Chapter Three
Partners
Kalin asked me to meet him at the hideout before the crack of dawn. I rubbed at my eyes during the trek there. He was waiting for me by the cliff. Dark waves crashed beneath the cloudy sky.
Despite the bleak morning, Kalin was full of energy. He hopped from foot to foot, and his eyes sparkled like gold with his glee. "Okay Rain, today we're doing something different! You and I are going as partners on a special mission!"
"Um, okay," I muttered. "Where's everybody else?"
"Aw, c'mon! Can't you be a little more excited? It's just the two of us today!"
I held up my hands. "Woo."
He tried to pout but couldn't keep his smile away. I grinned back. "Sometimes the gangs we defeat try to reform. If that happens, we need to go back and make sure all of their resources are destroyed. So! That's what you and I are doing today."
"Really? Is it safe with just the two of us?"
"Please." He crossed his arms. "You underestimate me. Er, us."
I rolled my eyes. "I think you're overestimating us."
"Come on." He took my hand. "As long as we work together, nothing can stand in our way."
He said it with such confidence my face flushed. Why he believed in me so much was a mystery.
"Anyways, we're going to Team Golem's old hideout," he explained. He led me along, my hand in his, like it was the most natural thing in the world. "The guys and I beat them about a week ago. I heard a couple of them have gotten a hold of duel disks, so…"
"We're trying to destroy those disks?"
"Well, it would also be nice to find out their supplier."
"Okay." The early morning was silent and still. I whispered, "Do you always wear those gloves?"
He stopped and looked at our hands. His gloves were fingerless and black with a large white stripe in the middle. "Uh, yeah, I think. Why do you ask?"
"I'm just curious."
"That's…" His forehead creased. He shook his head and continued leading me. "Weird."
"Weird how?"
"I'm… not used to being asked about myself."
I cocked my head. "Yusei, Jack, and Crow don't?"
"We don't talk about stuff like that."
"Oh." I stared at my feet. "What do friends talk about, then?"
"What, you don't know? Haven't you ever had friends before?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Hey, c'mon. I was just joking." He glanced at me, but I was still looking at my feet. Kalin stopped and rested his hands on my shoulders. "Rain, were you serious? I didn't mean to- I mean, I-"
He quit when he saw my smile. I said, "It's okay. I mean, I can't know for sure, right? I don't really know anything about myself. It's just a feeling I have…"
"Well!" He gave a thumbs-up and a huge grin. "Prepare to never have that feeling again! Now that you have me, you'll never have to be alone. Aren't you lucky?"
I rolled my eyes and laughed. "What about the team?"
"Oh, yeah. Them, too."
"So quick to forget them," I pointed out with a smirk.
"Look, the point is, you're one of us now. We all care about you. And, whatever your memories say about you…" He scratched under his purple headband. "I can't speak for the other guys, but I happen to like you. So I'll be by your side no matter what."
"Are you saying they don't like me?"
"No, I meant-" He quickly looked away. "Uh, we're at Team Golem's hideout."
"What were you about to say?"
"Shhh. We're close to the hideout, Rain. Don't let them hear you."
"But we've been standing here talking-"
He stepped closer and pressed his finger against my lips. He winked, took my hand, and guided me towards the building. I tried to clear my thoughts through the fog caused by my harsh blush.
Sunlight filtered through the bleak buildings of the Satellite. The hideout we were sneaking into was a stout building that once had columns. A worn sign out front read "C MB R OF C MME CE." Kalin boosted me through a window, and I pulled him after me into the second floor. The once-polished floors were covered in grime that masked the sound of Kalin's shoes. I tried not to think about what I was stepping in while I followed him.
He opened the door silently. It led to a balcony overlooking the large, open first floor. The railing was broken. Kalin knelt and crawled forward, beckoning me to follow. Once we were both looking over the edge, he whispered, "There they are."
Two men with purple hair stood over a young child. They wore red jackets with the Giant Soldier of Stone card art on the back. One was lean and tall, taller than even Kalin. He stood over the kid, who was crying. "Only two disks. Yeah, right. Show us where the rest are or else."
"I'm telling the truth, I swear!" the kid squealed, tears pouring down his face. "Th-they're for me and my sister! Please give them back!"
I gasped. "If we destroy the disks, then..!"
"Rain." Kalin's eyes sparked. "We can give him disks after we take out those punks."
His reassurance wiped away my doubt. I nodded at him. Below us, the short one said, "Kick him again. I'm sure that will jog his memory."
"Nice to meet you gentlemen again!" Kalin rose to his full height. He stretched out a pair of cuffs and leapt off the balcony. While he fell, he tossed the cuffs, ensnaring the tall one's duel disk. I followed his movements and caught the other Team Golem member. "I see you're as noble as the last time we met."
"Shit! It's Kessler! Wait, where're the other three? All he brought was some chick!"
I glared at Kalin. "Can't I duel them myself?"
"Now, now. What self-respecting partner would let you do that alone? We're tagging this!" He activated his disk with a grin. "Here's your chance, Rain. Show your leader what you're made of!"
Was he doing this to test me… again? That would explain why he only invited me, but it didn't strike me as something Kalin would do. Then again, I didn't know him very well – or anyone, for that matter.
"We'll lose everything again if we lose this duel," said the short one.
The tall one activated his disk and drew with purpose. "That won't happen."
"DUEL START!"
"I'll be going first!"
Kalin slid a step closer to me. "Are you going to let him do that?"
"Yes," I said, my grin spreading. "Yes I am."
"I summon a monster in face-down defense position and set one face-down. Your move."
Kalin looked to me, and I nodded. He said, "My draw! I activate the field spell, Pandemonium! Next I'll summon Archfiend Soldier and attack your monster."
"Medusa Worm may be destroyed, but its flip effect still activates, allowing me to destroy Archfiend Soldier!"
"Thanks to Pandemonium, I add a monster to my deck with lower stars than Soldier. I'll set a couple of face-downs and end my turn." He had dropped Hate Buster and Archfiend's Roar, two trap cards that wouldn't help my deck.
"My draw now," said the one across from me. He grinned at his cards. "I set a face-down defense monster and end my turn."
I noted their use of face-down monsters. Kalin was side-eyeing me. He'd faced them before. He knew their strategy, but he wasn't giving advice. So this was a test after all.
The thought sent my heart racing. I mean, I was normally nervous during a duel, but this was a whole new level of anxiety. I remembered him showing me off after I'd saved him from the Securities and the rare sense of pride it'd given me. I actually… I really wanted to impress Kalin.
"I'll show you everything I have! Draw! I activate Future Fusion. By discarding certain cards from my deck, an incredibly powerful fusion monster will take the field in two turns." Skyscrapers shot up behind me, and at their apex was a shining blue light. The colors twisted together to form a "zero" on the counter.
"Next, I activate Monster Reincarnation. I replace a card in my hand with one in the grave. Then I'll summon Kaibaman and use his ability: by sacrificing him, I can special summon my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
That combo took all but two cards to pull off. I left myself with a gamble on his monster. What if it was like the last one? I bet so much that I couldn't take that chance. "I activate Burst Stream of Destruction! This destroys every monster on your field, but my Blue-Eyes can't attack."
"Thanks for that! When Sand Moth is destroyed by a card effect, he returns to the field with his attack and defense reversed. That means his attack is 2000 and defense is 1000!"
Dammit. I'd made the wrong choice. Beside me, Kalin was suppressing a smile. Was he laughing at me? "I set one card face-down and end my turn."
"Back to me! Your monster may look tough, but I can see all its weaknesses from here. I sacrifice Sand Moth to play a monster in face-down defense position and end my turn."
That's bait if I've ever seen it. I should have saved my card…
"You're still as unimpressive as before," Kalin said. "You're not even worth my time. I activate Double Summon, bring Shadowknight Archfiend to the field, and sacrifice him for Skull Archfiend of Lightning!"
Thunder shook the building as the winged skeleton flashed onto the scene. It had 2500 attack. "Attack the face-down, Skull Archfiend."
"I activate Waboku! My Guardian Sphinx can't be destroyed this turn, and its flip effect activates. All of your monsters are returned to your hand."
"Not so fast. My Archfiend has protection against effects… as long as I have a bit of luck. One, three, or six means he stays!" A die rolled along the field and stopped on three. "Yes! I end my turn."
Whoopee for him. Didn't make a difference for my Blue-Eyes. They could stall us until his luck ran out.
"My draw now. Ah-ha! Here it is. This is the card we never got to summon last time! This card will be your end! Tributing our Sphinx lets me bring forth our best monster, Exxod, Master of the Guard!" An armored Egyptian knight towered over us. Its defense was a whopping 4000. "Every time we use one of our flip effects, you'll take 1000 damage! How about we test it out? I activate The Shallow Grave! We both bring back a monster from our grave in face-down defense position. I choose Guardian Sphinx and flip it face-up."
My Blue-Eyes returned and disappeared with nary a roar to be heard. Kalin's monster rolled its dice again, but this time it landed on four. We were out of monsters, and our life fell to 3000. "Haha! Think we're a waste of time now, Kessler? You'll be losing your disks this time, and all because you didn't take this seriously."
Kalin crossed his arms, which strained the cuffs on his duel disk. The tall one lurched forward in response. "Oh, you'll find that I'm taking this very seriously. You'll find out this turn when Rain beats you."
Eh?
"You Satisfaction pricks are so full of it," muttered the tall one. "There's no way she can beat us this turn while our strongest monster is on the field."
I glanced to Kalin. He wasn't paying attention to the field. He was smiling at me. It wasn't a jokey grin this time. It was a genuine, confident smile. My stomach tied in knots. I decided, yeah.
Yeah, I would win for him.
"You've forgotten something very important," I said. "My Future Fusion card activates this turn, bringing my strongest monster to the field! Fly to me, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
Blue light from the skyscrapers behind me sizzled and exploded from the form of a three-headed dragon. Its triple roar shattered the windows, and the buildings were leveled in wake of its flight. It landed behind me and its three heads hovered over me. "Last time I checked, 4500 beats 4000."
"S-so what! That doesn't mean the duel is over!"
"Wrong again," I called. "Thanks to your Guardian Sphinx, two of my Blue-Eyes have returned to my hand. With my trap Birthright, the third returns to the field. Now with my Polymerization, I can fuse them to create another Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
Yet another Ultimate Dragon crashed down from the heavens to my field. The short one gaped. "T-two… at the same time…"
"There's one final piece to this puzzle. I activate Kalin's trap, Archfiend's Roar to bring Skull Archfiend back to us for one turn. Now, both Blue-Eyes, Neutron Blast!" The giant knight and its sphinx shattered, leaving their life at 2200. They both screamed when my dragons' blasts overcame them. "Finish this with a direct attack, Archfiend!"
Lightning crashed down. Their disks sparked and exploded, and the monsters faded. Kalin snatched his cuff out of the air with ease. I struggled to gather the wires of mine. The other two looked shaken; the tall one said, "The hell was that? You felt it, too, didn't you? Those monster attacks actually hurt..!"
"Y-your clothes are steaming, bro! That wasn't some hallucination!" They looked upon us in horror.
Kalin stepped forward, his arms still crossed. "If you go stealing duel disks again, you can bet the pain will be worse. Oh, and don't forget you're still a waste of my time. Your decks are pathetic even when you can summon that trash card. So, if I ever see your ugly mugs again…"
They ran, bumping past Kalin and me. I wanted to celebrate, but his words gave me pause. Did he only bring me along because of my power? Was he… using me to scare them?
"Woah, Rain. You blew that duel out of the water! To be honest, I was bluffing with the whole win-in-this-turn thing, but you totally pulled it off! Damn. Believing in you always pays off."
"R-really?"
He laughed a little. "Yep. Yeah, really."
I tried to work up the courage to ask but it wouldn't build. Kalin knelt next to the kid Team Golem was threatening. "Hey, are you alright?"
"You guys…" The child leapt into the air. "You guys are totally awesome! Thanks for saving me!"
"No problem! Team Satisfaction's the name, and saving's the game. Sorry about your duel disks, by the way. We can bring you a couple of extras if you stay right here."
The child's eyes sparkled. "For real?"
"Yeah! We'll be right back, kiddo." While passing me, Kalin took my hand like it was second nature. "Wonderful day for walking, isn't it?"
"Kalin…" I watched his stride. "Why did you really bring me today?"
He paused and avoided my eyes. "Well, um… this is kind of hard to admit."
My heart sank. It was the truth. He just wanted my powers along so he could-
"I… wanted to… have some alone time… with you."
I blinked. Though he was turned away, I could see his blush. He went on, "It was kind of selfish of me, because going with just the two of us could have been dangerous. But, I… I wanted to go as partners with you, Rain. I'm sorry I lied to you."
He noticed I was crying, and he reached his hand towards me. I brushed past it and hugged him. His back went rigid. "You… idiot! I thought- I thought you were using me to scare those guys!"
"Oh. No way! That's not the kind of thing a partner would do. Besides, you're not very scary." I kept sobbing into his shirt, and he lowered his voice to a soft whisper. "I'm sorry for scaring you. I would never do something like that to you, Rain. I swear it."
"Okay." I backed off and took a few deep breaths. "I'm glad we got this time together."
He wiped at his mouth despite nothing being there. "W-well, I'll try not to do it again."
"Why? I think we make great partners!"
His hand dropped. "You… do?"
"Of course!"
He stared at me with a world of words on his mind. In the end, he took my hand and said, "Let's go get those disks!"
We wound through alleys chased by morning light. Puddles splashed when he led us through them, and we laughed. At the hideout, he cracked open a wooden box on the lowest floor. Inside were duel disks… a lot of them. We each carried one back. The kid was still in the main hall of the chamber building. He all but cried with happiness at the shiny gifts we had brought.
While the kid left, Kalin threw his hands up in the air. "Yet another success in the books for Team Satisfaction! All in a morning's work, right, Rain?"
Before I could speak, a crash threw me off my feet. Rough voices shouted, "They're in here!"
Securities flooded the large hall. A force leader stepped forward. "Well, well, well! We've finally found the famous Team Satisfaction!.. A couple of you, anyway. If you know what's good for you, you won't resist."
Kalin and I stood back to back. I could barely see his face out of the corner of my eye. It was the first time I had ever seen him afraid. "No… How could they have found us? If we go now, the team… and my deck… if I lose all of that, then what..?"
I took his hand in mine.
"It's alright, Rain," he whispered. "We have to go with them, or else-"
I palmed a card, and in blinding light, Blue-Eyes White Dragon roared above us. "We don't have to do anything. White Lightning!"
A beam shot to the sky, shattering the dome above. As debris fell on the Securities around us, I hooked my arm around Blue-Eyes' wing. I shouted, "Hold on tight!"
My dragon tore through the dome above and soared through the overcast sky. Dawn light peeked over the horizon, sparkling against my dragon's white scales. I couldn't keep down a smile as the wind tore at my hair. Blue-Eyes dropped us off at a distant alley, and I thanked him before he disintegrated.
Kalin's eyes were wide. I said, "Um, did I mess up, or…"
He placed his hands on my shoulder and breathed, "You're so amazing."
I blushed and looked away, but he grasped my chin and forced me to meet his shining hazel eyes. "No, you're not going to ignore this! Rain, that was awesome! We crashed through and, oh my God, we flew! I mean, for a minute there, it actually felt like- like we were free."
"What do you mean? We're free every day!"
He pulled away, and his features darkened. "No, we're not. As long as the gangs are around and as long as Sector Security treats us like trash, we can never be free. That's fate for us Satellites. Live and die like dirt."
"But we're going to fix that."
A small smile found him at my words. "I've never felt free a day in my life, but you… you make me feel incredible. When you're around, I really feel that way – like we can do anything."
I clasped my hands behind my back. "That's what partners are for, right?"
"Yeah…" He had that look in his eyes again, like he wanted to say something. "Um. You should rest up. Tomorrow is our next fight."
"I have no idea where we are."
"Oh, yeah! Don't worry. I'll take you." On the way back to Martha's, he said, "We don't have to let the other guys know about exactly what went on today. Especially that whole thing with the Securities…"
"Why?"
Martha's cottage was visible in the distance where he stopped. He winked at me, saying, "Today is our little secret, alright?"
I gave a thumbs-up and winked back. "Cool!"
He laughed and clapped me on the back. "You're the best. I'll see you tomorrow, partner."
"Okay. Partner."
Kalin lingered, opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and left in a hurry. I tilted my head, thinking about how he must be awfully confused about something. I guessed that made us similar.
End of Chapter Three
(((A/N: Mmmkay this chapter is one of my personal favorites. No bias whatsoever... OK, I love tag duels! It is shorter than the rest, though. I hope that's OK! See you next week!)))
