Rain splattered his visor. A green light slid down the face of it, wiping the water off to clear Zane's vision. Not that it mattered. He could see where he was going thanks to the mini-map on the corner of his HUD. Another screen popped up, showing Zane a rear-view image of his prototype chasing after him. The creature looked like it was ready to fight. That's what he wanted to see - life. He spared no expense to make his creation feel like it was a living thing. It snarled, it growled, it obeyed his orders. He couldn't have been happier.
Before he knew it, he found himself flying over the Domino City ports. It was a very different world than the lavish, clean, streets of the Crown District and the Dragon Gardens District. There were no fancy malls, luxury hotels, Dueling arenas, or grand temples to the Goddesses here. He could already smell the difference in the air. The stench of sea salt, motor oil, trash, and cheaply made fast food perfumed the air.
"You have arrived at your destination," Nel-E said to Zane. "Good look to you, sir. Be safe."
"Thanks, Nel-E."
"Shall I have your will sent to your father?"
"Very funny, Nel-E. Hack yourself into the Kaiba Corp satellite so you can have a bird's eye view of my surroundings. Alert me of any sign of trouble. Try not to get yourself noticed."
"Yes, sir. Kaiba's multi-colored-haired lackeys will never even know I'm there. Ugh. They are scary things. "
"Cut the chatter. I'm going dark."
This was it. Zane's heart raced as he landed in front of the ruins of a liquidated supermarket. He saw fire flickering through the openings of the boards that were nailed over the windows and heard loud music thumped through the walls. Pathetic. If these guys wanted to keep themselves hidden, they sure did a horrible job of doing it. Graffiti was sprayed along the walls of the supermarket, and there were signs warning trespassers that this was Aeon turf.
Zane shook his head. Another childish mistake on the gang's part. And these guys got the best of him and the royal security guards? These were the guys demanding the King of Eredas to surrender his crown to them?
He had a feeling he was going to have no trouble taking them down. He walked towards the door and raised his fist. His exoskeleton activated, maximizing his strength.
WHAM!
He punched the steel door down. The Aeons, who were celebrating their victory, stood up and gasped. The music stopped. Zane stomped into the store.
"What the hell are you supposed to be?" shouted a punk, hanging out on the top of a shelf. "If you know what's good for you, you'd turn your metallic ass out of..."
PEW!
Zane shot him with the laser cannon on his wrist. The Aeon screamed in agony as he fell to the floor with a thud.
"Where is Alexis?" he shouted. "Hand her over and you will not be harmed!"
"Man, whatever!" another Aeon said, pulling out a shotgun.
The other Aeons took out weapons of their own and fired. At once, Zane held up his palm, activating a green, hexagon-tiled, barrier. He grinned, watching as the bullets peppered the barrier. The Aeons were shouting in confusion; cursing, and constantly claiming that their bullets did not affect the shield. When the gunfire died down, it was Zane's turn to go on the offensive. He raised his fists - the second laser cannon rose out of the other gauntlet.
He fired, taking down a dozen thugs in less than a minute. When the gang thought it best to attack, they fired their weapons, but Zane activated his barrier again. He laughed, but only for a moment. A fireball struck him in the stomach, knocking him out the door and back into the rain. He rolled on the ground and stopped.
His HUD flashed red with various warnings; heavy damage was inflicted on the cuirass of his exoskeleton.
A wild-haired witch with multiple piercings on her face laughed at what she had done; both of her hands engulfed by bubble gum pink flames. She walked toward Zane, ready to inflict more damage. She did not anticipate him recovering so quickly.
He rose up at once and blasted her in the chest with his laser cannon. When she was dead, he got back up and held up both hands, creating a much larger shield. Zane knew that he could not hold them back with just shields and laser cannon blasts. They were smarter than he thought.
Thanks to that last attack, they discovered a weakness. His exoskeleton was not magic proof. More spellcasters joined the ranks, firing blasts of lightning, jets of boiling water, and colorful fireballs towards him. Zane hoped his shield would cover him from those, but the arcane arts proved far more powerful than technology; for they shot right through his shield. Explosions shook the ground and knocked a few structures down.
He was struck on the shoulder by a lightning spell - it surged through his arm, burning him with pain and paralyzing the left half of his body. Zane ducked behind a shelf. The Aeons would give him no time to breathe. They hopped over counters and iceboxes to get to their attacker. It was payback time for them.
So they thought.
The prototype burst through the ceiling and roared at them. Before they could react, the mechanical creature fired a yellow-colored laser at them, turning them to bones which broke down into dust. The rest of the Aeons cried out in horror at the monster and ran out, not wanting to tangle with either it or Zane, who was proving a little difficult to kill.
"Oh no, you don't!" he shouted.
He ran after them, the exoskeleton giving him a great boost in speed. He grabbed an Aeon by the hood and threw him across the store. He smashed out the window into the rain and rolled to a stop. He stood up, hoping to get away, but he felt a white-hot pain shoot through his leg. He wailed in anguish and collapsed on the wet ground. He looked at the wound that caused him such discomfort. A hole had burned through his leg. Flames still flickered in his torn jeans. He had been shot by Zane's laser.
He gasped in horror, seeing him walk out of the ruins of the store. The prototype roared and started blasting the others with his breath, killing each and every one. He soared over the harbor hunting down any more who ran or were stupid enough to try to shoot it down with their magical attacks.
The Aeon tried to back away, but it was no use. Zane grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. The exoskeleton's grip choked him.
"Where is she!?" Zane shouted.
"I...I..." babbled the Aeon.
"WHERE IS ALEXIS!"
"I...I don't know!"
Zane brought the laser cannon close to the Aeon's face.
"NO! NO! NO!" the Aeon shouted. "Please! I really don't know! After King Aldric posted the video they took off with her."
"WHERE?"
"I don't know! I swear I don't know! I'm just a new recruit. I just got sworn in yesterday! They don't tell me any of these things."
Zane brought the cannon closer to the Aeon's face. "Then you better pray that you know someone who does."
"Okay, okay, okay! Look for a guy named Dargon Merlon. He's one of the officers in charge of the boys over at the Dueling District. They run the card hustling side of things. There's supposed to be a meet or something over there. But I don't know the exact location. You'll have to shake down all the guys that work there to get any info on Dargon. He's like a shadow, man. The only reason I've been able to see him is because this is a huge operation. The Princess is the key to getting the throne from the Daltons."
"You idiots don't know what you've caused. Because of you, we could be at war with both Lorin and the Covenant of Yeyu. All you had to do was await the return of Prince Yuri."
"Prince Yuri!? There is no time for that! They're killing us out there, man. You don't know how much they have caused us to suffer. What I have suffered because of them. I lost my little sister to those bastards."
"What?"
"She was playing Duel Monsters with her friends in the park," the Aeon started sobbing. He placed both hands on Zane's hoping to loosen his grip. "She never came back. Security cameras filmed what happened. Some robed goons wearing that green and gold eye from that psycho church drove up in a white van and took her and her little friends away."
"So that's why you joined the Aeons? To find your sister?"
"And get revenge on the Church. I just gotta find her. You don't know what they do to little girls, man. They do horrible things. If she's unfortunate, she'll be shipped off to King Forrest in Naralia. He's a sicko, man. A real sicko. You're fighting the wrong guys, here, whoever you are. We can work together. We can help you."
Zane shook his head. "You and your pals are no different from the Covenant. Last year, King Aldric ordered pyromancers to burn down a whole school full of children who worship the false god. And they succeeded. None of the kids survived. Killed because they had a different belief than he did."
"Tellaria's Grace!" whispered the Aeon. "I...I had no idea."
"Of course, you didn't. You were so hell-bent on revenge that you didn't even stop to think about who you're working for."
"But we can't just sit around and do nothing, man! We have to fight back those savages!"
"By becoming savages ourselves!" Zane roared.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Zane looked at the old supermarket and saw that it was in flames. He let the Aeon go. "Wait for them to arrive," he instructed the boy. "They'll help you with your wound."
Zane reached into one of the pouches around his belt and took out a binding, which he used to wrap the boy's hands together.
"However, you're going to be arrested for your involvement in the Princess's kidnapping. I'm sorry about what's happened to you, kid, but there is no excuse to throw your life away and become a lying, cheating, murdering, disgrace."
The boy's lips trembled. "But...but my sister, man. She needs me!"
"I'll find her," Zane assured him. "I promise you she'll be safe. But beyond that, I can confirm that she'll no longer be your concern. Because of your foolishness, she'll be growing up without a brother. If she saw who you joined; what you became, she would be greatly ashamed of you."
The boy nodded. "But can you promise me she'll be safe?"
"I assure you when I find her she'll get the best care. In the meantime, you think about what you did. To your sister, the Princess, and to yourself."
The boy looked at him and nodded.
Zane activated his rockets and took off into the night. The prototype roared and chased after him.
Lore
Domino City is the capital of the Kingdom of Eredas and the most technologically advanced civilization in Termnnia. The city covers many leagues and is circular in shape, divided into ten districts like a pie.
The King's District, The Dragon Garden's District, Kaiba Plaza, Rosenkruz Academy, The Dueling District, The Aquamarine District, The Baytown, The Star District, The Temple District, and the White Dragon District. Another district called the Cerulean District is built underwater by the Rosenkruz Bay. This is home for the 1% of Eredas. The King of Games, Yugi Muto, is said to own a condo there.
The city is also stacked over four other levels which were built over and forgotten thousands of years ago after the Elf-Machine Wars of the Second Age. The lower levels of Domino City are less lavish than the surface and grow to be more deteriorated the further down you go. Level 5 is the worst of these levels, where poor souls who are too unfortunate to make ends meet are forced to go. It is notorious for its poor living conditions and for housing criminals and other vagabonds. And it is an ideal habitat for terrible monsters said to lurk in the abandoned streets and subway tunnels.
