The Hell Prince Rises

All Thomas Arclight could remember of the event that had landed both his brothers in the hospital were the perpetrators' names. They had been admitted after they mysteriously almost drowned in a warehouse.

Kamishiro Rio. Kamishiro Ryoga.

Funny, the (disgraced) duelist thought, bitterly recalling his time at the Asian Championships, just a few months after That Incident.

"And now, my Gravekeeper's Nobleman can attack you di-what?!"

Red crosses with white 'STOP's on them flashed around the Dueling Field. Damnit, couldn't they have waited? His opponent only had 100 LP left and his Gravekeeper's Oracle had destroyed all his Set cards, a direct attack would've finished him off! Plus, the card in his hand was probably Revenge Return…it couldn't do anything against him.

"Attention all Duelists." A mechanized, soft voice spoke. "It has been found after rewatching video footage from the waiting room that Thomas Arclight has looked at his opponent, Kamishiro Ryoga's deck. Thus, he will be disqualified and banned from the championship-permanently. Furthermore, Kamishiro Ryoga is declared the current Asian Champion."

Boos and jeers had accompanied his walk of pure, pure shame down from the dueling field. Yeah, he'd looked! But it was for Chris, it was for Mihael, and it was to pay that damn, smug, shark bastard back for all he'd done to Thomas' family half a year ago! He was in this championship for them, and nobody else. Well, maybe Ryoga-just to get back at him. And Rio too, that girl. She'd been there. She'd helped her hellspawn brother critically injure his own.

But in the dueling world, your backstory doesn't matter, Thomas thought, angrily glaring as Ryoga smirked at him. His deck spilt over the floor, it so wasn't his fault.

"Chris?" The male spoke, reaching out to gently stroke his brother's sleeping face. Chris looked so at peace, and he could've just been sleeping if it wasn't for the various machines or the bandages covering his face. "I know you probably can't hear me, but please…wake up. Dad's gone. You and Mihael are all I have left, so you better not die on me!"

His voice broke off, his one weakness glaring through. After a few more hours spent by their bedsides, Thomas got up, stretched, and prepared to board his motorcycle and head back to the dreary mansion that he'd known as home. Sure, the servants and maids were still there, but without the presence of his family…it just felt cold and dead. No more Mihael to come and serve tea to all of them, no Chris paging through his old science texts and no Byron, recalling the events at the lab.

"It's all that Faker's fault," Thomas hissed angrily as he sped down the road. "That guy and his sons…I remember Chris mentoring them. That…that Kaito and Haruto…they're all gonna pay."

Killing his bike near a station when he saw a blinking light that signified low gas, Thomas prepared to head inside when suddenly, a card came speeding over his shoulder.

Years of reflexes honed by brotherly teasing kicked in, and Thomas plucked the card from the air with little difficulty, turning it over to read it.

Huh? Revenge Return? That card?

"Well, well, well, we meet again, my dear Thomas." A sarcastic voice spoke.

That voice.

"Kamishiro." The middle Arclight said, nodding. He tried to restrain his fury, and just succeeded.

"You want revenge, I know that." Ryoga raised both hands in a calming gesture, also shutting off Thomas' challenge for a duel, right here and now, even before the words had come from his throat.

"So what about this? There's a carnival. The World Duel Carnival, registration closes in three days. You can sign up, and maybe we'll meet at the finals. So, Arclight? What's it gonna be?"

"Why should I? I'm not gonna participate."

"Aww, still mad over the Asian Dueling Circuit?"

"Kamishiro, your crotch is thirty seconds away from being kneed with great force."

"Look, I get it. You're mad. But you should know something."

Ryoga approached Thomas, who made no move. To run away was to show weakness.

"The little incident at the Dueling circuit was no mistake. I set my deck up on a flowerpot so it would fall and you'd look. And get kicked out."

Rage.

That was all that he could feel. Primal, lava-hot rage. The shark bastard in front of him had gotten a title he didn't deserve, injured people who didn't deserve it and above all, existed. Those three reasons were more than enough to justify separating Ryoga's head from the rest of him.

"Maybe you'll meet me at the finals. Maybe you won't. Who knows? Farewell, Thomas. May we meet again someday-I hope." Ryoga said, his voice sounding quite mocking. "Bye…"

And with that, Ryoga disappeared. Thomas had no idea where on earth he'd gone to, but the challenger's instinct in him had been awoken.

And there was no stopping it.

Screw my pride and Ryoga-actually wait NONONO don't screw Ryoga. Ahem, anyways, I might as well go ahead and enter. What do I have to lose? Thomas mused, before finally nodding.

Little did the duelist know, that he would be in for much, much more than he had expected.

Thomas.

The voice was soft. It could've been mistaken for a gust of wind, but Thomas knew that wasn't so.

"Uh…hello?" The duelist asked, tilting his head.

The voice seemed to be coming from his deck, which he hadn't touched in years. Every time he saw it, he would remember Ryoga and That Incident and Rio Kamishiro.

Thomas.

Great, there it was again. Definitely coming from his deck.

Wait.

Was it glowing?

Thomas.

"What do you want?" He mumbled, careful not to wake anybody up.

What you want…master Arclight.

"What do you mean by 'master Arclight'?"

You are, after all, our master. Us, the cards in your deck.

"When did my deck get possessed by spirits?"

Uh…since today?

"Well, that's credible-sounding."

Good Exodia, you're impossible.

"Well then, how do I exist if I'm supposedly impossible?"

You are the worst master we have ever met in centuries. Anyways, what we are offering you is a chance for revenge.

"Oh?" The card-spirit-thing now had Thomas' attention. The bi-colored-haired male stepped closer to his deck. "Revenge? On Kamishiro Ryoga and Kamishiro Rio?"

Why, of course. Thomas could just about see the smirk on the spirit's face. If only you allow us to grant you power. Power beyond comprehension. The ability to utterly humiliate Kamishiro Ryoga. What do you say, master Arclight?

The way the word 'master' was spoken in his mind seemed almost like a jeer. Thomas weighed the options: One, confront Kamishiro Ryoga and possibly beat him. Two, keep sulking over this. Or…three, accept its offer.

Be damned if Thomas wasn't going to say yes.