Day 23 (July 29th): Bad Guy Syndrome

The series had its swarm of enemies: whether it be Divine, Ruder/Roman, Rex, or Z-ONE. Today's prompt is all about antagonists.

best antag? you'll only get one answer from me

A Little Push

Through my nostrils, I breathed in deep. A chilly wind passed. My earrings shaped in the letter "A" touched my neck. Goosebumps raised where my jacket didn't shield my bare skin. I removed the white leather and threw the coat onto the ground. The jacket rested unceremoniously in an empty parking spot.

The top floor of the parking deck was empty – typical for a Tuesday night. Those with lives were busy with their families or preparing for the next day of work. Me, I might've been lounging at Godwin's and barking at Mina to bring more wine.

That was before.

Thanks to Yusei, I became a laughing stock. I'd never be welcomed back to Godwin's; I'd never be recognized as a true, insurmountable King again. Whispers chased me of my failures. Of my humiliation. Of my true birthright.

Goddamn Yusei. He didn't get it. Back in the Satellite, he had his friends. He had his bonds that made his life worth living.

Why didn't he realize I never forged the same?

After Team Satisfaction, I was forced to be alone. Days bled into each other. Living changed to surviving, and for such a life, what's the difference between me and a dog? If my sentience is only to be used to make it to tomorrow, what's the point in staying alive?

That was the day Lazar approached. Steal Yusei's Stardust Dragon and duel runner, and I was promised a life where scrounging would never be a necessity. Humph. Why would that decision be difficult?

Yusei was surrounded by a support system. His friends would come to his aid no matter what. I knew that, even if I stole from him, he would bounce back. Me, though? I had planned to leap off the highest building I could find that day.

I knew Yusei would be angry. Who wouldn't? The decision was a pragmatic one. Yusei could never understand my struggles; he would always cite friendship as the answer to all problems.

He had no idea of how difficult those bonds were to maintain nor how fake I had to make myself to stand the others. I couldn't even remember their names now – not even that of the boy I'd thrown onto the boat. Yusei didn't understand brains operate differently. I was made to be alone, and a human made like me could not survive in the Satellite without becoming feral.

The fact that Yusei went to such lengths for revenge was a note surprising. I never though him a vengeful spirit. I expected him to want his things back, but to decimate me in such a painful way in front of the masses?

It makes one wonder if Godwin set up the usurping; it makes me wonder if Godwin planned to ruin my life from the beginning.

There was no pride remaining to deny that he had succeeded. With my jacket fallen on the ground, I stepped onto the edge of the parking deck. The New Domino City night lights were blinding. Seeing the ground so many feet below had my head spinning.

I spread my stance and faced the ground. The past few days with the clueless reporter were humiliating. To think she thought she could squeeze information out of me while I was at my lowest; to think, even now, the public still wished to take advantage of me.

After this, no one would ever take advantage again. Another wind passed. I clenched my fists against the cold. Runners rushed by on the highway, leaving ruby taillight trails burned into my eyesight. The heights of the tallest building in the city, Sector Security headquarters, still had lights on at the top.

If it was Godwin, I hoped he would see this. I gazed at the office as I prepared to step off the edge.

"'Sup?"

All muscles slacked. That voice. I cut a stare to the side. Impossible. What warped reality had I entered? Kalin Kessler lounged on the edge a few feet away. He lay sprawled on his back along the divider, legs crossed and an elbow propping him up. The smirk he wore said he had little care for the precarious position he lay in.

"What- the hell," I wheezed. The former leader of Team Satisfaction was decked out in a regular outfit of jeans, a gray tee, and a brown leather jacket. A criminal mark slashed down the right half of his face. "You're dead. They told us you died!"

His grin was big and bright. He hopped to his feet and rounded me. "Jack, Jack Jack. I knew you didn't handle loss well, but this is a little extreme!"

He laughed, and it wasn't the laugh of the Kalin I remembered in the slightest. I spun so I faced him and the parking deck instead of the empty air. "How the hell are you here? I checked before I came. There was nobody. I didn't hear you coming, and-"

"Want to know what being dead is like?"

There was something about his smile that made my skin crawl – like it was too big for his face and crooked and crazy. My upper lip jumped. He laughed again in a way that made me want to run from him, fast, and he clapped once.

"Well?" he asked. "What are you waiting for? Do it. I came because I wanted to watch!"

"Excuse me?"

"You look so shocked!" He feigned surprised. "You have no idea how much satisfaction this moment gives me, Jack."

The words increased in pitch as though he attempted to sing the words but couldn't get the notes right in his head.

In the next instant, his expression evened.

"Do it," he commanded.

I stood still. My pulse hammered.

He closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and laughed a little. His fingers drummed against his upper arm. He sang, "Alriiight!"

Kalin shoved me. Air whistled past my ears. I scrambled to angle my body and my fingers barely found purchase on the edge. The concrete stung and broke skin. I lifted myself back towards the roof.

A boot crushed my fingers. I grunted and clenched the hand harder. Kalin leaned towards me, and he draped his arm over his knee. His eyes. His eyes were black outside the iris like he was some sort of demon. His criminal mark had shifted to the color of blood.

"Well, well, well." The last word was heaved from the depths of his lungs. "Look who wants sooo badly to live now!"

His laughter was whooping. I squinted. The muscles of my arms burned.

"Take it from me, Atlas." My surname hissed through his teeth like spat poison. "Living's not the part you should be afraid of."

He snapped his fingers. A blaze of violet fire ate away at his form until nothing remained. I hauled myself onto the parking deck and swallowed deep breaths. I stared at my jacket, which Kalin's path had trampled.

I picked it up and started towards the bottom floor exit.