Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ To Serve and Protect ❯ Chapter 1

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

To Serve and Protect
I'm not sure how to explain where this fits in. One; its alternate universe, please reread that, I
repeat Alternate Universe.

All characters have graduated from high school.

Seto Kaiba is 23; Mokuba is 18; Joey Wheeler is 22; Mai Valentine is 25 Other characters are in
this age range.

To Serve and Protect

Joey gritted his teeth. This was going to be the worst time of his life. He was going to prison; in
America no less." God help me now", he thought.

"OK All the arrangements are made. You'll be transferred with regular prisoners. Your contacts
in America will be prisoners, too. A trustee so it should be pretty secure. Just be careful."

"Yeah. Don't bend over in the showers Better get me cuffed before the pickup team gets here."

Joey shuffled down the hall. It was hard to walk in transport chains; his hands were secured in
cuffs attached to a belly chain. a drop chain fell to his feet which were shackled together the
chain only 20 inches long. He kept his head down hiding his eyes behind his bangs. He kept his
eyes moving. always moving. If anything he was over cautious, but he hadn't been under cover
for almost 4 years without learning to watch his back himself.

The walk was not going well. The two idiots who were escorting him had never escorted a
chained prisoner before. Japan had an odd attitude; when you were caught you gave up more or
less. Prisoners could be and were abused to an extent that would have American Civil libertarians
screaming but prisoners were more subdued because of it. So they were hurrying him too much
and letting him trip.

"Hey gimme a break here. yuh see I can't walk so why yuh tryin' t' jerk my chain punk. Slow
down we ain't gonna miss th'plane they gotta hold it." Joey snarled in his worst dock side accent.

In answer he got a punch in the kidney. Dropping to his knees he made it look worse than it was
just to piss them off.

"Seto, did you see that? that cop punched that man in the side. Do something." Mokuba was
indignant. He hated seeing anyone or anything abused. "Make them stop"

"Mokuba, Hush. the man is obviously a dangerous prisoner. Why would they chain him up
otherwise?" Seto looked at the kneeling man. That hair, profile; Wheeler?! "What the hell?"

Joey swore softly, if Kaiba called him Wheeler he was fucked big time. "Fuck ya. Ya can't treat
Jounochi Katsuya dat way. I'll get ya." Joey looked Seto Kaiba in the eyes; the look froze Kaiba.
What ever he was going to say died on his lips.

"Come away, Mokuba He doesn't want our help. what ever Wheeler has gotten himself into it's
beyond me. That stupid mutt has finally thrown his life away. Come on I said Now" Seto was
surprised at how upset he was. Joey obviously didn't want his help no matter how badly he
needed it and Seto wasn't about to try forcing his help on someone he hadn't seen in nearly three
years.

Joey gritted his teeth; he couldn't believe how painful it was to see Kaiba turn his back. They
didn't get along, never had but they had finally respected each other.

As Kaiba turned his back Joey lunged to his feet the guards skittered back. "ya chickens I
never...." Mokuba got in one of the guards faces. "Damnit you cant treat a man like some dog.
That's not right. Stop it." Mokuba turned to help Joey. "I don't need help from some rich kid
Hands off!" Mokuba stared at Joey for a second then paled. "What? Ya never see a con in chains
b'fore. Take a hike" Mokuba blinked then turned his back and ran "Big brother wait for me"

Joey breathed a sigh of relief; he'd hated to turn Mokuba away like that but at this point a slip of
any sort could cost him his life. He couldn't afford to get soft now. After years undercover he had
lots of practice covering up.

First, Hirutani. That was how he'd gotten into this mess in the first place. He'd gon to the block
office when his dad had thrown him out for the umpteenth time. The Captain was a good guy.
He'd even taken Joey home a few times like this night.

****************Flash back********************************************

"Was'sa madda', Watsuki-sama? Bad night all 'round, huh." Joey sipped his tea and grimaced at
the officer across the desk.

"It's that punk hood, Hirutani and his gang again. they beat up an old man nearly killed him all
for his annuity check. but he had it electronically deposited so they didn't get anything." The
Captain shook his head "We've tried to get someone in that gang three times they always blow
their cover. we get some young looking guy just out of the academy and first thing the stupid fool
does is try to play tough guy and get jumped in they don't even make it to the lowest level. it's a
waste."

"Huritani? He's still on the outside? Wow He must have smartened up since I ran with him I
figured he would have been in prison by now or even dead." Joey shook his head in wonder.

"You used to run with the Rintama Mako's. When was that?"

"When I was in middle school. I got in to some trouble. But the judge gave me a big break. He
got me transferred to Domino High and I got in with a good crowd Started playing Duel
Monsters and kept my nose clean. You could look me up I guess. Look for Katsuya the Fist"
Joey grimaced Captain Watsuki-san was going to be disappointed in him now and Joey didn't
like that.

"Joey! I know you have been trying to decide what to do with the rest of your life. How would
you feel about being a police officer?" Watsuki-san looked hopeful

"I can't! I gotta' record. Not much, but enough to keep me off the force. Look it up yourself>"
Joey thought about being a cop; it was long hours; but the pay was decent and he liked the
thought of doing good instead of spending his life drifting from one dead end job to another.

"I looked up your record. It's not good but there's nothing there that would keep you out of the
special division. They deal with gangs and yakuza so they make exceptions that other
departments wouldn't. Would you mind if I put your name up for consideration. Since you have a
history with Hirutani I think you might have an in we can use.

Go ahead Put me up I don't care. If I can do some good I'd like that' Joey didn't realize what he
had done to himself until much later.

*********************end********************************************

Finally turned over to the American escort Joey settled down to sleep.

"Comfortable, Mr Katsuya? I hope so because I'm not going to mess with you. You do what I say
when I say and we won't have any problems. You don't want problems do you?" The American,
named Jessup. Reached out to grip Joey's arm. Joey dodged without even thinking. He was used
to the Japanese guards habit of enforcing commands with a slap.

"Hey, We don't hit unless you start it then we'll finish it but you don't seem like the stupid sort.
I'm going to hold your arm so you don't trip on the ramp. Relax."

"Hn. 'k Not used to American. and my name Jounouchi. Not Katsuya. that given; only friend call
that." Joey's spoke much better English than that but he wasn't going to admit it . If they thought
his English was bad they were more likely to talk around him and when he got to America he
would be around Yakuza who wouldn't expect a mid level knee breaker to know English.

That was what he was going to America for. Drugs were coming into Japan from yakuza in
America. One of the biggest lords over there was in prison in California, so Joey was being
inserted to see if he couldn't wangle his way into the gang and figure out how he was running a
drug ring from prison.

"Seto, that was Joey. Why didn't you do something. I don't understand. He was doing so well.
He had a place in the Graphic Arts School and everything. What went wrong?" Mokuba had
always liked Joey. Even though he knew Seto found him annoying.

"I don't know. He probably didn't have the money to pay his tuition. He went back to the streets;
down in the gutter he crawled out of and wound up on the wrong side of something. I'd have
helped him but he warned me off with a glare that rivaled my own. He's not worth your worry."
But he was. Seto wondered what had happened. Joey wasn't the type to get in serious trouble.
Fist fights and petty vandalism was his speed. "Come on. I can't waste time worrying over that
stupid mutt I've got more important things to do"

Mokuba gave Seto a dirty look. He was old enough now to give Seto a run for his money in
stubbornness but he also knew when to go out on his own and this was it. He decided to see want
he could do on his own. "Seto did you get that file implanted like they asked you. What was in
it?"

"Mokuba I have no idea. They needed a file inserted into their data base without traces of
tampering. I do stuff like this for the police every now and then but I don't read the damn things I
don't need to know what's in them." Seto turned to his brother, "I'm sorry Mokuba I"m tired and
I've got a head ache. Their monitors flicker so much it's a wonder the clerks get anything done.
Let's go home, forget about Wheeler and have dinner early so we can play a video game. How's
that?"

"OK big Bro' I could go for a few rounds of SWAT." Mokuba looked hopeful. He'd graduated
from high school just this last semester and he was going on to college so he wanted to spend as
much time as he could with Seto. He would be living at school next year and they would be apart
for the first time in their lives.

"SWAT? How did I know that was what you'd want to play. You and your shoot 'em ups."Seto
pulled a lock of Mokuba's ever unruly hair.

Joey, true to his word, slept most of the way to California. They had to make a change at some
airport in New Jersey and again some place in Michigan, both times the guards had been careful
of him. He couldn't believe how they treated him, he hoped no one had informed them of his real
status. It could be disastrous."You not hit. You hold not to trip. Why? Criminal I."

"Shit kid, you can't be much older than my son.. You aren't giving me a hard time or smart
mouth. I got nothin' against you, so why start something when it's not necessary? That's the way
we do stuff here in the States. Keep your nose clean, stay out of trouble, and you won't get
trouble back. Understand? And brush up on your English, will you."

************************************************************************

This next part is going to be just bits and pieces showing how Joey and Seto each spend the next
six months

************************************************************************

Joey banged his head against the wall just for something to do besides wish he had something to
do. He hated solitary, nothing to look at but four walls, nothing to do but think and he was tired
of examining his life. Analyzing all the information he had gathered wasn't getting him
anywhere. The Yakuza lord here wasn't the top dog. He was somewhere else.

"Jonouchi, you're being transferred to Georgia. Good luck kid, try to stay out of trouble. Lift
weights, get on a chain gang, further your education. You paying attention?" The guard
efficiently shackled Joey and lead him out to the waiting van.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

"Seto, I'm going to the Mall. Do you need anything? I'll bring back some ice-cream. What flavor
do you want?" Mokuba stuck his head around the door frame.

Seto put his pen down and stretched. "I think I'll go with you. I'm tired of all this paper work.
Since you will be going off to Tokyo soon, I'd like to spend time with you, this stuff will wait"

Mokuba whooped like a kid half his age. Seto had been spending more time with him lately. He
seemed to have relaxed, he wasn't quite so driven anymore.

Seto enjoyed his mall crawl with Mokuba; they ate ice cream and junk food and just in general
did what two young men would do at a mall.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Joey was hot, tired, sweaty and dirty. His ankles ached, his back was sore and he had blistered his
hands. The weight lifting callouses hadn't protected them from the friction of using a scythe. He
was mowing a road side with an old fashioned "grim reaper" scythe. He was wearing leg irons
and they were taking all the skin off.

Some American television station was filming a documentary and making a real nuisance of
themselves. Joey did his best to stay out of the line of fire but he caught one persistent pest
filming him so he gave him a cold glare and then ignored him.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

"Mokuba, come on I've got tickets to Madam Bovary. You've been wanting to see this damn
thing for three weeks. If we're late they won't seat us." Mokuba hugged Seto quickly then
blushed a little.

"Thanks Big Bro' I know you don't like the theater so it makes this really special. I don't know
what you have against being in public all of a sudden"

Seto just shrugged, "You know I've never liked crowds. This thing is so popular that the crowds
are crippling. Now hurry up or we really will be late"

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

"Hey Jap-boy, ya know karate, judo, any of that martial arts crap? Wanna' fight me"

Joey eyed his tormentor in disgust, this happened regularly. Every new group that came in had
one fool who just had to try the Jap. "K'sama !I break you face. You call Jap again." Another
thirty days in solitary Damn. "You no win. You get beat down"

"Hey break it up. No picking on the little guy. He's like dynamite Big bang in a small package.
You come with me the Warden want's to see you"

Joey eyed the new guard for a moment. He looked familiar.

"Well, look at the tough guy. I never would have thought it of you. How the hell did you wind
up here?" Bandit Keith Howard eyed Joey. "What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into
to wind up in prison in America?. Baka!"

Joey kept his mouth shut. He was just about used up and he knew it. He'd gotten as much
information as he was going to get and he just wanted out.

"Well, young man. This is agent Howard; he'll be debriefing you. You'll be transferred
immediately to a halfway house in Atlanta. I hear you two know each other from a while back.
Good luck Mr Katsuya."

Joey just rolled his eyes. For almost six months he'd been trying to get Americans to understand
that Katsuya was his given name. "How soon can I leave. I'd like to make my reports as quickly
as possible and go home. I'd like to thank you for all the help you've given me. Good-by"

Keith Swore softly."Shimata!. K'uso! Jonouchi, you're the mole? Son-of-a-bitch. You've got
some big brass ones."

Joey snarled, "Shut up. Someone hears you I'm toast before I get out of here. Want to get me
shanked again?"

Keith took Joey by the arm and dragged him down a hall. "Here, cuff him. I'm taking him to
Atlanta. It seems that our little Jap is a bigger fish than we thought."

Joey didn't even move while they cuffed him, the weight of the chains didn't bother him now.
After four months on a chain gang, spying on a Yakuza lord who had managed to hid himself in
the wilds of Georgia on a notorious work farm, he was used to them.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

"Seto which suit should I get. I like the blue but the gray is more dignified?" Mokuba fingered
the sleeve of the blue suit doubtfully.

"Buy then both. We can afford it.," Seto smiled at Mokuba he had the oddest habit of trying to
save money on the stupidest things. "If you decide you don't like one or the other just send it
back."

"Can we go for beef pot. I could really go for a good pot of Kobe beef. There is an antique
restaurant down the block. Let's go there. I'm really hungry." Mokuba turned to the hovering
clerk, "I'll take both suits. All three shirts and the pearl grey tie; that dark blue one too. Have
them delivered. Ok?"

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Agent Howard leaned back in his chair. "Damn Wheeler. You'd think you were the Terminator
the way those guys look at you. What have you been doing to get such a rep'?"

"You want the long story or the short one" Joey opened a pack of cigarets and lit one. After
taking a drag. He grimaced at Keith. "Gang busting mostly. I broke Hirutani's Rintama Mako's
up. Got him up for life; Then I infiltrated that Yakuza gang that was smuggling guns into
Domino. That was a hell of a mess. I wound up having to really break some poor fools knee cap.
He'll recover, in fact probably has by now but it was either that or get my brains blown all over
the wall, so the poor sap got hurt, but in a way he brought it on himself. If you can't run with the
big dogs stay on the porch.

That's how I got this." Joey held up the little finger of his left hand. "Boss is just as progressive
as hell. don't believe in cutting off a finger but this tattoo is just as effective and a hell of a lot
less messy."

Keith eyed the red line tattooed around Joeys finger. "I wondered about that. You've been a busy
little bee haven't you? How long have you been undercover?"

"Almost four years. And I'm sick of it. I just want to go home to Japan and slack for a while. I
may have to come back to testify but I hope not. I'm going to buy myself the fastest bike I can
find and spend a while relaxing by riding the twistiest roads in Japan and camping out until I
blow the stink of three different prisons off me."

"Keith. It's not like I don't like your company or nothin but can I get outa' here now?"

"Sure, Joey, as soon as we get you debriefed we'll put ya on a plain to Japan. Coupla days at the
most."

Joey just grunted and lit another cigarette.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

"Howard, when can I get outta here? I've been debriefing for three days now and I"m gettin'
restless. and I"m outta cigarettes again."

Keith looked at Joey and shuddered slightly. He'd known the kid for more than five years and
knew he was tough but his time under cover had hardened him in a way that was not good. He
was more muscular that he seemed and he'd collected some scars that no twenty-three year old
should have.

Looking at Joey clothed, all you could see was a young man in the prime of life, slender and
graceful; with muscular shoulders; and a flat abdomen, his arms and legs were well muscled; he
wasn't bulky like a body builder he was built more like a gymnast or a dancer.

But seeing him now; in nothing but boxers and a snarl he looked hard, all whipcord and raw hide.
he had shackle callouses around wrists and ankles and a scar just under his left floating rib; over
his kidney. He was strung way to tight and his ribs showed like he'd missed one too many meals.

"All you need is a little exercise. Why don't you come to the gym I'm supposed to teach a course.
You could be my subject. I'm always trying to use one of the students and it don't work. they're
too inexperienced. Come on loosen up a little. You're safe here."

"So why don't I feel safe. I think I'll take ya up on that class. I could use some distraction"

Twenty minutes later Keith was reconsidering his offer. Joey had looked at the fresh faced
American students and sneered. they were all young, earnest and intense; just the kind of Rookie
that would annoy a tired, burnt out undercover like Joey. Another ten minutes of demonstrating
self defense with Joey really had Keith regretting his offer. Joey was like an eel every attempt by
Keith to get the upper hand and show a move was evaded, negated or stalled.

"Well Joey why don't you try letting me be the defender this time."

"Damnit Keith I'm sorry but I knew this was a bad idea. I'm just too jumpy to be a good subject."

Joey backed away, he felt bad but his reflexes just wouldn't let him be put down.

The students were all looking uncomfortable. they weren't used to seeing Agent Howard on the
wrong end of an attack. and this scrawny looking guy was making him look bad.

After another half hour of struggling Joey snarled " just give up Howard We're not going to get
anywhere I'm just fuckin' up your class."

one of the rookies piped up "Please Agent Howard after all what real difference dose this make
once we get them cuffed they're done anyway."

Keith just reached behind his back took his handcuffs out of their pouch and showed them to
Joey. He raised an eye brow and Joey put out his hands to be cuffed. "Behind your back,
Wheeler." Joey turned and stood while Keith cuffed him.

Then he dropped rolled and came up with his hands in front of him Keith grabbed for him and
found a foot in his face. Joey missed his face by an inch Keith jerked back and Joey used the
force of his kick to spin completely around bring his hands into play. The double fisted
roundhouse slap would have taken Keith's head off if it had connected but Joey wasn't playing
for keep s so while Keith was still off balance he dropped and unleashed a spin kick that swept
Keith's feet out from under him and dumped him on his butt with a teeth jarring thump.

"Now do you see why this class is so important. Joey Wheeler is one of the best street fighters
I've ever seen. he could beat most of the martial arts instructors here. He don't fight in any style
and that's what makes him so dangerous. You can't predict what he's going to do next. You hope
and pray you never meet someone as good as he is because if you do you either shoot to kill or
you're toast.' Turning to Joey he nodded" Thanks Joey, I think you've made my point for me"

"Good, I want to go home to Japan." Joey walked away, back to his room, where he sat smoking
and wishing. He wanted to see Mai. The last time he'd seen her he had a fresh tattoo around his
finger and she was mad as hell. She'd told him she didn't want to see him until he got over what
ever juvenile stupidity he was indulging in. That had been almost 18 months ago. He'd wanted to
tell her what he was doing but he knew she couldn't keep a secret to save her life, or his.

His return trip to Japan was eventful and long. He slept most of the way. He couldn't seen to ctch
up on sleep and heven help theperson who tryed to wake him. He hearly took the head off the
flight attendant when she bent over him to adjust his blanket. He spent the rest of the flight
sleeping next to an Air Martial wh had been warned about him. He just took Joey up to first class
and stuck him in the corner next to the restroom, putting him out of the way where no one would
bother hm. {Poor kid he looks done in. I wonder how long he's been working}

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