A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to some more Arclight angst, in honor of today's marking the beginning of Arclight Week. Now, this particular one-shot was thought up after re-watching Trey's fateful duel with Yuma throughout episodes 47, 48, and 49 and then watching Dr. Faker's unforgettable betrayal of Kazuma Tsukumo and Byron Arclight/Vetrix. Damn you, Faker you two-faced, self-serving, son of a bi...Okay I'm going to stop myself now before I get nasty. Anyway, all ranting aside, I hope you like this new one-shot and as with my previous stories. Don't forget to review and while we're on the subject of reviews, I would like to clarify that I refuse to accept or acknowledge any and all flames if anyone gets the bright idea to do so.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh ZEXAL or any of the characters, Shin Yoshida does. I mean come on, who wouldn't want to own the Arclight brothers?
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My name is Michael Arclight, though I go by the name Trey now, and I am fifteen years old. This picture that you see right here is a picture of my two older brothers and me. We used to have a dog too, but not anymore. Don't ask me what happened to him. Even I don't know.
But here in the picture, the tall, teenage boy with the silver braided hair is Christopher, my oldest brother, who is older than me by about five years. The boy with the cards in his hand, the one with the dark red hair and yellow bangs, that's Thomas, my other brother, older than me by two years, but he acts like he's way older. And the smallest one, the little boy between the other two, with the pink hair...that's me. I know I look a lot younger than I actually am in that picture. Thomas used to constantly tease me about it. But Thomas loves to tease, that's just the way he is...was is more like it now. He still teases, but not really playfully like in the old days. Now he's become brutal and violent. Chris is cold and indifferent, nothing like he was before. And my father...he's nothing like he was.
This picture was taken back when my family was actually happy. But that was five long years ago.
Back when I was about ten years old, my father, a researcher named Byron Arclight, went on an expedition with two other men. One of those men was Dr. Faker, a man my father had worked with for some time before. The other was Kazuma Tsukumo, a man my father had met not too long before they left for the expedition. I never knew what it was for when I was little; I just knew that he would be going away for a while. But my father was often gone, so it didn't faze me as much as it did when he first started going away when I was a baby. Besides, I had my older brothers to look after me. But then when Chris started working with our father, it was just me and Thomas. But that was still okay.
Chris later told me what Father and the others had been doing: They all had been searching for a portal that could lead to other worlds, but for the longest time, the search always ended without any results. But then Kazuma told Dr. Faker and my father that some of their information had been incorrect and that was why they couldn't find what they were looking for.
Then, my father left with Kazuma and Dr. Faker to find the portal. But he never came back...
My brothers and I were terrified! What if we never saw him again? What if something bad had happened to him?
Unfortunately, we never had the time to find out. Not long after our father's disappearance, Thomas and I were taken away from Chris, who stayed with Dr. Faker to find out the truth about what had happened to the father we all loved and missed so much. I cried when I was taken; I had already lost my father, I didn't want to lose one of my big brothers too!
Before too long, I was separated from Thomas too. I felt so alone without my father or my brothers. For me, everything lost meaning. I would just stay in my bed, staring out into space, wishing that I could go back to my family someday.
Three long years passed before I saw either one of my older brothers again. At first, I almost didn't recognize them. Chris, now eighteen years old, had stopped braiding his hair, which now hung down past his waist. He had also become cold and distant. Thomas was no longer the playful older brother I had loved. Now, he was an angry and bitter sixteen-year-old. And the person with them was the most surprising of all; a child who was even shorter than I was. He wore a mask that hid the entire left side of his face and only showed fragments of the right side. He seemed vaguely familiar, but at the same time, I felt like I had no idea who or even what he was.
I nearly fainted from shock when Chris told me who it was: It was our father!
After the shock subsided, I asked my brothers how this mask-wearing child could possibly be our father.
Chris told me at first he had the same doubts. But after he spoke with the child, the latter had told him things that only our real father could know...
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After I learned everything, I was angry. My father had been Dr. Faker's friend! How could he have betrayed my father and Kazuma after everything that they had done? Kazuma even saved Faker's life right before he turned on them!
My entire family was terribly angry. We had done nothing to deserve this! When Faker betrayed my father, he had destroyed our family! How dare he!
So my father began planning his revenge against Faker. My brothers and I, I admit, were more than willing to go along with it. We thought that if we did, we'd get our real father back. We even left behind our previous identities and everything connected to them. Including our names. My name became Trey, Thomas' was changed to Quattro, and Chris took on the name Quinton.
My family is still in tatters after all that's happened. I don't really like the concept of revenge; I just want my family back to the way we were before. I want to see my father and brothers happy just like they used to be. And it looks like getting revenge on Faker is the only way to make sure of that.
Quinton says that someday he'll take everything from Faker just like he took everything from us.
I don't care if we do or not, to be honest. My only wish is to get my beloved family back. Not the angry, vengeful group they are now...
We've all entered the World Duel Carnival together. My father, who calls himself Vetrix now, my brothers, and me.
Everyone says that Mr. Heartland, one of the people running the World Duel Carnival, will fulfill one wish from the winner of the tournament, if the wish is within his power.
My father and brothers are competing to get revenge. I guess I kind of am too, but also there's more to it than that. Not even Vetrix knows, neither do my brothers...I want to win. But not for the reasons that my father and brothers do...not for revenge on Dr. Faker. I want that wish. I want my real family back. Hopefully Mr. Heartland is powerful enough to grant it.
I have no desire for fame or money or anything materialistic like that. I just want my father and my older brothers to be happy again. Then we can all be a real family again. Just like before...
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So, how was this? Let me know, everyone. And I want you all to feel free to refrain from flaming.