Disclaimer: You know.

Ok then, I know it's been a long way in coming, but Force of Darkness and Remix have held most of my attention.

Anyway, last chapter showed us the crazy psychosis that Kevin Hunter is capable of, while the beginnings of a new tournament is hinted at.

This chapter reveals said tournament, along with a servant of its mysterious benefactor. But who is the enigmatic businessman, and what power does he hold?

Ch. 2: Softly Upon the Chimes

San Francisco City Cemetery

He did not feel anything, not even the rain as it slapped against his skin.

Yes, Kevin Hunter, sole duelist of the world in his mind, was unable to feel even the slightest glimmer of emotion or tragedy as he stood next to his kindred in the freezing downpour. Most would not expect a normal person to simply stand in the rain, rare as it was in this part of the world, but Kevin was far from normal.

Gingerly his hands brushed against the world-weary stone, almost ghost-like in their movements, and he almost laughed at the irony of this. Had today been different, had the time been another, he surely would have. But not here, not now.

The soulless tears trickled along with the droplets of rain, so much so that he could not tell the difference between them.

He remembered it so vividly, though it had been a blur beforehand. In fact, for all he knew it could have occurred last night. And yet he did know, and that knowledge was tragic…

Flashback, 6 Years Ago

It had seemed a night as ordinary as any other. Mai was sitting on the couch, as she was wont to do when her parents dropped her off, while the young Kevin was playing on his video game console. His eyes were bright and happy, as though he hadn't a care in the world. Life was very good; Mai had just gotten him an early birthday present, his first pack of Duel Monsters cards, and in spite of their relative uselessness he believed them to be the greatest cards ever made.

She had just smiled looking upon him as gleeful as he was, perfectly unaware of how infrequent that would become in later years. She had never really appreciated Kevin up to that point, and soon she would regret that…very soon.

"Look, cousin Mai, I beat it! I beat it! I beat it!"

He was so excited for such a menial accomplishment, a sort of jovial naiveté held by both extremes of the chronological spectrum. Bouncing around in glorious celebration, shouting unto the heavens for them to look upon his latest marvel as though he had built the Sistene Chapel by hand, Kevin looked as though all the world was his.

For all he knew, it could have been.

"Slow down, kiddo. We don't want you getting hurt before your folks come home…"

This gentle reprieve from his cousin reminded Kevin of another thing altogether.

"Oh yeah, that's right! Mom and Dad are supposed to return tonight! I hafta get ready!"

The game was soon forgotten as he rushed off to his bedroom in a happy gait. His parents, both famed and respected archaeologists, had been on a dig in Egypt for the past year, and according to their final letter they would be returning on this very night.

Every night since that letter, young Kevin had dreamed of this moment, fantasizing his parents had come back for him with wondrous presents from the land of the Pharaohs and tales of their great adventures across the dunes. It had consumed his every thought and his every fiber, and now…the day had finally arrived!

All had been prepared for this day: his grades, his projects, his cards, everything. It was disheveled, of course, and any sense of order had been lost some time ago, but in the end it was the thought that counted, as his mother had often told him.

It was all in a cardboard box on top of the desk, the not so painstaking work of two weeks of retrieving lost items and memories from their absence, and now he would finally get to showcase it.

When ARE they getting here anyway? Hopefully soon; I haven't seen mom or dad in way too long, and it's getting late…

It didn't matter, though. His parents were by no means punctual people; why, last year alone they had missed at least three of their appointments, yet still made the grade. That was the philosophy of the Hunters: any bullet can be dodged.

Kevin would laugh at this in later times, how foolhardy he had been. But at the moment, he was still innocent enough not toworry at all, even for his own safety as his haphazardly blitzed back down the steps to the living room. He wanted to be the first thing his parents saw when they entered.

His breath was bated in anticipation, standing there, looking at the door and begging it to open. Every muscle was tensed so as to greet his parents with vigor as he clasped onto his memory box.

"Jeez, Kev, you look like it's Christmas Day or something." "This is a hundred times better!" "Fair enough." Mai couldn't understand or appreciate his sentiment, seeing as her own parents were hedonistic and negligent, but for one such as Kevin, who loved his parents very much, it seemed to add up in the end. So in that, at least, she could take comfort.

Kevin did not notice such contemplations even when concentrating, so there was no way he would notice during the next few minutes.

"Hey, someone's pulling up to the driveway!"

Did he dare believe it? Had his mother and father returned after so long? The answer was beyond him, but he wanted it so bad that it hurt.

Footsteps rang upon the path to the house, but they were not his parent's footsteps. They were somber, formal, almost hollow, and Kevin could not shake the feeling that some dread apparition had come for him.

"Who's there?"

The walker did not answer, and without any warning the door began to open…

End Flashback

I was such a stupid kid back then. Afraid of ghosts and demons when there were much worse things out there, like Mr. Tontolini.

It had not been his parents that returned that day, but the proprietor of their will.

A blow was struck on that day, one from which Kevin would never recover. It was never determined when or under what circumstances, but at some point in their journey his parents had been caught in a horrific sandstorm, separated from their guides and all forms of communication and supplies. An exact timeline was never created, but one thing was certain.

By the time they were found again, the Hunters had both died of starvation.

And now, six years later to the very day, their only son stood at their graves in the freezing rain, hands gently caressing the epitaphs of the shared headstone.

Adam Edgar Hunter, 1967-2005, and Susan Valentine Hunter, 1970-2005. Together Again, And the Secrets of the World Lie with Them.

"Mom…dad…"

Where once was an empty heart now surged a fountain of pent-up emotions he had not felt in all these years, and all came forward in the form of broken sobs that filled his tears with heartache. All he had suffered was now emerging once more in the forms of tears. Wrath gave way to sorrow, and he felt his knees buckle so that he was side by side with the gravestone.

"It shouldn't have happened. You two went on trips to Egypt all the time, and you never once got caught like that before. What happened? You two were supposed to be the best, so why?"

"You want to know why, Kevin Hunter?"

A voice spoke from behind him, or rather a cold, insidious snarl of a man driven by madness and fanaticism. He had never heard anything like it, and so he turned to face him.

Sulking a good distance away, leaning on another memorial, was a lean looking adolescent, about a year Kevin's senior, but taking a drag off of a cigarette anyway. His shoulders were hunched beneath his dark brown trench coat, appropriate for his dirty black hair and sunken beady eyes, while his shirt was a tattered blue and his pants faded black denim. The man's entire demeanor spoke for something Kevin did not like at all.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. Reichi Joubuku's the name, and as for how I know you, let's say I have friends in high places."

"This is no place for a bastard like you, so what the hell do you want from me?"

Upon being asked this question, Reichi extracted something from the confines of his jacket and slapped it onto his wrist, at which point he lifted up his arm so that Kevin could see it.

The device was a KC2 Duel Disk.

"Three guesses, princess."

To Be Continued

Ok, I know this was kinda short, but I think it works.

Anyway, next chapter begins the duel of Kevin and Reichi, but how does this play into the new tourney? You're gonna have to check my next update to find out!

And BEWK, I ended up losing your author notes, so if you send em to me I can post them in chapter 3.

Anyway, read and review!