Disclaimer: Don't own YGO, just my characters. Minus Kaiya and Saoko who belong to DecepiveInnocence, with her permission.

A/N: Ok, I'm back after that rather shitty last chapter. Urg……ok, enough about that disaster, lol. And like I said, the love interest of one of Toby's cousins is introduced in this chapter. Anyways, not much else to say except read and enjoy and hopefully this chapter turns out better then last. Anyways, shout-outs!

Ok then……..

Open My Eyes: Rise Of HellFire

Chapter 8

From the Frying Pan Into the Fire

The dawn of the morning spilled it's rays of golden light onto the Earth, finally creeping onto the sleeping Exlim's face, making him stir and finally open his eyes. His hands rose up to shield his sensitive eyes from the damaging rays as he squinted, allowing his pupils to adjust to the light.

"Fuck." He grumbled, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it as he looked around his car and then down to his shirt, which was still soaked in blood. Pulling it over his head, he threw it into the back of the car mentally making a note to wash it later.

He reached for his cellphone and noticed that there was at least 5 messages for him - no doubt left from Saoko. He smirked as he tossed it too into the back seat. So the bitch was after him was she? Well, she could damn well wait until he decided to come back.

It was about time to show her that he wasn't no lapdog and that he sure as hell wasn't going to eat from her hand like an obedient pup. He fired up the car and backed out the driveway slowly, memories from last nights kill still fresh in his mind, making him smile with satisfaction.

It had been awhile since he had killed someone with his bare hands and he liked it. Perhaps he would do some more killing today. Hell, he didn't have to worry about being caught by the cops, he was too skilled for that, to clever to allow himself to be caught. It had gotten to the point that he could randomly shoot people for fun and get away with it.

Maybe that's what he would do………

Chains.

Amaya stirred, slowly coming back into wakefulness as she shifted in the car seat. For a moment she wondered why she was sleeping in a car until the previous night's events played over her and she glanced at the still loaded gun on the floor. She thought about picking it up and hunting down the little bastard on her own, but she knew that she wouldn't get far until Luke and the others were chasing her.

Growling with inner frustration she got out of the car, kicking the door shut.

'Don't worry Exlim.' She thought to herself as she made her way to the house. 'I may not be able to hunt you down now, but I will kill you for what you did to me.'

Demi.

She had been up all night, ever watchful of Amaya. Even after she had fallen asleep, she had watched her to ensure that she didn't wake up and try to go off on her own. She had even taken the liberty of moving the coffee pot so that it was right beside her. It was still filled with fluid from it's eighth pot.

"Where the fucks the coffee maker?" Seto's voice rang out in the early morning, making Demi jump as she turned to look at her boyfriend who was glancing around, clearly confused at the coffee's sudden disappearance.

"Over here." She replied. Her voice was raw and caked with sleep deprivation. In all honesty, she looked like Seto did when he had to pull an all-nighter to get things from the office done plus have time to have sex.

"You look like shit." He commented dryly, pouring the steaming fluid into a cup and drinking it straight black. "Have you been up all night?" Weakly, Demi nodded, her short hair bobbing. She was too tired to notice or even care that Seto had insulted her.

"I had to make sure that Amaya didn't do anything stupid." At this Seto rolled his eyes.

"Jesus Christ, you're not her fucking baby-sitter!"

"You'd be surprised." She muttered, just as the front door opened and Amaya stepped in, the clothes from yesterday still hanging off her body. A small look of shock crossed her features when she saw Demi seated on the sofa.

"What the hell are you doing up so early?" She asked, reluctantly setting the gun down on the table. Demi watched the weapon as it left her hand, silently breathing a sigh of relief. The fact that Amaya had tried to kill herself two years ago was something that was still lingering in her memory, still something that she was always afraid would happen again.

"I haven't slept." She muttered, drinking coffee almost mechanically. At this Amaya threw up her hands in exasperation.

"I'm fine!" She declared, although she knew that here friend was only concerned for her. "Now get some fucking sleep and grab some concealor - you have bags under your eyes worse then my Grandmother did." Demi weakly nodded, not even bothering to muster up a look of disgust when Amaya mentioned a beauty product. The two watched her make her way upstairs, waiting until she was out of sight until Seto dumped what was left of his coffee down the drain and picked up his suitcase.

"I'm off." Was all he said before leaving, shutting the door behind him. A moment later she heard his car fire and watched it go down the street.

This was it, she was all alone. Just her, a loaded gun and a pot of coffee. Sighing she sat down and poured herself a cup staring into space as she thought of what she could do. Never in her life had she felt so totally alone, so totally hopeless, and so totally broken.

If this had happened before with Yami by her side, then together they would have been able to come up with something great. Together, they could rule the world if they wanted to……… but now she was alone. She was a Queen, yes, and she had her kingdom, but she was nothing without her king.

Before she knew what had happened, hot tears had sprung into her eyes and down her cheeks. She didn't try to fight them, not now that she was alone and her weakness could be shown without shame. To everyone else's eyes, she was a pillar of strength to the group, the leader, the one that was going to come up with some way to keep them all alive.

Nobody knew just how much she was truly suffering inside. How much she blamed herself for trusting Exlim, and how hopeless the whole situation seemed to be. In her distraction she didn't even notice Tokuma come into the room until she heard his voice: low, gravely, and smooth - much like Yami's had been.

"Are you ok?" The shock of him nearly made her drop her coffee cup and she hurried to wipe her eyes nodding as she forced a smile.

"Fine." She answered, standing up. As strange as it was, a sense of humiliation crept up into her face at the display of weakness that he had caught her in. "I was thinking of taking Kasaku to my mother's today, if it was safe enough."

"Probably safer there then here." He mused and Amaya nodded, walking past him to go up the stairs and retrieve her son when his hands gently grabbed her forearm, stopping her. She looked over at him with a look of mild alarm before she saw that he was smiling. A kind of sympathetic smile that for a moment made her angry. She didn't need his pity.

"I have to go." She muttered, turning away from him.

"Amaya, I know it's hard for you." He said gently. "You're probably in a lot more pain then we know and I want you to know that if you ever need to talk, I'm here."

"I'm fine." She answered, the coldness of her voice surprising even herself. What was wrong with her? One would think that she would want to embrace Yami's only family, to keep them with her, but she couldn't help the feeling of anger that was induced by his pity.

She jerked her arm back and charged up the stairs, leaving Tokuma to gaze with a knowing confusion at her retreating back.

Saoko.

She stared at the rising sun with an dangerous, regal air as the large orb of light continued to awaken from it's slumber. Her face and eyes were hard, but not angry, her eyes blank, but holding a wicked intellect that few could only hope to understand.

The door behind her opened and a blond women stepped in, her blue eyes bright and happy. It almost made Saoko sick to her stomach. She rolled her and turned to face her.

"What Ming?" She demanded coldly, silently wondering why Marik had left her as the memory holder, so to speak. She was so weak, it was almost laughable.

"I was just thinking how great it is that we've finally killed the Chain King." She mused with a dark grin that made Saoko roll her eyes and the pathetic attempt at what some would call 'evil.' She was nothing more then and temperamental child hooker.

"Isn't it?" She mused dryly. "Now get out of my sight." A look of indignation crossed Ming's features as she glared at the sable haired beauty.

"Don't talk to me that way!" She demanded. "I'm the last surviving Dagger you need-" Her sentence was cut short by a telltale cracking sound as Saoko backhanded her, sending her into the wall where she gripped her red cheek in shock and pain.

"Don't talk to me that way." She fired. "Just because you're the only surviving whore of a weak and long-dead gang doesn't make you any more important then a dog to me. The only reason I'm keeping you alive is that I still have a use for you."

The words hit Ming hard and she glared up at the leader of the Hellfire.

"You'll be sorry." She vowed, stocking out of the room, Saoko's dark chuckle at her back.

"On the contrary." She muttered darkly to herself as a small black animal jumped onto her lap. She smiled as she looked down at Shadow, her cat and stroked his ears, careful not to hurt herself on his spiked collar.

Her gaze shifted outside again and wondered if Yashi had completed her objective yet and sighed. Then her expression turned to a smile as she thought of Duke, still locked up like an animal waiting to be unleashed.

And when the time was right, unleash him she would.

Chains

Amaya smiled down at her son as she picked him up, a happy grin on his face, but there was a haunted look in his that tore her heart apart. Even though he was so young she felt that he knew the horrible truth - that Yami was dead and wasn't coming back.

She smiled softly, holding him against her. Feeling his mothers pain he remained silent and clung to her as she descended the stairs. Tokuma had woken Demi up and she sat on the couch looking burned out, staring into her coffee as if it was life itself.

"Is everyone ready?" She asked just as Luke walked in, his hair tied back in it's trademark braid. Toby was behind him with his arms folded lightly over his chest with a trademark casual gesture of his.

"Guess so." He said with a soft smile. Amaya nodded.

"We better get to the car then and get Kasaku to safety." She said, running her free hand through her hair. "I still don't know why I need fucking bodyguards though." She said, harsher then she meant it to be. Demi looked at her, but said nothing as her sleepily eyes darkened with concern.

Everyone was silent for a moment before Amaya just shook her head.

"Come on." She muttered and walked out the door and into the car. Tokuma took the drivers seat while Toby took the passenger and Demi went in the back. Luke had decided to stay back with Kaiya and the others who were still mourning the death of not only their leader, but Kaiya's love. With the double hit, it had rendered them an emotional train wreck.

Amaya held onto her child, staring out the window in a silence that carried throughout the car. And although the day was bright and cheerful, she didn't see any of it. She was lost in a whirlwind of swirling memories of Yami, Marik and the child that had resulted of her final and deadly mistake.

She didn't realize she was crying until she felt something hot coarse down her cheeks.

Exlim.

The noonday sun only succeeded in annoying him with the heat of the summer that was fast rolling in. He still wouldn't return to the Hellfire - he had a point to prove and pride refused to permit him to let go until he was satisfied that he had proven it well.

He sighed, lit a cigarette and exhaled the smoke calmly as he fingered the gun in boredom. He could shoot senselessly if he wanted to, but it seemed so underrated, so boring. The random kills weren't the thrilling ones that sent ripples into his spine, so he didn't bother.

What challenge would it be to hit an old lady doing her weekly shopping? Eventful - hardly.

He sighed and flicked his green eyes around, desperately searching for some escape from the hellish boredom his pride was making him endure.

Then he saw it.

A black car whose make was unmistakable. He had researched the damn Chains enough to no what models they used, the make, the color, hell probably even the damn venting systems and gas they used. And what he saw here, was sure as hell a Chain car.

A small smirk crawled unto his face as his grip on the gun tightened, the all to familiar excitement creeping into him.

Maybe he could find something to pass the time after all.

Amaya.

"So where's you're house?" Luke asked from the drivers seat, snapping Amaya out of her reverie. Her cheeks were still red with the humiliation of her tears and she half-glared at Luke as if he was responsible for her weakness.

"It's 72 Walnut Drive." She answered calmly, but it was plain to see that she had everyone unnerved by her sudden frostiness. Toby and Tokuma had only seen Amaya at her wedding and it seemed that she was something else - a shell of her former self filled with warmth and smiles. This shell gave no smiles, only cold looks and smothered tears.

A sudden sound of a gun and the shattering of glass forced a small scream out of Amaya's and Demi's mouth as Amaya instinctively dropped and wrapped her body around her child and peered about the car, trying to silence Kasaku's screams.

"What the fuck was that?" She demanded as another bullet shattered the back window, making everyone duck down, Tokuma reaching into the glove box and producing two guns, handing one to Toby. Amaya and Demi had pulled out there own.

"It came from over there." Toby replied, gesturing behind them.

"Wait here!" Tokuma shouted and ran out of the car, ducking behind it with his gun at the ready. Toby did the same, both pairs of blue eyes scanning the area, not that it was easy with pedestrians running every which way like ants whose hill had been dosed in gasoline.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Amaya shouted over her child's hysterical wails that she was still attempting to silence. Just then Demi growled and kicked the door open and ran across the street. "Demi!"

She punched the seat in frustration and cursed, the loaded gun still in her hands. She wanted to run out there and fight to, but maternal instincts to protect her son held here where she was. She smoothed his hair back and tried to comfort him, easing his cries at little as she looked around frantically.

"Who the fuck is doing this?" Toby shouted as he flattened himself against the car, ducking shots.

"I'm guessing something to do with Saoko Raiya!" Tokuma replied, blue eyes scanning the area.

"We have to shoot!"

"We can't!" Tokuma replied. "We might hit an innocent person!"

"Fuck it." Toby cursed and stood up running after Demi who was on the other side of the street, shoving through people in the direction of the shots. She knew she was being reckless, but like hell was she going to let another innocent person die. Plus, sleep deprivation wasn't exactly making it easy to think straight.

"Demi!" She turned to face Toby who was running towards and waved her hand.

"Go back!" She hollered. "Stay with Amaya and Kasaku!" He didn't listen, coming up beside her and looking around.

"It came from that way!" He declared, pointing at Exlim's car. Through the crowd he could barely make out a hand holding a gun.

"Little bastard." Demi seethed and ran straight for it.

"Demi!" Toby yelled, watching the short haired women heading straight into the line of fire before she was swallowed by people. "Fuck!" He cursed when a high pitched scream caught his attention. His head snapped in the direction to see a girl curled up in the street her hands over her head as another shot was fired, whizzing above her.

"Dammit." He muttered and ran towards her.

Demi.

She ran, pushing through the crowd with reckless fury as she headed straight for the car. Exlim growled and stepped out of his car seeing what Demi was doing. He aimed the gun straight for her heart just as she caught sight of him.

Going purely on wild instinct as she saw the gun she jumped into the air, heading straight for his body. Time seemed to stand still as his finger jerked and pulled the trigger while Demi's body gilded. Her hand curled around his wrist, the force of her body knocking them both to the ground.

He cursed as the bullet went aimlessly into the air, his body hit the ground and the gun flew out his hands. Demi's eyes widened for a moment as she saw Exlim, her shock giving him time to punch her off him and grab the gun, shoving it against her neck.

"You!" She yelled, trashing against him as he straddled her to keep her still. "You little bastard!"

"Hey hunny." He cooed with a smirk. "Miss me?"

"How could you!" She yelled, seeming not to care that a gun was pressed against her jugular. "How could you kill him!"

"Easy." He drawled before his eyes glinted with victory. "And killing you won't be any harder." Time seemed to stop as the click of the hammer being pulled back filled her ears.

Toby.

He pushed through the crowd with abandon as he headed for the girl. She seemed so utterly helpless he wondered how the hell she had gotten herself in the middle of this. He shook his head as he figured she was out strolling and innocently got guns fired at her.

He grabbed her wrist, making her look up. Blue eyes locked with brown for an instant before he started dragging her. She let out a yell and tried to strike him.

"Let go of me!"

"Look!" He said, shaking her slightly. "Do you want to be shot or no?" She shut up and he dragged her to the car, ducking bullets and covering her head so that any bullets would hit his hand instead. They both ducked behind the car as the shoots ceased.

The girl was sobbing by now, covering her face as her hands shook. Tokuma just looked at his cousin who blandly said.

"She was going to be shot." Tokuma just nodded and leaned against the car, his heart thumping as he asked the question that was nagging at both of them.

"Do you think Demi's ok?"

"I don't know." Toby replied. "But we can't stay here much longer."

"Oh God……." The girl muttered to herself as she continued sobbing.

"You ok?" She looked up at Toby, blue eyes shimmering with tears. She appeared to have lost to ability to speak. Toby sighed. "Do you have a name?"

"Lin." She muttered, hugging herself. "Lin Sakua."

Amaya.

Amaya curled around her son as he exhausted himself, his cries subsiding for a moment, making her breathe a sigh of relief. She finally lifted her head as the gunshots faded and glanced around wildly. She knew that Toby had brought someone but didn't know who or why. All she was worried about was her son……. And Demi.

The door opened and Amaya ducked down, preparing for the worst when she saw that it was Toby and Tokuma accompanied by a blonde girl.

Tokuma hopped in the drivers seat and slammed the door.

"Go!" Toby shouted and with a lurch the car started forward.

"What the hell!" Amaya shouted, startling Lin with he outburst. "What about Demi?"

"We can't stay here any longer!"

"Like hell!" Amaya yelled, opening the car door before turning to Toby. "Watch Kasaku!"

"Amaya don't!" But it was too late, the sable haired girl had already jumped out of the car. She curled around her gun as she hit the pavement and rolled, grateful that her leather clothing provided some protection. Cars swerved around her, nearly hitting each other to avoid hitting her.

She glanced back only for a moment to see Lin shakily slamming the door before hopping to her feet. She glanced around the crowd calling her name and finally gave up, deciding to head where the shoots had come from.

"Like fuck I'm leaving her behind." She muttered and started running, pushing through the crowd with reckless abandon.

A/N:

Wow, didn't realize this chapter got so long! Well, it's not like any one you are complaining, lol. Anyways, as always please leave a review and tell me what you think and I will try to update within a reasonable time limit.