My oh Mai, It's in The Cards (Part 1)

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

Joey kept going on tournaments. Kept trying to keep tabs on Skeevy at them, and kept trying to run into Mai. Skeevy acted like he was no threat, even let them talk back and forth. Within his presence or not.

Now, he was at week four since the incident with Téa. "Fancy seeing you here, Mai."

"Yep. You know Skeevy likes the coolest tournaments," she said offhand. "Joey. You gotta quit this."

"Nah, I'm never quitting." Joey just smirked. "I love the game too much, I'm never gonna get tired of it." He knew what she meant, but he would never give up trying to get her out. Even if she did go through that so-called wedding, he wouldn't call it quits.

Mai just sighed. "So? How are things with the switching spirits?"

Oh. "Masika wants the Bakuras. Téa probably wants Yugi and Atem, but Atem isn't into joining more people. He tries to ignore that, and he says that Bandit Bakura is the same way, but yeah. Tea and Masika themselves aren't into it either. No one knows if being chosen is good or not. No gods or nothing coming out with any details. Same crappy standstill."

"Mm." Mai's response felt weird. "The Bakura that was Yugi's friend was so sweet, and so is Yugi Muto. Either of them should consider themselves lucky."

Lucky? "That ain't the sort of thing you would say Mai. What's up?"

"I need you to really give up on this," Mai said to Joey. "I'm not moving anymore, and I'm gonna really try and get married in a few months."

What?! "Are you kidding, Mai?! Why are you pressing it faster?"

"Because. Skeezy wanted heirs." She played with a non-used straw. She opened it up and spun it around lightly. "He's ecstatic about it."

An heir? Ecstatic? Wait. "You're pregnant?"

"Yeah." She put the straw down. "He's thrilled."

An heir? "Well."

"It's over, Joey. Nail in the coffin. I'm not leaving Skeezy and putting this kid in Jeopardy no matter what."

"Nah." He had to let her know now. Most likely, it probably wasn't, but now he had no choice. "It might be Skeezy's. But . . ."

She looked offended. "Might? What do you take me for, Joey Wheeler?!"

"Well, I mean. Okay, Mai, I have to tell ya something." Joey took a deep breath. "That God's Brew stuff was pretty potent, and-" She was walking off. "Mai!" Dangit. "It might not have brunette hair!" He tried to go after her.

"I'm not in the mood for jokes, Joey. And a hair one to boot? It's none of your business whether I'm naturally blonde or not," she said as she kept marching away. "Just give up, don't you get it?"

"Don't you get it?" He couldn't say what it could be out loud, if Skeezy's men were around they could screw over Mai. "Will you just talk to me?"

Like he thought, one of Skeezy's men came over and pushed him back some. "She's done talking. You know the rules, you can only talk to her, if she wants to talk. Knock it off."

Joey didn't know what to do, but he did notice a cat that looked like Tea's pet cat strolled past the guard. He knew from talking to Yugi and Atem that the goddess Bastet had actually pretended to look like that cat. "Oh. There's no reason you'd be here." ///Joey: I really, really hope that cat's got something useful, and ain't just a regular cat that looked like that Ebonnee cat. Joey Wheeler could really use some help right now. Really, from anybody!///

Then he noticed a note on the ground by his foot. Gold paper. Fancy script. On it?

A number. He pulled out his phone as he started to leave the area. Maybe someone was throwing Joey Wheeler some help after all?

----

"Trust is important." The cat spoke.

Mai turned and looked at the cat as it came toward her. "A talking cat?"

"You will get out of this situation soon," the cat said as it rubbed against her leg. "You must trust in the goddess Bastet and Sekhmet. We will not leave you here for long."

"Goddess'?" Mai just stared at the cat. "I don't understand."

"The way out will come soon," the cat promised.

"No, no, no, no," Mai corrected it. "I've got nothin' to do with the Egyptian thing of everybody else goin' on!"

"Yes, you do. You have a price to pay as well." The cat licked its paw.

"Why? Why would I? I'm not related to anybody that's a part of that," she protested. "I got a ton of my own problems right now!"

"Joey Wheeler is Yugi and Atem's best friend," the cat told her. "That has consequences."

What? "Just 'cause I talked to Joey for a bit, you're gonna make me pay for something?"

"Connections," the cat said as it leaped onto a bed and went out the window.

Just, left. That cat just up and left.

Oh! As if she didn't have enough to deal with.

---

Kaiba's Ride

"Serenity was a lovely lady last month, wasn't she?"

Seto looked beside him in his limousine. Strange. It was a cat talking to him, but it somehow felt- "Sorry, where's the tiger?!" He felt himself cringe from feeling so frightened. It wasn't a feeling he often felt. He grabbed his finger unconsciously as his eyes darted from side to side. Not long ago, Yugi had already asked if he'd met a goddess. He laughed in the phone, thinking Yugi was having some midlife crisis. The thought was no longer funny.

"As long as you listen to me, Sekhmet will not come," the cat said.

The cat. ///Seto: This, I remember this. Yes. Bastet. Play nice with kitty and the tiger won't take my arm./// "What is it that I can assist you with?"

"I am here on behalf of Sekhmet. That way you have a chance of keeping your arm," Bastet said. "You haven't given out any of the cards yet."

Oh yeah. "I wasn't allowed to remember, and I don't know where they are even-"

"Hip pocket."

Of course. He reached in his hip pocket and saw them all. They were all still decorated on both sides. On one of the cards though, the name of Serenity was on it. "That's not good."

"So, I will tell you a little more about the payment. For one, we can't just make another dimension pay for another. It's unfair. However, we need payment, and so we have been triggering events to make sure you all receive what you need to give."

"You can't enforce it though?" Odd. "Then how do you make us willingly give payment to you? Especially when you won't share what's supposed to happen with anyone else?" Speaking of which, what was his payment supposed to be again? He stared at his own card. "In all of these cards, I only have one. I'm hoping that's lucky."

"We can predict possible payments, and we know some that must be paid eventually. As for making sure you pay? Without paying, no world is saved in any universe. No world is saved, you and all of your friends and loved ones are destroyed. You are defeated without a fight, in the most pathetic way possible. Plus?" Bastet licked her paw. "We have other ways of persuasion. However, you need to be ready with your payment in order to offer it."

"I remember you said even Yugi had to pay last time." Kaiba was interested in that detail. "How is that going to happen if you can't enforce anything?"

"Hm. You are very good with your question," Bastet said as she wiggled her tail. "We had him trigger it himself. It is now being paid, and plans to continue more are under way."

She wasn't going to give him any details about them. "What about for me? Do you have anything to do with Serenity Wheeler? Her name is on a card."

"Most likely," she admitted.

That was not good news. "Are you messing with my mind so I don't remember?" He tried not to moan in frustration. He didn't want to trigger the tiger into coming.

"Most likely. React kindly and listen carefully to your next call if you wish to learn more. Goodbye, Seto Kaiba." She vanished.

Those goddesses. What did they have to do with Serenity Wheeler? Hmm. ///Seto: How do I know her?/// He still didn't know, and from the way she left, he wouldn't be able to call her up and ask. He didn't want to bother her again. Unless it was truly important.

Was it truly important? ///Seto: Serenity Wheeler. It still sounds so familiar. Wheeler . . . Wheeler . . . Wheeler . . . it sounds annoying. Grating.///

As his phone rang, he remembered what the cat said. He'd need to pay attention to this call. "Seto Kaiba."

"Seto Kaiba? Whoah, that's crazy it's you of all people. I found your number on a piece of paper. I know this is strange but please don't hang up!"

Normally he would have. People asking for help wasn't something he wanted to deal in. He needed to learn more though. "Who is this?"

"Joey Wheeler, but don't hang up."

Okay. "Serenity Wheeler's brother?"

"Uh, yeah? I got some problems with Mai Valentine. You see I? I know you aren't going to believe but I'm really desperate. She's marrying a sleazy crime boss I've been tracking for years, and she can't get out of it. I've been trying to help her, but we both got mixed up with some tough God's Brew and I ended up with her. I crawled out like nothing happened, but she's pregnant. I don't know if it's mine or not, but I can't just leave her there. Seriously, he's killed with no problem. People disappear all the time with him."

None of it was important to him, except two words that stood out. "God's Brew?"

"Yeah, it was a pricy drink of Skeezy's. Threw me for a loop."

"God's Brew. That's tasty." Expensive, tasty, and rare. The chances anyone just had it when they were having troubles and calling? It's time to find out who makes it. "You want me to help her out?"

"Yeah. I know, I'm desperate, I'll do anything!"

Hmmm. "How are you at finding out things?"

"Pretty good, I used to be a cop and I was going to be a detective. Things just didn't work out."

That was fine for him. Finding out things in a non-official way were just the kind of people he liked. Maybe he could use him?

"Can you help, Kaiba?"

Right, the pregnancy crime boss problem. "I'll think about it. In the meantime, I have an address you should check out. It's what little I could find about God's Brew."

"That alcohol, huh? If I do that, will you help?"

"Maybe." He hung up.