OP1: "Raining" by Art Of Dying


Chapter 6: "Questions"


The following weeks passed by peacefully for Mike, much to his gratitude.

Bulbous had no qualms with him doing whatever he wanted, considering he spent most of his time in the city. While his friends were in school, it was a mystery what his activities consisted of before he met them at the trailer afterwards. During the evening hours, he walked over to Dexterity High to attend the Pro Circuit classes that Mayor Copperson had arranged for him. Dr. Crawford had taken the liberty of personally selecting instructors for the classes, who proved their worth in Mike's outstanding results after each lesson.

No one had heard anything of Josiah since the day Mike had returned either. It was a known fact that Josiah—being two years older than the rest of the Senior body—lived on his own in his late grandmother's house. But his continued absence was pushing Dr. Crawford towards considering his expulsion, and the fact that he never answered his phone or door was starting to raise some concern.

Bulbous, meanwhile, had kept his word to Violet: he had reverted to being the kind-hearted and loving father that Violet had missed. She had even returned home from school once to find that he had devoted his day to cleaning up the apartment: no longer did beer bottles, fast food wrappers, and other junk litter the floors and furniture. He'd even rented a carpet-cleaning machine to eliminate most of the foul odor. The transformation had been so shocking that when the landlord finally came for inspection, he was too stunned to even care that Bulbous had taken Mike in to live with him without permission.

Speaking of Mike, he had found some difficulty adjusting back to the social norms of County Dame life. Some were easier than others: despite his reluctance to take from Bulbous's fridge, the man made sure to insist on it so he would adjust to eating filling meals again. He couldn't shake his early-rising habit however, resulting in Violet and Bulbous always waking up to find Mike already dressed and finishing up his breakfast.

Violet even had a hard time getting him to dress in something other than his duster. Eventually, she had managed to catch him before he departed one Saturday morning, before dragging him down to the shopping plaza to pick out new clothes. After many hours and numerous failed attempts to get him to wear something colorful, he had settled on a black, short-sleeved jacket over a black t-shirt, and a black armband at the top of his left forearm. His bottom half had donned dark jeans held up with a brown double-holed belt, and black and white sneakers.

It was probably the most difficult to help Mike let go of his need to wear the holster carrying his revolver-disk everywhere. He hated the feeling of vulnerability that came with being parted from it—a paranoia he'd developed after spending two years keeping his head on a swivel. It spoke volumes to Violet just how severe the events of his time away had to have been for him, and she sympathized. But she also knew it would only be a matter of time before an unknowing police officer tried to penalize him for violating firearm ordinance.

When she finally convinced him to get a new duel disk, he found himself dissatisfied with what was available on the general market. So instead, he came home late one night with an older-model one that he had restored from a junkyard: while deactivated, it was a thin, oval-shaped disk with a silver and black color scheme, and a navy-blue jewel in its center. Similarly-colored blades emerged and fanned out for the field from the center as one piece where his graveyard was, much like how his revolver-disk functioned.

"How on earth did you get that thing to function?" Bulbous had asked with wide eyes after he'd shown it off to him and Violet.

"I managed to scavenge some old parts I found," Mike explained as he deactivated it again. "Just something I picked up on while I was away."

Violet was amazed. She hadn't expected to find out that Mike had come back from wherever he'd disappeared to with more than just heightened dueling skills and PTSD.

Of course, in the end she was grateful to have him back in general, and especially elated over the fact that he now lived with her. However, Mike seemed to have more interest in activities out in the city alone, meaning that aside from their usual after-school meets, she didn't get to see him all that much. Even when he was around the apartment, he usually either locked himself in his room or emerged only to walk right out the door again.

But she couldn't blame him. Though she wished he would open up to her about it, she had accepted that it would take some time for Mike to recover from whatever it was he'd gone through over the last two years, even if it required him to take time on his own. So she didn't mind seeing him only every so often, as long as she did from time to time. She needed to focus on her grades so she would be able to graduate, anyway.

All in all, Violet felt like a princess living in a fantasy that she couldn't believe had come true. But she would soon learn that, like every fantasy, it wouldn't last forever.


1:04 AM. Mike quietly slid his way through the apartment door, taking care not to let it creak. He'd spent some time wandering around County Dame after his evening classes that Friday night, as he couldn't quite shake the restlessness that had overcome him.

He didn't notice Violet watching him in her bathrobe from the dark hallway. She hadn't been able to sleep when she realized he hadn't arrived around his usual time. She saw it as an opportunity for them to be alone for once, while her father slumbered. Perhaps, if she was lucky, she would even get to confess her feelings to him.

Unfortunately, her luck didn't hold: before she could step out, she halted when his pocket suddenly started vibrating. Her heart began to race as he pulled the device out, the light from the screen illuminating his face so she could see it morph from tired to serious as he inspected the caller ID. He backtracked out the apartment door and closed it behind him again.

Violet snuck up to it and pressed her ear gently against it:

"Who are you, and how did you get this number?"

Her shoulders tensed. His tone was reminiscent of when he'd faced Josiah. Only this time, he sounded tenser—as if he was wary of who might've been on the other end of the call.

Thankfully, her tension eased when he spoke again, his tone gentler but still carrying gravitas:

"Glad to know you're all right."

More silence. And then—

"No. We, uh... we were ambushed... she didn't make it."

Violet's heart sank, her thoughts turning rampant. On the one hand, she could almost feel the shame in Mike's voice as he said those words. But on the other hand, just hearing him talk about another girl made her boil inside. A jealousy she couldn't control.

"It's not your fault. I just wish I could've fought them off."

"... what do you mean?"

A longer silence this time. Violet felt like her heart was trying to break free from her rib cage.

"... wait, are you serious?"

Another long pause. Violet's head was swimming with questions. Just what was Mike talking about to this mystery individual?

"What's going on? Hello? Hello?!"

Suddenly Mike seemed fueled with adrenaline. The last word he'd spoken had been trembling. She'd only ever heard that rising panic in his voice only once before: as she had watched him scream for his parents after being saved from the "accident" that had claimed their lives.

She had to step away from the door. Her jealous reflex towards the girl Mike had mentioned, along with hearing that level of grief in his voice again, had pushed her fragile heart beyond her limit. She slinked back to her room, throwing herself into her bed as she processed everything she'd just heard, the cavalcade of emotions hitting her from all sides.

An injection of reality had just murdered her fantasy.


Hours passed, and soon night turned once again to day.

Light poured through the dirty windows in Bulbous's room, hitting his face. His eyes squinted open before quickly shutting again, and he pulled the covers over his head as he rolled to his other side with a groan. It was days like this that he wished he could afford a rolling shade. He would've taken that sooner than he would've taken a new shirt that actually covered his muffin-top belly, if only because it would help him sleep in on a Saturday morning in peace.

He laid there for some time, feeling the sun's warmth beating on his back. He preferred to sleep cold, being kept warm by the weight of his blankets, but his landlord hadn't bothered to fix the building's air conditioning unit since it had broken near the end of last summer. Eventually, he had to poke his head out from under his covers, almost gasping for air after nearly an hour of feeling like a turkey in an oven.

He glanced at his alarm clock. 9:38 AM.

Well, it's not like I'm falling back asleep anyway, he figured before lifting himself from the mold of his shape in the mattress.

He grabbed his green bathrobe from the floor and wrapped it loosely around him before walking down the hallway to the kitchen. He stumbled before the refrigerator, retrieving milk from it as he decided on Cocoa Puffs for breakfast.

He set the milk down on the table before his eyes noticed a small piece of paper positioned at its center, as though deliberately. That hadn't been there last night. He picked it up and held it close to his face so his drowsy eyes could make out the handwriting:

Will be gone for the day. Don't know when I'll be back.
- Mike

He grunted unconcernedly as Violet too emerged from her room, hands rubbing her eyes. She couldn't remember what time she'd fallen asleep after overhearing Mike's phone conversation. Her footsteps caught her father's attention as he turned to her. "Seems Mike left a little earlier than usual today," he said through a loud yawn.

She took the note from her father's hands as he returned to his breakfast quest, while her eyes widened as she skimmed Mike's handwriting. Her worst fear had been realized after all. There was no way this didn't pertain to his call the night before.

Bulbous took notice of the alarm on Violet's face as he set his chocolatey cereal beside the milk. "Something wrong, Angel?"

Realizing the expression her face had taken on, she quickly gulped it down. "No, nothing," she replied, stepping steadily backwards into the hallway before darting for her room again.

She threw herself back onto her bed, pulling her phone from its charger and pulling up Danny's contact to call it. She listened through four rings before he finally picked up, halfway through a yawn. "Dude, you better have a good reason for waking me up this early on a Saturday," he groaned.

"Trust me, I wouldn't have called if it wasn't important," she replied. "I need you and Marina to meet me at the construction site as soon as you both can."

Danny seemed to pick up on her urgent tone as he matched it: "Why, what's wrong?"

"It's Mike," Violet explained. "I think he might be in some kind of danger."


- Two Years Ago -

Mike awoke that morning feeling like a cinder block had been placed on his chest.

Much as he'd been pushing the possibility that he might die from his mind so he could focus on his training, the fact felt like it had physically manifested to pin him to the bed. Perhaps it was a natural inclination for self-preservation, not wanting him to get up to face the fight that awaited him today.

For a time he just laid there, feeling every pulse of life coursing through his veins before heaving a sigh. Even if he'd played possum and stayed in bed, he had a feeling Aeron wouldn't hesitate to drag him off the bed. Hell, he might have even enjoyed it.

He lifted himself up from the bed and slipped his shoes on before trudging over to a chair by Samael's table, where he grabbed the holster with his revolver-disk that he'd draped over it the night before. Picking it up, he clicked the belt around his waist, and proceeded to exit the cabin.

Outside, he had to shield his eyes from the sun as he stepped onto the cabin's deck. He expected to see the usual hubbub that was Frontier Haven life as usual, but to his surprise he found that a crowd of citizens seemed to have loosely gathered, primarily the younger and able-bodied people chattering among themselves. Older women and children watched on from the decks and doorframes of the surrounding structures, some handing various supplies and bags to their loved ones in the crowd.

Then Mike remembered Aeron's words: this Keir character and his "Romans" lived in another town called Saddlebury. The gathered crowd had to be those who would be following him to watch his duel with Keir. He couldn't decide whether or not it was a comforting thought to know that he might die with a crowd surrounding him, watching as he tried and failed to take down the man who had them all in his tyrannical grasp.

"You look tired."

Mike almost jumped at the sudden sound of the feminine voice, before turning to see from whom it had originated: the girl couldn't have been much older than he was. Her hair was a little past shoulder-length and colored the darkest shade of distinguishable brown he'd ever seen, with eyes to match. The sleeves of her plaid-red shirt were rolled past her elbows, with a black band on her left forearm and a ring on her right hand. She wore over jeans the same holster-belt as the rest of the town, which held her own revolver-disk. She was slightly shorter than Mike, probably around 5'9".

Her brown eyes stared into his own with a curiosity that he couldn't describe. She wore a half-smile that seemed like it was meant to be encouraging. However, he had a feeling she knew that his circumstances left little room for comfort.

He scratched the back of his head as he leaned his arms on the deck railing. "Yeah, 'tired' is a word... so is 'terrified'."

She stifled a laugh before stepping forward to lean against the railing beside him, earning his gaze as she looked out to the bustling streets before them. He found himself caught off-guard by how close she'd suddenly gotten, as though she was intent on keeping an eye on his every movement.

In exchange, she had earned his interest as well. Looking at her, though she was certainly beautiful, it wasn't her physical appearance that had him transfixed. But whatever it was, he couldn't put a finger on it.

He pulled his gaze away from her again, his eyes returning to the crowd as it suddenly hit him to try asking the question he'd been pondering the last few days.

"Hey... what's the point of all this?" he said, catching her attention. "For all this continual conflict between here and Saddlebury? All this time I've been preparing for a fight, yet I'm still not exactly sure what I'm really fighting for."

The girl's expression soured as she looked back at the crowd for another moment. Then her eyes traveled to her left arm, where she slid her armband down to reveal that the X-shaped scar that he had was embedded in her flesh too.

"Didn't anyone tell you why this thing is called the Mark of Death?" she asked him, a seriousness in her voice that made him believe she knew exactly what she was talking about.

When Mike failed to answer, she pulled her armband back to cover her Mark. "The reason being," she said grimly, "is because death is exactly what it brings to the people who bear it. Either to its bearer, or to the people around them. Like a curse."

Mike stared down at the spot on his arm where his own Mark was with a new kind of loathing. If this girl's words were true, then perhaps this was the reason his life had played out as it had. The reason he had lost his parents.

"All of the people in this town." She looked out to the people of Frontier Haven again. "They all bear it too. As do Keir and all of his followers. Samael believes it's better to have us all together in one place. That way, we save the rest of the world the trouble of having people like us around them, threatening them with our curse. Out here, we can only threaten the lives of others like ourselves, while the innocent are put out of harm's way."

Mike knit his brow as he processed that information. "Okay, but that still doesn't explain why this Keir guy is threatening to kill us all if we refused to duel," he pointed out.

The girl looked back to him with unease. "That's because they both have very different beliefs about what our role in the world is supposed to be," she said. "While Samael wants to preserve our lives as best he can, Keir thinks eliminating all traces of the Mark from the world is the only way to save it. That's why he forces his people to fight ours, to wipe each other out. But even if he were to succeed in killing all of us here, he would just turn his Romans against each other until they wiped themselves out too."

Mike bit his lip. Though Samael very much seemed like the lesser evil between the two, the idea that the choices that he and Keir had for those who bore the Mark were either outcasting themselves from society or warring to the death was insane to him.

"We shouldn't have to live like this," he said, making the girl raise her eyebrows as Mike looked at her. "I mean, aren't we just as innocent too? It's not like we asked to have these Marks."

The girl let out a heavy sigh. "I used to have the same thoughts myself... but the rest of these people here, they've all seen what their Marks are capable of. That's why they've left behind family, friends, and homes to protect them from their curse. At least here, they feel like their lives mean something."

"Gathering all in one place just to die so we can 'protect' the rest of humanity?" Mike asked. "That's not a meaningful life. That's suicide."

The girl's eyes widened at Mike's words. He stared back at her, his expression firm as he awaited her answer. Eventually, she let out a small chuckle as a smile came to her face, bringing mild confusion to his.

"I think I see why Samael has such a vested interest in you," she said as she stood upright. "You really are something else."

Mike took this as a compliment before a nearby voice suddenly chimed in: "Hope we're not interrupting anything."

His and the girl's heads swiveled to see Samael and Aeron approaching them, stepping up the stairs to the cabin's deck before stopping in front of them.

"Samael," the girl greeted her town's leader with a courteous bow.

Samael nodded to her with a smile, before turning his attention to Mike. "We're about to head out," he told him. "You feel ready?"

Mike gave a stiff nod. Truthfully, he still felt like he was woefully unprepared for what was about to happen, no matter how much stronger he'd gotten over the last few days.

Samael turned to face the crowded town. "People of Frontier Haven!" He spoke loudly, causing all heads to turn and face their leader. "It is time once again! We march to Saddlebury!"

With that, he stepped down from the deck and made for the left side of town from there, the rest of the townspeople following suit as the chatter among them resumed.

Aeron, whose eyes had remained on Samael the whole time, then locked eyes with Mike. To the latter's surprise, he thought he saw what looked like the smallest increment of sympathy in his eyes before he turned to join the rest of the crowd as they walked out of town.

He then felt the girl brush past him as she too joined the crowd, and he nervously followed suit. He managed to keep next to her as she eyed him with an almost apologetic look. He had a feeling she knew exactly what was running through his head, as she had no doubt been in the same place he was at least once before.

"By the way, what's your name?"

Mike was snapped out of his thoughts as he faced the girl again. "It's Mike," he said with an extended hand. "Mike Harper."

"Cassandra Maretta," she returned with a small smile, grasping his hand briefly. "You can call me Casey."

With that, the two broke eye contact again as Mike focused back on following the flow of the crowd. Suddenly his heart felt like it was made of lead as it sank to the pit of his stomach, the reality of his situation seeming to close in tighter and tighter around him.

He was either marching to win freedom for the people marching with him, or to the battlefield where he would make his last stand.


- Present Day -

A slight breeze bounced off the leather jacket Mike had donned.

The area he was in was closer to the waterfront businesses. However, the building he was approaching was a small brick structure, the only entryway being an archway with steps descending below. Above the door at the bottom of the stairway was a small sign lighting up neon letters that read "LUCKY MUTT'S TAVERN."

This was the place. He'd only been made vaguely aware of its existence before he'd returned from Frontier Haven. The only real lead he'd been able to follow was knowing the name of the owner, which had been difficult enough to trace in the last few hours.

At the very least, he'd made sure to take the precaution of disguising himself, as he was sure he would be made on sight otherwise. Thus, he'd dug through Bulbous's closet to surprisingly find a black leather jacket, leading him to construct a biker getup that he wrapped up with a black bandana around his hair and tinted glasses. He just hoped it would be enough.

He walked down the stairs and stepped through the door to enter a large, wood-paneled space. The walls were aligned with glow-up signs advertising various beers and sports teams. The main floor was filled with circular tables surrounded by wooden chairs, while one corner was occupied with a few pool tables. A polished bar with at least a hundred different bottles of assorted alcohol behind it clung to the opposite wall. Seated at one table along the wall were four muscular thugs also dressed in leathers, the eyes of whom Mike felt glue to him as he approached the bar.

He straightened his jacket before taking a seat, being met with the back of an old man who was towel-drying a mug. As his stool creaked, the man turned to face him with a yellow-toothed smirk. Though his wrinkled face and dark eyes showed his age, the black color of the bartender's hair circling around his bald pate barely held any gray. He was dressed in a short-sleeved, white-collared shirt with a black vest over it, and black pants—a typical bartending outfit. He stood at approximately 6'0".

He set the mug down on the bar. "What a surprise," he muttered in a creaky voice. "I don't often get business this early in the day."

"Well, you're the only bar open this early in the day," Mike replied.

The bartender laughed before raising an arm to show off his display. "So, what'll it be? I've got the best selection of booze in town. Even some 'exotic stuff' in the back if you're interested."

"Information," Mike answered. "I'm looking for someone."

The old man's face scrunched up. "Then you're in the wrong place, my guy," he said. "I take the bartender's code pretty seriously. Can't very well be disclosing information about my patrons unless you're a cop."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not looking for someone related to your bartending business," Mike replied. "Or are you not Adam Marker, Saddlebury's in-between guy who oversees their supply chain?"

Adam's eye twitched. "What do you know about that?"

"I know you contract killers from Saddlebury to bounty hunt," Mike said, leaning in slightly as his voice dropped. "And that you use that money to bribe the imports manager at the docks so they'll divert goods to go home with them."

It was Adam's turn to lean in towards Mike. "You best pick your next words real carefully," he said through gritted teeth, "or else I might just unload the whole clip of the gun I have behind this bar into your gut."

Mike heard the click of a hammer behind the bar, as well as the shuffling of chairs at the table where the leathered thugs had been seated.

He smirked. He had expected such a reaction. He felt secure with his revolver-disk hidden away in his jacket, but he hoped it wouldn't come to a point he would need to use it.

"Relax, I'm not here to oust you or anything like that," he said. "I just need to know where I can find one Louis Costanzo."

Adam held his stance for a moment before easing the tension in his shoulders. "And who's asking?"

"Someone looking to hire him for a job," he said. "After how well he handled his last job in Saddlebury."

Adam remained frozen for a time, before Mike heard his gun being placed down again behind the bar before nodding to his leathered thugs in the corner. An order to stand down that they obeyed, though their eyes remained trained on Mike.

Adam looked back to Mike. "All right, look, I'll level with ya," he said. "After that last job, taking out that Mike guy or whatever his name was; he wanted out. Worried about retribution or something of the sort. He begged me to help him land work out here so he could hide."

"All the more reason you should point me in his direction then," Mike replied. "The job I have will set him up for life. He won't have any reason to fear for the rest of his days."

Adam's eyebrows rose. "What kind of job are you looking to put him on exactly?"

Mike narrowed his. "Afraid that's need-to-know."

Adam shook his head. "Then I can't help you," he said, picking up another mug and proceeding to wipe it like the first. "I can't in good conscience just sell out Louis unless you can prove you're as exceptional as this job you're boasting."

Mike resisted the urge to vomit at Adam's use of the phrase "in good conscience." However, this had been the snag he'd anticipated.

"Then name how I can prove it," he said. "I'll take on whatever challenge you think of."

Adam's eyes flashed with surprise. Clearly, he hadn't expected Mike's adamance in his pursuit for this information. He set his mug down again before leaning on his hands against the bar, staring into the void of Mike's shades.

"All right, if you want Louis's whereabouts so badly," he said, "I challenge you to take on all four of my men in a duel."

Mike turned to glance at the four thugs still eyeing him from their table. No doubt Adam had hand-picked each of them to be his personal muscle, given his age. And considering Adam's relationship with Saddlebury, chances were they were also picked for their dueling abilities.

Mike turned back to face Adam. "Okay," he said, "But I face them on my terms."

Adam broke into his toothy smirk again. "Name them."

Mike smirked back. He'd just given him all the power. "The four of them versus me," he said. "They'll share 4000 life points while I have my own 4000. No one attacks on their first turns. Turn order will go me, then each of them, and the cycle repeats. They get to share the same field, meaning they can utilize whatever cards their partners have already put into play. Sound fair?"

Adam's smile seemed to broaden. "You'd give them four turns to get ready to kick your ass while you get only two to defend yourself?" he asked.

"Unless you would rather I tip the rules more in my favor," Mike offered. "Either way, when they lose, you tell me where I can find Louis Costanzo."

Adam stood up straight again. "Fair enough," he said. "But if you lose, then you owe me a favor. Given how you managed to track me down, I could use a guy like you in my bounty hunting ring."

Mike cringed internally. But it was all he had to work with. "Agreed."

Adam nodded before looking up at his four goons across the way. "What say you, boys?"

Mike stood from his stool to face the four men as they too stood, the obvious ringleader standing before the other three as he sneered at Mike. "We accept."


Violet stood with arms crossed as she bounced on her heels in front of the old trailer.

She tried to stow her anxiety but couldn't. The idea that Mike was somewhere in this city in potential peril was driving her insane. So much so that she hadn't realized how tightly she'd been clenching the note he'd left behind that morning until every inch of its surface was creased beyond recognition.

Marina had been the next one she'd called after Danny. She'd given them both enough information to know that Mike was on his own putting himself in danger, to which they immediately saw fit to split up and take to the streets to see if they could locate him. But her own search had ended dismally, leaving her to hope against hope that the others might fare better than she had.

"Violet!"

She snapped from her agonizing when she saw Marina steadily sprinting towards her from the gate entrance. She felt her arms drop to her sides as she asked, "did you find him?"

Marina stopped before her, shaking her head. "I asked everyone I could around the market district, but no one's seen him all day."

Violet opened her mouth to react when both girls' ears twitched at the sound of polyurethane wheels rolling on concrete. Within seconds, Danny had rounded the corner of the fence and came to an abrupt stop before the gate, kicking his board into his hands as he rushed through the gate.

"No sign of him anywhere downtown," he said as he approached the girls. "Hell, I even showed some people his picture and a few of 'em thought he was still missing."

Violet growled frustratingly as she turned away, hands on her hips. Danny passed a quick glance at Marina, before asking, "what exactly did you overhear last night that made you think he was in too deep of something anyway?"

Violet met her friends' eyes again. She had been purposefully vague when she'd called them, if only to spring them into action sooner rather than later for Mike's sake.

"Well," she said, trying to recall what she'd heard the night before to the best of her ability, "last night, Mike got this call that I overheard... and he mentioned something about being ambushed and... a girl."

Red flags immediately waved before Danny and Marina's eyes as they exchanged quick looks. "Maybe we should take this in the trailer," Marina suggested. "Sounds like we might be here a while."


The sunlight was dim over the slums of County Dame, veiled by a multitude of clouds.

Adam took this observation in as he observed the sky, before looking back to the street outside of his bar. Traffic was sparse at this hour, which made the road a perfect arena for his four goons to stare down the stranger looking for Louis Costanzo.

Though his expectations were set, he had to admit he was curious about what he might witness here. The blond had set a serious handicap for himself, facing off against four others while he only got one turn for each of their own turns. But the confidence that he'd displayed when he stated that he would win, alongside the gravity of the job he seemed to have for Louis, had him second-guessing what would happen.

To the left, the ringleader of the goons—a bald man with a thick mustache—called to the lone opponent on the other side: "You sure you want to go through with this?"

Mike was silent as he extended his left arm, his new, restored duel disk protruding a small sheet of curved metal that was his graveyard, from which then protruded five blades that composed his field.

"I'd be more concerned about myself if I were you," Mike replied as he dealt his first five cards.

The ringleader spit on the ground before he and his men followed suit, each holding out their left arms as their duel disks came to life, and each of them drew five cards.

"LET'S DUEL!" was cried between them all.

- DUEL -

[Mike - LP: 4000] VS [Bar Goons - LP: 4000]

"As was agreed, I'll be taking the first move," said Mike. "I draw!"

He scanned his hand as a wave of nostalgia swept over him. It had been forever since he had played with this deck. Not wanting to be recognized for his playing style by Adam, he had reconstructed an old deck he'd used during his childhood days in the orphanage. No one else knew what comprised it, except maybe Violet. He just hoped it was up for whatever these guys had to throw at him.

After his duel against Damian White, a paranoia had been brought up in him that he hadn't felt since his early days in Frontier Haven. He loathed the fact he had walked into that duel so cocky only to find himself nearly overpowered, and he didn't want to make that same mistake again.

"I'll set one monster in DEF mode," Mike decided, "and set one card face-down. That ends my turn."

Until he knew what he was dealing with, it was better to play it safe.

"Then it's my move!" the man furthest to the right of Mike cried out. He was a little shorter than the rest, with a brown Mohawk and big eyes.

"I'll start by summoning my V-Tiger Jet!" he began. [LV: 4/ATK: 1600]

"And I'll play one card face down!" the man concluded as he set a card. "That's it for me!"

"My turn, then!" said the second man, whose entire head was shaved from his head to his chin. "And I'll summon my W-Wing Catapult!" [LV: 4/ATK: 1300]

"And then I'll combine him with V-Tiger Jet to form something even better!" he cried out as the two machines joined together, the Tiger Jet attaching itself to the top of the Wing Catapult. "Fly in to pounce on your prey, VW-Tiger Catapult!" [LV: 6/ATK: 2000]

Mike's jaw clenched. He'd heard of the A-to-Z archetype. By banishing the materials, they combined together to create new fusion monsters. And if these two were both playing compatible decks for that, odds were the others were too.

"Now I use my Tiger Catapult's effect!" the man continued. "Your monster is forced to switch from DEF mode to ATK mode!"

Mike watched as his monster flipped into face-up ATK position, revealing it to be Big Shield Gardna. [LV 4/DEF: 2600ATK: 100]

"Ha! Not so tough without its shield to hide behind!" he said. "If it wasn't my first turn I'd stomp him out right now! But instead, I'll just set a card and end my turn!"

"My turn!" the third man said. This man had no hair on his head, but his beard suggested that he was a die-hard ZZ Top fan. "I'll summon out my X-Head Cannon!" [LV: 4/ATK: 1800]

Mike glared at the monster as he realized it was as he feared, while the bearded man continued: "And with one more set card, I'll wrap up there!"

"Then I'm up!" the ringleader of the four finally said. "And I summon my Y-Dragon Head!" [LV: 4/ATK: 1500]

"Then I'll activate the spell card, Frontline Base!" he continued as his spell activated. "And thanks to this card, I can special summon one Union monster once per turn! So I choose my Z-Metal Tank!" [LV: 4/ATK: 1500]

"And with these three monsters present, I'll now combine them!" he said as they too disassembled before reassembling together to create something else fearsome. "Take the future of warfare by storm, XYZ Dragon Cannon!" [LV: 8/ATK: 2800]

Mike watched with wide eyes behind his glasses as the new machine thudded onto the ground as the ringleader went on: "And with this monster, by discarding one card, I can destroy your Gardna!"

The XYZ machine aimed its cannons at Mike's warrior, firing two blasts that eviscerated the man in the blink of an eye.

"But I'm afraid there's more where that came from," the mustached man taunted. "See, while my other boys here got my Dragon Cannon's buddy VW-Tiger Catapult on the field, it and my monster aren't enough. Which is why I'm gonna combine them too!"

Mike watched as the two fused machines broke apart amongst each other, before recombining themselves together into a creature comparable in size to Danny's Machina Force.

"Meet the instrument of your destruction!" the ringleader said. "VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon!" [LV: 8/ATK: 3000]

"And its effect will wipe the rest of your field clean!" he explained haughtily. "He can banish one card on the opponent's field once per turn, and I'm gonna be taking out that face down card of yours!"

The dollar-store Transformer's chest-cannons aimed down at Mike's set card, Magic Cylinder, before blasting it out of existence.

The ringleader chortled as Mike placed the trap card back in his deck box. "Your field's run dry, now!"

"And now to begin adding insult to injury," the shorter man with the Mohawk said, "I'll activate my Blast with Chain trap card, giving V-to-Z an extra 500 ATK!" [ATK: 30003500]

"I'll also lend a hand to our monster!" the shaved man beside him said. "I equip my Mist Body spell card to our monster, giving it immunity to destruction by battle!"

"And even if you somehow overpower it," the bearded one said, "I'll use my Fiery Fervor trap, which equips to our monster and doubles its original ATK should any of your monsters' ATK rise over its own original 3000!"

"But I don't think that's going to be a problem either way," the mustached ringleader figured. "For I'll equip the classic Axe of Despair to give my monster another 1000 ATK!" [ATK: 35004500]

The four men laughed in triumph as Mike looked up at the opposing monster towering over them. "Our monster is untouchable now!" the ringleader boasted. "So go ahead and make your next move, so that we can spend the new few turns blasting you away!"

On the sidelines, Adam scrunched up his old face as he looked to Mike. This would usually be game, set, and match for anyone else, yet the leathered stranger seemed unfazed by the mech that was staring him down.

Little did any of them realize that Mike had already plotted his victory.

"I've got to hand it to you," Mike said with a small smile. "I'm actually somewhat impressed. All that extra ATK power and protection cards make it quite the formidable foe. It's almost flawless—a perfect monster for the perfect victory."

Mike's smile broadened. "Which is what makes it the perfect weapon for me to use to defeat you."

Disbelief spread across the faces of Adam and the other four men as Mike started: "It's my turn! And I'll start by summoning my Sword Master tuner monster!" [LV: 3/1200 ATK]

"Next, I'll use this monster's effect to special summon it in DEF mode from my hand while I control a tuner monster!" Mike continued. "My Boost Warrior!" [LV: 1/DEF: 200] "And while it's on my field, all warrior monsters I control gain another 300 ATK as well!" [Sword Master- ATK: 12001500] [Boost Warrior - ATK: 300600]

"But that won't last, 'cause now I'm gonna release my Boost Warrior," Mike said as the small monster vanished, "to special summon my Turret Warrior!" [LV: 5/ATK: 1200] [Sword Master - ATK: 15001200] "And his effect lets him gain the original ATK of the warrior I offered for his summon!" [ATK: 12001500]

The ringleader's eyes narrowed. "What's been the point of fluctuating your monsters' ATK values like that?"

"Nothing, I needed the monsters themselves so I could tune them together!" Mike explained as he raised his arm, prompting his Sword Master to become three emerald rings aligned in the air, which Turret Warrior dived through as he became five balls of energy.

"Synchro summon!" Mike said out as a pillar of light engulfed the rings and orbs. "Rise up, Colossal Fighter!" [LV: 8/ATK: 2800]

Adam and the four goons looked on with confusion as Colossal Fighter floated down to stand beside Mike, who went on: "With him out on the field, he now gains 100 extra ATK for every warrior monster in my graveyard, of which I have four!" [ATK: 28003200]

"So what, though?" the ringleader asked. "Its ATK is far lower than our V-to-Z's is!"

"True, but my plan hinges on using your monster to win, not mine!" Mike countered as he lifted another card. "Now I play the Junk Barrage equip spell! Now whenever the equipped monster destroys an opposing monster in battle, you guys will lose life points equal to half of that monster's ATK!

"And the monster I'm equipping," he said with a pointed finger, "is your Dragon Catapult Cannon!"

"What?!" the four men exclaimed in unison as a slight glow embraced their mech.

"Time to end this," Mike declared. "Colossal Fighter, attack that Catapult Cannon with Colossal Whirlwind!"

The marble-made warrior leaped into the air, shooting itself in a spiraling motion towards the five-in-one machine with fists extended.

The ringleader smiled devilishly as he shot back, "Catapult Cannon, retaliate!"

The machine aimed its cannons up at Colossal Fighter and opened fire on him, resulting in his being destroyed in a cloud of smoke that enveloped the entire field. [Mike - LP: 40002700]

The four bar thugs broke into laughter at the coated stranger's suicidal move. "You must be as dumb as you look!" the ringleader wheezed. "You let your monster get completely pulverized!"

But as the smoke cleared, they were surprised to see Mike was still standing calmly, with a smile on his face.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were the four of you," he warned. "Because I just confirmed that you're about to lose."

The four goons each stopped abruptly as Mike explained: "See, this is where my Junk Barrage takes effect! Even though it's equipped to your monster, it's still my card, which means it deals the damage it does to my opponents! So now you take half of my Colossal Fighter's ATK as damage, or 1400 points!" [Bar Goons - LP: 40002600]

The ringleader cringed. "So what of it? Your monster's gone now, and there's nothing else you can do this turn!"

Mike did not respond, but instead waited until suddenly, the ground before him burst open, and Colossal Fighter emerged back onto the field. [LV: 8/ATK: 28003200]

"When Colossal Fighter is destroyed in battle," Mike explained, "his effect allows him to resurrect any warrior-type monster in my graveyard—including himself!"

Everyone's eyes were widened as they all realized what this meant, while Mike continued: "and since he's been revived, he's considered a new monster, and gets to attack again! So go, Colossal Fighter!"

Colossal Fighter proceeded to attack the same exact way he had before, only to have his attack foiled by the blast of the cannons on the four men's battle machine yet again as it was destroyed. [Mike - LP: 27001400]

"And once more," Mike said as his victory smile spread across his face, "you lose 1400 LP for destroying my Fighter!" [Bar Goons - LP: 26001200]

"And again, just like before," Mike cried as his Colossal Fighter emerged from the ground before him once more, "My Fighter revives as a new monster, ready to attack again!" [LV: 8/ATK: 28003200]

The ringleader's jaw clenched as he realized there was no escaping this loop. "Damn you," he growled through gritted teeth. "I'll give you hell for this!"

"Don't bother," Mike shot back. "I'm already on my way there. Colossal Fighter, finish this duel!"

Colossal Fighter made to attack the Dragon Catapult Cannon one last time as the machine counteracted, shattering Colossal Fighter to trigger Junk Barrage's effect, ending the game. [Mike - LP: 1400100] [Bar Goons - LP: 12000]

- DUEL OVER -

[Winner: Mike]

The four men sank to their knees, groaning in humiliation as the holograms vanished and the duel disks deactivated. Adam stood awe-struck by what he had just witnessed, while Mike wasted no time walking back from the road up to him.

"So, if that's proof enough for you," he said, "I believe you owe me some information."

Adam stiffened, his head turned away in embarrassment. Clearly he'd been so certain in his goons' victory, only to now realize that perhaps it was time to hire better muscle.

Eventually he sighed. "Fine. I set Louis up with a warehouse job at the County Dame Pier, on the west side. He works first shift, so if you want to catch him before he gets off at five you best get moving."

Mike nodded. "Thanks," he said, before turning on his heel to walk down the sidewalk. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Mike heard Adam click his tongue distastefully as he paced on, plotting a new course in his mind. He was as south of the city as he could get, and a trek to the west side pier would be at least a few hours on its own.

He checked his phone. It was 1:33 PM now. If he hustled, he might just make it there in time to find Costanzo, and get the answers he sought.

Just wait for me, Casey, he said internally as he picked his step up to a brisk stride down County Dame's streets. I promise I'll find you.


"Okay, so lemme see if I got it all straight now," Danny said, his head resting on the table in the trailer. "Mike got called last night by some dude—presumably someone from his last two years away—and talked about an ambush that either killed or made off with some female friend of his. And after that, it seemed like he might've learned of an opportunity to fix whatever it was that went wrong then?"

"Danny, how has it taken you three times to get that down?" Marina said from beside him, eyes rolling.

"Marina, you've been making fun of me being a slow learner for six years now," he said as he shifted to rest his chin on the table. "Would it kill ya to have some sympathy for once?"

Marina crossed her arms as she huffed. Violet, who'd been sitting across from them for the last forty-five minutes, looked weary after having explained everything. The whole time, she had kept contradicting herself as she tried to remember exactly what Mike had said, and what it all might have meant in context. But unfortunately, the little that she had managed to accurately recall left little to no clues as to what Mike's agenda really was.

Danny breathed a sigh. "Okay, so odds are he's trying to find out what happened to his friend, right?" he figured. "But if everything he went through happened outside of County Dame, where in this city would he even go?"

"I thought the same thing," said Marina. "But if he still has contact with people from while he was away, it's possible that they might've made it here to County Dame."

Violet felt her stomach turn to knots. After seeing the bullet holes in the back of Mike's duster, she didn't want to begin imagining what kind of horrible danger might've followed him all the way back home.

A brief silence fell between them all as that idea hung over them. It then occurred to her to ask them the one question she felt like she didn't want an answer to, but at this point it beat considering what kind of danger might've been in their midst.

"Do you guys think that, maybe," she started shakily, "there's a chance he might've gotten... close to this missing girl he was talking about?"

Danny and Marina's eyes met briefly. Just as Violet hadn't wanted to ask that question, they too didn't want to answer it.

"I mean, he didn't say anything to imply what his exact relationship with her was, so at least there's no need to jump to conclusions," Marina said.

"Yeah, but then again," Danny figured, "the fact that he went all gung-ho into this whole thing after talking about her... if she's a part of this at all, it must mean she's got some importance to him, right?"

Marina held Danny at gunpoint with her eyes at that remark, as though she were saying, we're supposed to be trying to put her mind at EASE, dumbass.

But the damage was already done. Upon registering those words, she suddenly stood up from the table as she said, "look, thanks for trying guys; but we're not going to get anywhere on guesswork. I'm gonna go home."

"Wait, Violet!" Marina called after her as she rounded the table, but she was already to the door. She knew her friends cared for her, but at that point all she wanted was to be alone.

But as she reached the second concrete step outside, Violet came to a stop when her attention was grabbed by the figure of a man walking through the construction yard towards the trailer:

His red cape billowed behind him as he walked. The black shirt beneath it was wrinkled and ripped in a few places, as were his black pants. His brown boots fell heavily on the construction site's soil with every step as he strode towards them.

Danny and Marina appeared behind Violet as the rest of the man's features came into clearer view: the man's long, raven hair was held up by a tattered red headband, while his crimson eyes seemed to pierce through the three friends on the steps. But what really caught their eyes was the holster on the man's belt: the same exact holster that held Mike's revolver-disk; and within it, the same device.

The man eventually stopped some yards away from them, looking to the teenagers with an intense glare. "Where is Michael Harper?" he asked, his dark and gritted voice sending chills down each of their spines.

Danny leapt past the girls and stood before them, arms spread out as though to shield them. "Don't you know it's rude to ask something of someone else before introducing yourself, asshole?" he shot back, though he couldn't keep his voice from cracking at least three times as he attempted to put on a brave facade.

The man's eyes narrowed. "My name is Aeron Mortimer, and I won't ask you again: where is Michael Harper?"


ED1: "Behind Blue Eyes" by Limp Bizkit


Author's Notes

And we're back with entry #6! This one saw a major overhaul from its original incarnation and good goddamn am I loving it now. And for those wondering, Mike's use of a deck centering around Colossal Fighter is a throwback I decided to throw in calling back to my old YGO fic titled "The Lost Decks," in which the Mike of that story used that card right from chapter 1. Gotta pay homage to the good ol' days, amirite?

Now, as I explained in the first chapter's A/N: I'll occasionally be advertising any other works I put out, as well as other author's works. Below is my first recommendation for someone else's work, and it's one that I HEAVILY implore you go read. And totally not because we're set in the same universe or anything.

Right, thanks for sticking around, and stay awesome everyone.


Recommended Works

"Yu-Gi-Oh! Reality's Curtain," by Master Of Anime224: Set in the fictional city of Nishihama, Japan, this story follows the path of young duelist Matsuda Yukaro as he struggles to unravel the mysteries surrounding a strange woman, an off-putting classmate, and a group of shady individuals with less-than-innocent intentions. But little does he know that the forces he's chasing after will not only have an effect on the lives of him and his friends, but on the very fabric of reality itself...


REMASTERED ON: 9/24/2020