Edited: 12/12/2011

Author's Note

Another one-shot. This time for Yu Gi Oh GX. So please read, enjoy and tell me what you think of it.

Bounds Transgressed

You can only go so far while holding back your true potential. But when you transgress bounds that you shouldn't, it does more than show potential. It destroys your humanity.

Ryo M

'So, at your wits end, are you?' Mad Dog taunted his opponent. 'Now your defeat is a certainty.'

Is it really true?' the ex-Kaiser of Duel Academy thought. Am I really finished? Why does every duel I participate in since Edo's end in a defeat? Can I really not pick myself up from a single duel?

He could hear the boos of the drunken crowd. They didn't want him to give up. They wanted blood. They didn't care for respect. They wanted duellists that showed no mercy.

The Underground league. This was no place for Marufuji Ryo as he was. So why am I here?

Ryo snorted. He knew why he was there. Because there was nowhere else for him to turn. His skills, as they were, had failed him. His friends have forsaken him.

You know that's not necessarily true, his consciousness berated him. You were the one who pushed them away. They would have helped if you gave them the chance. They still will.

He ignored his consciousness. He had no need for friends, they were a weakness, a hindrance to his skills. He had been the best, till he had befriended Yuki Judai. And tied with him.

Albeit, Yuki Judai was almost impossible not to befriend. His cheerful, bubbly attitude defrosted even his icy heart. But it was only holding him back now. His true power, he held back to avoid hurting others. And it had only led to him being hurt. He realised now, if he wanted to move forward, his only choice would be to cast aside his thoughts of mercy and compassion. To unleash all he had, regardless of what stood in his way.

'I'm fed up,' he snarled, looking up and eyeing his opponent with a coldness in his eyes that transgressed natural bounds. That look in his eyes, it was inhumane; even the half-drunk occupants of the room could see that.

'I'm fed up,' the King of the Underground League mocked. 'What are you talking about?'

'I'm fed up...I...don't want to lose! I don't care how I do it...I want to win...And defeat you.' He barely paused for breath as he threw the words out. 'That's a no way, no how. I finally get it now...Ever since my match with Edo, I've kept on pussy-footing around. I duel while respecting my opponents...I thought that if I kept it that way, winning or losing wouldn't matter...But I was wrong!'

Come on Ryo. It was his damn consciousness again. You don't really believe that. Would you really transgress bounds you vowed never to? Would you really turn your back on everything you've ever believed in?

His next words answered them all. 'I have a hunger for it...a thirst for it...for victory! Even if I have to pick that victory from your pocket, I'll..!'

His eyes bored into those of the one opposing him. They blank, devoid of emotion. The human known as Marufuji Ryo had ceased to exist. In his placed ruled, the Hell Kaiser. A demon, devoid of humanity.

'I'll defeat you!'

Because, by transgressing bounds he should never have, he destroyed his very humanity. Yet his potential grew.