DISCLAIMER: Even though by law I am required to do this, people still don’t read these things anyway. But still, this is my first Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic. I do not own any characters displayed in this fic (well, except maybe for the "Mystery Hotel" people in this little alternate universe I’m creating, and a couple of the villains). All Yu-Gi-Oh! characters, monsters, and such are the intellectual property of Kazuki Takahashi. This is the musical version of this fic, and all songs are intellectual property of their writers, performers, etc. And since I am not intellectual, and neither is my property, I own nothing.

RATED: Pretty darn PG-13. (Cussing, suggestive stuff that goes on in one of the character’s gutter-drenched heads, but nothing too risqué.)

Oh, and by the way, this is a shounen ai fic. I love shoujonizing shounen anime.

And, this is the first fanfic that I do in chapters instead of just one large story. This may take some time. I’m planning to have at least 4-5 chapters, and around 5-7 pages per chapter.

Italics + Parentheses = My own little comments (Like This)

Italics + Single Quotes = Thoughts ‘Like This’

And by the way, I will use the character’s dub names, although the original names will sometimes come up in later chapters.

It was nightfall in Domino City and the stars illuminated radiantly. Joey was in his pj’s, doing his daily routine of card-counting before settling into bed.

"57, 58, 59…… Errrhhhhm, where is it…?! Ah, here we go! Thought you could escape the confinement of my metal case, eh?! 60!" Joey put his newly-constructed deck in a small box, and then put that into his metallic trunk. He then secured it with a padlock and slid the case under his bed. "Good night, my precious cards. Tomorrow is a big day." Joey stretched his arms out wide and yawned, and turned off his lamp. He entered his blankets figuring his property would be safe.

*****

The next morning, the sun was barely out. Joey left the bathroom fully dressed, except for his shoes. "Hmm, maybe this time, I’ll be able to pick up Yugi without being late for school…" In his bedroom, he quickly lifted his bed covers to check on the locked case under his bed, however…

"HOLY CRAP! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY CARDS?!?!?!" All Joey found was a medium-sized box-shaped empty space in the midst of all the other crap in his favorite storage space. "Ohmigawd, how in the…?" He then felt an unnerving breeze. He spun around. "I left the window open! Aw, son of a…" At that very moment, Joey found another reason to feel sorry that he slept opposite a window–in the form of a brick. "OWW!!!" He tumbled onto the floor feeling only the throbbing, excruciating pain on his face. "…"

*****

"Don’t rub it, Joey. It’ll only make it worse," a concerned Yugi said to his friend.

"All the better for my lawyer to see," Joey muttered, still rubbing his giant sore.

An awkward silence fell as the two best friends were walking to school.

"…So, how are you feeling today?" Yugi tried his best to cheer Joey up and break the silence.

"Why, I am very pissed off, thank you."

Yugi broke the silence, but he failed in cheering Joey up. "Uh… sorry… Um, where’d you get that bump from, anyway? I hope you weren’t fighting again."

"What? Uh, no. It was from this," Joey produced the rectangular reddish object that was the cause of his five-minute mini-coma (Hey, this is a cartoon. And Joey’s head is as thick as a bomb shelter wall, which is slightly thinner than Ash Ketchum’s skull.)

"Huh, what?! Why’d ya bring that?!" Yugi became startled.

"It was the cause of this bump!"

"…" (Yugi’s face: :/)

"And the five-minute mini-coma that came along with it."

"Oh…"

"Plus this note came along with it," Joey struggled to remove the rubber band that bound the folded paper to the murderous brick. It finally snapped, causing him to smack his own face. "Don’t you dare say I’m clumsy today!"

"I wasn’t gonna!" Yugi tried to suppress a snicker. "Why would you take the brick with you if you could’ve just brought only the note instead?"

"So you could believe me," Joey opened the note.

"What’s it say?" Yugi asked innocently.

"I’m getting to it. Ahem. ‘Dear Mr. Wheeler: we have invaded your home and stolen your cards in order to prevent you from obtaining any more victories…’ So it’s true! I was robbed!"

"Burglarized, Joey. You weren’t even awake."

"Whatever. ‘If you want to see your pathetic deck again…’ HEY! I will so kick their chicken-wuss butts for saying that!!!"

"Keep reading, Joey!"

"Oh. Uh… Anyway, ‘please arrive at the Invisible Arms Hotel with either $15 million or you may duel us for it.’ Aw, man! How am I gonna come up with 15 mil and/or a new deck?!"

"I can duel on behalf of you," Yugi answered confidently. "But what happened to the rest of your money from Duelist Kingdom? Didn’t your sister’s surgery cost only five grand?" (Yeah, we were wondering!)

"College fund," Joey answered.

"Oh. …You have plans?!"

*****

At school (I hate school!), Yugi and Joey were discussing the burglary incident with their other friends, Tea and Tristan.

"Hey, can I see it?" Tristan pleaded.

Leaning on his desk, Joey lifted the hair from his forehead.

"Woah! That is gross! Wanna see, Tea?"

"Eww, you retard," she replied, carrying a large rice paper fan, ready to strike Tristan with it. "Like I would wanna view someone’s grotesque injury…" She turned to face Yugi. "I’m sure you would agree with me. Right, Yugi?"

His heart skipped half a beat. "Huh?! Oh yeah. Real gross…"

"So, you got a ransom note along with that hideous bump, huh?" Tristan asked. "Who’s it from?"

"Duh, do you think any criminal would sign a ransom note unless they had a pseudonym?" Tea replied.

"What’s that?!" Joey exclaimed. "A ‘Soo…doh…’"

"A fake name. So, anyway… Getting your cards stolen while you’re asleep, that’s pretty big stuff. You’ve almost been champion nearly twice, Joey. Yugi, you’re gonna do something for him, right?"

Before Yugi could open his mouth, Joey stood up and shouted, "Hell yeah! He’s gonna duel the crap outta those creeps and win my cards back!"

Yugi blushed and said, "Well, I can’t really control what goes bump in the night… But I’ll do my best for you, Joey."

"Thanks, pal. I don’t know how much I owe ya."

‘And speaking of Bump in the Night…’ Yugi went into deep thought. ‘I had this weird dream… I know it was about a week ago, but I can’t seem to get it out of my head–especially when I see Joey and Tea.’

"Somethin’ wrong, Yug?" Joey broke Yugi’s trance.

"Eep! Uh… nothing," He went back to his flashback. ‘Tea gave me a bracelet–one that I have never seen before. She said it was her lucky bracelet. I vowed to her that I would never lose it, since she’s one of my dearest friends. I put it on my arm… Then, I remember I lost it… I couldn’t find it anywhere. I was crying. I lost her most treasured item, and I knew then, we would never have a future together. I then saw Joey standing alone while I was in tears. I told him about the bracelet and everything, but he told me not to worry. He comforted me by giving me a hug and saying that I would have a brighter future with someone else. I looked up at him. And… And then… he…’

Yugi blushed a brighter red. ‘He… kissed me. Me, a guy… My best friend, also a guy, bent down and kissed my mouth without any hesitation. I guess that’s because no one was around… To this day, I’ve never told anyone. Not even Grandpa, and especially not Joey or Tea. But still… I liked it… a lot.’ He smiled to himself, fiddling with the chain on his puzzle. ‘But I can’t understand why Joey or I would be gay, even in a dream. I think I still feel the same way about him as I did before the dream… And why wasn’t Yami in it? I had my puzzle with me at the time.’ Yugi glanced at Tea, then at Joey. He looked a little longer at him than her. ‘Maybe my feelings for Tea will change?’

*****

"Hey! Lackey! Have you finished mailing all those letters yet?!" A mystery man in a murky place yelled.

"Yep, every last one of ‘em," the underling showed the calluses on his fingers to his master.

"Excellent. Everything is going according to plan… Except I got an e-mail from one of the victims, saying that he’ll chop my head off and burn my home if I ever do something like this again, but that was when I signed the fist letter for kicks. Hmm, maybe criminals shouldn’t do that again, but I will have many beautiful males to torture…right Lackey?"

"My name is Larry,"

"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting. Wait a minute… Silence!"

*****

At Yugi’s house, the company was looking for the Invisible Arms in a phone directory. They had not an ounce of luck.

Ohhhkay, it’s not in there!" Joey, at Yugi’s side announced. "How old is this thing? It could be outdated."

"We just got it last month, Joey," Yugi said.

"Um, Yugi…" Joey’s eyes started to shimmer.

"Yes…?" Without being aware, Yugi’s heart beat a little faster than normal.

"You’ve been saying my name an awful lot lately…"

He almost literally jumped out of his skin.

"…Is there a reason for that?"

"Um, um… Uh…!" He frantically tried to find an answer other than ‘I don’t know’. "’Cause I want to remember things… so I can… ward off Alzheimer’s disease!"

"Well, don’t worry. I am pretty unforgettable," Joey replied.

‘Lucky me he didn’t ask about anyone else’s name…’ Yugi sighed in relief and revisited his secret thoughts. ‘I wonder what that full moon meant in that dream… Hold on, I can’t think about things like that…’ As he got himself out of staring aimlessly into space, he then realized his eyes were on Joey’s rear end. (Har har! XD) ‘Oh my God, I am NOT looking at Joey’s butt!’ He turned beet red and started to go into ‘Unsexy Thoughts’ mode. ‘Okay… baseball, aunts who don’t shave–too far! Too far! Um… Kaiba in a bikini…?’ At that very thought, poor Yugi shuddered in disgust. (I am too! *shudder* >_<)

Joey shouted at the telephone, once again breaking Yugi-kun’s train of thought. "Dammit! He’s laughing at me!" he shouted back at the offender. "Oh yeah? Well, why don’t you eat your wife’s ugly cheese head, and summon a tornado so that it can destroy your home!" Joey slammed the phone down, and sat on the floor and sulked.

"Well, you’ve been in an awfully sour mood today," said Tea.

"In case you were wondering, it’s NOT because of the whole Card-Theft-and-Brick-in-the-Head incident!" Joey responded saucily. "Like the buttwipe has never heard of Invisible Arms…"

"Yes it is," Tristan replied. "I’ve never even heard of that franchise! Now sit down and shut up."

"I AM SITTING DOWN!!!"

"Well, you’re not shutting up."

Just then, the telephone rang. Yugi leapt up and quickly answered it. "Hello?"

"Yes it is the whole Card-Theft-and-Brick-in-the-Head incident!" Tea snapped. "You need to calm down."

"It’s because the jerk was laughing at me!" Joey furiously whined. "You’re the one who needs to calm down!"

"At least I’m not at the risk of losing friends because of cranky behavior! You don’t take naps, do you?!"

"I’m too freakin’ old for naps!"

"Um, guys, could you keep it down? I’m talking to someone who’s giving me directions," Yugi continued speaking on the phone while with a pencil and paper. "Uh huh… Take one left at Main…"

Everyone else paused with their mouths agape. Joey rushed to Yugi. "Directions? To where?!" he asked frantically.

"Um… The hotel?"

"Be sure to get every juicy detail. I’M GONNA GET MY CARDS BACK! WOO HOO!"

"Um, okay…" Yugi returned to his conversation. "Oh, what’s that? We have to bring something nice to wear?"

"Nice? We’re gonna be treated like first-class citizens!" Tristan hollered.

"Come on, Just because we have to bring formal clothing doesn’t mean we’re going to be treated any different than who we are now," Tea explained. "Who is this guy and how did he get Yugi’s number?"

"And a karaoke contest? Um, I can’t sing, though."

"Kick ass!" Joey shouted in elation. "Who cares who’s a first class citizen or who this guy is?! This whole thing is more than enough compensation for getting my cards ripped off, as long as the cost is low!"

"Uh, Duelists are free," Yugi left his conversation once more. "And… I’m the Duelist."

"Oh, my God, YUGIIII~!!!" Joey ran up to him and totally glomped him. "I LOVE YOU!!!"

While still tightly embraced, the crimson-faced Yugi bid a squeaky-voiced farewell to the Good Samaritan on the other end of the line "Ohhhhhhkayyyyy… ‘I’m sure he meant that platonically…’ thank you. Bye-bye." He awkwardly dropped the receiver.

A shady character on the other end hung up. "Ufufufufufufufu…"

AUTHOR’S NOTES: Hmmm… not that good of a Samaritan, now is he? Anyway, Tea’s name is pronounced "Tay-Uh" in case you didn’t notice. She’s not something you can drink, but I’m sure you knew that already. I just can’t use the accent since my computer is retarded and I suck at HTML. Well, I have about a bazillion ideas for the future chapters. But for Chapter 2, the plot will get thicker, and the romance will get hotter (We’re just preheating it now.). And the comedy will become more plentiful! (For example, Yami Yugi falls flat on his face asleep while he is dueling! XD) Oh, and Kaiba’s not in this fic (Thank God), so most likely, he’s not going to be wearing a bikini (Thank God even more!). But don’t flame me yet! Seriously! If you came here just to flame me for anything you don’t like, then wait till the end of the fanfic to do so, although I wouldn’t recommend it.

Good Night…For Now…^_~