Ankh was a young man who expected many things. However, he was slightly surprised when Hades returned with Lars in tow. He looked to his cousin, who threw up a series of hand signs, the half-breed nodding in response. "Me or you?" he asked, and Hades sighed. "I need to think about some shit. Mind doin' it?" he asked, and Ankh shook his head. "You owe me Cuhz." he said, and Hades waved him off, heading to bed.
Ankh looked to Lars, folding his arms and sighing. "It seems like yo dumbass agreed to join up and rep the set, huh?" he asked, and Lars blinked, as if confused by Ankh's statement. He shook his head, not the most fond of repeating himself. He cleared his throat, glancing upwards as if thinking.
"What I mean is, you agreed that joining our gang and being one of us was better than remaining with Okami and Philip. Is that right?" he asked, and Lars nodded. "I've had enough of them. They treat me like shit and they're always so selfish. It's like they don't want to accept that stuff outside of their bubble exists." he said, and Ankh nodded.
"Okami not acknowledging our existence is rather irritating. However, are you aware of what the Black Magicians are?" he asked, and Lars nodded. "To be honest, I'm… scared. I lost two of my friends, and now I'm in a dangerous place surrounded by dangerous people. No matter how much sense this does or doesn't make, I want to be on the winning side. I want to be able to protect myself and the people I care about." he said, and Ankh nodded.
"We're on the same page then. You should try and get some rest. Tomorrow, I'll initiate you and get you all set up. Of course, I'll be doing it close to your family, since I'm keeping an eye on them." he said, and Lars nodded. "Are you two alone?" he asked, and Ankh shook his head.
"We've managed to find one of our old running buddies, Selena. Between her and the few Duel Spirits old and kind enough to aid us, we have eyes and ears all throughout the city." he said, and Lars glanced to the ground.
He knew he was likely making a mistake, but he decided that it was far better than remaining in someone's shadow, or being the only one with common sense. He knew that if something were to go wrong he'd be unable to protect himself or his family. That is, unless he joined The Black Magicians.
When the sun rose in New Domino the next day, Shurit found himself waking up rather comfortable, and seemingly refreshed. Despite his mental gripes with the current situation, he had to admit that the aura of this place was very, very relaxing and positive.
He looked next to him on the couch, seeing the Ghostrick monster still curled up sleeping. He couldn't bring himself to smile, but he was glad that the canine was there to keep him company.
Ever since… that day, he'd been all alone. Even when people had taken him home to have their way with him, he'd ended back up in the corner of that bar, miserable and awaiting death. He didn't like that, remembering that which the leather clad Spellcaster said to him.
No matter the circumstances, he was aware that his parents wouldn't have wanted him to perish wallowing in self pity and sadness. He did wish to live on, but without his family, or his friend Exa, what was the point?
"Good morning." he heard, looking up to see the kind woman who owned this house. He had learned that her name was Yuuki, and that she was Ankh's mother. He quietly nodded slightly, still rather taken aback and unnerved by their kindness. It was such a stark polarizing difference to Ankh's monstrous attitude.
"Are you hungry? I was about to make breakfast and was wondering if there was anything specific you wanted." she asked, and Shurit remained quiet. He didn't know human food very well, so he couldn't really answer. "He's not familiar with human food, Dear." he heard, seeing the Dark Magician walk behind her, going from one place to another.
Yuuki blinked in response. "Oh, right. That's okay, I'll just make a little of everything." she said, smiling as she clapped her hands together, almost skipping off to the kitchen. He found it so odd, her positivity almost overwhelming.
He heard stirring next to him, seeing the canid monster slowly wake up, his cartoonish features stretching and moving about to shake off cobwebs. He looked to Shurit, spreading his wolfish face into a grin, sitting cross legged like a child. Shurit blinked. He was around such an odd bunch.
"Up." Lars heard, being shaken awake. He bolted up, his instincts telling him to be alert immediately. He shook his head, looking to Ankh, who was already awake, looking well rested. "It's time to get moving. Hades already left, and so did Selena. It's our turn." he said, and Lars nodded, rubbing his eyes as he began to get ready.
He soon met Ankh outside, the half-breed resting against his Duel Runner. "What are we doing?" Lars asked, and Ankh sighed. "We finna roll passed dem folk and peep what they on, then we finna getchu skrapped in." he said, and Lars blinked, completely lost. Ankh blinked, getting on his Duel Runner and gesturing for Lars to hop on as well.
"You're going to have to learn to understand our slang, you know. I'm a bit better at switching back and forth than Hades, but there's gonna be a time where we can't do that so easily." he said, and Lars nodded. "Sorry, it's just really weird to me." he noted, and Ankh rolled his eyes, the two setting off.
They soon drove past the location of the Signers. Ankh made a note of the fact that every single one of their Duel Runners were still present. He used his magick, sensing them out, picking up their vitals and energy signatures scattered about their abode. Exhaling, he decided that they would be fine here, the duo continuing on as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky.
The Spellcaster parked his Duel Runner in an alley by a small corner store, the duo hopping off as Ankh glanced about. "He bet not be late, on Exodia." he said, more to himself. "Who?" Lars asked, and Ankh glanced back to him. "A smaller gang, they call themselves the Gooney Toons, is apparently making a lot of money in human trafficking. I let them know we were interested." he said.
"Human trafficking!?" Lars shouted, shocked and disgusted, and Ankh looked back to him. "Relax. Me and Hades aren't that bad. The idea is to get info out of their contact and take them out. Me and Hades noticed a huge influx of smaller gangs all trying to be as big as we were, or our rivals. We're working on taking them out one by one. The Broox is bad, but it can be fixed." he said, and Lars smiled. "I knew you guys weren't all bad." he said, and Ankh merely cast him an amused glance.
Soon, another Duel Runner pulled up, a man of larger stature than Ankh or Lars walking down the alley, his hands in the pockets of his baggy, oversized pants. Ankh rolled a shoulder, looking to Lars. "Follow my lead." he said, Lars blinking as Ankh walked up to the man.
They exchanged a series of hand signs, nodding to each other before walking back towards Lars and Ankh's Duel Runner. "So, you guys want in on the biz now that ya makin' a comeback?" the man asked, his voice raspy and slightly high. Ankh nodded.
"On Exodia, fam. Twelve ain't been able to catch us yet, myswell dabble in that dank." Ankh said, his demeanor completely different. The man laughed, as if amused by Ankh's words. "Say we let you in on it. What's in it for us?" he asked, and Ankh rose a brow.
"How bout that cute lil' slab of meat behind me? He's worth hella bread, bein the boy of two uh dem Signaz." he said, the man raising both his his eyebrows as he looked to Lars. Lars was completely horrified. Had Ankh just mislead him? Was this all a ruse to get him and the others into a place where they'd be vulnerable?
"You didn't say anything about this!" Lars said, panicking as Ankh closed his eyes, nodding before looking back to Lars with a foul gaze. "Fuck I wanna tell you fo, hoe? I knew you'd be easier pickins den them other headasses." he said, spreading his arms as he spoke.
Donning that vest, those jeans and that disgusting glint in his eyes, Ankh truly looked like a villain. Lars could feel his heart sink as the man next to Ankh began to laugh. "He feisty?" the man asked, and Ankh nodded with a smile. "I know y'all like em healthy and kickin'. I did my research." he said, and the man nodded. "I'll take em. I'll bring the paper tomorrow. Same time and place?" he asked, and Ankh nodded. The man made for Lars, who took a step back.
He felt stone, realizing that the alley was a dead end between to stores. It was perfectly out of the way. It was an ideal place for people to be bought and sold, and for those demons that deal in humans to do their dirty work. Lars grit his teeth, realizing that he'd have to get past the man by force.
A loud banging sound rang out, and the man collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain. When his large body fell, Lars looked to see Ankh standing stalwart, brandishing a handgun with a smoking barrel. "You bout stupid as shit." he said, the man reaching down and gripping the leg that Ankh shot.
Ankh walked over to Lars, inhaling and nodding to him. "Is you the boss?" he asked, and the man grit his teeth, remaining defiantly silent. Ankh sighed, pointing the gun at the man and pulling the trigger, another flash and bang before the man screamed again, his other leg beginning to leak blood. Ankh pulled the trigger two more times, the man's screaming deafened by the gunshots, his arms struck and beginning to leak vitae.
"Who in charge of the Gooney Toons!?" Ankh shouted, kicking the man in his wounded leg, a yelp of pain erupting from him. "I'm not snitchin!" he screamed, and Ankh sighed. He dropped down to his haunches, reaching forward and sticking his finger in the bullet wound, the man gritting his teeth to avoid screaming.
Lars watched in shock. There was no way that this was the same Ankh that was cracking wise and being affectionate to his Duel Spirits. This was an entirely different monster of a being, Lars not even considering 'human' as a description. "Lars!" Ankh called, the boy walking over cautiously. Ankh turned to him, an odd look in his eyes. Ankh flipped the gun in his grip, holding it out to the inbreed.
Lars was frozen to the spot, looking at the deadly weapon with a cautious fear. Ankh looked to him. "Take it and point it at his face." he said, and Lars could feel himself shake, his hand quivering as he reached out and put the violent steel in his hands.
Ankh looked back to the man, who was grunting and sobbing at the immense pain he felt. "Snitch." he said, and the man shook his head. "Never!" he shouted, defiant in the face of defeat and death. Ankh sighed. "Aight, lemme put it to you like this. It don't matter if you snitch or not. No matter what, amma kill err last one of you scumfucks. Amma find ya boss, his family, his enforcers, they families, and ehbody else that associated with the Gooney Toons, and amma pop a cap in all of them." he said, his odd slang and accent slipping away, something that Ankh himself noticed.
"Amma die anyway. The fuck I wanna die a snitch for?" the man asked, and Ankh shook his head. "I won't kill you if you snitch. I'll even call you an ambulance. All you gotta do… is tell me who runs yo shitty lil' squad." he said, and the man growled, breathing heavily. His mind was distracted by the pain, and he couldn't help but want to get his enemy to help him. It was against everything he'd learned in the Gooney Toons, and against everything he'd ever done in his life, but just this once, he needed help.
"Boss' name is OG Max B. He's an ugly fuck, short and skinny. Prolly started trafficking people just cuz he couldn't get no bitches." he said, and Ankh smiled. He looked to Lars, and to the man himself. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now, I'm gonna take my friend here and leave, and call you an ambulance. Thanks a bunch." he said, patting the bloodied man on the head before rising and heading to his Runner. When he got to Lars, he turned his head. "Shoot." he said, and Lars looked to him as he sat on his Duel Runner.
Could Lars really, truly bring himself to do this? Could he pull the trigger and end someone's life? This man might be evil, but he likely still had friends, family even. How could he do it? Ankh pulled up behind him, sighing.
"I get that it's your first time, but do remember that this guy was gonna beat your ass, kidnap you, and sell you. Who knows what kind of sexual assault you'd have suffered in the process. He planned on victimizing you and profiting off of it. His family would be better off without him." he said, and Lars grit his teeth. Ankh was right.
With but a single squeezing motion, another bang rang out, the man not screaming this time, blood and brain matter scattered about the wall behind him. Lars was horrified by the sight, immediately dropping the gun and vomiting, hurling up whatever he'd eaten in sheer shock and disgust. Ankh merely sat back and waited for Lars to gather himself. He knew that the first time is arguably the hardest.
Milla found herself feeling much less agitated at Shurit's presence. It wasn't something for her to fret over, as the boy had slowly began changing, becoming reserved and quiet, as if he was always deep in thought. She began to feel bad for him, something that she was struggling to deal with.
"You really shouldn't be mad at yourself. He's no different than you or I. If you want to help him, you should." Yuuki said, the temporal magician sighing and shaking her head. "It's not that. It's just a little much, Ma. I was so worried that he'd take advantage of our kindness and kill us, but he's just… deflated. He looks like he's given up, and I really hate seeing that look." she said, and Yuuki chuckled.
"It just means that you want to help, Milla. There's nothing wrong with that. No matter who it is or what they've done to you or vice versa, sometimes you can't help but feel in your heart a way in your head you know you shouldn't. It's perfectly fine." she said, and Milla rolled her eyes. Her Mother-in-law was always right in situations like these, and she was beginning to hate it.
Ankh and Lars pulled up to a small house in an odd neighborhood filled with small, oddly shaped houses. They looked like they were lifted and repaired often, some of the houses on thick wooden stilts. "We get a lot of hurricanes round here. Be piecin' up the town sum fierce." Ankh said, and Lars swore he understood that slang. The duo walked into one of the smaller houses, a tiny thing that was blue in color.
"Who da HELL walkin' they uglass inna my house!?" they heard, a vulgar voice that Ankh found himself smiling at hearing. "It's me Cal! Ya boy CCM!" he called, seeing a man come into view. He was slightly tall, his arms, including his fingers, covered in tattoos. Despite his shirt and pants covering his skin, Lars could see ink covering his neck, his chest and at the least, his ankles. His hair was long and black, but the left side of his head was shaved down, his hair hanging over like a curtain.
"On Exodia? Where the fuck you been?" he asked, Ankh chuckling in response to his friend's vulgar greeting. "You know how it was, bruh. After they clapped Big Cuhz me and Hades dipped. We hated leavin' ehbody behind but we was… fucked up." he said, and the man known as Cal shrugged, gesturing for the duo to follow him.
Sitting at a small table in the small kitchen, the man began to rummage through his fridge. "So, what brings you back?" he asked, and Ankh sighed. "Business. My boy Lars here? He's one of them Signer's kids." he said, and the man looked to him, humming as he pulled a beer out of the fridge, popping the cap off and humming.
He took a large gulp, exhaling and chuckling as he looked at the green haired boy. "No shit!? That's bout crazy. So why you bring him to a shitty ass hood like this?" he asked, and Ankh shrugged. "A few of the other Signer brats, his 'friends', was kidnapped and we think they mighta done it to trick us back here. We did associate with them often, sadly." he said, and Cal looked to Ankh, his brown eyebrows furrowing as he narrowed his blue eyes.
"You talkin' mad fancy, dawg." he said, and Ankh blinked, realizing that Cal was right. His accent continued to slip, and he was barely mixing in the slang he'd grown up using on a daily basis. Almost like a part of him didn't want to use it. He shrugged. "Somebody had to blend in to cover Hades' ass. You know Cuhz bout type foolish." he said, and Cal nodded, laughing as he took another large gulp of his beer. "So what brings you to my crib?" he asked, and Ankh looked to Lars.
"Boy Wonder here said he wanted to join the Black Magicians." he said, and the man looked to Lars before bursting out laughing, something that made Lars frown. "So you want me to paint em up, huh?" he asked, and Ankh nodded. "If it's not a prollem. He's already helped me get info on another rival gang. Hades finna take care of em quick fast." he said, and Cal whistled. "Just like old times, huh?" he asked, and Ankh only laughed.
Shurit realized that he couldn't remain idle, unmoving on the couch in silence forever. He always heard commotion downstairs, and the family was always coming in and out. Even the Dark Magician was moving back and forth, looking more like a household's father than the brooding villain the Spirit World painted him as.
Shurit did want to move about and stretch his cramped limbs, able to see that once again, the sun had begun to descend in the sky, a window he could see showing fading light and the first stars. He sighed, realizing that another day was wasted.
He hated it. He wasn't sure, because he spent a lot of time in thought, staring at the ground, but he counted three or four days since he'd been in this house, and what felt like aeons since the death of his family. He clenched his fists at the thought. He hated being alone like this. He'd always had someone there for him.
He opened his hands, wondering if he could summon the Nekroz Mirror, or any facet of his powers. He failed, realizing that he couldn't feel an ounce of strength within him. This was always something that, when hanging out with Ankh in their younger days, that bugged the half-breed. He craved strength, craved raw, physical power like a drug. Shurit always found it odd, as the two were normally equal in magickal power. He shook his head. He didn't want to think about Ankh. Not now. Not ever.
Instead, he looked to his arms. They were lightly scarred in places, but Shurit noticed that they were almost bone. He hadn't eaten much, if at all since coming here, refusing hospitality from the family of a murderer. However, he had to admit that he was hungry. He peered beneath the collar of the shirt, and frowned.
While he bore little to no scars or wounds on his chest and stomach, he could see his own ribcage, his stomach, which was ghostly thin, literally pulsated with the beat of his heart. He was in a terrible, pitiful state, and he grit his teeth. He hated seeing himself like this.
He inhaled, noticing that there was still commotion downstairs. He knew that this place was atop some form of shop, as he could hear them speak of customers fleetingly. With the family likely still hard at work, he placed his hands on the couch and pushed himself to his feet.
It was one of the first times he'd stood up since… fighting Ankh. He felt wobbly, almost as if he couldn't walk. It made him feel lightheaded, and he stumbled slightly, his breathing slightly labored. He was pathetic in this state, and he knew that his hosts were just pitying him. They all did, even the dog.
He took a step towards the kitchen, his ankle feeling rather sore, his knees feeling tight and pained. He hated this feeling, like merely being alive was painful. He wanted it to go away, but he worried it wouldn't. He stumbled slightly, still feeling lightheaded and malnourished. He took another step, his right knee buckling as he began to fall.
Someone caught him, a larger body wearing black clothing. "What exactly are you trying to accomplish?" he heard, glancing up to the Dark Magician. He stood him up, leaving a hand on his shoulder to balance him. Shurit grit his teeth, narrowing his dulled eyes at him. "Leave me alone." he said, and the white haired man looked from the couch, to Shurit. "You're hungry, aren't you?" he asked, and Shurit hesitated to answer. The man shook his head and sighed.
"I swear to the Gods I don't know what was going through his head." he mumbled to himself, picking Shurit up under the arms, almost like a small animal. The boy blinked, seeing the man sigh and shake his head as he carried Shurit and placed him in a chair at the table.
He opened the fridge, rummaging through it while grumbling. "You younger Spellcasters are all a pain in my ass, you know that?" he asked, Shurit remaining silent and not meeting his gaze, the magician sighing.
"Look, I understand it to an extent." he spoke, pulling ingredients out of the fridge before he hummed to himself. He didn't cook often, but he was a smart man, and he'd watched Yuuki do it enough. "You are all pigheaded little brats that want to be the next Endymion, or the next Dark Magician, or something else as trivial. You crave power." he said, humming as he whipped out a pan and decided to use it.
"What you should do, much like I should have done in my younger years, is crave happiness. You should do all you can in life to be happy, no matter what. Even if it means lashing out against your family, or cutting off friends, or befriending a former enemy. You should be happy." he said, cracking an egg with one hand.
"For you, I can't tell you what you should do. It's up to you. If you wish, you may leave this place and return home. Fend for yourself in the Spirit World. You may remain here, Yuuki decided as much already. Damn woman." he grumbled to himself as he cooked.
"But. At the very least, live. Me and my daughter in law might consider you a possible danger, but neither of us want to see you in this state. Look at you, Brat." he said, pulling a plate from the cabinet. "You're weak, malnourished, and miserable to the point of near non-existence. No one wishes this for you, and you shouldn't either." he said, musing to himself as he finished cooking.
He placed a plate of food in front of Shurit. It was basic, yes, an omelet that likely had very few things inside of it, but it was still a hand crafted, home cooked meal, for him. He frowned as he looked at it. "Why him?" he asked, and the Dark Magician blinked.
"I don't know. Nobody does. The truth is, if I were Ankh, I would have killed you. That he specifically demanded that I aid you should you request is baffling to me as well. However, I can't simply ignore what my son wants. I'm getting old, and now that I'm stuck here working at the Card Shoppe, I want to rebuild my relationship with Yuuki." he said, and Shurit looked to him.
"I can't be friends with that murderer." he said, and the man nodded. "I understand. I will tell you that him and Hades are both unstable creatures. They both have actions that conflict with each other, both have thoughts that conflict each other, and you and I can tell that even their energy fluctuated depending on their mood." he said, watching Shurit eat.
"But, there's a difference. Ankh is much worse than Hades. You see, Hades is a boy who is very angry, but suppresses that anger by being friendly, suave, funny even. Ankh maintains a facade even in casual conversation." he said.
"For reasons known only to him, the kind, loving kid that Milla, Yuuki and Dharc know is different from the nonchalant voice of reason that his schoolmates know, which is different to the battle loving warrior that you and the Gladiator Beasts know. This is also vastly different from the Ankh that terrorized the slums of his birth and killed Endymion." he said.
Shurit hesitated at that last statement. Did Ankh really do that? Shurit had encountered the Master Magician on occasion, and he was always incredibly frightening to him. To hear that Ankh had killed him was something of a surprise. "Why the surprise? Didn't you say he was a murderer?" the man asked, and Shurit remained silent.
"That's the problem both of us have with Ankh. His personality, be it instinct or of his own free will, is too varying. It's split into four different pieces. Ankh, Hades' voice of reason. Ankoku, the happy young man. Gladiator Beast Ankoku, the warrior and the Pale Rider, the monster. I'm sure you can like or at least tolerate one of those four." he said, and Shurit frowned. He didn't want to hear this. He hated it.
The man soon sighed at Shurit's silence, shaking his head and collecting the plate with a hum. "Was it good?" he asked, and Shurit blinked. He hadn't realized it, but he'd eaten the entire thing rather fast. He listened to the man speak, but he focused more on the hot, home cooked meal. "Y-yes Sir." he said, and the man chuckled. "No need for formalities. I'm glad though, I don't cook often." he said, and he looked to the boy.
"Will you be able to make it to the couch alone, or do you need my help?" he asked, and the boy looked into his lap. "I'll be fine." he said, and the man hummed. "You really should accept the hospitality, kid. Nothing will hurt you. You might even start liking at least one of us." he said, and Shurit frowned deeper. The man sighed, choosing to lay off.
"Regardless, you can always join us at the table. Yuuki would love to cook for you, and I'm sure that when you're ready, we'd all be willing to get to know you. Milla and myself especially. We're very curious about you. Despite how nonsensically he wronged you, Ankh still demanded that I assist you should the situation call for it." he said.
The man walked around the table, heading back downstairs. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, as if trying to reassure him. "Think about what I said. Search within yourself, ponder things. What would truly bring you out of this darkness and allow you to be happy again?" he asked, leaving Shurit alone, brooding in his own thoughts, his hunger finally subsided.