Title: A Study in Abduction
Summary: Because scientists are attractive targets for kidnapping purposes. Post-5Ds. Yusei-centric. Warnings: Violence.
Yusei woke up to a throbbing ache in his skull.
His mouth was dry with a faint, bitter aftertaste. His brain felt like it was stuffed with cotton, with his senses slowly crawling back to him. He peeled open his eyelids to find his vision obscured. Some kind of fabric was wound tightly over his eyes, the material rough and expertly tied. Acting on a niggling suspicion, he tried to move his wrists only to encounter resistance in the form of thick metal cuffs.
He was lying on his side with his arms bound uncomfortably behind him. The ground was hard and uneven with the rough texture of concrete. The cold seeped through his thin clothing and into his bones. They had removed his lab coat and left him only in his sleeveless top and pants. His feet were bare and his toes were numbing, the only consolation being that they were unbound.
He ascertained that he was being held in a large, empty room, likely a disused warehouse, judging by the stale air and the hollow echo from the clink of his cuffs. His skin prickled as his returning senses made out several sets of unfamiliar breathing. He heard heavy footsteps draw towards him, stopping until their owner stood directly over him.
Suddenly, white stars burst behind his eyes as a stinging blow to his midriff flung him on his back. He let out an involuntary gasp as the kick had knocked the breath out of him. His shackled arms dug painfully into his spine. Somewhere further away, his kidnappers snickered. He picked out at least three other voices, adult male, and hoarse.
"Good morning, Dr. Fudo," came the smug drawling tones of his assailant. "Oh! That looked like it hurt."
"What do you want?" Yusei asked, dispassionately. He kept his voice level as the pain slowly faded into a dull burn. Hidden from view, he twisted his hands.
"Oh, it's nothing personal," the man replied. "I don't actually want anything from you, Dr. Fudo. What I do want is to help out a friend of mine. A powerful friend."
"…"
Noticing that his captive audience was unlikely to respond, the voice continued on. "You see, my friend is fond of brilliant researchers. Needs them, really. Especially one who can control and replicate the world's most powerful energy source."
"… You mean Fortune."
"Ding ding! And that proves that he is a smart one, isn't he?" The leer in his words was so visible that even the blindfolded Yusei could see it. This is new, Yusei thought, bemused. It was the first time that he was being targeted for any reason other than being a duelist or a Signer.
"You're a quiet man, Dr. Fudo," the man said, with a lazy air of nonchalance. Yusei did nothing to contradict him. "But I suspect that soon we'll be hearing you sing."
The mouthpiece of his kidnappers was clearly attempting to get a rise out of him but he wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Yusei turned away from the voice and allowed his silence to convey how singularly unimpressed he was.
He realized that his message appeared to have been ill-received when a set of thick fingers gripped his jaw hard enough to bruise and slammed his head into the concrete, causing him to nearly black out again. The man then yanked his limp body off the ground by his collar; presumably bring him face to face.
"Maybe we should get a head start," the man purred. Yusei gasped for breath and leaned away, trying to get as far away from the other's rancid breath.
And slammed his forehead into the man's face.
He heard a crunch accompanied by a pained grasp and guessed that he had probably broken his kidnapper's nose. Taking advantage of his slackened grip, Yusei aimed a crippling kick at his genitals and heard a satisfying howl.
Yusei darted backwards to gain as much distance as possible from the downed man. He could he hear the man's companions' alarmed shouts as they started towards them. Their surprise at his sudden attack delayed for several crucial seconds. With a harsh tug, he forced his left hand free from its cuff, wincing as the edges jostled his dislocated thumb and yanked down his blindfold with his other freed hand.
His eyes took a few crucial seconds to adjust as he backed away but the other three men were upon him. Yusei acknowledged that he had acted impulsively. Although, had he waited, it was highly likely he would be injured by his keepers and there was no way of knowing if he would get an opening to escape.
The burly men were covered in Criminal Markers as well as dull-eyed and slack-jawed, characteristic of those possessing low intelligence. All three were armed, but were without lethal weapons which he had been counting on. It seemed their powerful friend needed him alive.
He ducked a swing from thug #1's baseball bat, but thug #2's brass knuckles clipped his ribs, sending him flying backwards into a stack of crates. Not giving him a chance to recover, thugs 1# and 3# seized him by his upper arms and roughly forced him to his knees.
The first man, the speaker, was hunched over several metres away. His face was livid and white with blood-thirst and humiliation. "You little bastard!" he shrieked, all veneer of feigned civility stripped away. "I'm going to fuck up your pretty-boy face!"
The man staggered to his feet with a hand over his face, trying to stem the blood gushing from his nose. "Frog, tase the little fucker! Then we'll show the good Doctor why he shouldn't make me angry."
Thug #2 grunted, presumably the one with said unfortunate moniker, and strode forward, reaching for his belt. But his fingers closed around nothing but empty air.
"What the…" he began but was interrupted by a flash of light and two alarmed cries. Thug #2 spun around only to be met with a blast of electricity in the face. He slumped to the floor to reveal a battered slightly singed Yusei holding up the stun gun that he had liberated during the earlier scuffle. Two unconscious bodies decorated the ground behind him.
Panting hard, Yusei unsteadily aimed the nozzle at the remaining kidnapper who stood frozen in incredulous horror.
"Tell your friend: I'm not interested," he said, and fired.
Yusei stepped into the facility housing the Momentum Investigation and Development Section and was met with wild mass panicking. The premises were overrun with sector security; people in uniforms were dashing about, taking notes, and shouting loudly at frantic researchers. The dark-haired duelist stood amidst the din unnoticed and bewildered. He tried calling out to several of them as they rushed by without success.
He was tired and cold, and mildly concussed. And his feet hurt. Finally losing his patience, he snagged a harried looking officer by the sleeve. "What happened here?" he asked.
The man looked harassed and distracted. "Can't you see that I'm busy?" he snarled. "I've been awake and drinking crap coffee for the past 72 hours since the lead researcher on the Fortune project was kidnapped! I don't have time to play twenty questions, you…!" The man trailed off and blinked slowly. He gave Yusei a long, blank stare, going from head to toe. And then back up again, taking in his bruised skin, bare feet, and the lone metal cuff that he hadn't bothered to remove. The duelist could practically see his mental cogs grinding to a halt.
In the end, Yusei took pity on him. "Please let Ushio know that he can call off the investigation," he said soothingly. He began to head towards his office, clapping the gaping man on the shoulder as he passed.
"You should get some sleep."
Fin.
A/N: Because even though Yusei is now a scientist, he is a badass first.