Mai's Dangerous Fiancé

DIMENSION: ANIME (The One That Pays To Save the Day)

Six Years Later After Joey's Graduation

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Skeezy's Lounge

///Mai: When we meet again, I would be a better person. It was easier to say than to do./// Mai was a better person than the piece of lost trash she'd been when she was recruited by the Orichalcos, but meeting Joey after all that past history? Mai stayed away from the open area in the lobby Joey Wheeler was currently hanging out in. Last time she talked to him? She stole his soul.

Last time she saw him?

"Hey, hey, well if it isn't Mai Valentine!"

Damn. Joey's voice. "Well, if it isn't Joey Wheeler." Keep it cool.

He moved up to her, clearly excited to see her. "Wow, it's been awhile. You look good, Mai."

He looked better. Joey definitely wasn't in high school anymore. "Thanks. You too, Joey. So? What're you doing way out here?"

"Ah, yeah, good question, this isn't a place dealing with cards," Joey insisted. "Never thought I'd be running into you down here."

"Yeah well, luck I guess," Mai said.

"Hey, good to hear, Mai," Joey insisted. "I mean? Real good to hear from you. Not real good to see you here."

Not good.

"I remember? Oh. I remember a lot of stuff but you were a real material girl." He glanced at her clothes. "Still kind of are."

Odd look at her clothes. "You bet I still love my money." Well, it was bound to come up too. The second reason she dreaded seeing him. "Dueling's more of a side hobby now, I mainly play with my fiancee," she admitted as she showed him her ring. "I gotta fresh one. Makes a lot of money. I got everything I need right here."

"You. Marrying?" Joey looked odd. Real odd.

"Engaged," she said. "So, yeah, I still like dueling. It's a part of me I can never lose. Still love my harpy ladies."

"Yeah. Yeah, great to hear." Now, Joey seemed to be the one uncomfortable in the meeting. "Engaged. Out here. In this place. He a good guy? What's his name?"

"What's in a name?" Mai said. ///Mai: No, he's not a good guy, Joey.///

"But, I mean, how'd you meet?" Joey asked. "Tell me about this guy."

"Well, he duels. Kind of how we met," she admitted.

"Then what's his name?" Joey asked again. He was persistent. "Maybe I've heard of him."

Her fiancé didn't have the world's classiest name. "He was born Skylar Eugene."

"Born?" Joey asked. "That's a funny thing to say for saying a guy's name. He really go by that?"

///Mai: Just give in, Mai./// "His name is Skeezy and he owns this hotel."

Joey looked at her a bit. "That's not a real likeable name."

///Mai: He's not a likeable guy./// "Hey, I'm not holding his name over his head," she insisted. "It's what he likes."

"Does he?" Joey still didn't look so good. "Skeezy always gets what he likes. I've heard of this guy. Sorry to break it to you, he's bad news."

Ugh! ///Mai: Did he know about Skeezy before he even knew about me?/// Did he actually come down there because of Skeezy? Mai pulled over her favorite drink she'd brought down with her. Dealing with Joey was tough. For one? He was absolutely right, the rumors about what Skeezy was in were bad, but Mai was on a better path there.

So far. She had what she wanted out of life, able to buy whatever her heart wanted, and it was just because she was with Skeezy. Win or lose at the few cards she played now, and she could come back to her rooms and eat the finest food all the same. Drink her finest drinks.

Which is what she was doing right now to stay strong to believe all those stupid lies she just told herself.

"God's Brew?" Joey read the label. "That's potent, Mai."

"What, you're going to rag about my choice of drink too?" Mai groaned and poured him a glass. "It's not potent, it's just good. Expensive but good. It doesn't even taste like alcohol."

Joey sniffed it. "You kidding? This stuff smells rank." He sipped it. "Oh yeah, it's loaded in alcohol." However, he was smiling. God's Brew always did that. "When I was younger, there was this local beer called Mikey's Beer and I drank it all the time with Tristan. Unfortunately, it went under like two years later." He looked at his glass. "Tastes just like that."

"Yeah? Well, it doesn't taste like that to me." Mai smiled. "It's rare, exotic, and expensive. It doesn't officially have a taste because it tastes different to everyone."

"This time, I think they nailed the advertising on something right for once." Joey took another drink. "I've heard the name Skeezy more than once, Mai. Drugs, robberies, and so much more."

"Rumors are rumors." Mai sighed. "I'm not out there doing anything bad, and I get everything I love."

"If you really felt that way, you would have married that one guy that came after you way back in the Battle City tournament," Joey reminded her.

"I would have now." She didn't mean to say that out loud. "I'm not in any groups or gangs or even clubs. I've got nothing close to do with the Orichalcos, can't that be good enough? Thanks for saving me." Really? Mai couldn't believe she did that. For one, it was the first time she ever could thank him for helping her, and she did it mid sentence. For two, she wasn't planning on bringing up that past ever again if she could help it. It just popped out.

"You were just a little twisted in your thoughts," Joey said as he had another drink. "I may have helped save your soul, but I don't ever think I fully pulled you out of that dark place." He looked around the room. "You're still nowhere near sunshine."

"I'm fine, I'm great, and I'm on a good path to a good life. Just, don't, Joey," she warned him.

"I never pulled you out of that dark place." He took her jacket and pushed it back as he took the next drink, revealing bruises. "Don't even try."

Damn. Right in the middle of the lounge too. "Accident, Joey."

"I said don't even try. Skeezy gets what he wants. Skeezy gets what he likes." Joey slid the drink away. "When Skeezy doesn't get what he wants, then he finds ways to get what he wants. That's how he got you, isn't it?"

Damn it. Joey. What did he become, a policeman?

"He found a way to get what he wanted from you, didn't he?"

"Jerk." Of course. "I've gotta get going."

"Don't forget your drink." Joey swiped it.

Oh no, now was not the time to play. Nor was that the drink to play with. "Joey. Give it."

"Invite me to your room," Joey insisted. "Let me meet Skeezy himself."

Yep, he was just using her to reach Skeezy. "He's not here tonight," she said. "It won't do you any good." He didn't believe her though, so she brought him to her room.

The sooner she got him to see he wasn't there, the sooner he'd leave out of there.

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Her Room

"See?" Mai insisted. "Nobody here. No Skeezy."

"Good." Joey closed the door. "I'll be honest, Mai, I came down to find you on purpose to track down Skeezy. I knew you two were a thing," he said. "I didn't know you were trapped that far into this though. You don't want to be married to this guy, I know it. You're stuck and you need a way out. Right?"

No, no, no! "Joey, I don't want out." ///Mai: Damn it, don't let this idiot do something stupid./// "Mess with Skeezy, mess with a knife."

Joey stood up. "I'm not scared of nobody. This guy needs stopped, and you need to get away from him, Mai Valentine."

Damn it! Mai stood up as straight as she could too. "He's not gonna duel you for messing in his business. He's out of your league. Mess with him and he'll kill you."

Joey still didn't flinch. It was clear he wasn't there to play cards.

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Domino City

Tristan answered his cell phone while he was finishing up his work for the day. It wasn't his company phone, but his personal phone. He always kept it his top priority first. "Tristan speaking."

"Hey, Tristan."

Aw, he'd recognize that voice from anywhere. "Hey, Joey. What's wrong?" It wasn't his end of the work day and Joey knew his schedule so it had to be important.

"Been tracking someone. I used my past with Mai Valentine to get closer. She was more than a girlfriend though, she's marrying him. From the way she acted, she knows he isn't a good guy. She's trapped."

Oh no. Tristan already knew what he was going to say.

"I'm not going to be heading back to Domino for awhile."

"Mai Valentine." Not this. "Mai Valentine, that cursed woman that stole your soul one time?" Nah. "No way. Keep your eyes on your job, don't waste time on trash like her."

"I know how you feel about Mai Valentine. I don't care. I'm just letting you know why I'm not heading back."

Geez. "What do you want me to tell Yugi when I meet up with him soon?"

"Do whatever you guys want. Have fun, don't cancel anything, but don't plan on me showing up."

"It's like once a year, Joey-"

"-I gotta stay. Sorry." He hung up.

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