Okay, I know that I've taken forever to get this story done. But I've been deciding on what direction I want to take this story. I have pondered with the idea of Joey becoming cold and relentless to the point where he makes Kaiba look like his younger self, or the point where he stays the same somewhat. But still I'm not sure. Also, I've grown intrigued with the idea of Joey/Tea as a couple lately. There's not going to be any reviewer response for this chapter, due to my already tardiness, but.
Vendetta: Nightmare
It was a sunny day outside as Serenity walked in the streets of Domino. It was as noisy as any regular city! She had just finished her nails as they were now with a bright ruby red polished. She didn't know where she was going, much less why, but since she had time, she didn't care. After all, she did needed to get out more often…
With the clicking of her black pumps, she soon found herself outside the city 10 minutes later. After she reached her destination, her eyes went wide. "A graveyard?" She asked herself. "Why would I come to here? It's not like somebody died or anything…" Serenity shrugged as she walked through the black metal gate and went through the small brick trail. Passing by various tombstones on the way, which varied from shapes and size. One of them caught the interest of the auburn-haired girl. It was a sculpture of an eagle perched on a flag pole with the American Flag blowing against the wind. "Awesome, no wonder it costs a few thousand just for a stone…" She mused as she continued walking. However, the weather began to change as the once sunny skies have become cloudy…very cloudy, but Serenity didn't pay much attention. After all, the news did state that the weather was going to be sunny, yet cloudy at some points today? But how cloudy it was going to be wasn't specified…
As Serenity walked further into the Cemetery, the darker it became due to the clouds blocking the sunlight, and she could've sworn that she saw lightning and heard thunder. It was like the cemetery itself had a weather of its own. Serenity's walk in the cemetery soon stopped when she noticed three familiar figures.
"What are Yugi, Tristan, and Tea doing here?" She asked as she went to greet them. "Guys!" But there was no answer. 'Somebody close to them must've died if they're so out if it that they can't even hear me.' She tried again, "Hey guys, what's up?" That time they did hear her, but when they turned around, Serenity saw three cold stares that were directly at her. "Guys…what's wrong?"
"You have a lot of nerve showing up here…" Tea hissed.
"W-What do you mean?" Serenity asked, both nervous and confused. "What are you talking about?"
"You know exactly what we're talking about, Traitor!" Tristan snapped at her. "Like you don't know what you've done!"
Serenity was shocked. "What did I do…?"
"You know exactly what we're talking about, Murderer!"
"How could you Serenity…how could you kill your own brother?"
Serenity felt her heart get a serious kick. Joey? Dead. Impossible! "What do you mean? I would never do that to my brother! You know me better than-"
"I thought I knew you! We all did! But we were wrong…too bad Joey didn't find out…before it was too late!"
"Why would I do something like that? What motivation would I have to do such a thing?" Serenity asked desperately as tears began to form from her eyes.
"Simple: For your boyfriend! It was bad enough that you've already sold out on him, now you have to kill him for what? Just so you can make your boyfriend happy?
"M-my boyfriend?" Serenity blinked, but then remembered the things that she has done to Joey. All to help Kaiba, to help their relationship, to help them! And what did it got her: An eternity of neglect and no-shows, and then the breakup. It was as if their time together meant nothing to the CEO.
"We would've pressed charges against you, but we just knew that your boyfriend would've found the sleaziest lawyer in town to help you, or at least bribe the judge to get you out of a jail sentence." Yugi finally spoke. Like his friends, his voice was also cold and unforgiving. Much different from his usual friendly tone… "Let me ask you, Serenity: Was it worth it? Was it worth it to sell out your brother? Was it worth it to kill him? Was it worth it?"
Serenity looked down as tears dropped to the ground. She didn't know what to say. Here she was at the cemetery with three of her so-called "friends." All of them treated her like she was some kind of criminal. Worse, they're saying that Joey was murdered and that she was responsible. She decided to go see for her self. After all, if she did indeed do the crime, she would have to see the evidence for herself…
As the Auburn-haired girl moved closer to the grave, she could see more of the tombstone. It was just a fairly large granite stone. But her eyes went wide, horror-like at the name she saw.
Joseph Wheeler
1980-2000
Sleep now, Child. The Lord is with thee now…
"No… Joey can't be dead!" Serenity cried! "HE CAN'T BE DEAD! MY BROTHER CAN'T BE DEAD!"
Tea walked over and slapped her! "WAKE UP SERENITY! OPEN YOUR EYES! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO HAD THE KNIFE! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO KILLED HIM!"
Serenity sniffled, "…all I did was just cut him under his eye!"
"It started with the scar…" Yugi said. "You could've at least made sure that the murder weapon didn't have any bits of pulp on it before you tried to kill him! The scar that you gave him got infected with the pulp, which soon lead to him getting sick…which then…!" He began to sniffle as tears came to his eyes. "How could you Serenity…how could you!"
Tristan went to comfort his shorter friend. "And to think…I actually felt in love with you. A backstabbing snake like you! You and Kaiba deserve each other!" He sighed, "At least Joey's off in a better place. Far away from you!"
"Not only that you were responsible for his death, but he would've been much better off without you!" Tea declared. "Think about it! Just from the day you were born, you've caused him trouble! From when your parents split up! You basically left him with that drunk of a father of yours to basically die!"
"No…"
"Then he had to enter a dueling tournament just to get enough money to pay for your eye operation. Then at Battle City, Joey would've won against Marik if you haven't had shown up like the jinx that you are! And now this!"
"No, that's not true! None of it is!"
"You see Serenity, Joey said that you were his light? But the truth is, you were more of a burden to him then any help!" Tea hissed as she, Tristan, and Yugi then proceeded to advance toward her.
Serenity began to cry. "…I…I thought you were my friends! I thought that you cared about me!"
"And Joey thought you gave a damn about him!" Tristan added. "We all did! And now, thanks to you, he's dead!"
"At least…he won't be lonely…" Yugi said. "After we're done with you…"
"No…" Serenity pleaded to her now former friends. "Please…don't…it won't bring Joey back!"
"But it'll sure as hell make us feel better! Joey would've wanted it this way…" The three of them said at the same time as they then proceeded to pounce on her…
…
Serenity shot up from her bed in a cold sweat as she sighed. "The same dream…again…"
"So it's been like this every night?" Tristan asked Yugi as they sat outside her room. For about a week now, Serenity has been staying with Yugi and his grandfather. Even though that he left him a note, Yugi still felt a little resentment towards Joey for leaving her. They could've at least worked it out, he thought. But then again, he didn't know the whole story. The fact that Serenity kept saying that "it" was all her fault didn't help either…
Tristan, on the other hand, was ready and willing to at maim and kill Joey. Or at least beat him down to a bloody pulp. Friendship be damned, nobody did something that made Serenity so depressed and got away with it, even if it was her own brother.
"Yeah…she keeps saying that it's all her fault. Every time I ask her what is it that she's blaming herself for, she just says the same thing. At least she occasionally goes out and talks about something else. Otherwise…"
Tristan cracks his knuckles. "If Joey was here right now I'd-"
"Now Tristan, violence isn't going to solve anything!'
"Yugi come on! Look at the poor girl! She's a nervous wreck, and Joey's not going to be there…" He scoffed. "Some brother…"
Yugi sighed as the phone than begun to ring. "Now who could be calling?" The shorter boy wondered as after he checked the caller ID he blinked. "Tea?"
"Shouldn't she be in school right now?" Tristan asked as Yugi picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Yugi?"
"Tea! Hi, how are you? How's school going for ya?"
"It's going great!" Tea said as she was buttoning up her leather pants in the guest room of Joey's apartment. It was morning time as Tea stayed over for the night. Fortunately, Joey was still fast asleep otherwise she wouldn't have been calling. "Yugi…listen… How's Serenity?"
"Let me put it this way: At least she's not considering suicide."
'Now I really got to get him to come back to Domino…' Tea sighed as she now placed on her black tank top. She decided that she was going to tell them where Joey was. That she was staying with him. "Listen…" Before she could say something else, she heard a knock on the door. "I gotta go! I'll call you back later. Bye!" She placed her mobile away as she then opened the door. "Joey…it's 8 in the morning!"
"Like you were asleep…" The blonde snickered. "I heard you talking to some-" He stopped for a moment. "You weren't-"
"Don't worry! I didn't give them your location!" Tea said dryly as she now went to put on her boots.
"Did you get enough sleep? You sure as hell sound cranky!"
"Well I can't be happy knowing that one of my friends is a nervous wreck because another one of my friends left her!"
Joey rolled his eyes, "That again…"
"Yes…that again! Damn it, I want you to go home! Can't you see that?"
"Look, I barely had anything going for me there anyways! Here, at least I had something better! So why do you want me to go back to where I had the worse moments in my life, when now I'm starting to have a good thing going here?" He sighed, "You up fer breakfast?"
She shook her head. "No…"
"A'ight…" Joey walked off. "I'll start breakfast just incase…"
Tea watched as Joey left the room before taking out her phone. She didn't care how he felt, he was going back to Domino whether by his own will or not! After she dialed the number, she awaits for the phone to ring. However…all she got is the busy signal. "Darn…" She then smiled, maybe she could text message him instead. As Tea desperately tried to type up the message, her thoughts went to Joey. She knew how irate he was going to be about this, but it was for the best. Just as she was about to send it, she heard a familiar beep on the phone as then much to her horror, the battery in cell went dead. "Great…"
This is where it ends in this chapter. I'm not sure on the direction I want to take this story. There is one thing for sure: Next chapter it's back to the fights: A Wrestling match!