From Pain to Welcoming

Kalin was chained to a cold metal chair. They left him alone to collect himself before they started asking questions, even though they did not really care what he had to say. It was only protocol. Kalin stared at the table in front of him with hatred in his eyes. There was a small light shining on the table, mocking him as it flickered and hummed in his eardrum. He replayed the memory of the former best friends' betrayal over and over again. It was not long until three uniformed men walked in the room.

"Let's make this quick." One of the men threw a file on the table. "You're the messed up kid who lead a rebel duel gang, planted a bomb in the Sector Security's Satellite Headquarters and killed one of our officers. How old are you? Seventeen? Eighteen?"

That man died? Kalin did not respond.

"Alright. Take him away and et him rot!"

The two other men walked to the sides of him and began to take off the restraints. As soon as Kalin's arms were free, he swung at the guards. But, he was no match for the two larger men. One kicked him in his gut, while the other pulled Kalin's arms behind his back with great force. He still tried to put up a struggle through it all.

"So, you're a fighter? Well, not for long."

The men forcefully dragged Kalin into another dim room. He was punched in the face to daze him. The next thing the he knew, they were stripping his clothes off. The guards smirked after seeing Kalin's clean body. Give them a few weeks and the new prisoner's body will be covered in bruises, scars and blood. They put on rough prison clothes and re-chained Kalin to a new chair. One guard pulled at his hair to keep his head up.

A machine was brought up to Kalin's face. Without warning, a laser hit the right side of his face, engraving a yellow line across it. The pain was like heated needles dragging across his face. It got even worse when it ran over his eye lid. Kalin tired to scream, but ended up grinding his teeth in agony.

When it was all over, the guards pushed Kalin down a number of hallways to his new solitary home. The barred door slid open and he was literally thrown inside. The door was slammed behind him, with chuckles still mocking him.

"Yusei!" Kalin yelled at the top of his lungs. "Yusei! I will make you fucking pay, you traitor! You all are going to regret betraying me! I'll kill you!"

He went on screaming like that for the rest of the night. It only came to a stop when Kalin's throat became sore. He breathed heavily, trying to find any sort of balance and composure. Golden eyes scanned his new home. It was a dark space enclosed by grey stone, with a single bed mounted to the wall.

The only thing that surprised Kalin was the small window over the bed. He had to stand on his toes to look out, seeing the polluted skyline of Satellite. He used to own this place. As he moved his arms, the new clothes on his body rubbed against his skin with great irritation. Kalin finally took a seat on the hard metal bed.

This is where he would live, likely for the rest of his life. That was not a life he bothered living. He would rather kill himself than live here. However, he had someone he needed to see again. Being trapped in here would allow Kalin to devise a plan to take revenge on Yusei and the rest of his old friends. All he needed was to believe that someday he would get out.

He wanted to wrap his hands around Yusei's throat, kick him in the ribs until they broke into pieces and punch him in the face. Kalin could still picture that traitor standing with the officer. Yusei turned him in. He thought Yusei was the only one he could trust after Crow and Jack left him. They did not understand that Sector Security was making life in Satellite hell. Security had to be destroyed before Satellite could be free. But they were weak! They could not think or see the way Kalin did, but they should have followed him anyway. He was their leader. The only reason those three even knew how to duel was because of him. They were not push-overs because Kalin built them up to be great. He was so close to completely controlling Satellite and making it a place worth living in, but they got in the way.

Kalin could barely even find the right words to express his anger and hatred towards his old teammates, especially Yusei. He would build up that hatred and return to take what was rightfully his, revenge and power. But first, he would have to get used to living in this cell.

There was no clock and the building blocked any sunlight that would have shown through the window. Kalin figured he could track the time by the meals he received. Not a lot of time passed when he heard the door to his cell open. Whatever the guards wanted from him, they would have to fight him for it. But that was exactly what they wanted. Kalin tried to dodge their blows, but to no avail.

They kicked his gut, punched face, twisted his arms, stepped on his hands and scarred his legs. Kalin yelled and cursed, but who was there to hear him? The guards wanted blood and would not leave until they saw enough of the young man's blood spilt out on the floor. After they were satisfied, they left him curled up on the cold floor in excruciating pain.

Kalin wanted to lay on the bed, so he slowly dragged himself across the cell. He laid himself down, rested his head on the flat pillow and wrapped the thin sheet around his shoulders. He desperately tried to not thinking about the pain, but with little avail. Kalin never cried, but since he was alone, he sobbed himself to sleep.

Kalin figured that only a few days passed since he was arrested. He got two meals and many punches to the face a day. But the pain that the guards inflicted was nothing compared to the burning sensation on the right side of his face or the dying thirst for revenge. The days started to become routine; wake up, eat, sit, get punched, eat, lay down, get kicked, fall asleep. Sometimes they would have him preform small jobs if he was lucky. What kind of life was this?

He thought of ways he could escape and find Yusei. Or maybe he could find Jack or Crow first. Or he could take a long way around to scare Yusei. He had a lot of time to devise his perfect plan for revenge. As of right now, that was the only thing worth living for. Pathetic. They did not even deserve that much attention.

As the weeks moved on, Kalin started losing his sense of time. Mostly because he lost the ability to care and he was sure the guards were withholding food rations from him, even though he barely ate any of it. Most of his days were spent staring out the window, dreaming of the freedom to roam the place he once owned. Kalin's plans for seeking revenge started to fade as he lost hope that he would ever be released. Even the guards started to leave Kalin alone. The beatings became less frequent, likely because he could not put a good fight anymore. However, the damage he received still plagued him.

He would have taken the beatings over what the guards told him one day. They were laughing outside his cell when he was trying to sleep. Kalin was unsure how he got up the nerve to face them. They did not waste anytime telling Kalin that his treasured deck and other belongings had recently been sent to the furnace after his life sentence was approved.

He had to take a step back. Kalin had worked his whole life to create that deck. He put himself though countless dangerous situations to get those cards and poured hours into strategizing and reconfiguring his deck. It was that same deck that could have taken down Sector Security if Jack, Crow and Yusei had not gotten in his way. That deck was his freedom, lifeline and happiness. After that day, Kalin lost a bit of himself.

He had enough with his prison outfit. Kalin, growing increasingly irritated with the small space and rough clothes, ripped the shirt in anger. He did this every now and again. Kalin would have short periods of rage, then would fall right back down into his state of depression. His old friends would not be able to recognize him, if they ever bothered paid him a visit. They knew a fiery young man, but he had been crippled into a depressed, beat-up prisoner with only a sliver of sanity left.

Kalin gazed down at his bare chest after ripping the shirt off. There were bruises and cuts covering his entire body. The worst was on his right shoulder, from when the guards hit him with a metal rod. Kalin cursed under his breath when he pushed down on his sides. He had learned plenty of new phrases from the guards snickering at him. His stomach hurt even more when Kalin remembered he had not eaten in a long time.

He needed to get out of his cell, even if it was for a moment.

The cell door opened. It was the same officer who was in command of the hunt for Kalin months ago, the one Yusei snitched to. He smirked, then immediately went for the young man's throat. Kalin, feeling the officer's hands tighten around his neck, held onto his wrist. But strangely, he did not try to resist. Kalin believed he would die right then and there in the hands of the people who were supposed to protect and save.

But instead of strangling him, the officer began punching Kalin's stomach repeatedly. Kalin felt like he was going to throw up, if there was anything left to throw up. Instead, he took the beating like a broken man.

"I hope you live in this cell for a very long time. I hope you break and fade away into the nothingness the world sees you as."

The officer let go and walked out of the cell. Kalin collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily and holding his gut in severe pain. After not moving for a few minutes, he pushed himself to the dark corner of his cell. He brought his knees up to his chest and stared blankly at the empty space in front of him. Kalin never needed a mother before, but now, he just wanted someone to put an arm around him.

Time and space obscured around him.

Here me now. I am a messenger from beyond the grave, who can grant you a power you have never known.

Kalin raised his eyes slightly. No one was standing there, but he could have sworn he heard someone talking to him.

With this power, you will be an unstoppable force, too powerful to be reckoned with. You will have your freedom.

He started to like the sound of that.

Once you accept the mark of a Dark Signer, you will be able to get revenge on all who have turned against you.

"Good, but I only want revenge on one person...just one and-"

Kalin slumped over in dull pain, slowly closing his eyes. He could not feel his body and his mind was blurring. His jaw hang open as he barely took a breath. Then, a dark energy forced itself into his mouth, consuming the rest of his body from the inside.

Suddenly, Kalin's whole body burned, like a fire was lit inside of him. He felt a strange sensation on his right arm. His eyes slowly opened and he felt an sharp sting, like a toxin was being injected into his eyes. Kalin focused his sight to his right arm. There was a bizarre purple glow on his arm, shinning in a unknown shape.

Kalin stood up in hast and a wave of relief came over him. All the pain he had been so acclimated to was gone. He could breathe with ease and could move his body without hesitation. He looked up and saw someone new standing there. The large man walked over to him and put an hand on Kalin's shoulder.

"You're much younger than I expected."

He walked Kalin out of the cell and down a few hallways. Kalin gave no sign of resistant or hesitation. Where were the guards? The man walked Kalin outside the Facility. They began roaming through Satellite to the most remote sector of the island. Kalin wanted to ask what they were going, but he figured he would get that answer soon enough.

The man stopped and a hidden door opened up in front of them. Kalin was lead down a long set of stairs to an underground world of Satellite he had never known.

"Welcome, Kalin Kessler, to the Dark Singers."