Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Title: Symbols of Death: 1-8: Targeting Hell Kaiser
Characters: Ryou, Asuka, Saiou
Word Count: chapter: 4,474||story: 4,474
Genre: Drama, Friendship||Rated: PG-13
Notes: This takes place during the Genex tournament, between episodes 90 and 91. For reference, Manjoume has left the Society of Light and Ryou has dueled Fubuki.
Feedback: All forms eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Summary: In his search to change his destiny, Saiou sets his sights on Hell Kaiser. Does the duelist of power stand a chance to defeat the Society's two finest warriors or will he kneel before the Light?


Saiou tried not to look at himself in the mirror these days. Mirrors reminded him too much of Mizuchi. That was the least of his problems, however. Seeing his reflection anywhere meant not actually seeing himself, but seeing that other him. I won't let you win.

As if you have a choice. This is your destiny.That voice echoed in the vaults of his mind, smug and certain that nothing he could do could change how the winds of fate blew. The world would be bathed in light and it would be because of him, Saiou Takuma.

He closed his eyes, longing to rest for a moment. He wasn't surprised to see himself looking back at him. Identical in every aspect, save perhaps for that look in his eyes, but he knew that it wasn't him. Not the real Saiou. Do you really think after all you've tried that you can do anything to alter your fate? You failed to acquire the services of Yuuki Juudai. You can't even get his proper attention. Whereas I have everything that I need.

Saiou knew what he-what it-meant. Orgene's SORA satellite, ready to destroy the world at a moment's notice, hovered overhead and the keys were in his possession. All it would take would be a moment's worth of effort to insert those keys, turn them, and let the world die in white fire.

"He'll stop you." Juudai could change destiny, when so few could. Juudai had to help him. If only…if only he could find a way to tell Juudai what he needed. If only...

Do you really think that would've worked? Harsh amusement twisted the features of his interior double. Those who accept the baptism of the Light belong to me as much as they belong to you. More so, in fact. He would've served me, not you.

Saiou forced his eyes to open. He would not listen to this any longer than he had to. He had to find a way to touch Juudai, to get him to listen to his plea for help. Words couldn't do it. That inner beast, the Devil within him, would not let him say it out loud. He'd wanted to try ever since he'd moved permanently to the island, but couldn't so much as move his feet towards Osiris Red, much less open his mouth around Juudai.

Perhaps one of your precious Society? He wouldn't have thought that a creature devoted to the destruction of all life would be able to sound so mocking. Yet as he learned over and over, he was wrong about that.

Yet, that perhaps wasn't such a bad idea. If he sent one of the Society members to duel Juudai yet again, then perhaps…

Perhaps they would lose and the influence of the Light would be wiped from their mind. Another person to stare at him sidelong and consider him nothing more than a freak that shouldn't exist.

And you wonder why I chose you.

Saiou wasn't going to listen to this anymore. He reached for his Tarot deck. He trusted the cards over anything else. Their guidance would show him what he should do. He shuffled with ease; he couldn't remember a day in his life when he'd gone without doing this for some reason, be it to decide what direction he and Mizuchi should travel or for a client who wished to know his or her own future.

One card was all he wanted or needed, one that would tell him who he needed to look to in order to take the next step. In all truth, he didn't think there were that many people here at Duel Academia who could or would help. He might have to search for whoever could help, perhaps make another request of Samejima as he had for Orgene, but he would find them.

He couldn't have said how he knew when he'd shuffled enough. It was a simple instinct, one trained and honed over the years, much like those of a duelist. He set the deck down on his table and placed one hand over it. The cards were warm to his touch, a good sign. His heart racing, he drew the first card and turned it over.

Interesting. This wasn't a card he drew very often, no matter what lay ahead of someone. More than one person feared it when it did come up. He laid his hand flat upon it and closed his eyes, casting his mind outward. Someone who has undergone a great change recently. Someone who could be close to Yuuki Juudai.

The answer came in a spark of white and black. A duel he'd watched and enjoyed, as he watched all of Edo's duels, and duels that came after that. He saw a world torn down and rebuilt into a new shape.

So that was the answer. It did make sense, both in the card and in the person. For who was close to Yuuki Juudai who had died and been reborn in a sense of the word?

None other than Hell Kaiser Marufuji Ryou.


Asuka pretended that she wasn't watching for any signs of black out of the corner of her eyes. Not that Black Thunder would dare to come anywhere near here, of course, not after his treachery, not openly. But she kept an eye out anyway, just in case he wanted to lurk in the area and try to convince some of them to abandon Saiou and the Light.

As if that would ever happen. She really couldn't imagine why he'd left them in the first place. He'd been the one who had opened so many of their eyes and now he'd returned to Osiris Red and that disgusting black jacket of his. It didn't make any sense.

"Tenjoin-kun." That voice cut through all of her worries as she rose and bowed to the guiding light of her life.

"What can I do for you, Saiou-sama?" Ever since Manjoume-kun had left the Society, she'd been his right hand, recruiting nearly the entire girl's dorm as well as watching out for those pro duelists who might make good Society members. Sadly, there weren't as many of those as she had once hoped.

He gestured for her to follow him as he turned his steps away from the Obelisk White building. She did so gladly, falling into step beside him. "I have a very special mission for you. One that I think you will enjoy."

Asuka's heart raced. "Whatever you command, I'll obey." Saiou-sama, through Manjoume-kun at first, had already given her so much. She would give back anything that she could.

"I'm certain you've heard that Hell Kaiser is on the island for the Genex tournament." Saiou spoke as he walked along the path that led around the lake. She nodded, wondering why he brought that up. She hadn't seen or spoken to Ryou in months. "I believe he could be of invaluable use to us in the Society, and of course, it would be so much better for him than being the way he is now."

Asuka shuddered; she seldom spoke to her brother these days, but she'd heard about the duel between the two of them. Fubuki used Darkness's power and still couldn't beat Ryou.

That didn't mean she couldn't do it, though. Darkness could never defeat darkness. Anyone knew that. What you needed to defeat darkness was light.

"Exactly." Asuka couldn't help the hint of a shiver that flowed down her spine when Saiou-sama responded to her thoughts. That was a remnant of her own foolish past, she reminded herself. Saiou-sama was a person with great power who had deigned to guide her to wisdom. She shouldn't fear that power. He smiled at her. "You will have all the power the Light can give you in order to defeat Hell Kaiser." He paused for a moment, his smile widening just a bit. Others might've found the expression disturbing, but she saw the true kindness there. "He will thank you in the end."

"Of course, Saiou-sama." Asuka didn't doubt that for a moment. She'd been grateful to Manjoume-kun when he'd defeated her, after all. "When would you like me to duel him?" She would have to find him, but that wouldn't be hard. He'd never hidden himself from an opponent before and she doubted he would start now.

"The sooner he learns the error of his ways, the better." Saiou glanced away from her, his eyes distant, as if he listened to some inner voice. His eyebrows narrowed for a moment, then the expression soothed as if it had never happened at all. "It would also be wise to hone your skills on others first. Hell Kaiser is not an easy opponent."

"I know." Ryou had changed greatly, but no matter what, he was a duelist without peer. Deep within her heart pounded at the thought of dueling him again. They hadn't dueled one another in years, not since before her brother had returned.

Yet, the more she thought about it, the more she not only anticipated dueling him, the more she wanted to do so in order to show him the wisdom and strength of the Light. Fubuki had mentioned that Ryou entered the darkness to gain the strength for victory. That strength is hollow, false, and I'll show him that. She touched her dueling deck, knowing that within it lay the cards that could defeat him. She had White Veil, first and foremost. That would negate any and all trap or spell card he had set when she attacked, and she had plenty of powerful monsters that she could equip it to.

"I have faith that you'll succeed." Saiou-sama said. Asuka bowed quickly; she would indeed sharpen her skills on other duelists first, though. There was no need to rush off headlong into the fight and lose because she hadn't practiced hard enough.

"Before today is over with, there won't be a Hell Kaiser any more." Asuka knew that was true, if only because it was what Saiou-sama wanted. "He'll be the Kaiser of Light."

"I look forward to seeing him bathed in white, just as you are." Saiou-sama agreed. Asuka nodded, already thinking about which duelists she could challenge in order to be ready to fight her old friend. There were several who could be useful as test subjects. Saiou-sama gestured in dismissal and she hurried away to begin her search.


Saiou watched her leave, one set of eyes and two different awarenesses focused on the situation. Juudai is already worried about Hell Kaiser and his motives. This will force him to take action.

If she wins. Truly, the idea of a malevolent force of the universe smirking was one that didn't set well with Saiou.

How can she not? She has your power and mine to see the future.That was all she needed, wasn't it? It had worked for so many others he'd shared his gift with. Only a scant few could escape the baptism of light. Hell Kaiser didn't have the power that Juudai did or the dinosaur strength that Kenzan did. He was a simple human, more talented in dueling than most, but nothing more. He would be defeated in battle.

He would belong to the Society.

And then he will belong to me. Saiou could hardly ignore his own voice, even when someone else used it, but he had experience in trying, at least. Sadistic amusement tore through him at the thought. We are one, Saiou. You want to destroy them as much as I do.

Saiou tried not to think about that, too. He had what he wanted now. When he'd been younger he'd wanted to kill everyone who'd ever looked at him and Mizuchi funny. But now there were those who accepted his power, accepted that he was different, and did so without fear.

And they do so because of me. Do you really think that any of them would respect you without me?

Saiou knew better than to so much as look at any of the students who walked along the path. Some of them were his own servants, but at that moment, with those words burning into his mind, he couldn't stand the sight of them.

Because it was right. Infuriating as it was, none of them would respect him or even look at him without fear if it weren't for the baptism of light they'd all gone through. If it weren't for the Light, he would still be the foolish young fortune teller he'd been.

And yet you want to change this. Why, Saiou? What could you achieve by getting rid of me? Do you think anyone would ever like you because of who you are?

Warm blue eyes and silver hair flickered through his mind and the Light's laughter echoed with such force Saiou wondered why no one else heard it. Edo? You think Edo would? When the only reason you ever tried to meet him was just to use him? No, Saiou. Accept the truth. You need me. You will always need me.

The Light had no hands that weren't Saiou's, yet Saiou could've sworn that a hand touched his shoulder nevertheless. He did not look up. He would not see those eyes, his own eyes, staring back at him. You are mine, Saiou Takuma. Forever.


I hate kids. Kinjo Souta hurried through the crowd of students, pushing them out of the way when they drew too close to him. They were just children anyway. He'd graduated from high school two years ago. He was a pro. They weren't and most of them never would be.

Besides, it wasn't as if any of them, or their relatives, had been nice to him when he'd been there before.

They weren't who he wanted anyway. He stood up on the tips of his toes, head turning this way and that as he searched for that one. How hard can it be to find someone nearly six feet tall and wearing black leather?

Apparently harder than he'd imagined, since he'd searched two hours for Hell Kaiser and hadn't seen so much as a scrap of his hair. You wouldn't think it would be difficult to find someone with dark blue hair in this school, but he'd seen four different people who had it already and none of them were the one he wanted.

It was time to take more direct action. Kinjo grabbed one of the passing Red students and glared down at him, putting all of the intimidation of being twenty years old and a full-grown adult into his eyes. "Where's Hell Kaiser?"

"I don't know." The student stared back at him, eyes widening a bit. Kinjo liked that look on him. It was more interesting than most looks people directed at him. "You want to find him?"

That tone, the tone of one who'd just been asked where a potential killer was, pulled a grin from the professional duelist's lips. "Of course I do. You can't beat someone in a duel if you can't find them to duel in the first place."

"You think you're going to beat Hell Kaiser?" The student barked out an unpleasant sound that Kinjo decided was his version of a laugh. His appreciation of the student's fear of him dropped in a heartbeat. "I've seen what he can do. I don't think you've got a chance."

"I've seen what he can do too. I've got more of a chance than you think. You're more than welcome to watch me do it." Kinjo said, tossing his light brown hair over one shoulder. "I've wanted to duel him again for a long time. Even before he started calling himself 'Hell Kaiser' in the first place. He thinks he knows what being an anti-respect duelist is. Well, he's got a few things to learn from me about that! And I can't wait to start teaching him!" He'd practiced that speech for a while. Somehow, it didn't quite sound the same spoken out loud as it had in his head.

"Really." For all the time Kinjo had spent searching for Hell Kaiser, to hear that voice coming from behind him was a little startling. There wasn't any question on who had spoken, not with how the Osiris Red in front of him grinned now. He turned to face the black-clad duelist, a cocky grin spreading across his own features. This was it.

"Oh, yeah, really." Kinjo folded his arms over his chest and stared up at Hell Kaiser. There was a lot of up to look at, especially given Kinjo's own not exactly impressive height. It's not fair. Why is he so tall? For that matter, why did he look that damned intimidating in that outfit? There were those who said Marufuji Ryou had been born to wear black leather. Kinjo wasn't so certain they were wrong. "You and I are going to duel, Hell Kaiser." He shoved every ounce of disrespect he could into his tone, expecting to get at least a twitch out of the other.

What he got was a duel disk being turned on. "As you wish."

Kinjo swallowed; he hadn't expected the duel to start this fast. Shouldn't there have been a few more taunts, perhaps at least Hell Kaiser wondering why he wanted to duel against him? For that matter, didn't he even remember him? Two years wasn't that long.

"If I win, I get all of your Genex medals. If you win, you can have all of mine!" He had thirty of them already, mostly gained from clearing out some of the weak fish from Osiris Red. That was how Genex worked. The strong survived and he was the strongest of the strong.

Granted, he hadn't yet challenged any of those weird students in white. He was certain he could defeat them, but just the way they stared at him as if he were a prime rib and they were hungry sharks made him nervous. Better to deal with his first target, and once his reputation for defeating the terror of the Pro Leagues spread around, he could finish those weirdos off and win Genex.

Then maybe he could get some decent sponsors and make enough money to get into an apartment large enough so he didn't have to step outside to change his mind.

Hell Kaiser's shoulders moved in a noncommittal shrug. "If you insist. I don't need medals."

Oh, now he'd done it. Kinjo decided he wouldn't just put this arrogant bastard away, he'd do it fast. Kaiser might get one turn, but there was no way he'd get a second. "I'm going first, then!"

He drew his cards, then another for the turn. Hell Kaiser didn't protest him taking it, which didn't surprise Kinjo at all. That was how he'd always played. Probably wants me to summon a monster so he can summon his Cyber Dragon. He'd heard the other had used a different deck against Tenjoin Fubuki, though. Still, it was his turn and he knew from a glance at what he'd drawn what he was going to do. The cards want to finish him as much as I do.

"I activate Hinoko, inflicting two hundred points of damage to you!" It was one of his smallest weapons, little more than a pinprick, but Kinjo watched with pride as two spheres of energy formed in front of him and blasted across the field to knock into Hell Kaiser. Hell Kaiser stood there, cards in hand, a complete attitude of waiting in his pose. Kinjo growled and pulled out a second card. If that hadn't worked, then maybe this would. "Next, I activate Fire Ball! Take five hundred more points!"

Five larger balls now hovered in front of him and he threw his hand out to send them soaring toward Hell Kaiser. Again the other's life points dropped and he had yet to react beyond the slight raising of one eyebrow. Kinjo ground his teeth. I'm going to make him scream. If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to make him scream!

"Great Fire of Day and Night!" As Kinjo slapped the card down on his duel disk, the faint image of a burning house appeared all around Hell Kaiser's side of the field. "Eight hundred points of damage! And you can't stop it!"

"Why would I want to?" Hell Kaiser replied, his voice as calm as a summer's day. "You're the one hurting yourself with this, Kinjo."

Oh, he was going to pay for that! There were still three more cards in his hand, and he had a purpose for all three of them. Another spell card made its appearance, calling up the image of a goblin pushing a cart. "Thief Goblin! Go steal five hundred of his life points and give them to me!"

The goblin rushed over to where Hell Kaiser stood and swiped one hand through his duel disk before he raced back to where Kinjo stood waiting. His holographic servant then shoved that same hand into Kinjo's disk, raising his life points. "Amazing act of grand theft, wasn't that?" Kinjo sneered. Hell Kaiser appeared on the verge of yawning.

"It was more like petty larceny in my opinion. Are you done yet?"

Kinjo considered discarding his duel disk and beating Hell Kaiser in the face. He'd yell then. Still, that might get him disqualified from Genex. Not to mention what his sponsors might say. They weren't the best, but they did somewhat frown on unnecessary violence. "I summon Gear Golem the Moving Fortress in defense mode!" A small, spike-armored robot appeared in front of Kinjo, arms folded to present an all but impenetrable defense. With twenty-two hundred defense points, it would be tough to beat, and even if he was, Kinjo wouldn't take any damage due to the monster being in defense mode.

I doubt he can beat it anyway. The defense is too high for Cyber Dragon to destroy and what are the chances he could draw enough fusion material monsters to do anything else? It's just his first turn. "I set one card face-down and end my turn." There. He'd used up every card in his hand to set this up, but victory would be his! It was worth it. I couldn't have done it without doing that, anyway.His direct damage deck had won him every duel he'd played so far and he didn't see this one being any different.

Hell Kaiser drew his card and that was when Kinjo struck next. "Trap, activate! Fire Darts! I roll a die three times, and you lose life points equal to the total amount I roll times one hundred!"

"Get on with it, then." Hell Kaiser folded his arms across his chest again, a small hint of annoyance in his tone now. Kinjo smirked in anticipation. This was the best trick ever! A holographic die appeared in front of him and he gestured to send it rolling across the field. As it came to a rest, a glowing six shimmered at the top. Already, six hundred points of damage were in the air, and there were two more rolls to go.

The die bounced across the field a second time and a second six joined the first. Twelve hundred! Twelve hundred points of damage! Kinjo could hardly contain himself. The trap couldn't do enough damage to finish Hell Kaiser off entirely, but it didn't need to. He would do that on his next turn. Even if Marufuji set a powerful defense monster, it wouldn't do any good. A simple sacrifice of eight hundred life points and his monster would end this duel in a blaze of glory.

For a third time, the die rolled, and a third six glowed in bright, uncompromising red. I did it...I really did it. Maximum damage. He'd never rolled that well before with Fire Darts. Fate was on his side today. Kinjo raised his head to stare into Hell Kaiser's eyes as three huge balls of flame swirled into existence before him. "Eighteen hundred points of damage, Hell Kaiser."

The three flame balls blasted across the field, each one slamming into Hell Kaiser and taking six hundred points from his total, until only two hundred remained. "This is what you call disrespect." Kinjo declared. The only thing that took the edge off his enjoyment was that Hell Kaiser still hadn't moved, much less uttered a sound of pain. What was it going to take to get through that icy façade?

"I don't believe this. This can't be happening." Kinjo wasn't surprised to look around and see several students and a few professional duelists gathered around. It was only his due, after all. They're all going to see me do this! They're all going to see me defeat Hell Kaiser! This was everything that he'd ever wanted since his last year at North School, when Marufuji Ryou, a second year, trounced him thoroughly when he'd come to Duel Academia for the school duel. Kinjo had hardly had a chance to do anything before he'd been defeated.

I'm going to get my revenge. He thinks he knows disrespect and dueling for power. He doesn't know anything. But he's going to. I'm going to slam disrespect down his throat until he chokes on it!

Kinjo glanced over to where the Red student he'd grabbed watched, jaw very satisfyingly on the floor from Kinjo's lightning-quick devastation of the so-called unbeatable Hell Kaiser. Several others watched as well, including Yuuki Juudai, Manjoume Jun, and Marufuji Shou. That last one's gaze stuttered between the two duelists, worry and hope warring for dominance. He's going to get to see me beat his big brother. He's going to love this, I just know it.

Could this day possibly get any better?

To Be Continued