Chapter Two – A Precarious Decision

Again, I do not own the peoples, 'cept me and Thorn and Carman, but she needs to die so I wish I didn't…

Chapter Two – A Precarious Decision

Disclaimer – Ditto on last

Four Years Later

Kriss awoke with a start as light filtered in through the cracks in the dumpster and fell upon her eyes. She lifted the lid off the dumpster and stretched. Thorn popped up as though he had been awake the whole night, only that he was full of energy and bouncing everywhere like a madman. Kriss laughed.

"Slow down! This day is more than likely going to be just like every other day this week!" Kriss scolded playfully. All week those two had spent all of their time sneaking around police members all over the city of Domino. Every since Kriss's mom had reported her as a runaway they had been searching everywhere for her. They had even mustered up enough brains to catch her twice. Both times that she was caught she was forced to stay in the prison cells while her mom came. Kriss busted out and hadn't seen her mom in four years.

Today, however, there was something different. For example a big mob had collected along the sides of the street. 'Not another duelist!' Kriss thought. She heaved herself over the dumpster walls and Thorn quickly followed. She closed it and went out to see what sort of food she could nick today.

As they passed the bakery next to the hotel, tantalizing aromas danced around her and Thorn and they stopped momentarily to breathe in the warm, fresh smells.

'Too bad boy, right now we have to stick with something that isn't as highly guarded…" Kriss said nodding towards the baker that had always distrusted them. He hated street punks like Kriss hanging around his store.

As they reached the end of the block just pass the bakery however, there was a police man and he had spotted them. 'Shit!' Kriss screamed at herself for being so carefree and out in the open like that. Thorn perked his ears up and his eyes narrowed at the sight.

"Hey you!" The uniform stepped closer.

"This is the part where we run!" Kriss yelled at Thorn.

Both of them took of down the street, the police man close behind. But they were also approaching the mob that had collected earlier. 'Thank you stupid duelists, your timing couldn't have been better!' Kriss though angrily as they approached the mob of cheering fans as the duelists strutted through the pathway created like rock-stars.

As Kriss approached she caught glimpses of them through the crowd, and she instantly recognized them from Monday's paper. She couldn't remember the names but that was them all right. One kid had purple bangs and a red hat. The other had gold glasses and aqua hair.

Thorn soon surpassed her in speed and he also didn't care about the crown and barreled right through them. On his way by Thorn accidentally knocked the kid with glasses to the ground.

"Hey watch it!" the kid with the hat yelled.

"Well, move out of my way! This is a police chase!" Kriss yelled back as she passed him.

Kriss continued running through the crowd, ignoring the yells of anger coming form the fans as they had seen her knock that kid over. They packed tightly together and wouldn't let her through.

"Um, hi, how are you doing?" Kriss asked dumbly.

Kriss tried to get around the angry people. Meanwhile the police man was having just as much trouble getting through as Kriss on the other end of the pathway. The two kids in the middle were back on their feet and glaring at Kriss and Thorn.

"For crying out loud, will you move?" Kriss shouted at one of the kids.

"No way, you knocked down Weevil Underwood, he's the regional winner!" The kid shot back stubbornly.

"It wasn't me and I'm running from the police over there, or are you too blind to see that!" Kriss yelled back.

"Well good! You deserve it!" A girl nearby shouted.

"Look, one at a time, well, probably four at a time I could whip you all but right now this is important and I need to get through!" Kriss said.

"Yeah, we want their autographs but you can't have everything you want in the world!" The first kid shot back.

Kriss grabbed the kid by his shirt collar and pulled him up towards her, he couldn't have been older than 11, "This isn't a want, it's a need. If I go back to my parents they'll probably murder me!" Kriss growled angrily into his face.

"Whoa! Okay, just settle down, you can get through just don't kill me!" They boy pleaded.

Kriss dropped him bodily and he landed on his butt. "Thank you, c'mon Thorn!" Kriss called.

Thorn ran up and he and Kriss continued running down the street while the mob resumed their cheering and asking for autographs.

"Sheesh, fans," Kriss said, turning the corner to get more far away from the cop who'd, luckily, already given up getting around the fans.

Thorn whined and looked at his friend.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm hungry too, but you know, we don't really have any money…." Kriss said staring at the ground.

They kept walking until they had gone all the way around the block, taking their time so the cop could disappear. By the time they were done putzing around it took them three hours to get around the block. When they got back the sky was starting to cloud over and it looked like it was gonna rain.

Kriss peeked cautiously around the corner of the bakery and saw that the cop was gone. When they went around the corner and light downpour started and moistened the earth in only 5 seconds.

"Great!" Kriss said, kicking the side of the building out of frustration, "We still haven't eaten anything and now, we're gonna be soaked, face it Thorn, we probably aren't gonna get no food today dude. Now that it's raining not as many people are going to be out so there's no cover if we nick something!" Kriss let out a sigh of anger.

They went back to the ally to sleep so they could be ready for that night to defend their turf, (Cough the dumpster cough.)

The door swung open on squeaky hinges, waking up Kriss and Thorn. It was the door to the arcade. Kriss lay there and listened to the rain pelt the dumpster in what sounded like golf ball sized drops of rain.

She heard some folks talking. They were voices that she didn't recognize so she lifted the dumpster lid and jumped out, Thorn at her heels.

It was those two kids from earlier. Kriss reached into the dumpster and pulled out Monday's paper before shutting it. Kriss flipper through it until she found the article she wanted. Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood, Duel Monsters Regional winner and Runner-Up. According to the article, they were pretty evenly matched yet Weevil still managed to beat Rex. Also, they were here for two weeks until the ship to the Duelist Kingdom Tournament left.

"Oh……" Kriss said softly to herself.

The pair were walking out of the arcade when they were stopped by a kid who asked for their autographs. Weevil had already given his and now they were waiting for Rex to sign. As they were about to hand to board back they told the kid that it would cost him his strongest card. They little kid reluctantly gave it to them and they walked away laughing.

"Do you always rip off little kids for fun?"

Rex and Weevil spun around to see Kriss leaning against the wall of the arcade in the safety of her alley.

"Do you always butt into other peoples' business?" Weevil asked her.

"If it concerns me," Kriss responded.

"But it didn't, so why would you care?" Rex asked.

"But it does! If you two slime balls bring a gang of street punks over here, I'm not gonna protect you!" Kriss announced.

"We don't need your protection, who would beat us up, we're famous!" Weevil said.

"Just so you know. Where are you guys staying?" Kriss asked.

"Wouldn't you want to know?" Rex asked.

"Actually yes, if anything bad happens I know where to find you," Kriss explained.

"What sort of bad things?" Weevil asked back.

"Things about the little kid that you two just gypped," Kriss explained.

The two boys laughed.

"Why would he do that, he has our autographs?" Rex laughed.

"What about when you're outdone?" Kriss asked.

Rex and Weevil stopped laughing. "Uhhhhhh…….." they both said, looking at each other.

"See? It very much concerns me!" Kriss triumphantly stated.

"No, a little," Rex said, holding his fingers close together to show her how much he worried about her.

A pair of headlights illuminated the area. Kriss looked horrified. She gave a sharp loud whistle using her fingers. Thorn came to her side immediately. "'Vette!" Kriss told him. They both dove behind the dumpster.

Kriss put her back to the dumpster as the conversation started.

"Have you two seen a girl wandering around here lately?" Kriss herd her mom ask.

"No, we're new here," Rex responded.

"Well, let me know if you she a girl with black hair and a red guitar strapped around her back, okay?" She asked politely.

"Alright," Weevil said.

Kriss peeked slowly around the corner and watched as the sleek car pulled away, glistening in the streetlight.

She stepped out from behind the dumpster and walked up to Rex and Weevil, just now realizing that they were taller than her.

"Thanks for covering for me…" Kriss thanked shyly.

"What's wrong with you? It's like you've never had to thank anyone in your life," Rex discovered.

"I live alone, me and Thorn, we watch out for ourselves. The dynamic duo! The fantastic two!" Kriss explained.

"I thought it was the Fantastic Four?" Weevil asked, confused.

"Well, there's only two of us so that doesn't really fit now does it?" Kriss replied.

"Not really," Rex answered.

The rain got heavier and pretty soon Kriss's bangs were no longer standing up. "Awwwwww………… Kriss said, poking at her lifeless bangs, "Well, better get going, don't want to get anymore wet," Kriss said.

"Where do you live?" Weevil asked.

"Right here," Kriss answered, pointing to the brown, rusted dumpster.

"You live in a dumpster?" Rex asked.

"Yeah," Kriss said.

"Don't you live with your mom or your dad?" Weevil asked her.

"That was my mom, and I don't know who my dad is…" Kriss explained.

"Well… um… you can crash at my place for the night if you want…." Rex offered.

"Really?" Kriss's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Sure, you're not that bad once we got to know you…" Rex continued.

The Thorn took that opportune moment to rid himself of the water that clung to his coat and his light blue bandana that matched Kriss's head band, or whatever you call it…

The three put up their hands to stop the barrage of water from hitting them in the face.

"Thorn!" Kriss yelled.

Thorn stopped but still whined at looked at her.

"Don't look at me like that!" Kriss scolded.

"So, my apartment's this way…" Rex said, starting to lead the way.

"Okay!" Kriss said enthusiastically.

Weevil said goodbye, as his building was the one that made up a wall of Kriss's alley. The other two kept walking.

"So, you're really not that mean and dangerous under it all," Rex said after awhile, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Oh, believe me, I'm plenty dangerous when needed," Kriss told him.

"But you're not that mean," Rex persisted.

"Well… I can be, it depends on who I'm around, for years the only friend that I've ever had has been Thorn; I've never had human friends before…" Kriss said, focusing on the ground.

"You've had a pretty rough life huh?" Rex asked.

"Yeah, you could say that… Orphaned, enslaved, sorta, escapee, street punk, I've been many things so far!" Kriss laughed.

"I guess so," Rex agreed.

"You know, when you're not stealing cards from little kids you're not that mean either," Kriss said.

"Hey! We were selling our autographs…" Rex explained.

"Yeah, but even so, it could still cuase trouble later on, and when that time comes it won't be too bad to have me as an ally," Kriss told him.

"Okay, deal, you can stay at my place for awhile if you protect me from bullies that won't attack me and Weevil!" Rex held out his hand.

"Hey! That's not a deal, you've got to give me something else," Kriss persisted.

"No, than you have to do more for me!" Rex argued.

"Like what?" Kriss asked.

They had reached Rex's apartment and they stopped outside.

"I don't know, but what else did you want?" Rex asked.

"A friend," She answered.

Rex paused. This little teenager, if she was even that old, could ruin his and Weevil's reputation.

"You would owe me big, I don't give my friendship to just anybody you know, got a deck?" Rex asked.

"A what?" Kriss asked.

"A Duel Monsters deck" Rex explained.

"No, I don't have any time for Duel Monsters," Kriss said.

"Okay then, we'll think of something else…" Rex decided.

"So am I your friend?"

"Uhhhhhh…… sure…." Rex agreed.

Yippee! Well that concludes chapter two! Hope you still like it so far! That was a decent length right? I thought so, that's why I ended it! A ha ha ha ha! I crack myself up!

Kriss