Ok, don't expect the next chapter for a while, my Code Geass story comes first, but this is written in light of Yu-Gi-Oh's 10th Anniversary and the kick$$ movie that's coming out. Enjoy!
"Satellite scum!"
"Trash like you should just be destroyed to end your miserable existence and stop leeching our food!"
"Tch! (*Leer*) Come here you Satellite slut! You should be honored that someone from the City wants to share your bed!"
"No! Don't!! Hellllp!"
"Garbage!"
"Filthy mongrels!"
"(*Spit*) Haha! Eat that Satellite rats!"
Yusei Fudo had grown up to this. Story of his life.
As if poverty and hunger didn't make their lives miserable enough, Satellites had to listen to Security and the pampered city 'bad' boys who 'smuggled' themselves into Satellite forever insult and deny their existence. The boys he could easily beat up, but hurting Security had it's own repercussions. No matter how many times Martha had told him and Jack and Crow, that those prejudiced against the Satellites were just 'bumbling fools, looking for something to step on', the bitter taste, of being slandered against for something one cannot control, lasts.
"Oi! Yusei! Are you ready?"
Crow's voice came through the paper-thin plaster walls, already crumbling at the slightest touch. And yet....
Yusei found himself trailing his calloused, but long and thin fingers against the cracked yellowish-grey wall. Home. This was where he grew up, where he learned to talk and feed himself and....duel. This is where he met Jack and Crow and so many others.
And now...he was leaving. They were sixteen. Old enough to fend for themselves now. Martha still had a great number of orphans each year. Even after Zero Reverse, people disappeared in hordes...murder, disease, no interest in living, shut up by Security, starvation....even now, over a decade later.....the world was still the same sad place it had been when Yusei was only five.
Eleven Years Ago
"I summon Speed Warrior in Attack Mode! During the turn Speed Warrior is successfully summoned, it's Attack is doub-"
"...Pl..ease....h..elp...us....."
Yusei looked up from his dueling with Jack. An old woman holding a bundle was crawling along the dirty road. Her ragged white hair and soot-covered wrinkled face looked up pleadingly at the two young boys.
"..Ple...ase....wa....ter....."
Without a word, Yusei sprang up to help the woman.
"Jack! Come help!"
The blonde boy used to all the pain their world contained walked over, his face a stone mask.
"(*Groan*) We can't carry her Jack! MARTHA! MARTHA!"
A hassled looking woman holding a wooden spatula came running out. She took one look at the old woman, and came to assist.
"...Wai...t.....I...(*Cough*)..I...am...dy...ing...(*Cough*)...so....PLEASE.....take....ca.r...e......of......him..(*Cough cough cough*)....he...has..(*Groan wheeze cough*)..no...one...l..eft...."
"That's enough! You'll make it! Come on in, and we'll have the doctor take a look at you."
Martha never gave up, even when the situation was hopeless.
"NO!...don't.....time...on...me.....Wi..lll...you....take....care....of....him?"
The pleading in the woman's eyes was evident. Martha sighed.
"Yes. I promise you. We'll do our best in taking care of him. You rest now."
But the old woman's soul had already left. Martha gingerly laid her down, and opened the bundle. A little boy, looking no more than three, with soot-covered red hair was sleeping restfully. He seemed to realize Martha was not someone he recognized, and woke up in a fit.
Yusei remembers marveling at how a woman, too weak to keep herself standing, could drag herself along with a sleeping child to ensure that he would survive. Would his own mother have done that? Is that what mothers do?
After giving the old woman a proper burial, Martha and Doctor Schmidt stayed up all night, nourishing the starving child. Yusei remembered getting up, up from this bed, to look for Martha because some rats had come in through a crack. The doctor and Martha was shaking their heads sorrowfully. Even then, when a child shouldn't be familiar with Death, Yusei knew.
The boy was dead.
Perhaps he had gone with his mother or grandmother. Perhaps now he ate everyday and dueled with new friends. Perhaps...
And then Yusei would awake from his dream, to continue to live. Because...if he dwelled too long on the benefits of Death....he feared he would lose interest in living...
He was lucky. He had Martha and Jack and Crow and so many others that gave him the will to continue. Even though little opportunity lay for those who lived in Satellite...he couldn't give up. No. He had to right the wrongs of his father and he couldn't let his friends be hurt any more because of him...
"Yusei! We'll leave you here if you don't get your ass down here right now! Stop being a baby and accept the fact that boys move out!"
Jack's voice shook the house.
"(*Clang!*)"
"Ahhh! Martha! What are you-"
"If Yusei wants to spend a minute reminiscing and not being an ingrate, then you'd better not rush him! He'll come when he's-"
Yusei appeared in the doorway smiling slightly. Martha was holding Jack's ear in one hand, and a skillet in the other.
"Ready."
They had discovered an abandoned mansion at the edge of the ocean. Although the roof was half gone from decay, the house still stood strong and proud, much like a dignified old war veteran standing by a cliff, watching over the sea. After spending a good deal of time cleaning up the place so that much of the spiders and vermin were cleared out, the three friends had decided that it was habitable, and were now moving in.
"Oi! Crow! Stop messing around and give us a hand!"
Crow turned around. He had been enjoying the fresh ocean breeze that blew across the cliff. Martha's place wasn't far, but was not near the ocean. He couldn't enjoy the winds there, like he could here. As far as I can get to flying...Better go help out before Jack has another hissy...
Jack and Yusei were hauling a slab of stone/concrete into the building.
Martha did not have much to give. But she had helped the boys make their own new beds from slabs of wood and concrete found in the infinite piles of rubble. Although seemingly not the most comfortable things, these makeshift beds had mattresses stuffed with feathers that Martha and Crow had collected from their chickens, and the occasional sea gull.
After this...I'll go enjoy the wind blowing through my soul...Yes... this is home.
He joined his two best friends.
"What were you doing lazing around over there?!" Jack demanded. "Can't you grow up and stop being such a child!"
"I am just as mature as you 'Oh Great One!' I apologize for breathing Your Majesty! Can I kiss your ass-"
"WHY YOU!"
"Enough. Don't ruin this day with another argument. Today is special. Let's enjoy it."
Yusei quiet yet firm voice cut through their bickering.
"Fine. But only because Yusei says so!"
"I'm stopping only because I find no need to hackle with those below me. After all, I, Jack Atlus, do what I want."
Yusei couldn't help but smile as his two best friends turned away from each other, while trying to hold a stone slab. The result?
"GAHHHH!!! JACK! WHY DID YOU LET GO?!!"
"WHY DID I LET GO? WHY DID YOU LET GO?!!!"
Hmph. This seems like home already.
Yusei smiled.
That Crow...when will he learn to grow up?!
It was nighttime. Jack was leaning against the wall, staring out at the moon. Crow had gone down by the cliff and was acting like a hooligan, pretending he could fly.
And Yusei...there's no way we can break out of this Hell Hole. We're stuck. Trapped like mice. There is no future for us! So stop with your goddamn electronic tinkering! We won't break out! We'll be stuck here until we rot!
Irrational anger erupted in Jack, at his friend's firm belief, that they would someday escape this prison...Satellite. He punched the already cracked cement walls.
Yusei looked up from his fixing his Duel Disk. Jack was standing against the wall, angrily punching it.
Jack...just wait. We will break out of here. This jail...it can only hold us for so long...I promise I will make this up to you, to all of you...
He continued to tinker with the machine. Although the city fat rats had said that Satellites were not worthy of dueling, and therefore Duel Disks, D-Wheels, and cards were forbidden in Satellite, almost every gang had Duel Disks and decks of cards. D-Wheels were out of the question, the only way people knew about D-Wheels is if Security was chasing a criminal on one.
However, after a former Duel Disk maker was sent to Satellite for slander against Security, just about everybody could get a Duel Disk from him. In return, no one messed with him and everyone paid him in food and respect. Although, Yuki-kun had passed on now, Yusei still remembers learning about physics, and engineering from him. Thus Satellite had their supply of Duel Disks.
And the most important component...cards. Cards appeared here and there, some remained in families from before Zero Reverse. Some were found in the trash that city dwellers threw out. And some...Fate brought to the duelist.
Yusei smiled as he glanced at his deck, sitting right next to him, watching him fix the disk.
Jack stopped punching the walls. Blood streamed from his hand, but the wall stayed firm.
Hmph. Good material. If only Martha's house was made of this stuff, then I could shout and punch as much as I want to.
He shook his head. Why were these random thoughts plaguing him? Was Satellite getting to him as well? Would he turn into the trash that so many of his former friends became? NO! He was Jack Atlus! He would change everything, not go along with it!
"Oi! Jack! Are you still mad?"
Crow had appeared in the doorway, breathless from running in the wind. His cheeks were red from the chill...or maybe it was happiness? Jack turned to his friend.
"Hmph! Of course not! Jack Atlus is not bothered by squabble from those lesser than him!"
"Wow....um..here you go!"
Crow handed Jack a needle. Yusei looked up. What was Crow up to?
"What a needle? What am I supposed to do with a needle?!"
Crow sniggered.
"Please go outside and pop your head with it. It's obscuring my view."
He fell down laughing. Yusei chuckled at Crow's immaturity. Jack, however, wasn't as amused.
"Why you!"
They started tumbling around, like old times. Yusei smiled, reminscing.
Three Years Ago
Yusei, Jack and Crow were the best of friends. They...
"Excuse me."
A stranger with straight white-blond hair appeared in the doorway, cutting Yusei's flashback.
"What are you doing here?"
The stranger held out his Duel Disk.
"Well?!"
Jack, Crow, and Yusei looked at each other. They were so sure that nobody inhabited this building. Yusei cleared his throat and stepped forward, with his arms out, signaling no harm.
"I apologize. We've been here a few times, and thought that this place was uninhabited."
Jack stepped forward.
"Hmph! How do we know that this place is yours?! We settled here first, now get out before I-"
The stranger was laughing.
"What! What are you laughing about?!"
"I see. Are my household skills that atrocious?!!"
He stopped laughing, and looked steadily at Yusei. Subconsiously, the stranger seemed to sense that Yusei was the leader here.
"You see. This is my home. I've grown up here. But I usually go around Satellite for a few weeks, dueling. When I get home, the last thing on my mind is cleaning."
Understanding shot through Yusei's head. He smiled.
"Well then, should we leave?"
The stranger focused on Yusei for a minute. His features relaxed.
"No. I think you all are OK. But I'd like you all just to remember, that while this is also your home now, the place still belongs to me."
"Of course."
"And one more thing."
"Yes?"
"Duel me."
"What?"
"Duel me."
"Why?"
"Because I want to see what kind of duelists I'll be living with. Duel me."
Jack cut in.
"Fine! If he wants a duel, I'll give him one! Jack Atlus does not back down from-"
"No. I want him to duel me."
The stranger pointed at Yusei. Yusei closed his eyes.
"Fine."
The stranger smiled.
"Well then...ummm..am I forgetting something?"
Crow cut in.
"Yeah. What's your name? I'm Crow-sama!"
"Jack Atlus."
"Fudo Yusei."
The stranger smiled.
"It's good to meet you all. I am Kiryu Kyosuke!"
Well? How was it? If I get enough reviews, I'll write a second chapter. This revolves mainly about Team Satisfaction. Anyone who's good at dueling can write a duel for me, and I'll find a place in my story to put it in. And how many of you thought I was talking about Crow in the flashback? Hah! Got ya!