Hey guys, RobotFish here!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugoh 5ds. I only own my characters and plot.
Chapter 1: The Darker Half
He saw six lions standing before a throne, each magnificent and strong, leaders of their brothers and sisters. He saw each kneel as a blinding light shone from the throne, praising the lions for their bravery and valor, and the lions bowed their heads in respect.
He saw six manacles around the lion's paws, each wearing its golden band as it had been bestowed to them, wielding with it the power of the throne's judgment, the power of the shining light entrusted to those worthy and of mortal being. And he saw the lions raise their manacles up to the light, and the bonds shone just as brightly.
And he saw five of the bonds fall from the wrists of five of the lions, their purpose fulfilled, and the five rose to their feet, free of their chains of duty. He saw the five shine as their bonds had before they faded into the light, out of the realm of eternity and back into the world of the living, gone to live the lives they left behind.
And he saw the one lion who was the smallest of the six, its manacle still secured around its paw, for its duty was not yet done. He saw the light shine forth to reveal the outline of five cubs, and it was the one's purpose to raise them and guide them. And then he saw the first cub step forth into the light...
He jolted awake from his dream in a cold sweat.
This was the second time this week that his nightmares had plagued him, images so vivid that he swore they were real. Until he told Kaiser and the man called him a fool.
He rose from his bed in the old house and threw on his clothes, jeans and a worn out shirt, and hastily ran a hand through his thick, dark hair. He gazed at himself with hazel eyes colored with so deep a brown that one might mistake them as black. After fumbling for his shoes, he walked down the hall and into the kitchen. Light was already pouring into the room from the small window above the sink. He had slept late again...
There was already food on the table, a bowl of stale cereal and a cold piece of toast. Kaiser had been up for a while now, and the boy wasn't in the mood to listen to another lecture on how important punctuality is for an 18 year old to have. He grabbed the burnt bread and ate it on the way to the garage, hoping that he could finally make some progress today. He opened the door and saw an older man sitting at a work table, shuffling through a deck of duel monster cards that he recognized as his own. He glared as he walked over.
"Damn Ryuu, I thought I taught you better than some of these card choices," the man said. Kaiser never was one to sugar-coat anything.
They boy snatched the cards away, replacing them in the holster on his belt. "Hasn't let me down so far," he bit back.
Ryuu sat down in the chair opposite of Kaiser, and he proceeded to fumble with a few pieces of scrap metal, trying to replicate his actions from last night in a more effective manner. He knew it was fruitless and that he needed better parts, but he was not the kind of person to admit defeat.
Kaiser laughed and leaned back in his chair. The man was a thin form, sickly even, and his hair was an unnatural shade of gray for a man of 60. He wore a hood to conceal his balding head as his royal blue eyes stared across the table. Ryuu glanced up to see the man's white shirt stained with red in the chest area. His condition had been worsening lately.
"Rough night?" Ryuu inquired, idly rewiring a circuit board.
Kaiser snorted. "Not any worse than usual," he simply said. He was silent after that. He knew what Ryuu was leading into, and it annoyed the teen every time. The boy sighed and set down the mechanics he was holding.
"I had a dream again," he said.
"The same one as before?" Kaiser asked.
Ryuu thought. "Almost...there were a few differences, details I missed the first time, but it was pretty much the same..." he trailed off.
Kaiser stood up, walking over to the refrigerator. "I wouldn't worry about it," he said. "Probably just that chemical crap you work with messing with your head."
"The only reason," the boy said, "that I work with that crap is to try and keep your sorry ass around."
Kaiser gave a short laugh before his face contorted in pain, and the man's hand involuntarily gripped his chest. He reached out for support as he fell, only to be caught by Ryuu, who led him to a chair and sat him down. Ryuu brought the man a glass of water as Kaiser struggled to regain his breath.
Ryuu looked at him, feeling a stab of pity and guilt. "Sometimes I wonder who's caring for who." Kaiser was still grunting in pain, and the teen put a hand on his chest to feel for a pulse. "That deck is killing you faster than I thought," he said, his voice heavy.
The man spoke between gasps. "Yeah, well we live a while and die before we plan. Circle of life, my boy."
The teen felt an even bigger surge of regret as he saw his father figure in pain, the man grabbing his heart as it pumped painfully out of rhythm. He had been trying to come up with a solution ever since he could remember, and when he finally discovered a working design for a pacemaker (or whatever the hell he was trying to build), he discovered that the parts needed were practically nonexistent in the Projects. So much for saving Kaiser's life...
Kaiser was the son of the great Zane Trusdale, master of the cybers and famous pro duelist. Zane's deck, however, posessed dark powers that damaged his heart with use. When Zane died, he passed his deck down to Kaiser in hopes that his son would be able to contain the destructive power of the deck. However, Kaiser had fallen into the same trap and was dying from the deck's influence as well.
Ryuu grabbed his jacket off of the chair where he left it and took the cover off of his jet black Duel Runner. It had taken him over a year to build when he was 14, and he had put it to good use since. Aside from his deck, it was his most prized possession. He started it, letting the engine get warmed up before he rode out. He looked back at Kaiser, who was recovering from his spasm.
"I'm going into the shop, John needs me to for a job. I'll try to pick up the part I need to get the pacemaker running. You'll be alright without me?" he asked.
Kaiser snorted. "I'll be fine. Now go raise hell, or do whatever it is you kids do these days."
Ryuu laughed as he revved his engine and sped out of the garage and into the streets of New Domino City's Projects. He raced through the streets, swerving around what few cars did occupy the roads as he broke almost every traffic law the Projects had to offer. Broken down houses and abandoned buildings flew past, remnants of what was once a source of great hope.
The Projects were an area of development that New Domino city had planned over ten years ago, located in the eastern suburbs of the metropolis. It was originally intended to be an area of commerce and a center of dueling culture, and for a few years, the district was shaping up to be just that.
However, fifteen years ago, the architects of the new district lost their main source of funding for reasons still unknown, and many investors pulled out as the builder's stocks fell, causing a panic to occur. Many companies and residents abandoned their claims in the Projects, breaking their contracts and ending all involvement with the entire area. The builders, in order to salvage whatever money they could, hastily finished houses, discarded entire structures as fruitless endeavors, all in order to squeeze whatever money they could out of their contracts.
After five years of this, the Projects were overrun by the poor and the juvenile. With only a few brave souls living in the area, the Projects became a hotspot for those who couldn't afford a house, and those who wanted to keep a low profile. The southern end of the district was friendly enough, mostly populated by people down on their luck, just trying to survive and make ends meet. Kaiser and Ryuu lived in an abandoned garage the older man had found some time ago and fixed up, choosing to take Ryuu under his care after his previous guardians gave him away. Their lives were mean, but they managed to survive.
The northern end of the Projects, on the other hand, was a bad place to be. Many of the larger, corporate buildings had been planned to be built there, and their remnants made for easy pickings to any felon or gang who wanted an inconspicuous hideout. No one from the southern end dared travel to the north, unless it was worth risking their lives (which it seldom was). Not even sector security wanted to get involved.
Ryuu pulled up to the mechanic shop and parked his runner inside in its usual spot. He dismounted to see a young man with dirty blonde hair of around twenty walking towards him.
He gave a smile. "John, how are things?"
John shrugged. "Could be better. You mind giving me a hand with this runner? It's been giving Patrick and me hell, and you're the expert on anything Turbo."
Ryuu nodded and walked with John to the runner, where his brother Patrick was already readjusting parts. John and Patrick were fraternal twins that grew up in the projects with Ryuu, and the three had been inseparable since childhood. The twin's mother was Irish, and her accent had rubbed off on each of them. They were almost every way, except for their hair; John's was a dirty shade of blonde while Patrick's was jet black.
The three boys worked together in the shop most of the week, fixing duel runners, cars, computers, anything that would earn them cash. The picking were meager, but it was enough to live on, and enough was about as good as it got in the Projects. Ryuu had heard legends of how the Satellite was once like this, its inhabitants enslaved to work for the other half while they barely managed to survive.
And their situation wasn't very different. Any job application or resume that listed an address, guardian or reference that went back to the Projects was instantly red-flagged, and the applicant was immediately labeled as slum trash, unfit for employment, enrollment, or New Domino life in general. The prejudice was bitter, and most of the hate stemmed out of the entire city's humiliation at having their hopeful project turn into a stain of failure.
And so, when Ryuu came into Kaiser's care, he was treated no differently.
Many people dreamed of escaping their lives in the Projects and finding a job in New Domino (the two were practically separate entities by now), and some occasionally did. There were always rumors of someone faking a good enough document to land them a foothold in the city, and they were never heard from in the Projects again. Ryuu, on the other hand, had no desire to escape. Why should he be a part of a society that cast him out? He was proud of who he was, and he held a small amount of resentment towards those in New Domino simply because they had everything they needed. The only reason he would possibly want to go to New Domino would be to help Kaiser with his heart problem, but he doubted that any doctor could give much help anyways.
So, he worked in silence, not trying to better his lot in life, but only seeking to better his friends' lives. After a few hours, John and Patrick had moved onto a laptop while he made the finishing tweaks on the runner. He gave the engine a test start, and the motor roared as it came alive. He breathed a sigh of relief. It was already late afternoon, and he needed to see if he could find that capacitor...
John walked over, a sly smile on his face as he observed the runner. "Not bad. For a scrub like yourself, that is."
Ryuu chuckled. "At least I can ride 'em, Johnnyboy."
"Hmmm," John mocked. "I think I've just been issued a challenge, how about you Pat?"
Patrick didn't even avert his gaze from the laptop. "Don't do it John, Ryuu's gonna kick your ass again."
"Hey, that last time didn't count!" cried John. He turned back to Ryuu. "Whaddaya say, brother? Me against you, for about..." he fished in his pocket and slapped a bill on the table. "twenty big ones?"
"Fine by me," said Ryuu, slapping down a bill of his own. Patrick just shook his head as the two mounted their runners and pulled them into the streets. John was the more cavalier of the two brothers, always looking for a thrill while Patrick pulled him back from doing anything too stupid. Most of the time anyways.
The two duelists revved their engines as they activated Speed World, and John wore a toothy smile. "Don't get too comfortable over there, Ryuu. I'm about to blow you away!"
Ten minutes later...
"THERE IS NO FREAKING WAY YOU PULLED THAT OUT!" cried John as he and Ryuu pulled back into the garage. Ryuu smiled and swept up the money on the table top, pocketing his winnings as he collected his belongings. It was time for him to head out, he still needed to drop by the scrap yard for that part. But John was having a hard time accepting his loss.
"Ryuu!" cried John. "That was some luck! I'm telling you, your deck is sacky, nothing more!"
Patrick laughed. "So what's your excuse this time?" he crooned. Pissing off his twin brother was one of Patrick's pleasures in life.
John growled. "Okay, so it was like this. I had my Lyla and Ryko on the field, and I had Ryuu up against the ropes. Then, he played his Faultroll, and I chained my trap card, but..."
He continued on for a few minutes while Ryuu listened patiently. Although he would never admit it, dueling with the twins was Ryuu's favorite thing in the world to do. It let him forget everything that was going wrong in his life and escape for those few minutes, be free from the chains he was bound by. And he would never trade that for anything. Plus, if John wanted to throw away his money, they it was fine by him.
Patrick was elated as John finally sulked off to the back, wallowing in his defeat. Anyone else would think the twin brothers hated each other, but Ryuu knew it was all in good fun. Which brought him to his second favorite thing in the world; listening to two Irish brothers chew each other out in their accents was nothing short of hilarious.
He made to leave when Patrick motioned him over. The twin placed a spherical metal object on the table, and Ryuu picked it up to examine it. His eyes widened when he realized what it was.
"This is it!" he cried. "This is the capacitor I need to finish the pacemaker!"
Patrick smiled. "I heard you were close, so I thought I'd lend a hand. Plus, none of us would be anywhere without Kaiser."
Ryuu smiled at his friend's kindness. Kaiser was somewhat of a living legend in the Projects, as he was the only person in the entire district who had ever seen the pro dueling tour. The old man had been instrumental in keeping the youth of the south Projects on the right track. He taught them all how to duel, but also the value of living an unselfish life. He was the father of everyone in the district, and Ryuu was well known because of his association with the man. And because of some other rumors that dealt with his dueling (but that was a different story altogether). Kaiser had voluntarily retired early to live in the Projects, but most people didn't know what made him give up his previous life. Ryuu did. Kaiser's heart had taken a beating over the years, and dueling worsened his condition tenfold. If the old man were to pick up a duel disk, he would probably go into cardiac arrest.
The pacemaker was a collaborative effort by Ryuu and the twins, but Ryuu was the mastermind behind it. It was a device specifically designed for Kaiser's heart, and if it worked properly, then the man's heart problems would be over. With a little refinement of the design, he might even be able to duel again. This capacitor was the final piece in Ryuu's current design (he had been through two already, the last failure almost killing both Kaiser and himself), and with it, he would be ready to test the finished product in less than two weeks. He was slightly nervous about testing it, but he was confident that he got it right this time.
With any luck, the old man would be able to live without pain. But luck wasn't a good thing to count on in the Projects.
After giving Patrick a big thank you, Ryuu raced back to Kaiser's house. He wasn't going to wait to start this, four years was more time than he ever expected this to take. He sped through the streets and finally arrived, and he opened the garage and pulled his runner in. It was evening, and the sun was hovering over the horizon.
Ryuu turned off the engine and shut the door, hanging up his jacket and walking to the fridge. He hadn't eaten since lunch, and he was starving.
"Kaiser, you want anything to eat?" he called, pulling out a can of beans. No oven meant no hot food, but cold beans were better than no beans. He poured them into a bowl and looked back into the fridge for some ham. Maybe they still had leftovers...
And the silence became eerie. "Kaiser?" he called, louder this time. There was still no response.
He closed the fridge door and slowly walked through the house, passing back through the garage. He scanned the room for anything that might indicate that Kaiser had left. His overcoat was still here, and he never left without that...
"Kaiser?" Ryuu called again, fear starting build up inside him. He crept back into the house, making his way to the old man's bedroom. He knew something was wrong. Even if Kaiser was sleeping, he would have woken up by now. The air felt heavy as Ryuu reached his door and found it closed. His breathing quickened, and his stomach pulled itself into a sickening knot. Slowly, he turned the doorknob and peered in.
"Kaiser!" Ryuu shouted, running over to his prone form. The old man was shaking on the ground, his body moving in painful spasms as he clutched his chest, as if trying to tear out his own hear. Ryuu shifted the man's weight to a sitting position as Kaiser's breath came in short, labored gasps. The teen was about to call for help when he noticed the cards strewn across the floor.
'Oh no, not again!'
Hastily, Ryuu gathered up the deck from the floor and placed it back in its mirrored box, which had been thrown halfway across the room. When that was done, he moved to help the man again, who was still hyperventilating, his face pale with pain.
"C'mon, just breathe!" cried Ryuu. Kaiser looked up at him, a look of guilt in his eyes as he struggled to speak.
"I-I'm s-sorry, but-" he was cut off as a series of violent coughs shook his frame, and blood spurted out of his mouth. Ryuu wiped the red, sticky liquid away with his sleeve. Kaiser's breathing was slowing down, and some color was returning to his face. The teen breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was alright for now...
Kaiser laid his head back again the side of the bed while Ryuu stood. The episode was over, but Ryuu was far from happy. "What the hell were you thinking?" he cried. "You know what that deck does to you!"
The old man coughed again. "I'm sorry Ryuu," he said, his voice scratchy and hoarse. "They were calling out to me, I couldn't resist..."
Ryuu just shook his head and picked up the mirrored box. For some reason, a reflective surface reduced their influence on the old man. He placed it back on the top shelf before Kaiser had a chance to get near it again. It made Ryuu angry whenever Kaiser pulled a stunt like that. He was closer than he had ever been to completing the pacemaker and the old fool almost stops his own heart before it was completed.
"Damn cybers," muttered Ryuu, hating every card in that deck with all of his being. Kaiser's father had recognized the danger of that deck, so why couldn't he? It had almost gotten the both of them killed on numerous occasions, and Ryuu didn't understand why they couldn't throw it away. He had once tried, and every card mysteriously ended up back on his front porch, where Kaiser found them and had one of his episodes. That had been a very bad day.
He helped the old man up into his bed and turned out the light. Some sleep would make him good as new. Ryuu was about to leave when Kaiser called out to him.
"Ryuu..." he muttered.
The teen kneeled beside his bed and met his eyes. "Just rest, you'll be better in the morning."
Kaiser laughed, coughing in the process. He spoke between forces breaths "...I...I never told you how much...it means to me...that you do this for me..." Another fit of coughing. "And...I've tried to raise you...as best as I could...I only hope...I haven't failed you..."
Ryuu was taken aback by these words. Kaiser was known for his sarcasm and arrogant attitude, and moments such as these were extremely rare. Kaiser had been far from the perfect guardian, but he had given Ryuu something that the teen would never have had otherwise, and the boy owed Kaiser his life in his opinion. Ryuu felt his eyes sting with tears as he saw his father figure in such a weak state, pouring out his soul. No...he wouldn't cry. Real men never cry...
Kaiser fell into a deep sleep, and Ryuu closed the door silently behind him. The old man would be alright now, and Ryuu needed to get to work on the pacemaker. He sat down at the table in the garage, taking out the capacitor and beginning the tedious process of adapting it to the proper resistance. He tried to concentrate on his work, but his focus was constantly broken by the scene that had just unfolded.
Finally, after failing to achieve the correct recalibration for the fifth time, Ryuu set the deice down and walked over to his runner. He wasn't going to be able to sleep after that anyways, so he might as well ride. His eye caught the crevice in the wall where a certain object laid, and he walked over to it. He knew he shouldn't, but it was so tempting to put it on, to become invincible, to be that person that never lost or failed. Maybe this is what Kaiser felt every time he touched the deck...
"Just take it," the voice said.
"No," Ryuu growled. "I've done enough of it lately."
"You know you want to," it replied. Ryuu saw a figure step out of the shadows, a cloaked humaniod wearing the same mask that he himself donned on those dark nights. "Come now, there's fresh meat waiting to cleaved. Wear it," he replied.
"Shup up, you're not even real." Ryuu walked over to the wall, removing a jet black mask that so many had come to fear. He ran his fingers over it, almost caressing it. "We...we need to lay low for a while. People might notice..."
"No one will dare cross us," the voice replied. "And just because I only exist inside your head doesn't make me any less real."
Ryuu shook his head, trying to resist the temptation. It seems that everyone had their demons. Without a second though, Ryuu reached into the crevice and drew out the articles of clothing inside. He started at the key piece for a moment before fixing it over his face, and when he opened his eyes, he felt that change within himself. That rush of defiance and danger that never failed to get his blood pumping.
He threw on the black jacket and rode north on his runner, not looking back.
And he could swear he heard the roar of a lion in the distance.