Chapter 1: The Tale of Kalin Kessler
I hope you that all you readers will like this first chapter and there will be many more chapters to come depending on whether you readers like it! ^_^
"I win again!" boomed Jack Atlas in his boastful british accent.
Crow rolled his eyes. "Why I'm I not surprised?"
Kazuki yawned as he turned off his duel disk.
"Anyway, I'm going to go take a nap. Wake me up when it's dinner", expressed Kazuki sleepily.
Yusei chuckled. "Why do you always take naps?"
Kazuki shrugged. "I'm tired..."
"Your always tired! Go drink some coffee!" suggested Jack.
"Jack...your 11 years old. You shouldn't be drinking coffee at that age!" stated Crow.
"It's true", said Yusei innocently. "Even Martha agrees".
Jack huffed. "Whatever..."
"Hey Kazuki! How about you duel me next?" asked Crow eagerly.
"Zzzz...huh!?"
Jack face palmed himself. "Kazuki! Wake up for once!"
Kazuki sighed. "Sorry...I think that this morning, I must have accidentally swallowed my sleeping pills instead of my vitamin pills. What were you guys talking about?"
"Duel me!" waled Crow.
Kazuki yawned once again and shook his head. "I don't feel like dueling at the mo. Why not just duel Yusei?"
"Cause I always lose against him!" moaned Crow childishly.
"You always lose against everyone", said Jack in a harsh tone.
Crow glared at Jack with piercing eyes. "We'll see about that! Let's duel!
"Bring it on! " said Jack grinningly.
Yusei sighed. "Not again", he thought and turned around to follow Kazuki home.
Back home, Yusei and Kazuki found Martha cooking vegetable soup in the kitchen. "Why are you boys back so early?" asked Martha curiously while Yusei closed the front door behind him. "Where's Jack and Crow? Are they fighting outside again?" continued to asked Martha.
Yusei shook his head. "Naa, they're just dueling. Me and Kazuki just wanted to see what we were having for dinner. Can we help you out with the cooking?"
Kazuki glared at Yusei, considering that he had wanted to take a nap.
Martha smiled gratefully. "My little angels...of course you can!"
After dinner, Kazuki decided to go back outside in order to stare at the evening stars with Yusei and Crow, while Jack was still eating the vegetable soup which Martha had prepared.
"Jack never like anything other than coffee and ramen! It will take at least another hour before Martha successfully force feeds Jack that vegetable soup", stated Crow, before taking a seat beside his friends, who were now both seated on the garden bench, staring up in admiration at the stars in the indigo sky.
"Jack just doesn't like vegetables", said Yusei grinningly.
Crow huffed. "Well, he should! Martha probably spent over an hour preparing that soup, with the help of you and Kazuki!"
After a few minutes of star gazing, a faint sound of snoring drew Crow's and Yusei's attention over to Kazuki, who was already fast asleep.
Crow chuckled at the sight and moved over to nudge Kuro in the ribs. "Hey Kazuki! Wake up, will ya! It's not even 9 o'clock yet!"
Kazuki moaned and slowly re-opened his eyes. "Was that...really necessary?"
Crow nodded cheekily. "We still have 15 minutes before it's bed time. We need a conversation to pass the time!"
Kazuki cleared his throat and sat up straight. "Fine...let's talk about...what we wanna be when we're older!"
"That's easy! I wanna become a hero and save the world from an evil villain!" expressed Crow enthusiastically.
Yusei laughed at the response before turning to face Kazuki. "I just wanna become a professional duelist so that I can settle down in New Domino City and make new friends".
Kazuki smiled lightly and looked back up at the night sky. "I kinda just wanna be a good friend and protect you guys...and maybe even get married one day to the beautiful girl".
Crow began to laugh hysterically while Yusei patted Kazuki comfortingly on the shoulder.
"I'm sure that you'll find a nice girl some day", said Yusei encouragingly. "However, your first going to need a haircut, otherwise girls might mistake you for a sheep dog".
Kazuki smirked at the comment, while Crow fell off the bench as he continued to laugh.
At 9pm, Martha called the trio of friends back inside the house while Jack was still seated in the kitchen, slowly sipping on the vegetable soup. After having brushed their teeth, Kazuki, Yusei and Crow all crawled into bed and switched off the light, listening to Jack's faint complaints from downstairs.
Before Kazuki could fall asleep, Crow interrupted the bedroom silence. "Hey Kazuki...you asleep?" he whispered loudly.
"No", replied Kazuki grumpily.
"What do you think Jack will turn out to be in the future?" asked Crow eagerly.
Kazuki smirked at the question. "I think he'll become a celebrity! A world champion turbo duelist!"
Yusei and Crow chuckled lightly at the comment.
"Yeah! He'll then walk around in a posh outfit and have fan girls following him everywhere he goes", mocked Crow.
'And he'll probably boast about himself on live Tv!" quickly added Yusei.
Kazuki smiled. "I'm sure he'll ride around in strange duel runner and give it a weird name!"
Yusei, Crow and Kazuki continued to laugh amongst themselves before eventually falling asleep, allowing their ideas of the future to fill their dreams.
Four years later...
"That makes seven gangs defeated in four weeks! Great job, guys!" complimented Kalin as he examined a map of the Satellite.
"Well, what did you expect? After all, we are The Enforcer!" stated Jack pridefully.
Yusei smiled and nodded. "It's true. And as long as we're together, there's nothing that we can't accomplish!"
"Too right you are , Yusei! And with you, Jack and Kazuki on the team, we're already unbeatable!" boomed Crow excitedly.
Yusei chuckled awkwardly as he felt rather flattered, while Jack tried to ignore Crow's kind remark.
"Naa, it's mostly Kalin and Kazuki who get the job done", replied Yusei cheerfully.
Kalin checked the time on his watch and yawned after having studied the map. "Anyway, it's 9pm. We better get some sleep before tomorrow", suggested Kalin sleepily.
"You staying over at Martha's tonight?" asked Crow curiously.
Kalin shook his head. "No...I think I'll be sleeping here tonight".
Crow shrugged. "Are you sure?"
Kalin nodded and yawned once again. "Though I'm sure Yusei will join ya".
Crow sighed. "Ok then...I'll see you guys tomorrow!"
"See ya!" added Yusei before following Crow downstairs.
Kalin turned to face Jack who was already working on improving his deck. "Hey Jack...do you know where Kzuki is at the mo?" asked Kalin casually.
"He's outside on the roof", Jack responded indifferently.
Kalin nodded and patted his friend on the shoulder before running upstairs.
Outside the air was cold. Both Kazuki and Kalin watched from a distance as Yusei and Crow strolled back home to Martha's.
"You did good today, Kazuki. Your dueling skills have definitively improved", said Kalin in a friendly tone, having interrupted the awkward silence.
Kazuki smiled. "All thanks to you".
Kalin chuckled as he allowed his arm to rest over Kazuki's shoulder. "It was the least I could do. After all, you found me a place to stay at Martha's...remember?"
Kazuki nodded. "Of course I remember! How could I forget? You were quite the trouble maker!"
"Yeah...sorry about that. I don't know where I'd be without you guys", appreciated Kalin.
Kazuki smirked and looked up at the stars in the night sky, while taking a deep breath. "Kalin... after we have defeated all the gangs in the Satellite...what happens next?" asked Kazuki curiously.
Kalin took a few moments to think before answering. "Kazuki...I...I'm afraid that I haven't been entirely honest with you and the group. There is something which I need to tell you".
Kazuki turned to face his friend. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Kalin took some time to get his thoughts together. "Nothings wrong...it's just that your the only one I can truly trust with keeping what I'm about to tell you a secret".
Kazuki nodded slowly. "Alright...you can tell me".
Kalin sighed. "You see...I've been planning to go up against the security police after we have completely defeated every other gang in Satellite".
There was a short pause before Kazuki said anything. "Are you...serious!?" he expressed in a more serious tone.
"I believe that the Satellite can only be truly free if we manage to rebel against the police force...so that the people of the Satellite might be able to complete the construction of that bridge...the Daedalus Bridge, which was supposed to join together the Satellite and New Domino City", explained Kalin enthusiastically.
Kazuki scratched the back of his head as he thought over Kalin's idea. He then sighed before fixing his gazed on to his friends smokey grey eyes. "Why are you telling me all this?"
Kalin smirked as he put his hands into his jean pockets. "Cause if I'm ever caught by the police and get sent to jail...I want you to understand why..."
Kazuki smiled lightly. "Ok...I'll try my best to help you out even after we've defeated all the gangs in Satellite, but I want you to promise me not to let Crow get involved or get caught by the police. He's only 15 years old, a whole year younger than the both of us, and Martha would never forgive you if Crow was ever to be taken away", warned Kuro.
Kalin nodded. "I know..."
Two months later...
The rain was pouring. Jack and Yusei had already gone in search of Kalin, while Kazuki kept close to Crow. The two friends had been running for over around Satellite for over an hour, their clothes completely drenched, while listening attentively for any passing police cars.
"Damn it! What must Kalin be thinking?" yelled Crow angrily as he sprinted through the Satellite alleyways, closely followed by Kazuki.
Suddenly, Kazuki heard the sounds of several police cars approaching from the right, and he immediately dragged Crow down a side alley, leading far away from the security police.
"Hey Kazuki? What are you doing? Where are we going?" asked Crow, a little confused.
"Crow! I need you too go join up with Jack who's gone to check the abandoned subway system! I'm going to go find Yusei in case he gets caught!" lied Kazuki.
Crow eyed Kazuki suspiciously for a few moments, before nodding hesitantly. "Alright! Take care of yourself while I'm gone!" shouted Crow as he then continued to sprint down the side alley towards the abandoned subway system, where he hoped to join up with Jack.
Kazuki turned back to where he heard the gathering police cars and to his surprise, he found Kalin in police custody. Kuro kept hidden as he watched Kalin struggled against the police force, and was furiously shouting at Yusei for some reason who could do nothing, but helplessly watch his best friend get pulled away.
Kazuki could feel his blood slowly begin to boil with anger and quickly attached his duel disk on to his arm, allowing his hidden psychic abilities which he secretly possessed to take over the machine's function. Hoping to save his friend, Kazuki then pull out the card "Gorz the Emissary of Darkness" from his deck and just as he was about to step forward and activate it, he noticed Kalin concentration was now turned towards him. Kalin stared directly into Kazuki's eyes and speechlessly shook his head as if to say "Don't do it!"
Kazuki exchanged sad glances with Kalin and while lowering his duel disk, he watched as his friend get taken away and driven out of sight.
A few moments later, the rest of the police force left Satellite, having accomplished their misson in capturing Kalin, and both Jack and Crow eventually joined up with Yusei.
"Yusei! What happened!" yelled Jack who was almost out of breath.
Yusei lowered his head. "They...took him..."
Crow's eyes widen. "No...they can't have...was Kalin...taken?"
Yusei nodded. "Yeah...and it's all my fault..."
"Stop it, Yusei! This is no way your fault!" shouted Crow as if he was about to cry.
"It's true...it's all my fault. If only I had been more supportive towards his idea...I might have been able to convince him that this was the wrong thing to do. Now it turns out that he thinks I've betrayed him..." explained Yusei, clearly depressed.
Kazuki then walked out from the alley and made his appearance. "No...this is all my fault! I could have saved him!" yelled Kazuki in disappointment.
Yusei walked over to Kazuki and placed his right hand gentle over Kazuki's shoulder. "Kazuki...it's Ok. You were right not to use your psychic powers, otherwise this situation might have worsened", said Yusei comfortingly.
Jack briskly walked over to Kuro, closely followed by Crow.
"Guys! Quit blaming yourselves! Kalin had it coming! I know he was good friend to us all and we will all miss him dearly, but he got what he deserved! There's nothing we can do for him now...he made his choice", boomed Jack while trying his best to hold back his tears.
"What happens now?" sobbed Crow.
The team went silent, allowing the rain drops to fall upon they sad faces. Kuro began to remember the night where he had asked a very similar question, "What happens next?" Now ashamed and filled with regret, Kuro turned to his group of friends and lead them onwards back towards Martha's house.
I hope you all found it interesting and please don't forget to Review your thoughts ;3