*1* Schicksal *1*

"Who are you?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know your name?"

"No. I can't remember anything."

"Well you do know one thing."

"What's that?"

"Your heart is beating."

"Y-Yeah, I guess it is."

'thump thump, thump thump.'

"This sound. Is it… my heart? Impossible." Yugi was sure that this beat down would stop his heart forever. The bullies seemed to get stronger with each passing day or perhaps he was getting weaker. Yugi opened his eyes against the pain and placed a hand over his heart. He could taste blood from his torn open lip and he cringed.

"Hey, he's awake." One of them said though Yugi wasn't too sure what they were saying, his ears felt as if they had been stuffed with cotton. "Ready for round two?" the same one said while holding two fingers in Yugi's direction. The bully stalked closer and the other bully wasn't too far behind him.

Yugi knew where this was going. He should have known better than to wake up before they had left him. Yugi pressed his hand against the wall behind him and propelled himself up onto his feet. He knew that running was his only option because if allowed to continue their assault the bullies would kill him for sure.

"It's a little late for you to find some guts in that puny body of yours." The other bully said. Yugi didn't say a word. He looked for an opening and bolted. His legs were liquid and his heart was stopped, frozen in time. He rounded a corner and smiled because he had spotted his sanctuary. He pushed his legs further toward the Domino Museum and hopped up the stairs to the entrance. He couldn't tell if the bullies were still behind him but it didn't matter because he was safe now.

Yugi pulled open the door and stepped inside before collapsing on the marble floor panting for air, he felt as if he were near death but at the same time he had never felt more alive. After regaining his composure Yugi glanced around. A new exhibit caught his eyes and since he had time to kill he decided to take a look.

Yugi walked through the double doorway that lead to the "Work of Heart" exhibit and glanced at a few drawings of people and places unlike any others. In the corner of each piece was a name. Naminé. She drew pictures of many different adventures and nearly every picture was colorful and happy. Yugi wanted to escape into that world. To be happy. Yugi walked through the room studying each picture, trying to follow the stories they told.

Yugi

Yugi suddenly found himself at the end of the exhibit standing before a three foot long key. It had a golden hilt and a long silver shaft at the end of which were intricate key-like carvings. On the other end, dangling from a short chain was a charm in the shape of a mouse's head. Yugi had only seen one thing that matched its brilliance and that was his millennium puzzle. Yugi looked down at the plate on the exhibit "Keyblade" Yugi thought it was a fitting title.

Before Yugi could stop himself he opened the display and ran his fingers over the fine craftsmanship of the weapon before him.

"Yugi! Are you here?" Yugi snapped out of his trance and ran back toward the entrance of the museum as the voices of his friends beckoned him to them.

"Guys!" Yugi waved at his friends from the doorway of the new exhibit.

"There he is."

"Honda, Jounouchi, Anzu Come see this!" he jumped so that they could follow him better.

"Jou, slow down." Honda said, Jounouchi dragged him toward Yugi with speed befitting a marathon runner. "He's okay."

"Shut up, Honda." Jounouchi let go of Honda and grabbed onto both of Yugi's shoulders to get a better look at him. "What did They do to you?"

"The same as always." Yugi admitted.

"Bull! Word on the street is that "some runt was gonna be killed today"." Jounouchi said, adding air quotes as he did.

"Nice, you automatically assume it was going to be me?" Yugi pulled away from his grip.

"Well, they were."

"I know but come on, I'm not the only small person in Domino." Yugi shook his head. "Anyway come look at this new exhibit, it's amazing." Yugi turned around and was taken aback. The double doors were closed and when he peered through the window of the door all he could see was a room full of dust and cobwebs. "What… it was in there. It was so cool."

"Yugi, I think those bullies hit you too hard." He felt a small touch on the back of his hand and looked back at his friends.

"But Anzu, I know it was here." Yugi fought with his brain, had he really seen what he thought he had? Yugi's friends led him back out of the museum.

"Let's get you cleaned up before Yami finds out about this." Honda said feeling an icy stare on his back.

"Before I find out about what? That Yugi was beaten up again?" Yami stood before them looking as regal as ever. "I know."

"Look man, we just didn't want you to see Yugi like this; we know how you can get." Jounouchi finished.

"You can't keep something like this from me." Yami pushed past them and stopped in front of Yugi. "This is really the last time he gets away with this. You need to tell me where he lives."

"No, Yami."

"Dammit Yugi, what's it going to take to get you to understand. He won't stop until someone puts him in his place."

"Yami, please. I don't want you to get hurt because of me. Can't we just go home?" Yami nodded and led Yugi back toward the game shop leaving Jou, Honda, and Anzu behind.

"Lord Koenma, sir!" a huge blue ogre busted through an airy office and glanced around for his tiny master amongst the large skyscraper-shaped stacks of paper on his lord's desk.

"What is it Jorge?" the ogre stepped back a bit at the use of his name. His boss never used his name unless he was really busy. "Oh, my dad will kill me if I don't get these papers done on time. This had better be important."

"We just got this letter from one of the other worlds, their princess has been kidnapped." Koenma stopped in his tracks and he nearly spat out the secret source of power, his pacifier. "That's not all the other worlds have reported similar kidnappings."

"This can only mean one thing." Koenma stood up and snapped his fingers making the stacks of papers on his desk vanish. "Someone is trying to create..." Koenma rounded his desk and walked to the library "Follow me."

"Yes sir." Jorge matched his lord step for step

"This has happened before. But if they are taking the pure hearts from this realm then it is very serious indeed." Koenma pulled a book free from its place on the shelf and flipped through it. "Have you ever heard of Kingdom Hearts?"

"Only in stories, sir." Jorge watched as Koenma found the page he was looking for. A picture of Kingdom Hearts. "This is what the nobodies are after. They wish to have hearts of their own and they believe that Kingdom Hearts his key to that end."

"Where is he?" a voice cut through the air causing Jorge to turn around and stand in front of Koenma protectively. "There you are, Baby's breath."

Koenma placed his fingers on the bridge of his nose to stave off the oncoming migraine. "What is it, Yusuke?"

"You wanna tell me why three men in black cloaks came and took Botan away?"

"What?"

"Yeah, strange men kidnapped Botan right in the middle of the mission and I thought, Hey, only one baby would know what that was about."

"They took Botan… It is what I expected." Koenma closed the book and placed it back on the shelf. "Botan is a Princess of Heart. We need to find the Key."

"What Key?"

"I have already chosen the next hero. He lives in the World of Games. He just needs to accept his destiny."