The Aggressive Shark
By KellyQ
Ryoga stood in a dingy room filled with tense emotions and the air in the room was intense. Tron, a boy with off-white hair braided down the left shoulder stood casually next to Ryoga. Tron had a mask that covered the right side of his face, and he wore a white shirt with laces. The blue coat hung loosely around him, with matching pants, and waterproof boots. Tron started to calmly tell Ryoga that his son and Ryoga's sister were in some sort of plot and it was DR. Faker's doing.
Ryoga stood there with horror and disbelief in his eyes.
"I know that you want to get revenge, but there's only one person who is standing in your way," Tron said composedly. An image of Yuma loomed over Ryoga. He was laughing scornfully. Ryoga stepped back as he looked up to see that there was ridicule in Yuma's eyes. "I know that this is a shock, but Yuma doesn't care about you or how you feel about what happened to your sister."
"What are you saying …?" Ryoga whispered feeling his heart contract at the thought at the one he trusted and cared about be that cruel.
"If you're going to get your revenge, you're going to need to get rid of your only obstacle that's in your way … Yuma," Tron explained. He watched Ryoga's expression change from shock to intense hate. A sly smile made its way to Tron's masked face. He was having fun manipulating Ryoga to do his dirty work.
Ryoga flinched with shock as he slowly pulled himself together back the duel he was having with Yuma. Moments ago, he was called to the duel arena to duel. Ryoga didn't know what was going on until a voice whispered to him in the back of his mind.
His eyes snapped open with realization clearly on his face. He had no idea that Yuma was trying to stop him from getting revenge on DR. Faker for everything that had happened, and Yuma thought he was no more than an insect that can be easily squashed.
Yuma watched with hesitation as Ryoga slowly got to his feet and steadied himself. Yuma's face lit up when he saw that Ryoga was ready for another round and he seemed okay.
"Shark! That's good you're okay! The last thing I want is to hurt you!"
Ryoga twitched. He didn't know what was worse—the way Yuma pretended to care, or that he was secretly mocking him. Dark energy started to radiate off Ryoga's body. Nothing but hate, and betrayal was in his eyes as his body tensed up. "I want you to die!" The sudden outburst shocked Yuma and Astral. Ryoga lifted his fist to the front of his face. "And this is going to help me …" he paused when unseen energy formed around his fist and a glowing mark on his fist appeared in a shape of an oval with a spiral in the middle that had spikes. "Make sure that you know how much I hate you, Yuma."
Astral's eyes widened with realization and he floated over to Yuma. "Yuma, Shark's being controlled by Tron!"
"He's what?" Yuma looked closer to see what Astral was talking about, and sure enough, he saw the mark on Ryoga's fist. That explains a whole lot of what happened earlier, Yuma thought. It pained him when he saw Ryoga rolling around on the floor screaming in irony. Yuma wanted to run up and check to see if Ryoga was actually hurt. However, when Ryoga got up, Yuma assumed that he was all right. It pained Yuma even more that someone who just wanted revenge is using the person he loved. "Shark …" Yuma murmured.
The duel went on from there. Ryoga could feel delight, bringing pain to Yuma as his holographic shark took big chunks out of Yuma's monsters, and his life points went down from 4000 to 3600. Ryoga drew another card and had his monster attack again and Yuma's life points went down to 3200 as unseen energy knocked him to the ground.
Yuma sat up slowly, cursing under his breath. He didn't know why Tron wanted to force Ryoga to duel him. Yuma didn't want to duel Ryoga in an aggressive manor. He had to deal with that before, and it pained him to see Ryoga like this. "Tron … when this is over I'm going to …!"
"Yuma," Astral called out, floating over to his side, "you need to stay focused! Tron is controlling Shark," he reminded him, glancing at Shark. He could see dark oar around him and it was stifling. "If you want to save him, you are going to have to stay focused."
Yuma slowly got up and kept his body steady. By this point, the crowd was cheering him on. Yuma's friend watched anxiously when he placed a holographic face down card two-feet in front of him, wondering what he was planning to do next.
"I'm going to save you, Shark!" Yuma announced. He meant that sincerely and he hoped that his words reached Ryoga.
"Isn't that cute," Ryoga cooed deridingly, a cruel smirk on his lips, "you still think that there's something between us. Don't make me laugh. I know that you don't care about me and there's no reason for us to be together."
"That's not true, and you know it! There are reasons for us to be together, and I do love you!" Yuma declared, "and this duel will prove it!"
"Don't insult my intelligence, Yuma!" Ryoga barked. "When did you actually love me?" he pointed an accusing finger at him, "as far as I know, you don't! Now let's get on with this duel, so I can go after the real target—Dr. Faker!"
Yuma frowned with confusion. "What …?"
"Tron must've somehow brainwashed Shark into thinking that Dr. Faker is the real culprit behind what happened to his sister," Astral explained.
Yuma sighed, trying to keep his emotions at bay. I'm going to have to reach him somehow … Yuma thought eyeing Ryoga. But how? I thought our last duel meant something to him.
Ryoga summoned Shark Drake Vice, and the duel was hazardous from there. Ryoga tried to get his holographic beast to attack Yuma's monster, but he just made sure his monster protected his life points that was down to 900. "Why are you trying so hard? It's not like you –"
"It's because the Shark I know and dueled with is my friend," Yuma pointed out, "and I'm going to help you just like you helped me that one time you dueled against Kaito!"
Ryoga's eyes darkened. "I do regret that I did that." Yuma flinched with shock. The more Ryoga thought about Yuma, the angrier he became. "I also regret that I let you in my heart!"
Yuma watched with horror as Ryoga summoned Shark Drake Vice. I only have one chance left, he thought. Yuma knew that he was risking everything bringing his ace monster out, and using one of his facedown to bring Shark Drake Vice on his side of the field. It was the only option he had left. "I'm going to free you, Shark, and taking that number card of yours is the only way to do it, I will!" He overlaid two of his monsters and summoned out his best monster—Hope. Yuma then activated his card and Shark Drake Vice formed into a ball of light. The ball went straight to Yuma's chest and he yelped in pain. Shark Drake Vice appeared above Yuma as he tried to control the pain he felt. "Shark! You're free now! Shark!"
All the negative energy started to suck out of Ryoga's body. Memories of his past flashed through his mind. Most of them were with Yuma up to the point where last met, and he was kissed. By this point, all of Ryoga's anger was gone and he started to become aware of what he was doing. Ryoga blinked a few times when he saw the condition Yuma was in and he couldn't believe that he was the one who caused so much pain to Yuma, and it was his fault.
"Yuma …!"
Yuma's face lit up with joy, "Shark, you're-" He paused in mid sentence when a sudden sniffling feeling came over him. Negative emotions started to affect Yuma and it radiated off his body. Shark Drake Vice took the opportunity to absorb it.
Ryoga watched with horror as Yuma tried to keep his anger at bay. "Yuma!"
A childish laughter rang out. Ryoga tensed up with anger as he turned to see a holographic image of Tron hovering over him. He stared calmly down at Ryoga. "This is entertaining, don't you think? Yuma is still trying to stop you from getting revenge …"
Ryoga quickly glanced at Yuma to see that he was still struggling to keep on his feet. "I've got to save him!"
"You can still win this," Tron pointed out. Ryoga flinched with shock, "the trap card I gave you will help you with that …" he turned his attention to Yuma who was glaring at him with loath. "And I must say that I wasn't expecting you to sacrifice everything just for Shark … even though I should've known that you would do anything for him because you love him." Tron laughed with amusement and turned his attention back to Ryoga, who was still dumbstruck by the whole thing. The look on his face clearly showed that he was still having a hard time processing what just happened, and seeing Yuma in the state he was in wasn't helping. "A pity … isn't it? All that power in the hands of someone who knows that you don't need it because you're stronger without it … and it pained him to see the one person he loved –"
"That's enough!" Yuma bellowed. Ryoga and Tron looked his way to see that Shark Drake was still trying to gain control over him. "You don't need to listen to that bastard! Trust yourself and make the right move, and let's end this, Shark!"
A sudden burst of confidence came over Ryoga, "Yuma …" he whispered knowing what he had to do. He activated his facedown card and Shark Drake Vice was iced over. The holograph beast shattered and the negative emotions Yuma was feeling vanished. A funnel of wind came out of the ground and knocked Ryoga down bringing his life points down to 0.
"Shark, no!" Yuma ran up and dropped next Ryoga, checking him over. "Are you alright? Talk to me!"
Ryoga slowly opened his eyes and smile. "Thank you so much, and I'm sorry for causing you so much pain. You didn't have to save me …"
They both heard the medical helicopter approaching.
Yuma smiled and pulled Ryoga in a hug. "I'm glad that you're back, Shark."
"Me too," Ryoga murmured. By this point, the helicopter had landed. The paramedics came out with a stretcher and they were ready to take him to the hospital. "Wait, are sure that you're going to be okay going against Tron by yourself?" Ryoga asked, concerned, as Yuma helped the paramedics lay him on the stretcher.
Yuma leaned in and gave Ryoga a reassuring kiss. "I'll be alright. You focus on getting better, so that we can be together afterwards, okay?"
A smile made its way to Ryoga's lips. "Sounds good to me."
The paramedics lifted the stretcher and carried Ryoga to the back of the helicopter. Yuma watched for a moment. "I hope that we'll be able to pull this off, Astral."
"I'm sure that Shark can wait until then," Astral pointed out.
"The sooner we finish this, the sooner I'll be with Shark! And I'm going to go all the way!" Yuma shouted pumping his fist into the air, not even realizing how the way it sounded caused people to stare at him.
The End