I wanted to do this story for a long time since I love the Wheeler siblings bonding in yugioh:) and this will be based on "Seeing you for the Last time","Words of Encouragement", "Coming Clean", "Broken Reflection" and "How Are you?" all stories star the Wheeler siblings in order for this saga. This also takes place after Yugioh: The Dark Side of Dimensions, so spoiler alert for this story if you have not seen it.

Enjoy:)

It was eleven PM in Domino city. Everything was quiet, except for a dog barking and howling and the Summer wind blowing over cans in the side walk.

In an apartment complex near by steps out Joey Wheeler. He was third place in the KC grand championship, third place winner of Battle city, and second place winner of Duelist kingdom. He was tall, had dirty blonde hair, brown eyes that held warmth, humor and is a recent graduate from Domino high.

But unlike other high school graduates, Joey was already living on his own in his own apartment he bought with Tristan, but Joey's reason for his early independence was due to circumstance.

He and Tristan had jobs to pay the rent, Tristan was working as a mechanic and Joey was continuing to work for Duke's dad as a mascot for his store, but soon he will be traveling a lot to different tournaments across the country and the world to earn money and achieve glory as he dreamed of doing since Yugi taught him how to duel. As for Tristan, Joey was going to put the apartment in his name so Tristan would own it and soon Tristan will be getting a full time position at the mechanics so he can pay the bills with no issues.

However, Joey was not all that happy.

The young man walked in the ally to clear his head from stress. He was worried about something that was in the back of his mind for a while since he moved, and his thoughts included his little sister, Serenity.

When they were children, their parents divorced and their mother took custody of Serenity and Joey was left with his father. They kept in contact for six years but did not see eachother in person during that period, the only thing they were able to do was send pictures of eachother as they grew and send letters and secret phone calls without either parent knowing. Soon they reunited when Joey paid for his sister's eye operation when she was about to go blind due to a rare eye disease she had since birth, and it has made Joey the happiest he has ever been in his whole life to see his sister again and saved her sight and future.

After Battle city they continue to keep in contact, and now Serenity and Joey are able to visit each other from time to time with the consent of their mother. Of course it's been a while since their last communication since school kept them busy as Joey graduated and was preparing for his upcoming tournament and Serenity is finishing her first year of high school, but Joey is hoping this Summer they can be together again.

But that wasn't the only thing that was stressing the young man out. While he desperately wanted to see her again, there was something important that he had to tell Serenity. He was dreading on it, but he knew he had to tell her eventually, especially when it's been going on for a long time.

Joey held his head in frustration, "Aww man, how am I gonna tell Serenity about this!?" he yelled in his mind, "I kept this from her for a long time! But I did it to protect her and I didn't want her getting hurt or the get the police involved!"

Joey was at a loss, he wasn't sure what to do. The teen sighed and took a breath, "...She's gonna be mad at me when she finds out." he said out loud.

Joey started to hear echo's of someone hiccuping from the other side of the alley, "Huh?' Seconds later, a man stumbled from the shadows. He was a man in his mid thirties with ruffled dirty blonde hair and a stubby beard, blood shot red eyes and a stained white tank top with green camouflage pants with black boots.

The man stumbled and kept his balance with one hand on the wall and the other hand holding a beer bottle as he hiccuped again.

"...Dad?" Joey finally said.

His father, Jordan Wheeler, looked up and was surprised at first then he gave his son a blood shot glare, "Boy...hic...D-Didn't...expect to find you here," Jordan hiccuped again, "Haven't seen you...since you left me."

Joey glares at the older man, "Looks like you came out of Jimmy's again, no surprise since you go there on Wednesday nights. I didn't know I moved close by to your hang out, I probably should have learnt more info about this area before moving here."

"Shut up!" Jordan snapped and hiccuped again, " What I do is none of your damn business!"

"...You're right...I stopped caring the day I moved out!" Joey said hotly, "I should have stopped caring for you a long time ago in Middle school and left you right then and there after ma and Serenity left years ago. I tried to stop you from going down in flames from your drinking and gambling and help you get back on your feet so we could be a family again...but I should have known there was no saving you and I lost my dad the day he started drinking."

Jordan started to get angry and snapped at the younger man as he slammed his beer bottle to the ground, alcohol spilling everywhere on the pavement, "You...think you would save me!? Are you kidding me boy!? If anything you ruined everything for me the day you were conceived along with your bitch sister with her eye problems! You two drained me of all I had! I was left with nothing because of the two of you!"

Joey started to snap after Jordan's comment about Serenity. Joey didn't care about what his father said about him, but Serenity was off limits, "Call Serenity that again and I'll knock your lights out! And we suffered having to put up with you! We had to grow up to see you drink and gamble our money away and picked fights with strangers all the time, and ma couldn't take it anymore and that's why she left you! I had to get a job in Elementary school, Middle school and High school to pay for your drunk ass and so I can get through school! What do you have to complain about when you haven't had a job in almost nine years when I was the one who lost everything and tried to bring this family back together and pay the bills!?"

Jordan punched Joey, and the young man tumbled back but held his balance. Jordan hiccuped, "Shut up! You don't know anything!"

Joey glared at his father and wipes his mouth. This was nothing new to Joey, it was always like this since he was little. His dad hitting him, berating him, all the painful memories of his childhood came back, but he wasn't going to take it anymore.

"...Go home, you're drunk. And I hope that I never see you again. I told you the day I left that you're on your own, you can't hurt me anymore." Joey hissed and walked away.

Jordan, hiccuping again, growled at his sons words, clenched his fists.

"Why you!..."

At the Turtle gaming shop, Tristan was trying to get a hold of Joey on his cellphone. He went by to Yugi's place to see how he was doing since Joey went on his walk, since Yugi was preparing to go to Domino's college of technology, Tristan wanted to congratulate him before Yugi leaves in two weeks.

Tea called Yugi from New York to congratulate as well and told him she wished him luck on his goal to owning a gaming company when he leaves for college, and suggested when she comes back to Domino for Summer vacation that they should all take a trip together. Afterwards, Tristan and Yugi ordered pizza and drinks and that was when Tristan decided to call Joey so he can come over for their mini party.

However, Tristan did not get a respond as Joey's phone was picked up by his phone's answering message.

"This is Joey Wheeler, third time finalist and godfather of games. When you hear the beep, start talking!"

When the beep went off, Tristan answered, "Hey Joey, it's Tristan again. You haven't been answering your phone all night and we're starting to get worried. Call me as soon as you get this." then Tristan hung up.

Yugi looks at the brunette, "Still no answer, huh?" Yugi asked.

Tristan shook his head, "No, It's been that way for three hours since he left our apartment hours ago."

Yugi began to worry, "It's not like Joey to be late like this and not answer his phone. I wonder what he's doing?"

Tristan gulped down his soda, "Hopefully he didn't get into a fight, a lot of thugs and goons are usually out that this hour. He told me he needed to clear his head."

Yugi blinked, "Clear his head? About what?"

"Well we were moving our stuff into the apartment, and I talked to him about how me and my dad got into a fight when I quit working at his factory and how he said he would disown me if I walked away from the family business to work as a mechanic. Next thing I knew Joey was quiet and told me he needed to think."

Yugi blinked more, still confused, "Really?"

"Pretty much," Tristan answered, "And there was also something else."

"Something else?"

"Yeah, he mentioned how he was a bit sad that Serenity didn't come to graduation."

Yugi's eyes widened, "Oh yeah! I haven't seen Serenity either. I thought that she'd want to be there for her brother's graduation, and I don't think their mom showed up either." Yugi realized.

Tristan's face suddenly darkened, "...Maybe that's why Serenity couldn't come."

Yugi looked at Tristan, "What do you mean?"

Tristan's cellphone went off, thinking it was Joey finally answering his phone, he picks it up and answers, "Hey man, it's been three hours, where are you!?" Tristan scolded.

"Hello, is this Tristan?" A male voice answered on the other side.

Tristan blinked, "Huh? Who is this? Why do you have Joey's phone?"

"I'm officer Jefferson, I'm calling since you are the only contact that's answered me on Mr. Wheeler's phone."

"Officer?" Tristan questioned, then he went wide-eyed, "What happened!? Is Joey in jail!? Did he get into a fight!?" Tristan demanded.

"Mr. Wheeler was in a fight...but he isn't in jail...he's in Domino hospital on life support."

End of chapter one.