Disclaimer: Didn't I just give a big rant about this? Ah well, go read Ch. 8's Disclaimer. H: I.am tired. Just got back from a two-week vacation to good ol' Minnesota fer me dear auntie's wedding. Yar, she's a good lass. But I'm tired, me auld bones be aching mightily. HH: *demonic glint in eye* That's my cue to use my magic! *makes cast of YGO appear* H: o_O Um.hi. I'm the authoress and--- Joey: Where's the fridge? H: *bops Joey* Don't interrupt. It's in the kitchen, but it's empty so don't even bother. Yugi: Why is it empty? H: ^_^ I had a midnight snack. Cast: O_O Joey: That sounds like something I would do. H: *glomps Joey* Well, I always get you on personality quizzes, so yeah, it is something you would do. All: o_O

***

Chapter Nine: Newcomer

"Shi-" she started to scream, but a hand covered her mouth. Panicked, she sunk her teeth into the soft flesh between the thumb and the forefinger. A hiss of pain came from the attacker, but in the dim light of the moon streaming through the curtains, Meg began to realize who the "attacker" really was.

She sat still and pried the hand away. "What do you think you're doing?!?" she demanded as quietly as possible.

"What are you doing in my room?" Joey Wheeler shot back. He slid off the bed and flicked on the light switch. The sudden flare caused them to blink for a few moments before going back to staring at each other.

Meg couldn't believe she was meeting the one person she had wanted to talk to and had a major crush on (she was too chicken to call it love). Joey was wondering what a strange girl was doing in his sister's house. /Doesn't look like one of Serenity's friends/, he mused to himself.

"I'm here because Ryou, my friend Yai, and I are going on a trip, and we needed to spend the night somewhere before we left," Meg explained, feeling very, very shy.

A sad look just like the one Serenity had before crossed over his face. "You couldn't stay at Ryou's?"

The girl made a mental note to ask what was so bad about Ryou's house, then answered, "No, we couldn't."

Joey nodded understandingly. "Okay. Sorry about scaring you, by the way.'

"Did I break the skin?" asked Meg worriedly.

"Naw," the tall boy grinned, making Meg melt inside. "I've had worse. I'm gonna sleep on the floor, since, if what you say is true, all the beds are filled up."

Soon Joey was placed comfortably on the carpet with one of the pillows from the bed, a blanket to sleep on, and another blanket to put over him. A few minutes later he was snoring away; Meg was exactly opposite. All of a sudden the events of the past few days started to overwhelm her. She slapped and pinched herself, just to make sure it wasn't one of her bizarre dreams, and stared at her hands, Joey, her hair, Joey, the bed, Joey, the room, Joey, the moon, and did I mention Joey? She tried to soak up every detail of him - the way he breathed, the way his hair fell onto his face, the way he smiled while dreaming.

She fell asleep watching him and dreamed of marshmallows, Joey, a rope that turned into a snake, and a strange and sinister person laughing cruelly, cloaked in darkness.

***

The next day Meg woke to find Joey's makeshift bed empty and joyful sunshine gleaming outside. Blinking owlishly, she stepped (or rather practically fell) out of bed and half-walked, half-dragged herself to her bag. She fished out some clothes and her toothbrush, and went into the bathroom.

Ten minutes, a stubbed toe, and one attempt at accidentally brushing her nose with her toothbrush later, Meg was not much more awake but at least looked it. When she got downstairs, everyone was seated around a table and eating cereal.

"Good morning," Ryou greeted her cheerfully, pouring her a bowl of cornflakes (the only thing they had). Meg simply gave him her all-teeth, unfriendly, Don't-bother-me-it-takes-too-much-energy-to-think morning smile. The white-haired boy quickly backed away and all of them left her alone until she looked a bit happier. No one wanted her smiling like that again.

"Did I tell you she's on a quest to find someone who can smile and laugh more evilly than her?" Yai whispered to Joey, who shook his head. "Do you know anyone who could top that impressive evil smile?"

"Maybe Marik or Kaiba, but that's a big maybe," the blonde replied quietly. He rose his voice. "So, Ryou, where are y'all goin'?"

"You might not believe me," Ryou began slowly, dead serious, and explained to Joey and Serenity about other planes and the whole problem.

Joey and Serenity looked at Yai and Meg in amazement. "So you're not even from this plane? Why do you look like us, then?" So then they had to discuss the whole "pain of leaving" changing appearance thing. After that, Joey looked like his brain would explode.

"So as you can tell," Ryou finished, "this is very important, and we must be leaving right away." He started to get up from his chair, but was stopped by Joey's hand.

The blonde grinned. "Think you can just leave me here, huh? At least wait until I pack."

"It's going to be really dangerous," Ryou warned. He then noticed Meg in some kind of reverie because Joey was coming, and quickly added, "but I think you'll be fine. Go ahead and get packed. Go light, but plan for a few days." As Joey vanished upstairs, he turned to Serenity. "Are you coming?" he questioned.

"Sorry, Ryou, but I can't." She shook her head sadly. "Mom will wonder where I am, and I don't have a very good excuse to be gone for goodness knows how long."

Ryou nodded in equal misery, and the two "aliens" felt that this was the time to leave the room.

"So, what are we going to do first?" Meg asked Yai in the hall. "Go in search of Bakura? Find bad guys to fight? What?"

Yai laughed. "No, dummy. You've been watching too much Indiana Jones. The same Jones that said, 'Sixty percent of archaeology takes place in the library'."

Meg groaned. "This isn't archaeology!" she protested.

"In a sense, it is," came the answer. "We're reading about the past of Egypt, and past means archaeology."

"Or anthrology," Meg muttered, just to get the last word.

Yai simply laughed.

***

H: ^^ I haven't updated in a long time! I think I'm going to delete Arm's Length, mainly because I forgot what was supposed to happen in it and I have very few reviews. U(.( HH: "Few" as in *cough* one! *cough*. H: Shhhhhhhh! HH: *grins* I see you put my signature smile in there. Eek: The Don't-bother-me one? *shivers* That one scares me the most out of all your smiles. Wayne: It makes me want to run and hide. HH: *smiles very, very, very evil smile* Maybe this will cheer you up! *starts to sing horribly* Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, Going to the garden to eat worms. Long thin slimy ones, short fat fuzzy ones, See how they wriggle and squirm. I bite off their heads and *slurping noise* out the juice And throw the skins away. Nobody knows how I survive On worms three times a day! Ta-da! The end! All: *very green* Eww. Eek: I think I'm gonna be sick. Wayne: That's disgusting. H: *goes to the bathroom to be sick* HH: *grins* A job well done. Please R&R, which, in this case, does not mean Rant&Rave or Rest&Recreation, but instead stands for Read&Review. Thankyewverymuch.