Haou's Usual Day

by Higuchimon

Get up early, eat, review the troops, plot conquest, duel some upstart who thinks they can stop you, plot even more conquest, and a late bedtime. Just your average day in the life of Haou Yuuki Juudai.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.
Title: Haou's Usual Day
Word Count: 6,580
Rated: PG-13
Focus: Yuuki Juudai, during the Haou arc of season three.
Notes: This takes place before Jim and O'Brian find out who the Haou truly is.
Summary: Get up early, eat, review the troops, plot genocide, duel some upstart who thinks they can stop you, plot even more genocide, and a late bedtime. Just your average day in the life of Haou Yuuki Juudai.

It was just another usual day in the life of Yuuki Juudai, Haou of Dark World. He woke early, at a time that would have been 'before the dawn' in any world that actually had the rising and setting of the sun, or a sun at all. It was true that in earlier times, when he had not been Haou, getting him to so much as twitch out of bed before the sun was well up was all but impossible. But that boy was gone forever. Haou reigned now, and Haou had more than enough to do with his day that he wanted to start it as early as he could.

He had already enclosed himself in his armor before the door swung open and his breakfast was brought in for him, carried by a blank-faced human servant. He had little use for humans when it came to his true goal, but for minor help, they were slightly better than some of the Duel Monsters. He scarcely even noticed if this one was male or female. Gender did not interest him; the ability to serve him did.

Once the tray had been set down on the table he ate at every morning, Haou seated himself and examined the offering with the same blank gaze he did everything else. His eyes glowed faintly as he checked for any poisons, and finding none, he began to eat. The servant remained silent and off to the side, ready for the slightest order that the master might give.

To anyone else, the deadly silence of the room might have been oppressive. Haou enjoyed it as much as he enjoyed anything in his life. It gave him time to reflect on what he needed to do today. Ever since he had begun his quest for Super Fusion and the ultimate domination of Dark World, the days had been much like one another. He did not expect that this day would be any different in anything other than the small details. In very short order, he had finished his breakfast and rose, striding purposefully towards the door. There was little that might have connected this intense figure with the same half-shattered boy who had dueled Brron weeks earlier. Except, perhaps, the way that he had cleaned his plate down to the last speck of food.

Haou opened the door and stalked his way down the hallway, his red cape flaring out behind himself. He paid little attention to those few other beings who were in the hallway as well. No one was ever in his palace whom he did not permit there, and the presence of those who were permitted was seldom worth noticing.

The door that led to the balcony was one of three at the far end of the hallway. The second door led to where he generally planned conquests with his servants, and the third led down to the lower areas, where he would go later. For now, however, it was to the balcony he went. Those Duel Monsters who formed his inner circle stood there waiting already. He had never asked if they ate or what they did when he wasn't around them. As with so much, it meant less than nothing to him.

"Good morning, Haou-sama," the group of them chorused as he entered, as they always did. And as he always did, he paid little to no attention to it beyond the slightest of nods that indicated he had heard them in the first place. In three strides he stood on the balcony itself, where his troops were spread out in their usual array, awaiting his arrival.

And yet again, as happened every morning, the moment that one of them caught sight of him, the chanting began, full of praise and fear, respect and adoration.

"Haou! Haou! Haou!" It was Witty Phantom who began it today. Haou briefly considered promoting this one. Not because it was especially powerful or even dramatically loyal. But it was effective, and had brought in a few more captives and captured a few more souls for him than anyone who wasn't one of his inner group. He would consider that carefully. Good service should always be rewarded somehow.

Of course, he also considered a reward to be just the fact they were alive and were not part of the pulsating card within his deck.

Super Fusion was close to completion, and he had only taken in a quarter of the world at the least, half at the most. There was still a great deal that was left to do, an ending nowhere in sight. That was fine with him. There was nothing else that he wanted to do or could do. This was his destiny. This was his purpose in life, what filled his empty days. So much more rewarding than dozing in a boring classroom or fishing by the ocean.

Behind him, the reports began to filter in through the various servants. Progress, for the most part, kept on progressing. East, west, north, south, and everything in between the four corners of the compass were slowly falling under his control. There were pockets of resistance and a few places where unusual events, such as some of his servants in the area vanishing never to be seen again, were occurring, but those meant little. He could deal with them all, either personally or with some of his more competent warriors.

His voice holding only the slightest hint of interest in matters, he commanded that some of the Goblin Attack Forces in the army be sent to deal with the odd vanishings, while others were dispersed to clear out the pockets of resistance. There were several villages that he wished to add to his domain as soon as possible as well. At least two were within an easy ride of his castle, and he decided that he would deal with both of them today.

That would be how he spent his afternoon. But there were still chores that would accompany his morning. After the reports were done, he dismissed the circle to go tend to their business. Haou tried his best not to spend more time around them than he absolutely had to. In the end, they would go into Super Fusion just like everyone else would, until the card had come to him.

Now it was time for a little practice, to keep himself sharp. He would not lose any duel, ever, because of a loss of skill. He could, would, and did duel anywhere, but his favorite place at the moment was in a wide room with plenty of seats for spectators. Not that he cared if people watched or not, but sometimes he did have to make an example of someone. That had been the case often early in his rule, and after three or four crushing defeats of Duel Monsters and the occasional human who thought to rise against him, few had dared to challenge again.

Which meant he had to choose his opponent, and he usually did from the ranks of the prisoners. He tended to pick those who looked to either be too strong-willed to subdue or too much of a hassle to go to the effort. He wanted those who were willing to fight, but there were different levels of willing, and willing did not always mean skill. That was one good thing he did recall of the Academia. There had been no shortage of strong-willed and skilled duelists who had pushed him to his limits.

There had been a few scooped up in the latest raids who were suitable, he decided. Most of the captives were kept away from his fortress, so that even if they thought to rebel and escape, they wouldn't be able to harm him in the process. But a few, those who looked to be the kind he might want to duel sooner or later, were kept here. If those tried to escape, then he would find them and duel them. And Super Fusion would grow even stronger.

A little Dreamsprite was busy scrubbing a corner of the room, and jumped up when he spoke. "Have three of the prisoners brought to my dueling arena."

Without anything other than that spoken, he headed there as quickly as he could. Dreamsprite passed him, going even more quickly to carry out his orders. He would have to remember not to crush that one's soul any time soon. Good help was difficult to come by.

By the time he was at the dueling arena, the prisoners had been gathered. Their duel disks and decks had been returned to them, and he stood on his side of the field. He looked at them, his golden eyes as emotionless as always. "Duel." That was all the challenge that he gave. For a moment, they all simply stared at him, until he activated his duel disk and began to shuffle his deck. Then, as one, they did the same.

Dueling three against one really wasn't fair: to them. It gave them a sense of hope that they stood a chance. Haou didn't care if he crushed it or not. They already knew that he was better than they were. The fact that they were his prisoners made it clear. But he let the duel go on a little, just for the practice of it. These duelists clearly were hardly worthy of the name, since within the first three turns he could have cleared the field of all of them. He let it go five turns in all before finishing them all.

Once it was over, Haou was almost disappointed. Wasn't he ever going to come across someone who was an actual challenge to duel? Someone who would fill him with that same kind of joy he'd once had, who would make him work for a victory? No, he told himself grimly. The ones who could are either dead or not here at all. And even if they were, he would still crush them. That was what he had to do.

Haou kept to himself for a few hours, making a few minor plans and refining his deck a little, just out of habit. He knew that his troops were getting ready for battle, knowing that he was going to be attacking those two villages. He would have to leave shortly after noon in order to get to the first. The second wasn't too far away from the first, which would make matters much easier.

After a light lunch, since he seldom liked to stuff himself before fighting, he and his troops formed up and started on the journey. His circle came along, of course. He hardly went anywhere without them. They were also partially a bodyguard, though no one with any sense would try to attack him, and they couldn't get through his armor if they did. His armor, the armor of the Supreme King, protected him from everything and everyone.

He glanced up briefly at the comet as they traveled, and a hint of a frown touched his face as he thought of Jim. He wasn't certain why the comet and the southern duelist were linked in his mind, but they were. It was strange…and it was something that he had no time to deal with. Jim and O'Brian were somewhere in the world, and if they had any sense, they would be trying to get out of it before he found them. There would be no mercy.

The first village was easily taken care of. He had had spies in there already and the gates were open to him. Duels broke out all over the place, with some of his other minions taking captives from those who didn't duel or who were obviously in no condition to do so for some reason or another. There were escapees, of course. There always were, and to a degree he didn't mind. It let others know of how terrifyingly awesome his power was and they would cease to struggle as the stories grew.

He saw one pair of cloaked people fleeing the scene and watched them for a moment. There was something about them that was just…wrong. His instincts told him that they were not running out of fear. One of them stumbled and fell, his hand going to his heart as he did, and Haou took a few steps closer, caught by a desire he could not explain to see this person's face. Their hood had slipped a little, and it was too dark to be certain of the hair color, only that it was obviously dark…

"Haou-sama!" It was Witty Phantom. Haou turned to see what it wanted, losing sight of the strangers. "The village is secure, Haou-sama. There were about half a dozen who made it out, but we captured or destroyed everyone else."

Yes. He could feel Super Fusion's strength growing because of that. He glanced back in the direction that they had gone. Was it worth it to try and track them down? If one was injured or sick, perhaps…

No, he decided. There would be time enough later to deal with that, and if they were sick, then they would be easier to deal with when he had more time. He had another village to take care of, and he wasn't going to waste his time with two stragglers, no matter their reasons for fleeing him. They were afraid; if they were willing to fight, then they would have stayed, no matter the cost.

"Have everyone prepare to move on to the next village." Haou stalked back to his transport, dismissing every thought from his mind except the need to finish what he had begun. He had set out to take these two villages and so he would.

It only took an hour to reach the other village, and by then the light of the comet was beginning to dim. Haou watched as his troops bashed in the gates, his face-guard down as the debris began to fly. Once again, his warriors moved in and began to take any prisoners or souls that they could. He watched from a suitable vantage point, deciding who would be delivered to the lesser prison and who would have the honor of being taken to his own castle for later use.

"Haou!" It was a female voice. He turned slightly to see a girl there about his own age, with tied back blonde hair and dark brown eyes. There was a duel disk on her arm and she looked furious. He said nothing, only looked at her, not even mildly curious. "If you want this village, then you'll duel me for it!"

Well. What was this. He still didn't move and waited to see if she had anything else that she would say. Perhaps he might even accept her challenge. It would make this conquest slightly more interesting. He hoped.

She took another step towards him, and Guardian Baou moved more closely towards her, raising one hand warningly. "Do not approach Haou."

"Is he too scared to duel me?" The girl snapped. Haou might have smiled, had he remembered what it was like to be amused by something. He gestured Baou back and activated his duel disk, a silent agreement to her daring. "You're going to regret this, Haou! I'm Yuki, and I've never lost a duel protecting my village!"

Again, he might have smiled. Instead, he simply drew his first five cards and indicated that she could go first. He wanted to see if she were truly worth his time. If not, he would finish this as quickly as he could. He just might anyway. He didn't want to be late for dinner. He'd heard the cooks murmuring about serving up lobster and he did enjoy his seafood, even if it had been a little on the angry side.

"I summon Witch of the Black Forest!" Yuki declared. It wasn't a very powerful monster, but the special effect was really what could make it valuable in a duel. "I set two cards face-down, and I play the Dark Door!" That would restrict each of them to only one monster attacking per turn. That was fine with him. He seldom needed more than one.

With her turn ended, Haou drew his card for the turn. This was edging on boring already. "I use Dark Fusion on Burst Lady and Featherman to summon Evil Hero Inferno Wing and attack your Witch of the Black Forest." He could see his troops having drawn up in a circle to watch the show, and her people were also watching, most of them looking terrified. He approved of that. It made them easier to deal with.

In a shower of sparkles and with a faint scream, Witch of the Black Forest was no more. Of course, that wasn't all that Inferno Wing could do. She hovered in front of Yuki and blasted her coldly in the face: inflicting damage to her equal to Witch of the Black Forest's defense points, since those had been greater. That brought the little upstart down to eighteen hundred already. Haou approved of that, too. He set a face down card of his own and let her take her next turn.

She did look a little annoyed, though that changed when she drew her card. Haou wondered if Mad Lobster tasted as good as fried shrimp did. He wondered if he could find fried shrimp somewhere in Dark World. She was summoning Rapid Fire Magician, then… "I play Soul of the Pure, which increases my life points by eight hundred! And because of the effect of Rapid Fire Magician, you take four hundred points of damage!"

Light from the magician's two staffs shot over towards him, decreasing his life points due to the Normal Spell that she'd played. Haou barely grunted. This was the person who was going to defend this village? Was she done yet?

"Now, I set one more face down card, and I activate the trap that I placed last turn: Solemn Wishes! For every time I draw a card, I get five hundred extra life points! Turn end! See what you can do now!"

She would make an excellent addition to Super Fusion. She wasn't all that bad; it was an interesting deck theme. She might have done well at the Academia. But she would go into it anyway: for her arrogance.

Once his card was drawn, he prepared for his next move. "Inferno Wing, attack Rapid Fire Magician." This was far, far too easy. With the damage that was done by Inferno Wing's attack, Yuki's life would be down to five hundred. Then the special effect would kick in, destroying her completely. How tiresome.

"Not so fast! I activate Draining Shield, which stops your attack and gives me life points equal to your monster's attack points!" That bumped her life up to three thousand and seven hundred. Haou did not smile. Perhaps this might be a touch more interesting than he'd originally thought.

But he was not so finished himself. "I activate Hero Call, which allows me to choose one card from my deck and place it on the top of the deck." He knew precisely which one he wanted, and once he had set things the way he desired them to be, he ended his turn.

"I draw!" She grinned and turned the card around so he could see it: Pot of Greed. "I draw again, and playing that takes another four hundred points away from you, gives me two cards, and I've got another thousand life points coming to me for those two draws." She was up to five thousand and seven hundred now. From the murmurings in the crowd of her people, he guessed this was her usual style of play.

And so was what happened next. "I summon the Mystic Lamp!" It was a low level monster, but it could attack one's life points directly. He guessed that was what she had in mind, and indeed it was: but even as the Lamp floated over, she played another card: the Quick-Play spell Rush Recklessly. That made the small monster a little more formidable, by increasing it's attack points by seven hundred.

Still, even as his life points went down by a thousand and one hundred, Haou didn't so much as twitch a muscle. She would have to do far, far better than that to wear him out. Especially since he was going to win in his next turn.

"And now, I play Restructor Revolution! For every card you have in your hand, you take two hundred points of damage! So that's six hundred down!" He was reduced to fifteen hundred now. He still didn't care. She had no chance of winning. He hadn't even bothered to raise his visor, and he wasn't going to do it now. "But that's not it! That was a Normal Spell, so Rapid-Fire Magician's effect kicks in, and you go down another four hundred!" He could hear the glee in her voice. Let her enjoy herself. At least one of them should be. He was bored.

There was one more thing she was doing, however. "Lastly, I activate Gift of the Mystical Elf! I get three hundred more life points for every monster on the field! Now I've got over six thousand!" She had six thousand and six hundred, to be precise. Haou could not be amused, but if he could have been, he may have thought Misawa would have appreciated the precision. "Turn's over! Do your worst!"

A thinning of his lips that was his smile occurred. "As you wish." No one could ever say that she hadn't asked for it. He drew at once, and did not need to look at it to know what it was. After all, he'd put it there himself. "I play the Castle of Fiend Shadows." As Elemental Hero Flame Wingman had become Evil Hero Inferno Wing, so had Skyscraper acquired a new name and a slightly different set of abilities. Evil Heroes did not play fair, after all.

All around them, the dark and twisted towers of the Castle of Fiend Shadows rose as the field spell went into effect, replacing the shabby village with this dark and elegant palace that reminded him of his own fortress. From now on, all of his Evil Heroes would have an attack point increase of a thousand, while all other monsters had their attacks decreased by the same amount.

"I play Dark Calling. By removing Dark Fusion from my graveyard, I can Fusion Summon a monster: and I fuse Evil Hero Inferno Wing on the field and Sparkman in my hand to summon Evil Hero Fiend Knight!" The dark counterpart to Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman leaped into existence, a being of sleek black armor and feathers of shadows, hard muscles ready to smite that which offended its master. "For every Elemental Hero or Evil Hero in my graveyard, Fiend Knight gains another three hundred attack points: And there are four: Burst Lady, Featherman, Sparkman, and Inferno Wing, increasing it's attack by twelve hundred." Which meant since it began with two thousand and five hundred anyway, now it was at three thousand and seven hundred. That wasn't all, though. "When Fiend Knight destroys one of your monsters, it can inflict damage to you equal to that monster's attack strength."

Yuki had taken a few steps back, her eyes round with fear, then she suddenly shook her head. "Go ahead and try!" She pointed towards her Dark Door spell card. "You can only attack with one monster and just once! And you've only got one monster! So even if you destroy one of mine, that won't be enough to make me lose this duel!"

Ah, yes. That had to be dealt with. Fortunately, he knew just how to do so. "I play Evil Hero Hell Gainer, and remove it from play." Behind his faceplate, the closest that he could come to a smile existed now. "That enables a Fiend monster of mine to attack twice in a turn. And Fiend Knight…is a fiend."

He paused, just long enough to see the realization dawning in her eyes, and then pointed at her with one armored finger. "Fiend Knight, attack her Mystic Lamp." That little monster had no more attack points at all, due to Castle of Fiend Shadow's effect, so she would take the full four thousand and seven hundred damage. That brought her down to nineteen hundred, and she was driven to her knees, gasping for breath and staring across the field at him hatefully.

"How could you? You're …you're…" Whatever he was, he wasn't interested in hearing. It was nothing he wasn't aware of already, and hadn't called himself a few thousand times.

"Fiend Knight, attack her Rapid-Fire Magician." That would bring slightly less damage, but it was still more than enough to finish her off completely. Yuki screamed in agony as her body began to break apart. Haou could feel her soul being wrenched into Super Fusion, and a few seconds later, there was only silence as her duel disk fell to the ground.

He deactivated his and turned towards his warriors. "Finish this place." There would not be stone upon stone left here when they were through. They knew what that order meant. He watched as the work was done. There was no one else who wanted to fight back after that duel, so they were all to be shipped to his lesser prison. He was disgusted; such useless wretches. But they were what he had to work with here. Unfortunately.

As the survivors, now prisoners, were herded into the prison conveyances, Haou mounted his own chariot and waited for all of this to be done. Now that the mildly interesting portion of the day was over with, he wanted to get back home and have that dinner he'd been thinking about. He wondered briefly, but only briefly, about those two he had caught a glimpse of in that other village. Cowards they might be, and not worth his time, but he would have liked to have seen their faces, regardless, if only so he could know who was so weak in his kingdom.

The comet's light was just beginning to be fully hidden when the trip back to his castle began. As was usual, everyone was quiet, and somewhat weary. The few scraps of conversation that he could pick up were mostly concerned around the duel that he'd had. It certainly wasn't the first time in his life that he'd heard people talking about a duel that he'd had. He paid just enough attention to make certain that they were getting the details right, but didn't bother to actually take part in the conversations.

It was impossible to see the faint easing of minor tension beneath his heavy armor as the spires of his castle came into view once again. It was good to be home. As always, the day had been long and boring, and he wanted it to be over. It will begin again tomorrow. He knew that perfectly well, but at least in the evenings, he would permit himself to relax just a little, when no one else was around.

Haou did not bother to give any more orders to his servants as the procession drew up to the gates. Despite their general level of uselessness, those who worked for him knew what to do after all this time of doing it. He stalked inside, his goal the meeting room. As much as he wanted to relax, there was just a little wrapping up that had to be done first.

As always, his inner circle was waiting for them. He was still working on tapping into all of the powers that he had available to him, so he couldn't yet teleport the way that they could. He expected to be able to do so at any point now, however. Perhaps it would have something to do with the darkness. At times, he all but believed that it was calling to him, enticing him. He vaguely recalled now and then what Aqua Dolphin's words had been to him, something about the right power of darkness…

No. That had been the past. Whatever Aqua Dolphin had said didn't really matter anymore. If the Light of Ruin came again, then he'd destroy it with his Evil Heroes. The child that he had been last year couldn't do it. Only he could. Only Haou could. Not to mention that he was not going to listen to the advice of a monster that hadn't even had the courage to stand by him when he'd awakened to reality and adulthood.

Each report was given in the usual style, reporting precisely how many captives there were and giving a listing of their decks and what could be surmised from that. It appeared that there had been some sort of market day going on in the first village when they'd arrived, which quite probably explained those two that he had seen. That had led them to a slightly richer harvest than he'd been expecting as well. There still wasn't anyone who could give him the kind of fight that he was looking for, nor were there any signs of anyone that he knew. O'Brian and Jim were there somewhere. He wasn't looking for them, but he knew that they would be out there. They were not the type to just give up and go home. Even when that would be the best for them.

They should. When I find them, I'll make them leave. They wouldn't want to fight him. They could not want to fight him. But if they did, he would do what he was doing to everyone who got in his way.

"This is enough." Haou said flatly suddenly. His stomach was what had ultimately decided it, that and the fact that he knew what all of the reports were going to say: the same thing that they always said.

"As you wish, Haou-sama." Those words were repeated by each of his supporters, who all bowed low and left in a hurry. He wondered if any of them suspected the fate he had planned for them. Let them suspect all they wanted. Let them know all they wanted. None of them, singly or together, could do anything to stop him. No one could ever stop him.

Johan could. That soft thought, from the deepest depth of his mind, was not to be borne. Even if Johan could, Johan would not. All of this was for him, for Johan and for Fubuki, Kenzan, Manjoume, Asuka! For all of those who had died because he wasn't good enough or strong enough when he had needed to be the most. No one would ever be killed because he couldn't protect them again. He would create a river of blood if that was what it took to achieve that.

He pushed all of that away from his mind as hard as he could. He would ensure that no one else had the power or the nerve to hurt anything that he claimed as his. And yet… They were all hurt because of me. They all died because of me. I won't let anything or anyone I care about ever be hurt again. There were two ways to do that, and he was using both of them, because one could not be enough. If he did not care…he could not be hurt. And should somehow, something slip through the cracks that he did care about…there would be no one around to hurt whoever it was.

No. He didn't have time for all of this. There was something far more important that he had to deal with: his dinner.

He dined, as he always did, in his personal quarters. They weren't very opulent, since he didn't really have a need for anything amazingly huge. The one exception was the bed, which was quite big enough for three, and amazingly soft and luxurious. The reason for that was simple: he rolled around a lot in his sleep. He didn't want to say he had nightmares. He was Haou, the Supreme King of Dark World, and he did not have nightmares. He was simply a restless sleeper.

He sat at the table, waiting for his meal to be brought. The same little human who had served him that morning now brought a tray of food whose scent teased his nostrils a little. Indeed, it was not only salmon and caviar, but some of that Mad Lobster he'd been hearing so much about, along with rice and pickles and some noodles. Common Duel Monsters drank water, but they would have never dared to serve anything less than the finest available wines to Haou. Not that Haou himself was that picky. He would have been just as satisfied with green tea. But it was there, and he wasn't going to argue over it. He could almost hear the voice of Daitokuji-sensei in his mind at times, telling him not to overindulge at his age.

Heh. You'd think he was my father or something. Haou still didn't drink much of the wine. He had to keep his wits about him, after all. Should any fool attempt to enter his quarters without his permission, Haou would always be in a condition to deal with them.

No one stayed with him while he ate his evening meal. He generally finished breakfast quickly, to get a head start on his work for the day. Dinner he took slowly, in order to relax and start to wind down so he could get some sleep. There were other things that he had to do in order to rest properly as well. There was always so much to do that if he didn't relax the way he needed to, he wouldn't fall asleep until far late into the night. He couldn't have that.

The lobster was every bit as good as he'd hoped it would be, no matter how insane the beast supplying it had been. He'd never met someone who played Mad Lobster. He wondered if he ever would, and what effect telling them their monster was delicious would have on them. Perhaps someday he would have the chance to find out.

Bit by bit he cleaned off his plate, his mind wandering at the same time, thinking over everything that had happened that day. It had been, as he'd suspected, much like every other day had been. Even the duel against whatever her name had been hadn't been that out of the ordinary. Anyone who tried to stand against him would come to the same end. How close she had or had not come did not matter. She had not.

But those two people who had run away from the other village and his warriors…that still caught at his mind, and he couldn't explain why. Their movements had looked familiar in some way that refused to just be put completely out of memory.

It was impossible for them to be anyone that he knew. He knew everyone who had went through the portal with him, and he knew what had happened to them. Manjoume, Kenzan, Asuka, and Fubuki were dead. Jim and O'Brian weren't dead, as far as he knew, but the cloaked figures hadn't been them. He was very certain of that. Both of them were too tall to be Shou. His fingers tightened a little on his wine glass at the thought of Shou.

How could he… Every word Shou had said to him that day echoed in his mind, until he deliberately forced it away. He only wished he could find a colony of the Vehicroid types. He'd crush it without a second thought, if only to stop that incessant memory, if only to give himself a little peace from repeating what he knew all too well…and if he ever got his hands on Shou…

I won't even kill him. He has no idea of what I can do to him now. I won't let him do that to me again. He'll live…and wish that he hadn't. The thirst for revenge burned deep within, and he determined to send some of his servants around the next day to search out Shou. He was out there somewhere. Haou did not know where, but he would find him and he would make Shou regret the day that they'd ever met…as he already did. Long, long before it was over, Shou would beg him for death…and Haou would never grant it. Shou would live on forever in his prison…

Another note to himself. He would send a group to track down those two in the cloaks as well. Regardless of their state of courage, they had escaped his initial round-up, and now that he had put some thought into the matter, that couldn't be allowed. They had had sufficient time to scare anyone they met with stories of the fury of his armies. Now they would join the collection of his captives.

There was always something else waiting for him to be done, either in the next few minutes or the next few days. But until Super Fusion was finished and he had accomplished his task, that was what life was going to be like.

He left the table and headed into his actual bedroom. He set his deck on the small bedside table before he began to remove his armor. Sometimes he wondered if it got heavier the more people that he killed and had killed. There was little that he could do about that. It was a small price to pay.

There were faint sounds from the outer room; his servant clearing away dinner, no doubt. He'd heard them too many times to mistake them for anything else. But he still laid a hand on his deck and waited, just to be certain, before the sounds faded and he heard the door closing. He closed his golden eyes for the briefest of moments, then picked up his deck and began to sort through it. He did this every night before he went to bed, no matter what.

So many cards. So many choices. So many decisions. So many memories. He didn't stop to look at any of them. He knew which one he wanted. But his finger did hover briefly over two of them: Hane Kuriboh and Neos. Then he went to the last one, the one that meant it all to him.

And with Super Fusion tucked under his pillow, Haou Yuuki Juudai curled up and fell into a deep sleep. It had been another usual day, and he knew that the next would be just like it. If only something different…some duelist worthy of him…could actually happen…

The End