November 13+14th: - 2434 Words
In hindsight the damage done by the fighting wasn’t so bad. The bookcase, the desk, the wall and the kitchen counters were easy to repair with the swift application of a spell. Reparo was, after all, a multipurpose spell. It was more the redecorating that was taking the time.
Well that and...
“I still think I should come with you when Tobias comes to pick you up.” Sirius grouched at Joey, who gave him an irritated look, having covered the most succulent points of why that was a bad idea with Sirius many times.
“Even if Tobias does come and get me,” Joey repeated himself for the sixth or seventh time, if only to burn time until they found something and came to pick him up or Hermione ran out of time and had to head back for a while, “Which I’m beginning to doubt considering the fact the Duel Monsters never wanted us to go to their world in the first place and Hermione’s rant only made them worse, I don’t know if Tobias could take two of us at once.”
“So send him back for me.” Sirius demanded, slamming down the paint roller he’d been using to paint the wall, having to do it the Muggle way since he didn’t know any magical method of redecorating.
“Even if I do, there’s no guarantee could you could make it through the Shadow Realm. You’ve never been there; you don’t know what it’s like.”
“Harry’s my Godson.” Sirius glared at him, “I can’t just...”
“I know.” Joey interrupted, “I know, Sirius.” The blonde sighed, “It’s never easy, playing the waiting game.”
Sirius snorted. If anyone understood what he was going through it was the blonde in front of him. The boy Joey considered his brother had, after all, been getting into incredibly dangerous situations for much longer then Sirius had known him.
But still... “I have to come with you.”
Joey rolled his eyes. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand how Sirius was wired. In Sirius’s place he may have made some very similar choices, but there was one thing he was certain of, and he wasn’t sure how he knew but he did, but there was something wrong with Sirius that meant he would never survive a trip through the Shadow Realm.
Not that surviving in the Shadow Realm was easy by any stretch of the imagination.
But Joey knew what to expect and Tobias was linked to his mind and could help with the strain that just being there could put on a person’s mind, body and soul while Sirius had never been to the Shadows before, didn’t have a partner monster to help out and seemed to treat the dangers of the Shadows like a joke, as if he didn’t believe that they could be as dangerous as they were.
Putting it simply, his brief brush with the Shadows when they had been rampaging, after Zorc had freed them from their seal, had made the wizard overconfident.
Silence fell, broken only by the sound of customers being served downstairs. The awkward silence of not knowing what to say to each other.
Joey picked up his roller, trying not to think about the fact that the shop was heaving again as it had been for the last few weeks, especially since tournament season had kicked off again, and the shop’s normal staff members were currently in a completely different dimension.
Instead Ombre and Gramps were working the jobs of four people. Joey had offered to go down and give them a hand, but Gramps had wanted him to avoid getting bogged down by customers. It was better, he had said, for them to work double, and for Joey to be available the moment that Tobias reappeared, then for Joey to take ten/fifteen finishing serving a customer and possibly missing his friends if the information Tobias came with was time sensitive.
That and Gramps didn’t really want Sirius working in the shop or left alone in the flat.
It wasn’t that the translation spell Sirius had cast back at the start of the Summer wasn’t still in effect, meaning that he could understand Japanese and be understood by the customers, it was that Sirius had no real understanding of Muggle games and as such would be completely useless if a customer asked for advice.
And Joey could understand why Sirius wasn’t to be left alone, considering Sirius had been drinking himself into oblivion when Joey had returned from the Monster World, having gone out and gotten his hands on a large volume of alcohol, most of which had been confiscated by the owner of the house, who, while not denying that a still drink or two was understandable considering the situation, couldn’t condone Sirius drinking himself stupid.
Not when it was unknown if the boys would need to be rushed to a Doctor when they came back, or if any other Duel Monsters were going to come through to the flat and cause trouble. Mahado had sent two Spellcasters through with Joey, a pair of Skilled Dark Magicians who were currently pretending to be cosplayers out front, a trick that was both good and bad at the same time.
It was good because it allowed the pair to hang around without being questioned, while at the same time it was bad because they were very good at pretending to be cosplayers and were attracting more customers.
A dragon’s roar startled Joey to his feet. He knew that roar, it wasn’t the roar that he was waiting for but he knew it far too well all the same.
“Joey?” Sirius asked, getting to his feet as Joey shot towards the backdoor, drawing his wand.
“I don’t know why they’re here.” Joey said, darting down the steps and out to where the limo was pulling up. Looking skyward it wasn’t hard to spot the source of the roar.
“I didn’t want to come,” Seto said as he stepped out of the limo, glancing briefly upwards at the Blue Eyes White Dragon circling the Game Shop, “But...” He trailed off at the look Joey was giving him, nodding to Sirius who had followed the blonde Duellist out.
“What can we do?” Mokuba asked, following his brother out of the limo, having badgered his older brother to come after Elise had explained the whole situation to him while they’d been waiting for Seto to get out of his meetings.
Relief crossed Joey’s features, though he had no idea if the Kaiba brothers could help, considering it wasn’t like Seto had contacts in the Monster World. “Do either of you know how to work a cash register?”
“What?” Seto asked, completely deadpan, ill amused.
“The shop’s busy, the flat’s a state and there are more customers than Ombre and Gramps can handle.”
“So you handle it.” The CEO glowered.
“I can’t.” Joey snapped back, not needing the attitude from Seto right now. “I have to be around for when Tobias comes to pick me up, which means I can’t work the shop, Yugi and Harry have been kidnapped, Sirius can’t work the shop because he has no clue when it comes to Muggle games...”
“Hey!” Sirius protested.
“Atem’s refusing the leave the Monster World until he finds Yugi and Harry,” Joey continued his rant, ignoring the irritated wizard, “And Medan blew the flat to hell, so Sirius and I are stuck redecorating while my friends are lost or hurt...”
"Calm down Mutt.” Seto snapped. “I can call in builders to fix the flat, that’s not a problem.” The CEO waved off the cost as if that was nothing, which, to the young man in question it wasn’t, “And I thought Muto-San always hired students to help in the shop.”
“Yes, because it’s such a good idea to have people to pop in and out of the flat right now.” Joey gave Kaiba a disbelieving look, as if he couldn’t believe the CEO had actually said that. “Gramps phoned them up and told them to take the day off, paid holiday.”
Seto was about to say something when Tobias burst back into the skies above the shop, dodging around Elise as he looked for a place to land near his Duellist. From the front of the shop and odd combination of appreciative sounds and screams could be heard as Tobias disappeared behind the house.
“Tobias?” Joey demanded, darting to his partner’s side, barging past Kaiba and climbing up. “I take it there’s news?”
Wolf reached the palace. Tobias answered, amused at the gathering of Duellists and mage, He knows where Yugi and Harry are.
“Let’s go then!”
Tobias roared and Joey sensed the shadows weave around them, an uncomfortable ability that he hadn’t had before the memory world incident, only to be shocked out of his thoughts by the sounds of complaints from Tobias’s side.
Then they were in the grounds of the Dark Palace and Joey looked over Tobias’s shoulder to find Seto leaning heavily against the dragon, at least until he realised that Joey was watching.
Then the CEO straightened up.
“Damn it, Kaiba!” Joey snapped, practically leaping off of his dragon, who moved aside to allow Joey free reign to shout at the older Kaiba brother, “Do you have any idea how stupid that was? What were you thinking?”
“If you have to know, mutt.” Seto snapped back, feeling dizzy, having not intended to come along for the ride but having been knocked against the Red Eyes Black Dragon when Joey had barged past and had been touching Tobias when he’d brought Joey back through, “It’s none of your business what was going through my mind.”
Considering it had been incredibly rude re a certain blonde Duellist who had been a pain in his rear, for a very long time now, Wheeler didn’t need to know.
“I am not taking the blame from Kisara for this.” Joey warned, fuming, before turning to his partner, “Where’s Mahado and Atem? We should get going.”
The Red Eyes snorted his agreement; They’re already on the move. We can catch up to them easily but what are we doing with him? The dragon gave Seto a frustrated look.
“Tell Kisara he’s here. She can deal with him.” Joey rolled his eyes in return, having waited far too long for news to want to wait now.
Before Seto could protest and demand answers, Tobias had taken off again, heading off to battle.
By the time Tobias had been gone even a couple of minutes, a Blue Eyes touched down in the courtyard, a rather mad one if her posture was anything to go by, and once again it wasn’t Kisara.
You, Seto Kaiba, The dragon growled as she landed, a familiar mop of black hair on her back, waving cheerfully at him, And your family are nothing but trouble.
Seto ignored the dragon, having listened to her ranting all the way through the meetings, in favour of glowering at Mokuba. “What do you think you’re doing here?”
“I’m not staying behind while you have all the fun.” Mokuba snorted, almost fifteen now and, while nowhere near as headstrong as his brother had been at that age, certainly stubborn enough to give Elise a headache.
"Mokuba Kaiba, you go back now or I’ll...”
Seto was cut off by the arrival of a second Blue Eyes. This one he knew from the moment he spotted her and she was mad.
Elise, why have you brought Mokuba here? I told you to guard him not bring him to our world. Kisara spat at the other, younger, dragon who shied away from the first Blue Eyes White Dragon.
“In her defence, I made her bring me here after Tobias grabbed Seto by accident.” Mokuba spoke up, surprising the dragon who turned to consider the CEO carefully.
Tobias grabbed you? Kisara demanded of Seto, I was informed it was the other way around.
Seto snorted. Of course the mutt, in the mood he was in had put the worst spin on it possible. “I had no intention of coming here.” Seto stated, seeing no point in making something up when he had trouble hiding his mind from the strongest of the Blue Eyes White Dragons, “The blame lies with Wheeler for barging past me in his haste to get to his dragon’s side.”
Kisara snorted. I will deal with him later. She growled. He has horrible timing.
“What’s going on?” Mokuba asked, concerned at her tone.
Elise and I will take the pair of you back, then we will join Mahado and the others. Kisara informed him, giving Seto a look that just dared him to contradict her. Wolf, Potter’s partner monster, is showing them where Medan’s holding Potter and Mutou. We’ll be attacking the camp.
It amused Seto somewhat that his dragon had never fallen into the same trap as the other monsters by referring to Yugi and Harry by a title and he knew she only did it for Atem because that was his name as much as any other one he had. “Mahado’s nowhere near as powerful as you.” Seto snorted, ill amused he’d been dragged here. “Mokuba and I will be safe enough for the moment. I suggest that you come back for us.”
Seto... Kisara growled warningly.
“I know the dangers.” Seto waved her off. “I’ll send Mokuba back with Elise and catch the next ride. Go.”
You are my primary concern. Kisara snapped irritably, having thought Seto understood that.
He did. He always had, but that just seeing her concern was enough for the CEO. “You forget Kisara, Yugi still holds the title that I have been seeking for almost a decade.” Seto pointed out, though he saw Mokuba cringe at Seto’s mention of the ‘King of Games’ title that he’d thought, or rather hoped, Seto had pretty much forgotten about obtaining since they’d been inducted into the Clan as founding members. “And I will be... ill amused, if he dies before I obtain it.”
Kisara gave him a shrew look. Even since he’d been counted a member of the family by the Pharaoh and his other self, Seto had played up to old expectations when feeling awkward or nervous or irritated. She knew what he really meant by his words. I will join the fighting then. Kisara nodded. Elise, get them back safely.
I will, my sister. Elise replied, nodding.
With that Kisara took off again and Elise waited only a few moments before preparing to take the Kaiba brothers back.
Which was about when everything went to hell.
Well that and...
“I still think I should come with you when Tobias comes to pick you up.” Sirius grouched at Joey, who gave him an irritated look, having covered the most succulent points of why that was a bad idea with Sirius many times.
“Even if Tobias does come and get me,” Joey repeated himself for the sixth or seventh time, if only to burn time until they found something and came to pick him up or Hermione ran out of time and had to head back for a while, “Which I’m beginning to doubt considering the fact the Duel Monsters never wanted us to go to their world in the first place and Hermione’s rant only made them worse, I don’t know if Tobias could take two of us at once.”
“So send him back for me.” Sirius demanded, slamming down the paint roller he’d been using to paint the wall, having to do it the Muggle way since he didn’t know any magical method of redecorating.
“Even if I do, there’s no guarantee could you could make it through the Shadow Realm. You’ve never been there; you don’t know what it’s like.”
“Harry’s my Godson.” Sirius glared at him, “I can’t just...”
“I know.” Joey interrupted, “I know, Sirius.” The blonde sighed, “It’s never easy, playing the waiting game.”
Sirius snorted. If anyone understood what he was going through it was the blonde in front of him. The boy Joey considered his brother had, after all, been getting into incredibly dangerous situations for much longer then Sirius had known him.
But still... “I have to come with you.”
Joey rolled his eyes. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand how Sirius was wired. In Sirius’s place he may have made some very similar choices, but there was one thing he was certain of, and he wasn’t sure how he knew but he did, but there was something wrong with Sirius that meant he would never survive a trip through the Shadow Realm.
Not that surviving in the Shadow Realm was easy by any stretch of the imagination.
But Joey knew what to expect and Tobias was linked to his mind and could help with the strain that just being there could put on a person’s mind, body and soul while Sirius had never been to the Shadows before, didn’t have a partner monster to help out and seemed to treat the dangers of the Shadows like a joke, as if he didn’t believe that they could be as dangerous as they were.
Putting it simply, his brief brush with the Shadows when they had been rampaging, after Zorc had freed them from their seal, had made the wizard overconfident.
Silence fell, broken only by the sound of customers being served downstairs. The awkward silence of not knowing what to say to each other.
Joey picked up his roller, trying not to think about the fact that the shop was heaving again as it had been for the last few weeks, especially since tournament season had kicked off again, and the shop’s normal staff members were currently in a completely different dimension.
Instead Ombre and Gramps were working the jobs of four people. Joey had offered to go down and give them a hand, but Gramps had wanted him to avoid getting bogged down by customers. It was better, he had said, for them to work double, and for Joey to be available the moment that Tobias reappeared, then for Joey to take ten/fifteen finishing serving a customer and possibly missing his friends if the information Tobias came with was time sensitive.
That and Gramps didn’t really want Sirius working in the shop or left alone in the flat.
It wasn’t that the translation spell Sirius had cast back at the start of the Summer wasn’t still in effect, meaning that he could understand Japanese and be understood by the customers, it was that Sirius had no real understanding of Muggle games and as such would be completely useless if a customer asked for advice.
And Joey could understand why Sirius wasn’t to be left alone, considering Sirius had been drinking himself into oblivion when Joey had returned from the Monster World, having gone out and gotten his hands on a large volume of alcohol, most of which had been confiscated by the owner of the house, who, while not denying that a still drink or two was understandable considering the situation, couldn’t condone Sirius drinking himself stupid.
Not when it was unknown if the boys would need to be rushed to a Doctor when they came back, or if any other Duel Monsters were going to come through to the flat and cause trouble. Mahado had sent two Spellcasters through with Joey, a pair of Skilled Dark Magicians who were currently pretending to be cosplayers out front, a trick that was both good and bad at the same time.
It was good because it allowed the pair to hang around without being questioned, while at the same time it was bad because they were very good at pretending to be cosplayers and were attracting more customers.
A dragon’s roar startled Joey to his feet. He knew that roar, it wasn’t the roar that he was waiting for but he knew it far too well all the same.
“Joey?” Sirius asked, getting to his feet as Joey shot towards the backdoor, drawing his wand.
“I don’t know why they’re here.” Joey said, darting down the steps and out to where the limo was pulling up. Looking skyward it wasn’t hard to spot the source of the roar.
“I didn’t want to come,” Seto said as he stepped out of the limo, glancing briefly upwards at the Blue Eyes White Dragon circling the Game Shop, “But...” He trailed off at the look Joey was giving him, nodding to Sirius who had followed the blonde Duellist out.
“What can we do?” Mokuba asked, following his brother out of the limo, having badgered his older brother to come after Elise had explained the whole situation to him while they’d been waiting for Seto to get out of his meetings.
Relief crossed Joey’s features, though he had no idea if the Kaiba brothers could help, considering it wasn’t like Seto had contacts in the Monster World. “Do either of you know how to work a cash register?”
“What?” Seto asked, completely deadpan, ill amused.
“The shop’s busy, the flat’s a state and there are more customers than Ombre and Gramps can handle.”
“So you handle it.” The CEO glowered.
“I can’t.” Joey snapped back, not needing the attitude from Seto right now. “I have to be around for when Tobias comes to pick me up, which means I can’t work the shop, Yugi and Harry have been kidnapped, Sirius can’t work the shop because he has no clue when it comes to Muggle games...”
“Hey!” Sirius protested.
“Atem’s refusing the leave the Monster World until he finds Yugi and Harry,” Joey continued his rant, ignoring the irritated wizard, “And Medan blew the flat to hell, so Sirius and I are stuck redecorating while my friends are lost or hurt...”
"Calm down Mutt.” Seto snapped. “I can call in builders to fix the flat, that’s not a problem.” The CEO waved off the cost as if that was nothing, which, to the young man in question it wasn’t, “And I thought Muto-San always hired students to help in the shop.”
“Yes, because it’s such a good idea to have people to pop in and out of the flat right now.” Joey gave Kaiba a disbelieving look, as if he couldn’t believe the CEO had actually said that. “Gramps phoned them up and told them to take the day off, paid holiday.”
Seto was about to say something when Tobias burst back into the skies above the shop, dodging around Elise as he looked for a place to land near his Duellist. From the front of the shop and odd combination of appreciative sounds and screams could be heard as Tobias disappeared behind the house.
“Tobias?” Joey demanded, darting to his partner’s side, barging past Kaiba and climbing up. “I take it there’s news?”
Wolf reached the palace. Tobias answered, amused at the gathering of Duellists and mage, He knows where Yugi and Harry are.
“Let’s go then!”
Tobias roared and Joey sensed the shadows weave around them, an uncomfortable ability that he hadn’t had before the memory world incident, only to be shocked out of his thoughts by the sounds of complaints from Tobias’s side.
Then they were in the grounds of the Dark Palace and Joey looked over Tobias’s shoulder to find Seto leaning heavily against the dragon, at least until he realised that Joey was watching.
Then the CEO straightened up.
“Damn it, Kaiba!” Joey snapped, practically leaping off of his dragon, who moved aside to allow Joey free reign to shout at the older Kaiba brother, “Do you have any idea how stupid that was? What were you thinking?”
“If you have to know, mutt.” Seto snapped back, feeling dizzy, having not intended to come along for the ride but having been knocked against the Red Eyes Black Dragon when Joey had barged past and had been touching Tobias when he’d brought Joey back through, “It’s none of your business what was going through my mind.”
Considering it had been incredibly rude re a certain blonde Duellist who had been a pain in his rear, for a very long time now, Wheeler didn’t need to know.
“I am not taking the blame from Kisara for this.” Joey warned, fuming, before turning to his partner, “Where’s Mahado and Atem? We should get going.”
The Red Eyes snorted his agreement; They’re already on the move. We can catch up to them easily but what are we doing with him? The dragon gave Seto a frustrated look.
“Tell Kisara he’s here. She can deal with him.” Joey rolled his eyes in return, having waited far too long for news to want to wait now.
Before Seto could protest and demand answers, Tobias had taken off again, heading off to battle.
By the time Tobias had been gone even a couple of minutes, a Blue Eyes touched down in the courtyard, a rather mad one if her posture was anything to go by, and once again it wasn’t Kisara.
You, Seto Kaiba, The dragon growled as she landed, a familiar mop of black hair on her back, waving cheerfully at him, And your family are nothing but trouble.
Seto ignored the dragon, having listened to her ranting all the way through the meetings, in favour of glowering at Mokuba. “What do you think you’re doing here?”
“I’m not staying behind while you have all the fun.” Mokuba snorted, almost fifteen now and, while nowhere near as headstrong as his brother had been at that age, certainly stubborn enough to give Elise a headache.
"Mokuba Kaiba, you go back now or I’ll...”
Seto was cut off by the arrival of a second Blue Eyes. This one he knew from the moment he spotted her and she was mad.
Elise, why have you brought Mokuba here? I told you to guard him not bring him to our world. Kisara spat at the other, younger, dragon who shied away from the first Blue Eyes White Dragon.
“In her defence, I made her bring me here after Tobias grabbed Seto by accident.” Mokuba spoke up, surprising the dragon who turned to consider the CEO carefully.
Tobias grabbed you? Kisara demanded of Seto, I was informed it was the other way around.
Seto snorted. Of course the mutt, in the mood he was in had put the worst spin on it possible. “I had no intention of coming here.” Seto stated, seeing no point in making something up when he had trouble hiding his mind from the strongest of the Blue Eyes White Dragons, “The blame lies with Wheeler for barging past me in his haste to get to his dragon’s side.”
Kisara snorted. I will deal with him later. She growled. He has horrible timing.
“What’s going on?” Mokuba asked, concerned at her tone.
Elise and I will take the pair of you back, then we will join Mahado and the others. Kisara informed him, giving Seto a look that just dared him to contradict her. Wolf, Potter’s partner monster, is showing them where Medan’s holding Potter and Mutou. We’ll be attacking the camp.
It amused Seto somewhat that his dragon had never fallen into the same trap as the other monsters by referring to Yugi and Harry by a title and he knew she only did it for Atem because that was his name as much as any other one he had. “Mahado’s nowhere near as powerful as you.” Seto snorted, ill amused he’d been dragged here. “Mokuba and I will be safe enough for the moment. I suggest that you come back for us.”
Seto... Kisara growled warningly.
“I know the dangers.” Seto waved her off. “I’ll send Mokuba back with Elise and catch the next ride. Go.”
You are my primary concern. Kisara snapped irritably, having thought Seto understood that.
He did. He always had, but that just seeing her concern was enough for the CEO. “You forget Kisara, Yugi still holds the title that I have been seeking for almost a decade.” Seto pointed out, though he saw Mokuba cringe at Seto’s mention of the ‘King of Games’ title that he’d thought, or rather hoped, Seto had pretty much forgotten about obtaining since they’d been inducted into the Clan as founding members. “And I will be... ill amused, if he dies before I obtain it.”
Kisara gave him a shrew look. Even since he’d been counted a member of the family by the Pharaoh and his other self, Seto had played up to old expectations when feeling awkward or nervous or irritated. She knew what he really meant by his words. I will join the fighting then. Kisara nodded. Elise, get them back safely.
I will, my sister. Elise replied, nodding.
With that Kisara took off again and Elise waited only a few moments before preparing to take the Kaiba brothers back.
Which was about when everything went to hell.