Danny: *Entering* Well, I have to tell you this. I do not own KH or Yu-Gi-
Oh. They are owned by Disney/Squaresoft and Konami respectively so I have
absolutely no claim over them. Oh, by the way, don't sue me. I don't have
any money to give you. I am only trying to have fun.
Amaya: *Mutters* Fun isn't tagging people with parts they don't want.
Danny: *Smiling sweetly* Get used to it, hon. There is a lot more coming down your road. You don't have to like it right now. But don't worry, everything is going to end up just fine.
Amaya: Why am I all of a sudden scared? =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Chapter 3: The Power
----- "You didn't wake up Amaya," said an unfamiliar voice. She turned to see a look-alike Amaya standing next to her. "My name is Kylara and I am the sister to the pharaoh of Egypt."
"What?!" Amaya yelped.
"Please let me explain. After he was entombed in the Millennium Puzzle, I made the Millennium Manacle so we could both come back later on in this universe. I am your ally, Amaya. Please do not fight me. That deck you have in your hand is the tool you will use to summon Duel Monsters fully from the Shadow Realm," Kylara said to the very upset Amaya.
"I have totally lost it," moaned Amaya.
"Lost what?" the spirit next to her blinked in plain curiosity.
"My mind."
"No, it is completely intact."
"Amaya-san?" a voice broke through their conversation. Amaya blinked her eyes and she suddenly realized that she had fazed out on Riku.
"Uh, I'm fine. Don't worry 'bout me," Amaya said, shaking her head. Riku, without comment, turned and left the shop with Amaya trailing along behind.
Amaya was twisting herself around to put the cardholder with her deck on her belt. She didn't notice that no one was in the plaza anymore. However, Riku did and he summoned forth the Keyblade. "Careful," he warned as he paused and Amaya, busy with the deck, bumped into him.
"Sorry," Amaya apologized. She was now finished messing with the deck and saw that there was no one around. Something deep within her stirred and her hand moved to unfasten the clasp holding the cards in.
"Something is here. I can feel it." Riku was turning to look and listen all around them. "If there is trouble, go back into the shop."
"I don't think so," Amaya said behind him. Riku glanced at her in surprise. Somehow, Amaya looked different from a moment ago. She pulled a card out of her holder and looked at it. "You will need my help." Her voice seemed different as well.
Suddenly, the ground started shaking. Armor pieces fell out of the sky, hit the ground, and assembled themselves. "It's a Guard Armor!" Riku yelled, pushing Amaya back.
"Dark Magician, come forth from the Shadow Realm!" Amaya cried out from behind him. In a sudden blaze of light, someone armored in green and held a staff passed by him. (A/N: *Looking in her Duel Monster Cookbook* Add one Dark Magician, take coloring of choice - green by the way - alter the usual hair color and eyes - change eyes to emerald green and hair to black - and you have a new variety of Dark Magician!)
"Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!" she yelled again. In one attack, the Dark Magician had taken off one of the arms of the Guard Armor. Riku got one of its legs two seconds later. With Amaya commandeering the Dark Magician and Riku using the Keyblade, they made short work of the appendages of the Guard Armor and together, they beat the torso.
Once defeated, the Dark Magician disappeared back into its card. Riku, surprised by this, turned to look at Amaya. She seemed to be pale and sweaty for some reason.
"What's wrong, Amaya-san?" Riku asked her.
"Ugh. I guess I'm not very strong right now. Kylara put quite a bit of strain on my body," Amaya said, looking sick.
"Who's Kylara?"
"No one." Riku helped her to her feet and they left Traverse Town for now.
* * *
Back on the Gummi Ship, Amaya was dozing in a seat as Riku piloted the ship. It was boring, really. There didn't seem to be any Heartless ships and he didn't have to worry about getting hit by the various meteors. They were easy to dodge. He went by many of the worlds that were sealed originally by Sora. There was no fear for Wonderland and Agrabah. Places like the Deep Jungle, Halloween Town, and the Coliseum were also immune. Those places only gave the Heartless trouble.
But as they passed Atlantica, the Heartless radar was boosted to a level seven and Neverland got an eight. The Hollow Bastion, fortunately, was kept clean of Heartless. But, maybe I could go see Kairi's home again, he thought to himself.
However, they would have to wait. There seemed to be some weaker places off past Hollow Bastion that they could clean up and get Amaya stronger.
They came upon one world that seemed to be low on Heartless. It registered as a one on the radar. "This is a good spot to start," Riku muttered. He brought the Gummi Ship down on the world. It seemed to be a city on one side of the world and there was a large island on the other side surrounded by ocean. On the backside of the world seemed to be a huge sphinx statue and pyramids along with a ton of sand.
He got out of the ship and, after looking at Amaya, chose to leave her there. She still looked a little white after Traverse Town.
Riku walked into the city, observing different places. When he looked up above the shops, he saw his very first skyscraper. The building was about thirty or so stories tall and it had the huge letters 'KC' on it. Intrigued, he went to the building, passing many shops and houses in the process.
He was so intent on seeing this building up close, he ran into someone, knocking them to the ground. "Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me," he said, tearing his gaze from the skyscraper. The person he had bumped into was no more than a kid. His hair was black, yellow, and pink and was very spiky. His face was sweet looking and seemed really nice.
"I'm okay," the kid said. "I wasn't really watching where I was going either. My name is Yugi Mutou. Who are you?"
"Riku. I hope you are all right," Riku said, shaking the offered hand.
"Hey, Yugi! You okay, buddy?" Three kids were running up to them now. There was a tall blonde boy that seemed to be a natural troublemaker and another tall boy, this time brunette. There was also a well-proportioned, brunette girl that had large blue doe-like eyes as well. "What did this creep do to you, Yuge?" (A/N: *winces* I was trying to do Joey's nickname for Yugi) the blonde asked. "He doesn't look so tough. I could take him down!"
But, Joey hadn't seen Riku's eyes. They were shadowed and only Yugi had seen them briefly. "Joey, he didn't do anything! Plus, I don't want any trouble. He apologized to me for bumping into me and everything is all right!"
"Well. If you say so, Yuge," the blonde said.
"Riku, these are my friends. This is Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu," Yugi said pointing to each one respectively. "We call Jounouchi Joey for short."
Riku didn't say anything, but he did nod in acknowledgement. He noticed the Anzu girl looking at him with curiosity. //Well, she isn't as smart looking as Amaya-san,// he thought to himself. Finally, he turned to Yugi and asked, "What is that building over there?" He pointed up at the skyscraper.
"Huh?" Yugi said, turning. "Oh, that?"
"What are ya, new or somethin'? That's Kaiba Corp HQ!" Jounouchi said, turning to look where Riku was pointing.
Riku, not wanting to hit the idiot (A/N: Sorry, Joey fans! I only think Riku would think of Joey as an idiot. After all, Sora is far more intelligent! ^__^;;;), didn't say a word or move an inch. The only thing he did was shift his head out of shadow and look straight into Joey's eyes.
"Shit!" Honda caught sight of the 'Icy Glare' too. "That's one hell of a look, man!" he continued as Joey started to back off.
* * *
"Uh!" Amaya groaned as she woke up. "Riku, why didn't you-Riku?" For the first time, she saw that Riku wasn't there in the Gummi Ship. She also noticed that sunlight was falling in spatters on the Gummi Ship. "Aww, shit! You just had to up and leave, you white-haired freak!"
She stumbled out of the ship and stretched hard, groaning again. She looked around and saw that she was in a park of some sort and up above the tree line, there was a single skyscraper reaching up. Amaya immediately saw the KC on the side of the building. "Well, the only 'scraper I know of that looked like that was Kaiba Corp," she said to herself. //But if that is Kaiba Corp, that means there is Kaiba and. oh, shit! This is Yugi's world! And that's a TV show!//
Amaya immediately took off towards what could only be Domino City.
* * *
Riku was still talking to the foursome that he had met. Only it was more like they were talking and he was listening. They seemed to be talking about some game that was very popular here on this world. They called it Duel Monsters. Riku wasn't very interested in the conversation because he wanted to look around some more.
"Hey, Riku. Do you want to go to my grandpa's game shop? I think he would be interested in meeting you," Yugi asked him.
"There isn't much else to do, I suppose." They went to the Kame Game Shop a few streets over. As they were walking around a corner, none of them noticed the black-haired girl with red highlights walking really fast past them and down the road they just left.
* * *
"Where in the hell are you, Riku?" Amaya moaned, clutching a stitch in her side. She had no idea that she had just passed by him. She slumped down on the bench nearby. Across the street, Amaya heard laughing. When she looked, at first she saw only a café. Then she noticed a pair of boys bent over the same table, throwing down cards and calling out attacks. There was a bunch of people watching them and were having a blast.
Amaya suddenly saw a flash of white from one of the players and she hoped to God that it was Riku. She ran to the corner of the block and as soon as possible, ran across to the other side. Amaya pushed her way through the crowd to the players.
"Hey, Riku!" she said as she grabbed the white-haired guy by the shoulder. Before he even turned, she knew she made a mistake. However, before she could even apologize for her rudeness, the words were driven right out of her when she saw who it truly was.
"Uh oh," she said. "I- I- I'm really sorry for disturbing you!" Amaya was frantically looking for a way out of this situation, but the opening she had made had vanished and everyone's eyes were on her. "This really hasn't been my day," she moaned. Amaya rubbed at the Manacle on her wrist and backed up somewhat, only to run into the boy that she had no doubt being the Yami of Bakura.
"Watch where you're going!" he said as she backed into him. Yami Bakura pushed her off of him. His eyes were cold, but they weren't like Riku's.
"I'm sorry. Really, I am! All I want to do right now is find Riku," Amaya said. She knew she was babbling like an idiot, but she was close to tears and nothing seemed logical or safe to her right now.
"What's your name?" Yami Bakura asked.
"Uh, it's Amaya," she sniffed. Amaya was still rubbing at the Item as he looked at her. It seemed to be aching for some reason. "What's yours?"
"Ryou Bakura," he said stiffly. He watched her rubbing at the item. //What in the hell is she doing that for?// Yami Bakura thought as he caught sight of a glint of gold. "Damn, girl. You're going to rub your skin off or that bracelet thin if you keep doing that!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from the bracelet.
Amaya pulled her arm away and put the Manacled arm behind her back. She knew he was notorious for wanting Millenium Items and she didn't want to give away the fact that she had one. "I- I have to go," she said quickly and pushed her way back out of the crowd and into the clear.
As soon as she got away, she ran as fast as she could away without running straight into the street.
* * *
Meanwhile, Riku was looking up at the Game Shop. It was a nice little place and he kind of liked it. The smile that came to his lips said otherwise.
"Well, you don't have to make fun of it, ya know! This is Yugi's home after all!" Joey seemed to be quick to harass the Keyblade Master.
"Oh, it's not that," Riku said, smile vanishing. "There is nothing wrong with the shop."
"Then why are you-" Joey was interrupted by a very upset cry of "Riku!" down the street. The group turned to see a very pretty twenty-year old running towards them.
"Amaya-san seems to have woken up," Riku murmured. Finally, the girl reached them and bent over, hands on knees, panting and gasping for air. When she straightened, she grinned.
"You know, Riku? You're a real pain in the ass!" she said.
"Hey! That was mean!" Anzu said, shocked.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too!" Amaya said, still grinning. "Boy, am I glad to see you!" she continued, looking back at Riku, "Why didn't you wake me up, you jerk?"
"You were tired, Amaya-san," Riku said, letting himself smile slightly. The result was a smirk. That only made Amaya's grin wider. The Yu-Gi-Oh kids were just staring.
"Uh, who's that?" asked Honda. Riku quickly made introductions. However, the intended result didn't happen. Amaya was just standing there, pale and in shock. She wasn't even making a move to shake Yugi's extended hand. Instead, she looked at it if it were a Heartless or something.
"I- I can't," she stuttered as she seemed to be close to tears. "God damn you, Riku! Why here of all places?!"
"What in the worlds is the matter with you? You need to build up stamina and strength. This was the first place that I came across that was only a one on the Heartless radar!" Riku looked rather irritated.
"Worlds?" Anzu asked at the same time that Yugi asked "Heartless radar?"
"Quiet, you!" Amaya said, pointing her left index finger at Anzu. This only provided Yugi with an excellent look at the Millenium Manacle on her wrist. Amaya stopped pointing at Anzu and turned her finger on Riku. "You, come with me. We need to talk!" Riku, who seemed very cold to the Yu-Gi-Oh gang, actually flinched at Amaya's flinty gaze and sharp tongue. They walked off down the street and immediately set to arguing.
"Wow! I thought that Riku was bad, but that Amaya is worse!" Joey said. Yugi wasn't even paying attention to the world around him. He was busy conferring with his Yami about the mysterious object on Amaya's wrist.
Yami said to the boy.
Yugi replied.
Yami was saying when Yugi interrupted him.
I guess you didn't see it. Amaya looked like she was scared of us, but something in her eyes said that she knew us very well. Maybe- I'm just saying maybe- another Item was made after you became part of the puzzle?
* * *
"You aren't serious!" Riku said incredulously. Amaya nodded stiffly.
"I watched that show when I was at home. I nearly shit when I realized that I was talking to Bakura. And not just him, either! It was his Yami in control then." Amaya strained to keep her voice from yelling. She was still a little upset after the Yugi and Co. incident.
She was also intentionally keeping Kaiba Corp behind her. Amaya really didn't want to have another breakdown.
Riku sighed. "We can't just leave, Amaya-san. The Heartless are here and we need to defeat them. Do you understand me?" Amaya nodded stiffly once more. "Good. You just need to keep a-how did that go?"
"Stiff upper lip?" Amaya said dully.
"Yes, a stiff upper lip. Now, let's go back to them. We could use their help."
"No. You go back to them for now and I will explore Domino City. I'll look around and if there is any trouble, I will do what I can and if I start to lose, I'll go back to the Game Shop."
"Okay. Be careful now, Amaya-san." After they had finished, they split up. Riku went back to the Game Shop in which Yugi and Co. went into and Amaya went the other way, watching everyone around her.
* * *
Back in the Kame Game Shop, Yugi and Co. were talking to none other than Duke Devington at the counter. (A/N: I think that's Duke's last name in the English version. If not, tell me. ^_^; [A/N2: If you called Duke, Dukie- chan, would you be calling him cute shit? X-( Bad, yes, but don't you remember those cheerleaders from Dungeon Dice?]) The bell rang and they looked up from the Duel Monsters catalogue on the counter.
"Oh, hi Riku!" Yugi chirped. "Where's your friend?"
"Amaya-san didn't want to come," Riku said softly. Before they had separated, Amaya had made him swear on pain of death that he wouldn't tell them what she knew.
The ever-intelligent Joey came in at this point, "Why not? She was really nice to Yugi. She might as well have spit on him for the look she gave him."
Riku's cold eyes snapped to Joey and made him sweat for a while. Duke, on the other hand, was intrigued about this newcomer. "Hello there, my name is Duke Devington. I'm the creator of Dungeon Dice!" he said, extending his hand. "Do you play Duel Monsters?"
"My name is Riku and no, I don't," Riku said after shifting his gaze to the black-haired, green-eyed boy. "Interesting earring." He said after looking at the die earring on Duke's ear.
"You think so, eh? Well, anyone who can irritate Jounouchi with a single look earns my friendship." His hand was still out and Riku, sensing that shaking hands with the pretty boy was the only way to get him to put it down, shook hands with him.
* * *
"Well, what is a pretty girl like you doing wandering the streets?" a voice said from behind Amaya. Surprised, Amaya turned and stared at this tall, handsome guy looking at her. He had a run-of-the-mill hair cut and blue, blue eyes. He was very slender and wore a blue trench coat, blue jeans, and a green shirt.
"Who are you?" she demanded, although she knew who he was.
"Sorry, I asked you first. Dibs you know." He smiled at Amaya. She frowned because the smile was similar to the smirk Riku gave sometimes.
"Okay, I'm walking 'cause it's healthy. Your turn," Amaya said, pleased with herself for coming up with an answer that wouldn't cause suspicion.
"Fair enough. My name is Seto Kaiba," the brunette answered her.
"Nice to meet you," she said.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Danny: End Chapter 3! How did you like it? Review if you wish. I don't care. *Makes silly face* Me no care, me no care!!!
Kaiba: Why did you make another cliffhanger?
Riku: Yeah! It would have been better if you let them go through the introduction.
Danny: *Shrieks* It makes you read the next chapter!!!
Seto & Riku: *Drawing back from Danny* Kaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy.
Danny: Oh, well! Stay tuned. I'll get the next chapter of R2TL up as soon as I can!
Amaya: *Mutters* Fun isn't tagging people with parts they don't want.
Danny: *Smiling sweetly* Get used to it, hon. There is a lot more coming down your road. You don't have to like it right now. But don't worry, everything is going to end up just fine.
Amaya: Why am I all of a sudden scared? =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Chapter 3: The Power
----- "You didn't wake up Amaya," said an unfamiliar voice. She turned to see a look-alike Amaya standing next to her. "My name is Kylara and I am the sister to the pharaoh of Egypt."
"What?!" Amaya yelped.
"Please let me explain. After he was entombed in the Millennium Puzzle, I made the Millennium Manacle so we could both come back later on in this universe. I am your ally, Amaya. Please do not fight me. That deck you have in your hand is the tool you will use to summon Duel Monsters fully from the Shadow Realm," Kylara said to the very upset Amaya.
"I have totally lost it," moaned Amaya.
"Lost what?" the spirit next to her blinked in plain curiosity.
"My mind."
"No, it is completely intact."
"Amaya-san?" a voice broke through their conversation. Amaya blinked her eyes and she suddenly realized that she had fazed out on Riku.
"Uh, I'm fine. Don't worry 'bout me," Amaya said, shaking her head. Riku, without comment, turned and left the shop with Amaya trailing along behind.
Amaya was twisting herself around to put the cardholder with her deck on her belt. She didn't notice that no one was in the plaza anymore. However, Riku did and he summoned forth the Keyblade. "Careful," he warned as he paused and Amaya, busy with the deck, bumped into him.
"Sorry," Amaya apologized. She was now finished messing with the deck and saw that there was no one around. Something deep within her stirred and her hand moved to unfasten the clasp holding the cards in.
"Something is here. I can feel it." Riku was turning to look and listen all around them. "If there is trouble, go back into the shop."
"I don't think so," Amaya said behind him. Riku glanced at her in surprise. Somehow, Amaya looked different from a moment ago. She pulled a card out of her holder and looked at it. "You will need my help." Her voice seemed different as well.
Suddenly, the ground started shaking. Armor pieces fell out of the sky, hit the ground, and assembled themselves. "It's a Guard Armor!" Riku yelled, pushing Amaya back.
"Dark Magician, come forth from the Shadow Realm!" Amaya cried out from behind him. In a sudden blaze of light, someone armored in green and held a staff passed by him. (A/N: *Looking in her Duel Monster Cookbook* Add one Dark Magician, take coloring of choice - green by the way - alter the usual hair color and eyes - change eyes to emerald green and hair to black - and you have a new variety of Dark Magician!)
"Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!" she yelled again. In one attack, the Dark Magician had taken off one of the arms of the Guard Armor. Riku got one of its legs two seconds later. With Amaya commandeering the Dark Magician and Riku using the Keyblade, they made short work of the appendages of the Guard Armor and together, they beat the torso.
Once defeated, the Dark Magician disappeared back into its card. Riku, surprised by this, turned to look at Amaya. She seemed to be pale and sweaty for some reason.
"What's wrong, Amaya-san?" Riku asked her.
"Ugh. I guess I'm not very strong right now. Kylara put quite a bit of strain on my body," Amaya said, looking sick.
"Who's Kylara?"
"No one." Riku helped her to her feet and they left Traverse Town for now.
* * *
Back on the Gummi Ship, Amaya was dozing in a seat as Riku piloted the ship. It was boring, really. There didn't seem to be any Heartless ships and he didn't have to worry about getting hit by the various meteors. They were easy to dodge. He went by many of the worlds that were sealed originally by Sora. There was no fear for Wonderland and Agrabah. Places like the Deep Jungle, Halloween Town, and the Coliseum were also immune. Those places only gave the Heartless trouble.
But as they passed Atlantica, the Heartless radar was boosted to a level seven and Neverland got an eight. The Hollow Bastion, fortunately, was kept clean of Heartless. But, maybe I could go see Kairi's home again, he thought to himself.
However, they would have to wait. There seemed to be some weaker places off past Hollow Bastion that they could clean up and get Amaya stronger.
They came upon one world that seemed to be low on Heartless. It registered as a one on the radar. "This is a good spot to start," Riku muttered. He brought the Gummi Ship down on the world. It seemed to be a city on one side of the world and there was a large island on the other side surrounded by ocean. On the backside of the world seemed to be a huge sphinx statue and pyramids along with a ton of sand.
He got out of the ship and, after looking at Amaya, chose to leave her there. She still looked a little white after Traverse Town.
Riku walked into the city, observing different places. When he looked up above the shops, he saw his very first skyscraper. The building was about thirty or so stories tall and it had the huge letters 'KC' on it. Intrigued, he went to the building, passing many shops and houses in the process.
He was so intent on seeing this building up close, he ran into someone, knocking them to the ground. "Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me," he said, tearing his gaze from the skyscraper. The person he had bumped into was no more than a kid. His hair was black, yellow, and pink and was very spiky. His face was sweet looking and seemed really nice.
"I'm okay," the kid said. "I wasn't really watching where I was going either. My name is Yugi Mutou. Who are you?"
"Riku. I hope you are all right," Riku said, shaking the offered hand.
"Hey, Yugi! You okay, buddy?" Three kids were running up to them now. There was a tall blonde boy that seemed to be a natural troublemaker and another tall boy, this time brunette. There was also a well-proportioned, brunette girl that had large blue doe-like eyes as well. "What did this creep do to you, Yuge?" (A/N: *winces* I was trying to do Joey's nickname for Yugi) the blonde asked. "He doesn't look so tough. I could take him down!"
But, Joey hadn't seen Riku's eyes. They were shadowed and only Yugi had seen them briefly. "Joey, he didn't do anything! Plus, I don't want any trouble. He apologized to me for bumping into me and everything is all right!"
"Well. If you say so, Yuge," the blonde said.
"Riku, these are my friends. This is Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu," Yugi said pointing to each one respectively. "We call Jounouchi Joey for short."
Riku didn't say anything, but he did nod in acknowledgement. He noticed the Anzu girl looking at him with curiosity. //Well, she isn't as smart looking as Amaya-san,// he thought to himself. Finally, he turned to Yugi and asked, "What is that building over there?" He pointed up at the skyscraper.
"Huh?" Yugi said, turning. "Oh, that?"
"What are ya, new or somethin'? That's Kaiba Corp HQ!" Jounouchi said, turning to look where Riku was pointing.
Riku, not wanting to hit the idiot (A/N: Sorry, Joey fans! I only think Riku would think of Joey as an idiot. After all, Sora is far more intelligent! ^__^;;;), didn't say a word or move an inch. The only thing he did was shift his head out of shadow and look straight into Joey's eyes.
"Shit!" Honda caught sight of the 'Icy Glare' too. "That's one hell of a look, man!" he continued as Joey started to back off.
* * *
"Uh!" Amaya groaned as she woke up. "Riku, why didn't you-Riku?" For the first time, she saw that Riku wasn't there in the Gummi Ship. She also noticed that sunlight was falling in spatters on the Gummi Ship. "Aww, shit! You just had to up and leave, you white-haired freak!"
She stumbled out of the ship and stretched hard, groaning again. She looked around and saw that she was in a park of some sort and up above the tree line, there was a single skyscraper reaching up. Amaya immediately saw the KC on the side of the building. "Well, the only 'scraper I know of that looked like that was Kaiba Corp," she said to herself. //But if that is Kaiba Corp, that means there is Kaiba and. oh, shit! This is Yugi's world! And that's a TV show!//
Amaya immediately took off towards what could only be Domino City.
* * *
Riku was still talking to the foursome that he had met. Only it was more like they were talking and he was listening. They seemed to be talking about some game that was very popular here on this world. They called it Duel Monsters. Riku wasn't very interested in the conversation because he wanted to look around some more.
"Hey, Riku. Do you want to go to my grandpa's game shop? I think he would be interested in meeting you," Yugi asked him.
"There isn't much else to do, I suppose." They went to the Kame Game Shop a few streets over. As they were walking around a corner, none of them noticed the black-haired girl with red highlights walking really fast past them and down the road they just left.
* * *
"Where in the hell are you, Riku?" Amaya moaned, clutching a stitch in her side. She had no idea that she had just passed by him. She slumped down on the bench nearby. Across the street, Amaya heard laughing. When she looked, at first she saw only a café. Then she noticed a pair of boys bent over the same table, throwing down cards and calling out attacks. There was a bunch of people watching them and were having a blast.
Amaya suddenly saw a flash of white from one of the players and she hoped to God that it was Riku. She ran to the corner of the block and as soon as possible, ran across to the other side. Amaya pushed her way through the crowd to the players.
"Hey, Riku!" she said as she grabbed the white-haired guy by the shoulder. Before he even turned, she knew she made a mistake. However, before she could even apologize for her rudeness, the words were driven right out of her when she saw who it truly was.
"Uh oh," she said. "I- I- I'm really sorry for disturbing you!" Amaya was frantically looking for a way out of this situation, but the opening she had made had vanished and everyone's eyes were on her. "This really hasn't been my day," she moaned. Amaya rubbed at the Manacle on her wrist and backed up somewhat, only to run into the boy that she had no doubt being the Yami of Bakura.
"Watch where you're going!" he said as she backed into him. Yami Bakura pushed her off of him. His eyes were cold, but they weren't like Riku's.
"I'm sorry. Really, I am! All I want to do right now is find Riku," Amaya said. She knew she was babbling like an idiot, but she was close to tears and nothing seemed logical or safe to her right now.
"What's your name?" Yami Bakura asked.
"Uh, it's Amaya," she sniffed. Amaya was still rubbing at the Item as he looked at her. It seemed to be aching for some reason. "What's yours?"
"Ryou Bakura," he said stiffly. He watched her rubbing at the item. //What in the hell is she doing that for?// Yami Bakura thought as he caught sight of a glint of gold. "Damn, girl. You're going to rub your skin off or that bracelet thin if you keep doing that!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from the bracelet.
Amaya pulled her arm away and put the Manacled arm behind her back. She knew he was notorious for wanting Millenium Items and she didn't want to give away the fact that she had one. "I- I have to go," she said quickly and pushed her way back out of the crowd and into the clear.
As soon as she got away, she ran as fast as she could away without running straight into the street.
* * *
Meanwhile, Riku was looking up at the Game Shop. It was a nice little place and he kind of liked it. The smile that came to his lips said otherwise.
"Well, you don't have to make fun of it, ya know! This is Yugi's home after all!" Joey seemed to be quick to harass the Keyblade Master.
"Oh, it's not that," Riku said, smile vanishing. "There is nothing wrong with the shop."
"Then why are you-" Joey was interrupted by a very upset cry of "Riku!" down the street. The group turned to see a very pretty twenty-year old running towards them.
"Amaya-san seems to have woken up," Riku murmured. Finally, the girl reached them and bent over, hands on knees, panting and gasping for air. When she straightened, she grinned.
"You know, Riku? You're a real pain in the ass!" she said.
"Hey! That was mean!" Anzu said, shocked.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too!" Amaya said, still grinning. "Boy, am I glad to see you!" she continued, looking back at Riku, "Why didn't you wake me up, you jerk?"
"You were tired, Amaya-san," Riku said, letting himself smile slightly. The result was a smirk. That only made Amaya's grin wider. The Yu-Gi-Oh kids were just staring.
"Uh, who's that?" asked Honda. Riku quickly made introductions. However, the intended result didn't happen. Amaya was just standing there, pale and in shock. She wasn't even making a move to shake Yugi's extended hand. Instead, she looked at it if it were a Heartless or something.
"I- I can't," she stuttered as she seemed to be close to tears. "God damn you, Riku! Why here of all places?!"
"What in the worlds is the matter with you? You need to build up stamina and strength. This was the first place that I came across that was only a one on the Heartless radar!" Riku looked rather irritated.
"Worlds?" Anzu asked at the same time that Yugi asked "Heartless radar?"
"Quiet, you!" Amaya said, pointing her left index finger at Anzu. This only provided Yugi with an excellent look at the Millenium Manacle on her wrist. Amaya stopped pointing at Anzu and turned her finger on Riku. "You, come with me. We need to talk!" Riku, who seemed very cold to the Yu-Gi-Oh gang, actually flinched at Amaya's flinty gaze and sharp tongue. They walked off down the street and immediately set to arguing.
"Wow! I thought that Riku was bad, but that Amaya is worse!" Joey said. Yugi wasn't even paying attention to the world around him. He was busy conferring with his Yami about the mysterious object on Amaya's wrist.
Yami said to the boy.
Yugi replied.
Yami was saying when Yugi interrupted him.
I guess you didn't see it. Amaya looked like she was scared of us, but something in her eyes said that she knew us very well. Maybe- I'm just saying maybe- another Item was made after you became part of the puzzle?
* * *
"You aren't serious!" Riku said incredulously. Amaya nodded stiffly.
"I watched that show when I was at home. I nearly shit when I realized that I was talking to Bakura. And not just him, either! It was his Yami in control then." Amaya strained to keep her voice from yelling. She was still a little upset after the Yugi and Co. incident.
She was also intentionally keeping Kaiba Corp behind her. Amaya really didn't want to have another breakdown.
Riku sighed. "We can't just leave, Amaya-san. The Heartless are here and we need to defeat them. Do you understand me?" Amaya nodded stiffly once more. "Good. You just need to keep a-how did that go?"
"Stiff upper lip?" Amaya said dully.
"Yes, a stiff upper lip. Now, let's go back to them. We could use their help."
"No. You go back to them for now and I will explore Domino City. I'll look around and if there is any trouble, I will do what I can and if I start to lose, I'll go back to the Game Shop."
"Okay. Be careful now, Amaya-san." After they had finished, they split up. Riku went back to the Game Shop in which Yugi and Co. went into and Amaya went the other way, watching everyone around her.
* * *
Back in the Kame Game Shop, Yugi and Co. were talking to none other than Duke Devington at the counter. (A/N: I think that's Duke's last name in the English version. If not, tell me. ^_^; [A/N2: If you called Duke, Dukie- chan, would you be calling him cute shit? X-( Bad, yes, but don't you remember those cheerleaders from Dungeon Dice?]) The bell rang and they looked up from the Duel Monsters catalogue on the counter.
"Oh, hi Riku!" Yugi chirped. "Where's your friend?"
"Amaya-san didn't want to come," Riku said softly. Before they had separated, Amaya had made him swear on pain of death that he wouldn't tell them what she knew.
The ever-intelligent Joey came in at this point, "Why not? She was really nice to Yugi. She might as well have spit on him for the look she gave him."
Riku's cold eyes snapped to Joey and made him sweat for a while. Duke, on the other hand, was intrigued about this newcomer. "Hello there, my name is Duke Devington. I'm the creator of Dungeon Dice!" he said, extending his hand. "Do you play Duel Monsters?"
"My name is Riku and no, I don't," Riku said after shifting his gaze to the black-haired, green-eyed boy. "Interesting earring." He said after looking at the die earring on Duke's ear.
"You think so, eh? Well, anyone who can irritate Jounouchi with a single look earns my friendship." His hand was still out and Riku, sensing that shaking hands with the pretty boy was the only way to get him to put it down, shook hands with him.
* * *
"Well, what is a pretty girl like you doing wandering the streets?" a voice said from behind Amaya. Surprised, Amaya turned and stared at this tall, handsome guy looking at her. He had a run-of-the-mill hair cut and blue, blue eyes. He was very slender and wore a blue trench coat, blue jeans, and a green shirt.
"Who are you?" she demanded, although she knew who he was.
"Sorry, I asked you first. Dibs you know." He smiled at Amaya. She frowned because the smile was similar to the smirk Riku gave sometimes.
"Okay, I'm walking 'cause it's healthy. Your turn," Amaya said, pleased with herself for coming up with an answer that wouldn't cause suspicion.
"Fair enough. My name is Seto Kaiba," the brunette answered her.
"Nice to meet you," she said.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Danny: End Chapter 3! How did you like it? Review if you wish. I don't care. *Makes silly face* Me no care, me no care!!!
Kaiba: Why did you make another cliffhanger?
Riku: Yeah! It would have been better if you let them go through the introduction.
Danny: *Shrieks* It makes you read the next chapter!!!
Seto & Riku: *Drawing back from Danny* Kaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy.
Danny: Oh, well! Stay tuned. I'll get the next chapter of R2TL up as soon as I can!