Joy: This one is up a lot quicker! YEAH! And I won't make Joy a computer geek or anything. Though she will be having to do computer work for her job a lot. Okay, here comes the next chapter!

Don't Mess With Ryou!

Ryou and Yugi spent a good part of an hour watching their friends train. Moon Shadow would blow gusts of wind at Joy to distract her from Sakura's ice blast. Joy was doing a pretty good job at countering the maneuvers and following through with her own blasts. So far the three seemed evenly matched.

"Hey, Yugi…where's Kira?" Ryou asked.

"She's in a guest room at the top of that tower," Yugi answered, pointing to the nearest tower. "She's taking a nap. Nice job, Joy!" he added to his friend.

"I hope the darks are successful. Otherwise – " Ryou got cut off when Joy gasped. They looked up to see that the shield, which was strapped to Joy's left arm was glowing brightly.

"Why is it doing that?" Sakura asked as she and Moon Shadow came closer. Ryou and Yugi also came over.

"Um…I don't know. It might be trying to tell me something." Joy closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. "There is someone coming, but I don't know who."

Everyone looked around to see if they could spot someone. "Well, Ra is by the gates, so if it is a foe, the god should be able to take care of it," Moon Shadow said.

"Just in case, we should stick together and be prepared," Sakura advised.

"I'll go get Kira," Ryou offered, rushing off towards the tower Kira was in. He hurried up the stairs and stopped right in front of the door. He knocked. "Kira?" he called. "Are you awake?"

Inside the room, Kira stirred a bit. She slowly opened her eyes, blinked several times and sat up. That's when a shadowy figure entered her room. When she saw the person, she let out a cry.

"Akujin!"

"That's right, traitorous girl. You shall pay dearly for what you have done." He took out a golden handled dagger. "Prepare to pay for your betrayal with you life!" Kira let out a scream as Akujin brought the dagger down toward her…

Suddenly Akujin cried out in surprise as someone jumped on his back. "Ryou!" Kira shouted.

"Aarggh! Foolish boy! Get off of me or die!"

"I don't think so!" Ryou snapped back, not removing his hold on Akujin. The fiend growled and thrashed around, trying to throw Ryou off, but the boy hung on tightly. Ryou kicked Akujin in the back of the leg, causing him to cry out in pain. The villain countered the move by throwing himself backwards into the nearest wall, the full force of the move going to Ryou.

"Itai!" Ryou cried, letting go and sliding to the ground against the wall.

While Akujin's attention was turned to Ryou, Kira took the opportunity to rush to the doorway and let out the loudest scream she could muster. Akujin heard it and turned his attention to the girl once more. The dagger was still in his possession as he approached her. Kira was frightened to the point of being unable to move. Her eyes were wide with fear and she was close to trembling. "Now you die girl!"

"No you don't!" Ryou leaped up and lunged for Akujin again, this time going for the dagger itself. Now what would Bakura do? he asked himself. He came up with a quick answer. He pulled his fist up and punched Akujin right in the face. ITAI! That hurt! But it worked. Akujin not only fell to the ground, but he dropped the dagger! Ryou stooped down and picked it up.

The instant the dagger was in Ryou's hand both he and the item glowed briefly. Ryou looked completely shocked by the event, but just as quickly as it happened, it ended. Akujin glared at him with a look of death. "You…you are the one," he said though gritted teeth.

In a surprise move, Akujin lunged at Ryou, knocking the boy down and causing the dagger to fly out of his hand and across the room. Kira rushed toward the item, but Akujin grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the ground. He got to his feet and ran toward the item, Ryou right behind him. But Akujin got to the dagger first and sneered at the two teens.

"Now I will take you down first, keeper, and be one step closer to the ultimate prize." He rushed forward, bringing the dagger down for a lethal blow. But then he stopped, a shocked look on his face. "What is this? I can't move my arm!"

Ryou and Kira blinked, then looked at each other and back at Akujin. Why can't he strike the blow? Ryou asked himself as he and Kira watched Akujin struggling to bring down the weapon. At that instant, Joy and the others bursts into the room.

"Akujin!" Yugi cried. Akujin hissed at the teen, looking over at Yugi with malice. But that also distracted him enough for Ryou to rush forward and grab the dagger out of Akujin's hands and push him away. Akujin stumbled back and glared evilly at the boy.

"You may have won this time, but the Sword of Kai is MINE!" With that, Akujin vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Ryou, are you okay?" Sakura asked, quickly coming over to him.

"Absolutely!" Ryou answered with a grin. "Guess what, you guys! I'm a keeper, too!"

Everyone blinked. "You are the third keeper?" Joy asked. Ryou nodded and held out the dagger.

"That is the Dagger of Shou," Kira informed the group. "It reacted when Ryou touched it, just like the Shield of Chii did to Joy."

"We have to let the darks know about this. If they managed to retrieve the other item, then perhaps this will end in our favor quicker than expected," Joy said, a big smile on her face.

About a half an hour later, the darks returned, but they did not have the sword with them. "What happened?" Moon Shadow asked.

"The damn items were not there!" Bakura exclaimed, looking rather put out.

"And neither was Akujin," Katilli added.

"We know. He was here, attacking Ryou and Kira," Yugi supplied.

"WHAT!" all the darks yelled at once. The groups told their dark sides what happened, including the retrieval of the next item and the discovery that Ryou was the last keeper.

"So, we had all three keepers of light together the whole time," Reila mused.

"I guess so," Ryou said. He held out the dagger. "Akujin could not use the dagger to hurt me…why?"

"That is the nature of the items," Reila explained. "They will not harm their rightful owners."

Joy took a closer look at the object in Ryou's hand. "Katilli…that's the same dagger we saw at the museum after the tournament in Tokyo last summer!" Katilli looked for herself and confirmed Joy's observation.

"I didn't hear about any theft at the museum," Yugi said.

"That is because it was replaced by one that looked just like it. A forgery," Reila told him.

"Well, not that this is bad or any such thing," Bakura began, "but what about the last item?"

"Since it was not at the castle, it must be somewhere else. Now it is just a matter of finding it. But Akujin is at a disadvantage now. He only has the Sword of Kai. He has no chance of getting to the Path of Light now."

"So he's between a rock and a hard place, right?" Sakura asked.

"Sort of like that. I suppose we can do no more here. Especially since we do not know where he has hidden the last item. I suggest we return to the mortal realm," Reila said.

Joy gave Sakura and Moon Shadow a quick hug. "Thanks for all your help, you two. It was well appreciated."

"Anytime!" Sakura said with a grin.

"All you need do is ask, my friend," Moon Shadow added with a smile of her own.

And so they all returned to their own realm.

Joy: That was okay, wasn't it? Anyway, I finally have myself on a schedule to get these chapters out REALLY fast! Updates will come faster now, and I guess I could go ahead and tell you that this story will be completed soon! I only have like seven chapters left or something like that. Let me know if you guys want another story in my series. I'll let you know as this story gets closer to the end if I will do a sequel or not, but you guys need to tell me if you would even want another one, cuz I could just end it with this story.

Anyways… the next chapter will come soon, so stay tuned, folks! And don't forget to review!