A/N: This fic takes place in an alternate universe than the standard 5D's- you will see the changes as the fic progresses. It is a darker version of the standard YGO verse, partially because of the way I decided to justify the fact that card games replace fights. Some personalities will be changed. Also, the story is based on the WC 2011 storyline, with the three original main characters from it (Toru, Misaki, and the PC) being the main reason I'm writing this. Also, I don't watch the 5D's anime, so I don't know some of the backstory, but this fic doesn't focus on much of that, anyway.
Also, on decks: all characters will have variations of the decks that they use in the game, tweaked either so I can write them better or because there are obvious ways to improve them. Toru's deck is an example; his Scrap deck is replaced by a version I used in the game which served me well. All characters will have decks that actually work, too, instead of me pulling cards out of my ass to make things more interesting/cool/dramatic. I think that if I can't do that with workable decks, then there's no real point to the duel- it's just 'this is the way this character wins this time' instead of a realistic duel.
Rain. Why did it always rain at funerals? Was the world crying with the mourning? Or was it just the universe's way of making a sad occasion even more miserable?
Klaus was thankful for the rain, though. It hid the tears streaming down his face, tears for his daughter and her husband, and their two colleagues and best friends. All four, dead. A single accident caused it all, and now there were two newborn children without parents and a grandfather without a daughter.
Family shattered. Lives lost or changed forever. And it was raining.
Jacob easily saw the hand flash towards the holstered Duel Disk as his assailant jumped from the shadows. They were probably hoping for a normal passerby, or a weaker Duelist. They definitely weren't hoping for someone like Jacob. His reaction was smooth and practiced; he drew his Disk from its holster at his waist and slipped it on, the field flipping out, ready to fight against his assailant. To call Jacob's reaction fast would be like saying Crash Town was a hellhole; it got the idea across, but it didn't quite describe the incredible intensity of it. By the time Jacob's Duel Disk was on his arm and ready to go, his assailant's Disk was barely halfway to his arm. His jump had proven to be a more difficult target than he had expected, and now that one of their Disks had activated, there was no way out. Jacob readied himself to destroy his opponent...
As his grandfather's voice broke his slumber. "Jacob! Get out of bed, you idiot!" Jacob grumbled quickly, but began moving off of his bed. "We're going to Satellite to shop today, remember?"
"Yeah, but… why do you need me?"
"Because I'm not a Duelist, and Satellite's almost as bad as here. You're going to make sure I get back here in one piece. By the way, your deck's on the table, along with your Disk."
Jacob shooed his grandfather out of his room and got dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, and grabbed his signature grey bandanna to keep his messy hair under control. He grabbed the pistol-like Disk, as well, and the deck that went with it. Finally, making sure his grandfather wasn't peeking through the door, he opened a drawer and checked to make sure his revolver was still hidden. He was slightly concerned that he wouldn't be able to take it, since he was going to be with his grandfather the whole time, but he was confident in his abilities as a Duelist… or, rather, he was confident that fate would carry his deck to victory if it was needed.
The gun was still there, untouched. Jacob closed the drawer and ran down the stairs, grabbing two pieces of toast as they flew out of the toaster, earning him an annoyed glance from Klaus.
"I have to head over to Toru's first- he said he needed me to pick something up while we were in town." Before his grandfather could object, Jacob had slipped out the door and was running over to his friend's house. Jacob didn't bother knocking on the door, simply walking in. Toru was inside, whacking at a dummy with his bokken. "Not working on your Runner? This has to be a first."
Toru noticed Jacob. "I practice kendo when I can't work on it and my pompadour is already gelled. That's the reason I asked you to grab something for me; I need one more part before it's done. Here." Toru scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to Jacob. "Just get this CPU part, and then my Into the Sunset will be complete!"
"Into the Sunset? That's what you're calling it now? What happened to 'The Garage Baby'?"
"It sounds cooler this way, that's all. More mysterious. And I accidentally spilled a bunch of yellow and orange paint on it, so I repainted it and the name just looked… right afterwards. You'd probably call it fate."
Jacob took the paper from his friend's hand. "Everything's fate, Toru. There's not much else it could be."
"Jacob! Get out here now, or we'll never get back in time!"
"Klaus is calling- I'll make sure and get this, okay?"
Jacob and Klaus walked the streets of the Satellite slum, constantly on guard.
"Grah. I remember when you could walk the streets without a bodyguard," Klaus griped. "Before the last Shift. Now, Duels are dangerous and not everybody is even able to participate, so Duelists go up in the status quo without much work, while the rest of us rot in the mines, and-"
"Grandpa? Please shut up before you start on your 'Duelists are scum' tirade again; I'm sick of it." Klaus glared at Jacob, but relented.
"At least my grandson is a Duelist. You won't have to work in the mines; you can work for Ramon or Malcolm and make it big if you keep working on that deck of yours."
Jacob ignored him. He had already argued with Klaus about him wanting to leave Crash Town before, and he wasn't going to start it again, here in Satellite. "I need to go stop by a Runner shop to pick something up for Toru, is that okay? Just yell really loudly if you get jumped." Jacob dashed off to find a shop that carried his parts and quietly hoped fate would actually have Klaus get jumped. It would certainly make Jacob's life easier.
Toru finished practicing beating the dummy and went back to look over his Runner. He glanced at the spare parts he had lying around- plenty of parts that would work, but didn't have the level of function he needed to make it out of Crash Town. Hell, he only needed the CPU because without it, he would crash the instant he got into a Turbo Duel.
He absentmindedly reached for his deck, assuring himself it was still there. He was a Duelist, and not bad, either. He sparred plenty with Jacob, and they were usually close games, though Jacob won more often. Still, Toru was confident in his Turbo Deck, even though he had never been able to field test it. It had the same basic utilities his normal Deck did- Scrap monsters with extra mill and going over the 40 card minimum, and plenty of search or draw power- but he wasn't sure how well he had balanced the Speed Spells. He didn't know if he would always have enough Speed Counters for them, or even if they were the right cards to replace his Spells that didn't have Speed Spell counterparts.
The door creaked, and Toru spun around, ready to strike an intruder, but it was just West. Toru relaxed.
"Are you really going to leave, Toru?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah. I'm going to get out of here. I'd bring you if I could, but my Runner only holds one, and you, at least, have family here. I'm seventeen, West, and Old Man Klaus isn't going to keep me around after my birthday unless I do something like become his personal Duelist or go work for Malcolm or Ramon. Me and Jacob both agreed that we'd leave here before Klaus could rope us into something like that- we've been able to keep those two away from our little are of Crash Town, but if either of them send anyone more than grunts at us, we don't know if we can hold them off in a Duel."
"Jacob's leaving, too?"
Toru realized that Jacob probably hadn't talked about their plans when he was watching West and Nico for some extra cash. "Yeah. Once he can get his hands on a body, he's going to patch something together and leave. I'm going first to find a place we can split the rent on. We're going to get work in the city, maybe get our names out and see if there's a chance we could get into the Tournament next year."
West's eyes widened when Toru mentioned the Tournament. "You guys think you could compete in the Tournament? But… what if you guys get hurt? You guys aren't that good, compared to some of the serious Duelists!"
Toru smiled a bit at the young boy's concern for him and Jacob. "Well, the way we figured it, the more people that are in the Tournament and want to change the Rules for the better, the better chances there are of it happening, even if we get hurt or killed in the process. Or, at least, that's what I think. Jacob just spouted something like 'Fate will decide who wins' and probably just agreed with me to get away from here. Klaus's gotten a lot worse on him lately."
West looked at the floor. "Well, I'm going to miss you guys. Do you think I could write you guys letters to keep in touch?"
"Sure! I'll be sure to give you our address once we find a place to live. Just promise us you won't give it to Klaus."
Jacob stared at the piece of junk he had been handed. "You really think I'm going to believe this is a working Duel CPU?"
"Well, yeah, because it is." The shop owner shifted, moving the wad of cash in his right hand behind him and getting his left arm closer to his Duel Disk on a nearby counter.
"Okay, look," Jacob said angrily. "I'm not a computer guy, but there's macaroni glued onto this. Give me my money back, or I'll Duel you."
The shop owner laughed. "Like you could win. I don't even see a Disk on you-you're bluffing." Still, he stepped closer to his own Disk.
Jacob threw the fake CPU to the side. "Fine, then. First to put their Disk on goes first, winner takes cash. Rules, initialize." A blue light shone from his holstered Disk and the standard Disk on the counter, and a robotic voice answered.
"Rules initialized. Draw Disks in three, two, one, go!"
The confused shop owner grabbed at his Disk, trying to slip in on. Jacob grabbed his own Disk, lightning-fast, and attached it to his arm long before the owner had his own Disk on.
"Turn order decided," the robotic voice said. "First, Jacob H. Cox. Second, Kuroe Krieg. 8000 Life Points allotted to each Duelist. Draw five cards from your deck, please. Duel start."