was gone, and that he would never be the same again.

 

As she heard the doorbell ring, Téa blinked. “Who could it be at this hour?” She wondered. Dressed in a white sports bra and gym shorts, she went downstairs to see who was crazy enough to be out at this hour. Luckily her parents were so tired that they couldn't hear it, otherwise she'd probably be in trouble as, with the odds being slim-to-none, whoever it was at the door was probably for her.

As she made it down the stairs, she went to the door before opening it. When she saw who it was, her eyes were in shock. “Serenity!?”

 

The auburn-haired girl carried her pink backpack, as she appeared to be soaking wet. “Téa, could I please spend the night wit you?” She asked.

 

“What happened to you?” She asked, noting the wet sneakers, socks, shorts, shirt, and jacket. “Why aren't you at home?”

 

“I didn't want to stay with that bitch so I left!” She said bitterly. Téa had noticed the dried tearstains under her reddened eyes. Serenity must have been crying. “I had to walk all the way back to the hospital and no one was there. When I said that I was going to spend the night here, they threatened to call her if I didn't leave so I came here. You were the closest near the hospital.”

 

“But your mom must be so worried!” Téa explained. She didn't understand why she hated her mother all of the sudden. She could've seen this from Joey, but not Serenity!

 

Serenity retorted with a scoff, “That's a lie! The woman doesn't have a redeeming quality. She never cared at all!”

 

“We'll talk more about this later, let's get you some dry clothes first.” She suggested as the soaked girl walked inside. Hoping to get warm and hoping to stay her without her parents finding out. The last thing she needed was for Téa's parents to call her and pick her up.

 

10 Minutes Later, Téa's Room.

 

“And she never even cared at all…” Serenity finished, now dressed in her pink pajamas, as she took a drink out of her mug of hot cocoa. “Joey could die and she'd rather work on her damn case for tomorrow! And then she slapped me!” She sniffed a bit. “She slapped me in the face. I guess Joey isn't the only child of hers that she hates…”

 

Téa couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew that Joey had a grudge against his mom for abandoning him to his drunken deadbeat father, but after hearing what she's been hearing, his grudge against her was more than justified. When he used to joke with her, Yugi and Tristan when he said that he was fucked up, somehow she knew that he wasn't joking. Now that she thought about it, she would've turned out like Joey, the same Joey she first met - loud, rude, obnoxious, and most of all an insensitive prick - if her father was a deadbeat alcoholic and her mother didn't care about her. Hell, anyone would! Granted he was occasionally three out of the four, it was still a lot better than the Joey who, along with Tristan, used to pick on Yugi everyday. Even if they were “just toughening him up.”

 

She sighed, “You know that you're going to have to work things out with your mom.” She informed them. “Both of you. I don't care how you and Joey feel about her, but she's still your mother.”

 

“Well she sure as hell acts like one.” Serenity dryly said. “Some mother…”

 

“I'm serious! I'm not going to let another family fall apart all because of some old trivial issues that should've been long resolved.”

 

“Maybe this family was destined to fall apart.”

 

“You only have one mother, though.”

 

“Right… but that doesn't mean that I have to like her.” Serenity reminded. “Besides, I don't need to worry about having a mother figure.”

 

Téa looked at the auburn-haired girl, “Why's that?”

 

She let out a soft chuckle. “Joey always said that you act like you were his mom so much that you actually could considering being his!”

 

“WHAT!?” Téa eyes went wide at this revelation. Talk about coming out from left field… “Is this how Joey really thinks of me?”

 

“In a way… yeah.” Serenity teased.

 

“Well that's great…” The brunette girl sighed. Joey thinks of her more as a mother figure than a potential girlfriend? She knew that it wasn't supposed to be an insult, but it sure doesn't make her feel happy either. It was more like she just instantly aged 30 years. If anyone was, or should've been like a mother figure, it should've been Mai. Wasn't she like, 30? Téa couldn't remember her age, as Mai Valentine was never the one to reveal her age. But she did remember Joey saying that their relationship, while he had liked to have one, would reach pedophilia levels. Let's face it, Joey might've basically been the adult around his house with his deadbeat father, but let's face it: He was still a minor in high school. And with the hard pressure these days, not only were underage relationships between an adult and a minor were looked down upon, but in some places they were even illegal. And the last thing anyone wanted was for Mai to get sent to jail because of her relationship with Joey. But back on subject, now Joey, according to Serenity, thought of Téa as like a mother to him? If Joey really thought of her like that, then she could forget about having any chance of having a relationship with him that went beyond their friendship…even if by some miracle he broke up with her…

 

 

Kaiba Manor

 

Kaiba fiercely typed away on his computer at this late hour, trying to put behind the events of what had happened today. Especially Wheeler getting shot! So what if he could possibly die from all of this? Why the hell should he even care about the chump? If anything he deserved to get shot! Why? If he would just accepted the stupid duel, then none of this would've happened! Then he would've just beaten that hack and be done with the whole thing. Hmph, It's not like he asked for him to take the bullet for him in the first place! He knew that he wasn't going to thank him, but the idiot did so anyway! And why should he? For one thing, he sure as hell wasn't so helpful in getting Mokuba's stolen sneakers back, or as they called it, “kicks!” Kaiba had some kicks of his own. A few headed directly towards the mongrel's ass as a matter of fact… If he somehow woke up…

 

His last words before going unconscious didn't help either. Kaiba scoffed, even when he went unconscious he had an insult for him. Would you want to help the person who just labeled you as a “fucking elitist piece of shit?” He didn't think so. Wheeler should've been lucky he even called an ambulance, at all. For all that's worth he could've just walked away, not caring at all. And he still didn't cared then, so why should he now?

 

“You're not getting any work done, are you?”

 

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. Out of all the times. Out of all the times where he actually tries to catch up on some of his work, he had to show up now. “Now what…”

 

“Or are you feeling a bit guilty since you…well…y'know…” Seto said to Kaiba.

 

“Guilty is the least of what I'm feeling. Now if you excuse me, I have a company to run!”

 

“At this time of night?”

 

“Yes, at this time of night! Lately it's been the only time I could actually get some work done thanks to…some distractions.”

 

“Like Joey having to help you and ended up saving your life?”

 

“Please! Wheeler's backhanded help I could've done without!” Kaiba declared. “He's the reason why it came down to this!”

 

“Oh right…I almost forgot. The duel. The duel that you oh-so much want from him.”

 

“You're making me sound like I'm one of those whores who're looking to leech on any man who'd pay them a dime.” Kaiba rolled his eyes. “I'm not that desperate!”

 

“Yes… Unlike them, you just had to go to the most dangerous parts of town to get what you want, and all you got was a revelation.” Seto reminded. “All you got was almost shot! You just had to make them angry!”

 

Kaiba rolled his eyes. “Seto, it's not my fault if those ruffians aren't civilized. Even Wheeler has more class than them, and we all know how sophisticated he is!” Kaiba shook his head. “Great, first I'm talking to my conscience, now I calling him by name…” Perhaps sleep was the best option at the moment, but he had so much work to do. With the exception of keys being pressed on the keyboard, total silence filled the room. Until…

 

“You're worried about him, aren't you?”

 

`What now…' Kaiba turned to his annoyance for a conscience. “What are you talking about?”

 

“You're trying to work so you won't think about how Joey's doing!”

 

“I am not thinking about Wheeler!” Kaiba hissed.

 

“Suure you're not.” Seto replied, completely unconvinced.

 

“Why should I, Genius? Why should I care about-” Kaiba stopped himself, knowing what Seto was going to say. “Nevermind… And besides, it's not like he actually wanted to save me out of the good will of his heart. Everyone with half a brain knows that if Yugi weren't there, Wheeler would've just watched me get shot. Hell, he'd probably even join them knowing him…”

 

“Aren't you being a bit paranoid?” Seto asked.

 

“It's the truth! Everyone knows that Wheeler and I…let's just say that Satan and Jesus have a better chance of being gay lovers than we have of even being able to tolerate each other.”

 

“But still, saying that Joey would leave you to die is still a bit farfetched.”

 

“Please, I could get killed the next day and he wouldn't even mourn or at least show up at my funeral. Not like I'd pay him any respects if the tables were reversed… Since day one, he's never showed me any respect at all! He always had a grudge against me just because I'm everything he'll never be: Successful, both in dueling and in life.”

 

“Actually, if I remember correctly, he tried to be friendly with you. A game of duel monsters I believe. `I'd have a better challenge playing solitaire.' I believe you replied. So maybe Joey never showed you any respect, but you weren't so respectful yourself. So basically, you're both to blame.”

 

“Whatever…” Kaiba went back to his work. Not wanting to hear anymore nonsense from his conscience than he already had.

 

“When you think about it, it's not so surprising that your entire feud led to this…” Seto sighed. “It's depressing, really.”

 

“Are you done?” Kaiba rolled his eyes. Apparently his conscience was becoming more and more annoying every day. If that's how it was going to be, then he wished that he didn't have a conscious. Then he wouldn't have to admit, even if it's not aloud, that his conscience may have a point, even if it was a small one. Perhaps if him and Wheeler were at least more civil with each other, then none of this would've happened. But that still didn't change the insults and comments that were made. Especially from Wheeler! He may've seemed to be cold and heartless, but Kaiba had feelings too! True that it was his fault, but that doesn't mean that he deserved to be treated like he was Scrooge. If they would've at least tried to get to know him better, then they would've at least see that there was more to Kaiba's cold personality, even if he rejected their attempts in the past. When you had five of your employees that you trusted try to steal your company and kill you, he'd be paranoid too!