Yu-Gi-Oh!: Traitorous Savior
In Japan, the sun had long set and most people were asleep or well on the way. Lamar Vega had no intentions of sleep. He had parked himself on Suzuku's couch with her laptop and was busy searching the internet. After the newscast he had heard with Suzuku about 'him' apparently stealing something from the Millstone Museum back home, he had watched the news for more information. Unfortunately, it was all stuff that related to Japan. That international story made it because it was something that the whole world, at least in CNN's eyes, should at least know about. But no point dwelling on it. That relieved Vega, nothing like knowing that the whole world might've watched you on the news doing something you know you didn't do.
After the TV turned out to be a bust, he turned to the internet for more information. Suzuku had stayed up with him the whole time but now she had drifted off to sleep on the other end of her couch. Her head leaned off to the side, supported by her feathery pillows and her shoulder.
Back in town, this heist was all that everyone was talking about news wise. It was one of the lead stories seeing as how it was morning in the States. He found himself reading a story that pretty well summarized how there were six people involved and that among them, he was included.
But something that he was looking at as well was this fact that all of them had been in the Battle City finals together. There were wild theories flying around the internet that they had all befriended each other and dared to pull this off or that Terry, the 'ringleader', proposed a way for them to get rich. All they were doing were reaching for straws but it was unnerving to other duelists that were suddenly getting a lot of flack for actions that really didn't have anything to do with them. Blogs and videos aplenty were up now that had duelists speaking their minds about it.
But that was background, he was trying to focus on the big picture.
His mind was divided between two things. He was well aware of his own popularity and his status in the dueling community. 'The King of Games' as people like to say. People love a winner and he loved to win; attaching a moniker to him didn't really bother him. He overcame challenge after challenge set against him and managed to succeed. He walked on his own road to success and weaved it toward those challenges he had managed to overcome instead of around them. Such was his way.
So he was wondering if this was the work of someone or a group out to set him up? Or was it the work of someone or a group to just use his likeness because…well, he's just that visible.
In fact, the whole group of them were pretty visible now that that Battle City had ended. It made people wake up and notice duelists like Jamie Cantou and Catravious 'Knowledge' Collins. It made people more aware of how good people like Kwandao Kawamura and Janet Rush are and it made stars of people like him. And Terry Hairston.
A blinking window on his screen notified Vega of a new update on one of the news sites he was monitoring. Bringing the screen up, he saw a station had uploaded a video of their coverage on the heist. He didn't know it was the same video Sharp, Jamie and Knowledge had watched earlier. He watched it himself silently, taking it all in until toward the end, something caught his attention.
"...nickname him the "King of Games" after the lead character in the serialized comic book. Phone calls to Terry Hairston also went unanswered. Lamar Vega was unable to be reached, although some report that he may have fled the country..."
His eyes widened at this after he watched it over again to make sure of it. Somehow, it was known he wasn't in the US anymore. More than a dozen possibilities came up to him as to how…someone saw him, his passport, an assumption, tracking his money, and so on.
But it was clear he wasn't as safe as he thought before. He wasn't sure how things would be handled if he were caught. Extradition from a foreign country for theft? He didn't know if it was possible but he didn't plan on finding out.
All of a sudden, the tiredness he had been evading swooped in and fell on him.
Kwandao stood outside of a small, white shop with a large bay window in front of it. A sign nearby said 'RJ Sport Cards'. Her Millennium Ring was leading her toward this store, and she wasn't expecting it at all. She really didn't know what to expect but somewhere in her mind, she had thought she'd be heading for Terry's house or some kind of hideaway or even a police station or lockup before she'd turn away. Not this.
She tried the door gingerly. Locked. She wasn't surprised, the store was closed today and all the lights were off. The blinds were pulled over the large window and it was silent. She walked past the bay window about to look around the building but noticed a crack in the vertical blinds. One of the end ones had been snapped off and offered a small glimpse inside of the store. She cupped her hands around her face and pressed against the glass, not letting any light into her eyes so she could make out the interior.
Through the glass, she could clearly make out three guys standing around talking among themselves. And she recognized them all. Though she couldn't place the names of the two, indeed, the one she came looking for was there.
"Terry!" she gasped aloud.
Leaving the glass, she ran back toward the door and pounded on it with the flat of her palm.
Inside the store, Sharp and Knowledge both were immediately on edge.
Twwt...tweeeeet.
Knowledge looked genuinely surprised but Sharp narrowed his eyes and looked around the store. Sharp had heard that buzzing before. Every time he was close to Re'-Sha. All of a sudden, three sharp bangs were heard. Someone beating on the door.
Jamie and Knowledge close to jumped out of their shoes and Sharp crouched down to the ground and narrowed his eyes at the little hallway that led to the door. It was then that they heard a female voice call out 'Terry!' through the door. Jamie and Knowledge turned to Sharp.
"Did you tell someone you were here?" Knowledge hissed.
"No one." Sharp said in a whisper.
"So who's that?" Jamie said, frantically pointing toward the hall himself.
"Trouble…" Sharp said, himself creeping toward the hallway with Knowledge and Jamie in tow. He leaned up against the wall and peered around the corner toward the doorway.
"Kwandao?" he said, stepping away from the door. He moved into the hall and opened the door for her. She rushed in and threw herself at Sharp.
"Oh Terry, you have to help me!" she bawled into the arm of Sharp's she had wrapped herself around.
Right then, Sharp felt a stinging throb in the back of his head. It made him flinch and the action made Kwandao release his arm and look up slightly at him. Sharp didn't immediately notice, he had closed his eyes and was rubbing the back of his head with his hand.
Another Millennium Item to add to the party...Jamie sarcastically thought inwardly. He just huffed, crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, watching Knowledge, Sharp and Kwandao.
Knowledge was having a similar reaction. He watched her with cold eyes with still hurtful memories coming to bear with her as the focal point. Re'-Sha using her as a shield when he unwittingly tried to annihilate her, the non-role she played in Janet's duel against Re'-Sha, how she'd been rid of a evil while others were still being punished.
Kwandao realized everyone was staring at her. She immediately backed away from Sharp and pressed herself against the wall. The three guys formed a sort of semicircle around her as she just stared down at the ground. She knew what must be going through their heads, particularly Terry's and Knowledge's. Re'-Sha had hurt them both so much, she was sure that it still scarred the two of them. All the things that Re'-Sha made me do... I can still look in the mirror at myself and almost see that ghost hanging over me. I don't think I'll ever be able to really look at myself without seeing 'her'. It must be the same for them...
"It's the same for you too, isn't it?" she asked of them all. "All you see when you look at me…is 'her'." None of the boys spoke so she continued. "I don't blame you. I…she…did terrible things to you all."
She thought she heard someone mutter 'Damn, right' under their breath. She looked up at their faces but couldn't tell who. Her eyes started to water but she fought back the tears. She felt extremely bad for them but she couldn't turn herself into a wimp in front of them.
"Let's get away from the window." Was the suggestion Sharp made to get everyone moving. They all filed into the main lobby of the store with Kwandao lagging behind.
Seeing the reception she had received upon arriving, she was not eager to embrace their space and began to think this might not have been a good idea. She was so wrapped up that she missed Jamie's question.
"I said, is Re'-Sha really gone?" he asked again.
Kwandao looked down at the Millennium Ring hanging on her chest and nodded. "Where there was all this hate and passion, there's nothing anymore." She said, not wanting to elaborate further.
"I do have to, I guess, thank you for that." she said, turning to Sharp.
"Well, first off, I'm not-" he started, but Kwandao raised a small hand in a almost apologetic manner that made him stop.
"I know. You're not Terry." She said, turning toward him. "I know you're that thing that helped-" The moment she said 'thing' aloud, Sharp's green eyes very noticeably flashed and he drew in a sharp breath. He looked at her for another moment before letting his gaze, deliberately and very slowly, turn to Jamie.
"This 'thing' just got a name, today, Kwandao." He said, not turning his head away from Jamie but letting his eye catch hers out of the corner of his. He did not try to mask or dissuade his resentment to being called 'thing' again. "My name is Sharp."
Jamie met the gaze with a cold one of his own, but he tried to disguise an involuntary shiver that rattled his shoulders slightly.
Kwandao simply nodded, noticing his abrupt change in behavior and took on an even more apologetic tone. "Sharp, thank you for everything you did for me."
Sharp closed his eyes and dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "I just did what needed to be done. The world's a better place without her around, even if the rest of the world knows nothing about it."
"It's probably better that way." Kwandao agreed.
"I don't agree with that." Jamie said. "A whole city saw two Exodias get down, a guy become crippled in the middle of a duel and nearly a lynching." Sharp rubbed his neck, recalling the all-too real Trapped in the Machine Spell Card that nearly did kill him. And Terry. The card had scarred Sharp so much that he had destroyed the one copy of it Re'-Sha had in her deck. Watching the little green and brown bits of the Spell Card drift away relieved him.
"Was that really just about a week ago?" he rhetorically said aloud.
"Funny how things turn in seven days." Jamie said grimly.
"Are you hiding, too?" Kwandao asked of them all. Knowledge wasn't speaking and had his head turned away.
"Not hiding…" Sharp said, finally seeing the conversation sway to something he wanted to speak on. "Just watching and waiting."
"Watching and waiting? What are you…wait. You can't be serious." She looked at Sharp with a shocked expression.
Sharp looked right into her eyes as he spoke, "If someone wants to throw me to the wolves, I'll be damned if I wont take one or two down with me."
"Like it or not, as cliché as it sounds, we're going to clear our names." Jamie said to her.
Knowledge remained quiet, but no one paid it attention.
"The police are looking for us all!" she said in exasperation.
"Then why did you run here instead of to the police?" asked Sharp.
"I…" Kwandao stopped herself, "I didn't know what to do."
"I know what you did." Sharp said, taking a step forward. "You relied on your instincts to find some help. You know what my instincts are telling me, Kwandao? When I lay hands on the people responsible, it's over for them."
The way that he spoke it, everyone there got the idea of what Sharp had intended. The common consensus among them was that while Sharp himself was really an unknown to them, his morals were really the true mystery. He didn't grow up with 16 or 17 years of people telling him right from wrong. Or with the ideals of justice and integrity. It was the simple thought, 'remove that which threatens you', that seemed to be guiding him while the rest of the world stacked justice and integrity on top of that. Civilization, as it's called. No, he had grown up from infant to young adult in the course of about a week or so and it shows. Pops up out of nowhere and does the deed. He did what everyone praised yet hesitated to do and, to put it bluntly, killed Re'-Sha. When a person that has already killed talks that way, you must take notice. It's a sad fact that killing and murder is something that becomes easier to humans the more that they practice it. Especially at a 'young' age.
Sharp noticed the odd looks from everyone gathered around, but disregarded them all. If he was going to end up caught and jailed, he was going to take more than a couple of these copycats down with him. He crossed his arms across his chest.
"This is what I think we ought to do." He looked at everyone and they all were waiting on him. He walked back into the office and took up one of the dry erase markers and began writing on the board. "We need information. And we've got nothing right now."
On the board he had written, in a column, 'Who, What, When, Where, Why', each with a dash next to them. "Who are they…What are they and what did they steal…Where are they or where did they go…Why did they do it and why did they frame us…"
"What about 'When'?" asked Kwandao.
"What about it? When doesn't help us out." Jamie said.
"Fact is, were not getting much out of using the internet to look at news sites. We need to get our own info. And I think that we ought to head back outside to do it." Sharp said. He was met with nays in all forms from all three others. He explained that he expected that they wouldn't agree, but what other options did they have?
"I don't see many, but I also don't see the benefits of going out into a place where everyone is looking to turn me in." Jamie said to Sharp, becoming his foil again.
"It's a risk we'll all have to take."
"Even you?"
"What do you mean? Of course I intend to go outside. Matter of fact, I was planning on going to the museum itself."
"What the hell?" Jamie jumped up and raised his hands in the air, "You want to jump right to the place where everyone sees our pictures with their morning doughnuts."
"Give me a better idea." Sharp said evenly to Jamie.
"How about not going at all?" Jamie said.
Sharp moved toward the doorway, grabbing his backpack as he went. "And how is that helpful? You guys can do whatever you wanna do. It's not like it's going to be the first time that I carry more responsibility than I should."
With that as his parting shot, Sharp stepped into the hallway and walked out of the store. Once on the street, he turned his attention toward heading for the museum.
Not sure what I will find or even if anything is there, but talking isn't getting the job done. As he walked, he turned and looked over his shoulder at the façade of the store. And Jamie is really starting to work my nerve...
Knowledge had heard the exchange between Jamie and Sharp but to him, it was getting to be more and more frequent. Part of him wanted to break the two of them up but he didn't bother. The events of the last week and of the last two days were beginning to wear him out.
First, I messed up and wasn't able to help Janet when she might've needed it the most. Then, Re'-Sha ruined my one shot at her by throwing Kwandao in the way. Then, after the whole tournament was over, I couldn't manage to help Janet anymore. Or Terry. On top of that, Janet punked me out of using that Millennium Eye to set her back to the way she was and beat me soundly in the process. Everything that I set out to do, I can't even fully finish. Or I just can't or won't do it at all.
Knowledge slammed his fist down into RJ's glass counter that held cards beneath it, and just fumed to himself. But it brought the attention of Kwandao and Jamie.
"You alright, Knowledge?" Jamie asked, concerned about him. He just seemed to be brooding for the last few hours but wouldn't speak on it.
"No, I ain't alright." Knowledge said, fishing his deck from his pocket and slapping it into his Duel Disk. "I'm leaving, too."
Jamie flipped out, leaning into Knowledge's face as he spoke, "Don't tell me you're in the same boat as Sharp is?"
Knowledge waved off the idea with a flutter of his hand. "Sharp and my goals…right now, at least…couldn't be more different."
Jamie looked closely at Knowledge and figured what he was really stressing about. "It's about Janet isn't it?" Knowledge didn't say anything, he just moved past him and Kwandao, who had silently moved into his way, toward the doorway.
"Knowledge, whatever your plan to do about Janet…it has to wait."
Knowledge heard the words and they set off a chain reaction in his mind. He whipped around to face Jamie and practically yelled, "What the hell do you mean by that?"
Jamie cleared his throat and took a long breath. Thinking carefully about his words, he exhaled that breath and looked Knowledge right into his eyes. "Think about it, Knowledge. Janet is in the same boat as us. I'd bet everything I have that she's out hiding like the rest of us. Now isn't the time to try to challenge her. We all have to focus and get it together so-"
Knowledge growled from deep within his throat and yelled as he let loose a punch that left a very noticeable dent in one of RJ's walls. He left the hand there as he exhaled short, quick breaths through his mouth, trying unsuccessfully to calm himself down.
"It will get handled when it's time, Knowledge. But right now, it isn't the time. We have to get this thing off of our backs first. I can't imagine how you're feeling, but try to hear me out when I say that you'll get your chance later. Right now, we've got work to do."
Knowledge remembered how Jamie was opposed to Sharp's idea to go outside of the store for information and asked him just how he planned to do that.
"We'll probably have to follow Sharp's example and do like he thought to do. But NOT at that museum."
Knowledge looked at Jamie curiously as he spoke again. "It's time we tried to do some undercover work."
"Undercover work?" Knowledge asked.
"Right. Time I called in some favors…" Jamie said, rubbing his hands together.
"What is it?"
"There might be some trouble, Savior."
"Explain, Rina."
"The re-acquisition of the Dragon Bones."
"What?"
"We have been watching how the authorities tackle the case and if they apprehend the kids."
"Have they?"
"No, not yet. And we haven't been able to locate them either."
"Well, what is the trouble?"
"It is uncomforting to have those kids still running around. In particular, the one that carries the Millennium Puzzle."
"It has only been a day. When we have the Dragon Bones back, there's nothing the world will have to fear from their power."
"I feel that steps should've been taken to just kill him."
"…You're quite amusing. At first, you were against putting those kids into this situation at all. Now that you know the possible significance of the Dragon Bones and the Millennium Puzzle together…"
"I just want peace, like everyone. And to keep the peace in place, the most definite way to ensure that is to just kill him."
"Killing doesn't solve anything definitively. And it isn't our way anymore."
"…I suppose not."
"The mission was successful and we have the Dragon Bones. How long until the team I dispatched leaves?"
"They said two days."
"Then in two days, the peace you want, we all want, to protect will be ensured to last a little longer."
"Yes…Savior."
Janet walked around and around the building she had been flushed out of, looking for some sort of sign or a address or something to tell her just what the place was. She couldn't find anything. In fact, the doorway she had been flushed out of was disguised so that it blended into the natural brick on the side of the building. She was still clutching the info she had and decided to leave this place alone for awhile. She made a mental note of where it was, but then left.
She kept her head down as she walked, trying to avoid eye contact with people as she moved. But she hadn't gotten more than a few blocks away when she saw someone in the crowd she was surprised to see.
Michael Xavier.
He hadn't seen her, but he noticed her. He was standing outside of some card shop that had a small display of Yu-Gi-Oh cards in the window. She walked toward him, but on the far side of the sidewalk to stay out of his peripheral vision. It proved fruitless because just as she managed to get behind him and started walking toward his backside, she saw him look over his shoulder at her.
"Caught you in the reflection." He said, nodding toward the glass.
Janet nodded, and moved toward his side, looking at the cards as he was. To passersby, they were just two kids that were looking at more money to waste on their card game.
"Caught you on the news." Janet said, evenly. "I guess someone beat you up after a duel?"
"Namely, your Battle City champion, Terry. Or King of Duelists." He smirked to himself, "Or even Millstone's most wanted right about now." He turned toward her, saying she was hot property right now too, referring to her wanted status as well.
Janet turned to look at Xavier. "You going to tell the police you saw me?"
Xavier put his hands into his pockets and leaned back, dripping with that cockiness. "Who's to say I won't just restrain you now? Let the police come and get you in about 15 minutes?"
Janet leveled herself against Xavier. He stood just a few inches higher than her but his cockiness and swagger only had the effect of annoying her even more. "I'll make you regret it if you tried it."
Now Xavier was taken aback. This was not the reaction he had expected from Janet. All the time he had spent with Clan Prime had his instincts telling him that with the threat of turning her in, she'd fold. Now she was calling his bluff.
He regained his stance and looked down at her with a passive stare. "Sure, sure." He said, but he never took his eyes off hers. He fought to not show it, but he saw a coldness there he had never seen in the girl in all the time he'd known her. She stood before him with her hands at her sides, seemingly not trying to intimidate him but she was rattling him a bit.
"I'm not the one wanted for robbery." He chided.
"First off, I didn't do it. But…we can always add assault to it." Janet remarked.
Now was the time that that cockiness showed in his laugh. "Janet, the second you try to swing at me…"
He stood up with his full authority, punctuating every physical advantage he had over the smaller Janet in his stance. She saw the warning. She knew she wasn't afraid of him, he knew she wasn't intimidated by him. The posturing wasn't getting them anywhere.
"Anyway, you just stay out of my way, Xavier. All I'm looking to do is get the ones that tried to ruin me."
"Oh, you mean your little buddies Jamie and Knowledge and Terry?" She raised an eyebrow, while Xavier continued. "Yeah, what happened? You didn't get a fair slice of the payoff?"
Janet was becoming frustrated by Xavier. She wasn't in the mood to convince him of her innocence and frankly, she had nothing but her word. However, she already had used her word to tell him to back off. That's not something an innocent person might do, she mused, so she moved to leave.
Xavier blocked her path and pulled a cell phone from his pocket. On the display was a phone number she didn't recognize but his index finger was positioned right over the 'talk' button to initiate the call. Janet reached for the phone, but Xavier was too swift and raised above his head away from her. He kept his finger on that talk button.
"Did you think I was kidding when I said I'd have the police here in 15 minutes?"
Janet didn't flinch. Quick as lightning, she moved in extremely close to Xavier. So much so that she was literally pressed against his body. Her left hand she kept to her side, the same side that Xavier had his cell phone in. But with her other hand, she deftly delivered a sharp jab to Xavier's crotch. Then just as quickly, she clawed her small hand into it.
His reaction was immediate. Both hands fell to between his legs to grab at his manhood. That was just what she wanted. She easily snatched the cell phone from his loose grasp as his hands were trying to wrench her own from his family jewels. Her response was to grasp harder. She couldn't 'feel' anything through his jeans but knew that she had him in a bad position. Xavier stopped trying to force her hand off of him but he did not let go. She slipped his cell phone into her back pocket.
"Little son of a…!" he growled fiercely, a dull throbbing that reached from his loins to the pit of his stomach.
"Don't make a move, Xavier." she commanded fiercely. With his future children at stake, he complied without complaint. She slipped her free arm and hand around his side as if she were hugging him to passers by.
"Crafty for…a innocent girl…" Xavier wheezed, each little twitch in Janet's muscles in her hands translating to him drawing out a quick breath.
"I AM innocent." She whispered, leaning in toward his ear. He couldn't see but her face was twisted into a scowl having to be this close. "But don't think I will just let you walk over me because I'm suspected."
"OK, OK, I believe you." Xavier said.
"I don't trust you, Xavier." She said, adding more pressure.
"Oh, believe me!" Xavier yelled, despite his predicament. His eyes were squeezed closed and he looked up toward the sky, grinding his teeth together. People in passing didn't pay much attention, surprisingly.
Janet laid off a little and released him, but used her other hand to pull him toward her. "I still don't trust you. You stay out of this, Xavier because I won't ask again."
Xavier, still recovering from her cheap shot, sneered at his former teammate, "You're going to pay for that."
Janet didn't think she would, so she slipped past him as she originally intended to and began walking down the street again. Behind her though, the sneer that Xavier had on his face turned upside down into a grin.
Vega had been drifting between being awake and asleep for what must've been about an hour. He could recall doing some work, then waking up to see a few minutes have passed. Finally, his body had succumbed to the exhaustion and he was sleeping peacefully with his arms crossed on top of Suzuku's desk. He had been this way for about an hour when he roused himself again. Uncomfortable from sleeping in such an awkward position, he yawned and stretched his limbs feeling slightly refreshed.
Despite herself, Suzuku was not a soundless sleeper and the muffled sounds of light snoring from her bedroom told him that she had decided to lay herself down to rest for awhile as well. Vega was not as eager to embrace sleep again, though. All the frustrations hadn't eased and he was no further along in his little 'investigation' than when he started.
"It's looking more and more like I'd need to be there in the U.S. to learn anything significant." He mumbled to himself. He leaned back heavily into the soft leather computer chair and closed his eyes. The soft darkness of the room and the early morning hours seemed to just push his eyelids down for him.
He was just about to mumble something else to himself but he felt a strong, cold draft overtake him. He shivered and looked around the small room. There were no openings except the doorway that lead out into Suzuku's living room. He lifted himself up and went into the living room.
"Ah, the golden hair and caramel skin."
Vega snapped his head left toward the masculine voice. He knew Suzuku was not married or had any men here. The living room was a pretty big, but plain, square room with two windows that faced out onto the street. To the left, the direction Vega was looking, was the small hallway that made up Suzuku's kitchen. This led right to her doorway to the outside. From his position right outside her office door, he could see a male figure standing in front of the outside door.
"You must be Lamar Vega, then." The man said in English. An accent Vega could only classify as Asian was on the man's voice.
Vega couldn't see very well. The only light in the kitchen came from clock displays off of the microwave, stove and coffee maker. A small bit of light illuminated the hall but not enough to show the man's face. Vega turned and looked behind him. The door that was closed behind him led to Suzuku's bedroom. From what he could tell, it hadn't been tampered with and he could still hear light snoring coming from within.
"You speak English." Vega noted. The man nodded. "Then leave here." Vega didn't think this was some robber. He knew him by name and didn't seem worried that he had been discovered at all. More like he was waiting.
"You and I have some business, Lamar Vega."
"What business would I have with you?" Vega questioned in a calm manner. He was becoming uneasy by this intruder and his quiet attitude.
"Why don't we step outside so as not to intrude on the lady of the house?"
"I don't think so." Vega reasoned. I'm not gonna give him what he wants.
The man seemed to move to look past Vega to look at the door behind him, then he nodded. "Don't worry about the woman. I've got no business with her. This is between me…you…and your friends Kwandao, Janet, Catravious, Terry and Jamie.
Vega took a step toward the man, which was to actually just step into the living room and turn to face him fully. "What do you know about that?"
The man seemed to lower his head. "That I am responsible."
Vega turned that statement over in his head. Something in his mind, some off-beat kind of logic was telling him that this guy was lying to him. No one would come right out and admit to that. But the fact this guy had found him and knew where he was staying nagged at him. He only turned it over in his head for a few moments before he convinced himself that this guy knew something about this false charge.
"Who are you?" Vega icily demanded, continuing to walk toward the stranger.
"Savior."
"S-Savior?" Vega said, eliciting a dry laugh from him and he stopped just short of the man. Maybe three feet of space separated them.
"The reason isn't important for you to know."
"I know." Vega agreed. "Because all that's important is that I take you somewhere where I can use you to clear my name."
The man shook his head in disagreement. "No, Vega. I'm not going anywhere except home when I'm done here. And if you're smart, you'll return with me."
"That's your 'business' you have with me?" Vega said.
The man stepped forward and Vega was finally able to get a closer look at the man. He was fairly short and he stood maybe half a head below Vega. He was right to guess on an Asian accent because the man's face was undoubtedly Asian. A short, almost military style crew cut made up his hair. Slim cheeks, narrow and precise eyebrows and a small, thin mouth made up the rest of his facial feature except for two other things. One was that over his left eye, he bore an ugly looking scar. The scar had healed over but left disfiguring scabs and cuts over an area around primarily his left eye and a bit of his forehead. The man was fairly pale looking and these had healed into dark, almost dark brown and black blemishes. They all combined to profile a man Vega would've guessed to be around his mid 40's or so, with a few other wrinkles in his face. The other factor was the color of this man's eyes. Red. And the fact he didn't seem to blink at all. They contributed to give Savior an otherwordly, inhuman appearance facially.
"You're not the first." The man said with some touch of sentimentality, touching the scar lightly with his left hand.
"Your life's problems don't interest me." Vega dismissed.
"Anyway, let's continue this outside." Savior said, stepping out the door. Vega noticed that the man left and then started climbing the ladder up to Suzuku's roof. Silently, Vega reached for his Duel Disk and slipped it onto his arm. As Savior was climbing, he could see a Duel Disk of his own laying on his side, but not attached to his arm. Vega stepped outside into the warm night air and took a small look down the stairs to the street below. He saw no one else, nor any cars or things like that. He didn't lock the door to Suzuku's apartment but shut it firmly, then climbed up the ladder to the roof.
Vega was surprised to see that Suzuku had 'touched up' the roof by drawing a duel ring in chalk almost in the center of it. However, Savior was waiting for him in the middle of that ring.
With the moonlight, Vega could make out more of how the man was dressed. Despite the warm night, Savior was wrapped up into a black overcoat that wafted softly with the slight breeze blowing across the rooftop. Beneath it, Vega wasn't sure. Maybe black pants and a similar style of shirt. A Duel Disk was hanging off his hip, supported by a thread that was looped through the arm rest and slung over Savior's shoulder.
"Return home with you?" Vega asked, getting right to the point he wanted to address.
"Yes. I know you're trying to prove your innocence. Now you know as well who is responsible for it. Despite that, I am willing to allow you to return to my home."
"To do what?" Vega queried, sure that this offer was about as sweet as a pot of snake venom.
"To join our cause. To become a part of the Shang Dynasty."
"The Shang Dynasty? Just what is that?" Vega asked.
Savior seemed to be considering his words very carefully when he said, "A group that watches over people. We do what is…"Savior paused, looking at Vega as he said, "We do what is…necessary…to ensure peace. Even if it may hurt a few people in the process."
Vega didn't miss the hook. "So why was it necessary for you to set me up? And then offer me membership to your little club right after? That sounds like you're forcing my hand into joining your group."
"Quite the opposite. The intention was to leave you for the authorities to find. They would handle things as they do in their countries. But the opportunity to have someone like you join us couldn't be ignored when I found out more about you. You have talents that we could use."
"I'll bet." Vega mocked. "Talents that you could force from a man that's got no place to go to. I'll pass on your offer…Savior."
Savior sighed. "I guess you believe me to be the bad guy."
"When someone as casual as you destroys my life with the little stunt you say you orchestrated? Absolutely."
"If you only knew. I, we, are doing the world good with what we do." Savior said, and as he said it, the spark of realization passed over his face. "But I guess you're too caught up with that Terry Hairston. His way of doing the world good."
Vega raised an eyebrow.
"Let's just say that he has done a service, but that Millennium Puzzle that he draws power from? I don't believe in doing right with something that ought to remain forbidden."
Vega's memory flashed back to just before the end of Battle City. The spectacle he saw part of. Knowledge managing, with one of those Millennium Items, to call down a real Blue-Eyes White Dragon and using it to try to, obviously, kill Re'-Sha. And the move by Terry to stop him by taking the blast he meant for the girl. He recalled the condition it had left Knowledge in. He was barely able to walk, he was in pain all over his body, he couldn't manage to do the simplest things he'd done before alone without help. He became semi-crippled, and almost died because of what he did and what he did it with.
Savior turned away from Vega and walked toward the edge of the rooftop, leaning over the side and peering down at street below. "I suppose good and evil are something that can be looked at objectively. It's an idea that changes with the times. Yesterday's good is today's evil. Nuclear power of the 20th century was praised as a new form of energy the next generation would inherit. A disaster in Chernobyl molded the entire idea into a crime against nature."
Taking what Suzuku said to him before to heart, Vega replied, "Time is what changed that, not the ideals of good and evil. 'No man can step into the same river twice' as it goes. You can't take the opinion of one generation to the next one."
Savior raised his head up slightly, "I suppose so. But let me put this on you, Lamar Vega."
He turned to look at Vega who hadn't moved from his side of the rooftop. "Long ago in the Shang Dynasty…they prevented a disaster. They took demons that were threatening the lives of millions in the world and sealed them away. With no real way to destroy them, it was the best available option. This decision came with them literally destroying everything they had. Nothing left for them to return to. But they did the right thing and the world was better off for it, even if they themselves weren't. A heavy price was paid by its elders."
"Then, thousands of years later, a set of seemingly normal Dragon Bones were unearthed in China that should never have been found. They are what these demons were sealed into. In order to prevent them from becoming the property of someone who would release them, or misuse them, a operation was launched. Recover the Dragon Bones while disguising the trail. And that's what was done. Six kids were chosen. Why? Well that relates to your own beliefs about the times, Vega. Kids are as likely to attempt this robbery as an adult. Especially when the museum that had planned to showcase them intended to announce that the recovered Dragon Bones were related to Yu-Gi-Oh."
A look of brief shock and surprise passed over Vega's face. "Ancient artifacts from thousands of years ago that have something to do with…with a decade old card game?"
By this time, Savior had moved back toward the duel ring and took a stance in the zone set aside for the duelist. Savior swept his hand toward the Duel Disk still attached to his hip. In a fluid motion he took it into his hands and slipped it onto his left arm.
"Talking really doesn't get through to you 'duelists' does it, Vega? If I must, I'll settle this in a way you're probably more accustomed to. But I must ask, with the story you just heard, tell me."
"Tell me, Lamar Vega, am I good or evil?"
Vega brought his own Duel Disk out of standby mode and slipped his deck into it. He stared hard at his deck, forming his answer. "You're out to ruin me, Savior. That alone is enough for me to do whatever I can to bring you down!"
Savior smirked and that small leer combined with those red eyes combined to alarm Vega slightly. Something told him he was not going to have a normal duel with this man.
"Well, I can see you don't intend to join us just yet, Vega. But I'll let you ponder my question long after this duel is over. The first move to you and your Red-Eyes Power Deck is yours."
Vega looked down at his drawn card while replying that Savior had done some homework. He took one card from his hand and showed it to Savior. "I'll summon Snipe Hunter (1500/600) in attack mode!"
A little, petite man clad in silver armor that covered his body appeared, kneeling with its arms crossed on a copy of its own card. A defensive position even though it was in attack mode. In its left hand, it held a weapon that had a gun grip but the end of it looked like a radar dish instead of a gun barrel. It was connected by a thin cord to a discreet backpack on the monster that was humming with a quiet whir sound.
"I'll set one reverse card and end my turn." Vega stated, slipping a card into his Spell/Trap Card Zone and watching as Savior silently drew his card. Despite the tones of this duel, it didn't escape Vega that he was in a duel with a man that could be twice his age. This guy could have kids and here he was playing a game that he was too old to be playing.
"For this turn, I'll summon Chthonian Soldier (1200/1400) in attack mode."
When Savior summoned this monster, a burst of fire materialized where the card was on the field. This fireball surrounded the card and out of it stepped a short and stocky warrior. Black armor with silver tones covered the warriors chest, legs, forearms and head. In its right hand, he swung a oversized broadsword casually, looking for the next victim for him to cleave.
"Chthonians…" Vega said aloud.
"Hmm?" hummed Savior, not looking up at Vega. Instead he was glaring at his cards.
Vega didn't reply to him. Chthonians. They're cards I wanted to use myself, but didn't have much support. They're called Hell Monsters here in Japan; monsters that were used by Manjyome in the GX anime. But they're not too great, aside from Chthonian Soldier.
"I think I'll set two cards to end." Savior announced, watching two cards appear on his field to his far left. Vega eyed them suspiciously. He put a monster weaker than his out in attack position and two cards to back it up. Even a rookie would be able to sniff this out.
"My turn! Draw!" Vega didn't glance at his drawn card, instead he pointed with the card he had drawn to his Snipe Hunter. "I'll use Snipe Hunter's special effect!"
Snipe Hunter stood up from its crouching stance on its card. Slowly it leveled the weapon it had toward Savior's monster. As it did so, a set of individual numbers, 1-6, appeared above Chthonian Solider. The numbers two, three, four and five settled into a tight diamond pattern on the monster's chest. The numbers one and six had floated down as well, but they were stationed to either side of the monster. Also, a large white die appeared on the fields center.
"What's this?" Savior demanded.
"When I use the effect of Snipe Hunter, I must discard one card from my hand…" Vega announced as he slipped his Dragon Ice (1800/2200) in the graveyard. "When I do that, I must roll a die. If the result of that roll is any number besides one or six, I can destroy the card that I target. I target your Chthonian Soldier!"
The backpack attached to the back of Snipe Hunter hummed to life, turning from black and silver to white swirling with the colors of the rainbow. That coloring traveled into the cord of the weapon Snipe Hunter was holding and the radar dish part of the gun started to glow in similar fashion.
Vega pointed toward the dice in the center of the field. "Dice Roll!" With no hand or force seeming to guide it, the dice jumped from the ground straight up into the air. It turned and spun as it did, becoming just a jumble of falling white with black dots interspersed. When it fell to the ground, it bounced slightly and wasn't spinning nearly as much as before. When it landed again, it did not bounce again, but it did continue to spin. The die continued to rotate until the top face of the die read '3'.
"3! That means I can destroy your Chthonian Soldier!" Vega announced, sweeping his hand from pointing to the die to his Snipe Hunter. The number '3' that was covering the top of Chthonian Soldier's chest started to glow in a soft, red light. The other numbers faded away. A thin beam shot from the tip of Snipe Hunter's gun and shot right at the number '3', through it and through the chest of Chthonian Soldier. The monster grabbed its chest before it shattered into pixels.
"Tch…" Savior grunted.
Vega selected another card out of his hand. "I'll summon Troop Dragon (700/800) in defense mode."
Savior watched the monster appear on the field. A humanoid dragon that wore armor. The dragon had arms and legs encased in light armor and a short sword. It knelt on top of its card in defense and folded its wings behind it. Defense mode. He's cautious of the two cards I've set on the field.
"Snipe Hunter (1500/600), direct attack!" Vega called out, watching another charge travel from Snipe Hunter's backpack to its weapon. The monster fired and he watched the beam streak through the air right toward Savior.
"Reverse Card, Open! Trap Card! Security Orb!"
One of the two reverse cards Savior had on his field flipped up and a solid white glassy looking sphere appeared in the path of Vega's monsters blast. "When my opponent's monster attacks, I can use this card. This Trap Card changes the battle position of the monster attacking. I'll turn your Snipe Hunter to defense mode!"
The beam that was heading for Savior instead crashed into the sphere. Bits of all different types of colors splintered off from the beam as it was reflected away from Savior. Meanwhile, Snipe Hunter again took up a defensive stance, having been forced to defense mode by Savior.
"Turn End." Vega said, eyeing his own single reverse card.
"My Turn. Draw." Savior drew his card and slapped it onto his Duel Disk. "I'll summon Lucky Pied Piper (1500/500) in attack mode!" A small, child like angel appeared on Savior's field. It carried a golden flute and wore clothing reminiscent of old world Germany. Simple brown clogs covered the monsters feet, a green vest with a tan shirt beneath with matching green carried a fairly long golden flute that it was playing a light, melancholy tune as Savor spoke.
"Lamar Vega, King of Games, with your familiarity with this game, I'm sure you've heard of Gemini Monsters."
Vega's eyes lit up as he looked upon Lucky Pied Piper in a different way from before. He had taken notice of Gemini Monsters when they were released. It was something he thought might catch with some duelists, but it hadn't. The trouble they were worth didn't give good reason for duelists using them in their decks. It was the same for him, he didn't see how it would fit into his own deck.
Vega took in the situation. His opponent, he could assume, was using Gemini Monsters as his monsters of choice. These monsters have effects but when they're summoned initially, they're treated as Normal Monsters. You would have to choose to Normal Summon that monster, which would already be on the field, on a later turn in order to gain its effect. It's a unique class of monster that combines two thoughts of deck making. One being able to play to the card's once thought of weakness as being treated as a normal monster when it is first summoned. There are many cards that can support normal monsters in a way that most duelists disregard. The other being the cards range. Vega believed that it was possible to create an all Gemini Monster deck that could be successful, or in the right way, it could become tech for another deck type. With the effect some had of being able to special summon type-specific monsters from the graveyard or hand without a cost was a great revival tactic. Others had type specific effects that could help out the right sort of deck. But all these thought came to Vega in a rush. He was not expecting this kind of challenge.
"Lucky Pied Piper, for this turn, is treated as a Normal Monster. Therefore, he doesn't gain any effects. But I don't need them yet. Lucky Pied Piper (1500/500), attack Snipe Hunter! (1500/600)" The tune that Lucky Pied Piper had been playing kept on going. The song was building to a crescendo and when it reached it, the monster played and held a long, high, shrill note that sent shockwaves across the field to Vega's monster. It started to fall apart like a poorly constructed machine and disappeared into nothing.
Vega looked up from his lowered head at Savior. "Interesting."
"Lamar Vega, do you know what a Gemini actually is?"
Vega was familiar with a Gemini in the sense of Greek mythology. "The twins Castor and Pollux. Both having the same mother but different fathers. They joined together to become the Gemini constellation."
Savior nodded. "Basically, yes."
"And you intend to tell me that these monsters are truly Gemini to you."
"No." Savior shook his head. "The point is this, a saying. What you see yet cannot see. What do you see with these monsters, and with the Shang Dynasty, yet you cannot see? Can you answer that, Lamar Vega, King of Games? You'd be surprised at what I see about you, yet you don't see."
