Chapter Four

Partners

Kalin dragged me away from Martha's before dawn and apologized to her for my absence. Her ranting chased us out the door. I rubbed sleep out of my eyes as we trekked to the hideout. Dark waves crashed into the cliff, and gray clouds lingered from the previous day's storm.

Despite the bleak morning, Kalin was full of energy. He hopped from foot to foot, and his eyes sparkled like gold. "Okay Rain, today we're doing something different! You and I are going as partners on a special mission!"

"Um, okay," I muttered. "Where's everybody else?"

"Weeeell, I figured the experience would be more effective with less hands on deck," he said. "Plus, we need to practice cuff throwing, and I wouldn't want to make them wait."

Kalin sprinted up the staircase and returned with two pairs. He stood a good distance away and swung an empty duel disk forward. "Give it your best shot!"

I tossed. He had to dive for it before it fell into the ocean. He heaved breaths from the effort as he came to my side. "You're a lil' too focused on the power part. They're light as all hell, so you don't need to throw so hard."

I tossed again. The cuff landed a couple feet short. He scratched beneath his headband. "Here, watch the way I do it!"

The way he twirled the wire and hooked me in were like the works of a practiced magician. I couldn't make sense of the skill if I tried. He clicked the cuff off my disk and returned to his spot across from me.

I spun the cuff once and threw. The metal latched onto his disk. He pumped a fist into the air. "Perfect! Now we can go!"

"Um, you don't think I should try a few more times?"

"Nahhh. You're a natural!"

"Not really. I mean, it took-"

"Like two tries." I felt the need to correct him, but he was already walking away from the hideout. I struggled to keep up with his gait. He said, "Sometimes the gangs we defeat try to reform. If that happens, we need to go back and make sure all of their resources are destroyed. So! That's what you and I are doing today."

"Really? Is it safe with just the two of us?"

"Please. You underestimate me. Er, us."

Well, yes. One-half of our group couldn't even throw a cuff correctly. Then again, he made everything look easy. I was sure him being in the lead meant everything would go smoothly.

"Anyways, we're going to Team Golem's old hideout," he explained. "The guys and I beat them about a week ago. I heard a couple of them have gotten a hold of duel disks, so…"

"We're trying to destroy those disks?"

"Well, it would also be nice to find out their supplier."

I hummed to confirm I'd heard. We passed a worn plaque. I squinted; flecks of gold traced the outer rims of the worn, black letters. "What's a 'financial district?'"

He shrugged his shoulders. "The buildings 'round here were for finance."

"Mkay, but what does that mean?"

"Hell if I know. Something to do with money, I think – not that we do the whole money thing anymore. The Satellite's all about bartering and leverage." He glanced back at my curious stare and continued, "Bartering is figuring a trade, which depends on how different people value different things. Leverage is a lot easier and happens a lot more often. It's 'give me what I want or I'll put my gang to good use' kinda shit."

"Which is what we're trying to stop."

He snapped his fingers and flashed a grin. "Now you're getting it!"

The mangled, steel carcass of a skyscraper lay next to us. I noted the white structure crushed beneath – what must have been a statue once upon a time. In the wake of destruction, why did people default to using others as stepping stones rather than helping them up?

"You nervous?" Kalin asked, staring pointedly at my hand. I'd defaulted to winding hair around my finger again.

"Yeah. I just- I know I can duel, but when I think about how we're going up against gangs willing to use people like that…"

"You don't have to worry!" he said, his smile exuding confidence. "We always go in groups so we can all protect each other. I'm not letting anything happen to you."

I wound the hair tighter. "It's hard to remember."

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted him lifting his hand. The movement stopped. He ran it through his hair and said, "You'll get used to it the more we do this. C'mon. We're almost there."

Sunlight filtered through the separating clouds. Kalin pressed his finger to his lips in warning and gestured towards a two-story structure with a domed roof. A worn sign out front read, "C _ _ M B _ R OF C _ M M E _ C E."

Kalin boosted me through a window, and I pulled him after me into the second floor. Grime coating the once-polished floors masked the sound of Kalin's shoes. I tried not to think about what I was stepping in while I followed.

He opened the door silently. It led to a balcony overlooking the large, open first floor. The railing was broken. Kalin knelt and crawled forward, beckoning me to follow. Once we were both poised over the edge, he pointed to the first floor.

Two men with purple hair stood over a young child. They wore red jackets with the Giant Soldier of Stone card art on the back. One was lean and tall, taller than even Jack. He stood over the kid, who was crying. "Only two disks. Yeah, right. Show us where the rest are or else."

"I'm telling the truth, I swear!" the kid squealed. Tears poured down his face. "Th-they're for me and my sister! Please give them back!"

I gasped. "If we destroy the disks-"

"Rain." Kalin's eyes sparked. "We can give him disks after we take out those punks."

His reassurance wiped away my doubt. I nodded at him. Below us, the short one said, "Kick him again. I'm sure that will jog his memory."

"Nice to meet you gentlemen again!" Kalin stretched out a pair of cuffs and leapt off the balcony. While he fell, he tossed the cuffs, ensnaring the tall one's duel disk. I mimicked his movements and caught the other Team Golem member.

First try. My tense muscles loosened. What a miracle. Kalin said, "I see you two're as noble as the last time we met."

"Shit! It's Kessler! Wait, where're the other three? All he brought was some chick!"

Kalin muttered, "You gonna let him say that?"

"What am I supposed to do?"

He responded with a laugh and tapped his temple. "You're in the right. If it doesn't get to you, you keep a clear head."

"We'll lose everything again if we lose this duel," said the short one.

The tall one activated his disk and drew with purpose. "That won't happen."

"DUEL START!"

"I'll be going first!" the tall one stated.

Kalin slid a step closer to me. "Are you going to let him do that?"

"Absolutely."

"I summon a monster in face-down defense position and set one face-down. Your move."

Kalin looked to me, and I flipped my hand towards him. He said, "My draw! I activate the Pandemonium Field Spell, summon Archfiend Soldier, and attack your monster!"

"Medusa Worm may be destroyed, but its flip effect still activates, allowing me to destroy Archfiend Soldier!"

"Thanks to Pandemonium, I add a monster to my deck with lower stars than Soldier. I'll set a couple of face-downs and end my turn." He had dropped Hate Buster and Archfiend's Roar, two trap cards that wouldn't help my deck.

"My draw now," said the one across from me. He grinned at his cards. "I set a face-down defense monster and end my turn."

I noted their use of face-down monsters. Kalin side-eyed me. He'd faced them before. He knew their archetype, but he wasn't giving advice. I guessed discussing strategy in earshot of the opponent would be counterintuitive. The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass my leader on my first official day.

The desire to perform well made it more difficult to think. I mean, I was normally nervous during a duel, but this was a whole new level of anxiety. I remembered him showing me off after I'd saved him from the Securities and the rare sense of pride it'd given me. Maybe it was a little silly, but I really hoped to impress him.

"I activate a Continuous Spell: Future Fusion. By discarding certain cards from my deck, an incredibly powerful Fusion Monster will take the field in two turns." Skyscrapers shot up behind me. Blue and green shone from their apex. The colors twisted together to form a zero on the counter. "Next, I activate Monster Reincarnation. I replace a card in my hand with one in the grave. Then I'll summon Kaibaman and use his ability. By sacrificing him, I can special summon my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

That combo took all but two cards to pull off. I left myself with a gamble on his monster. What if it was like the last one? I bet so much that I couldn't take the chance. "I activate Burst Stream of Destruction! This destroys every monster on your field, but my Blue-Eyes can't attack."

"Thanks for that! When Sand Moth is destroyed by a card effect, he returns to the field with his attack and defense reversed. That means his attack is 2000 and defense is 1000!"

Dammit. I'd made the wrong choice. Beside me, Kalin was suppressing a smile. I whispered, "S-sorry."

"Huh? Nah, I think it's hilarious 'cause I did the same goddamn thing when I dueled him the first time. It's crazy how you're not even mad and I still wanna punch that dude in the teeth."

"What was that?" the short guy hollered.

I smiled and said, "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Back to me! Your monster may look tough, but I can see all its weaknesses from here. I sacrifice Sand Moth to play a monster in face-down defense position and end my turn."

That's bait if I'd ever seen it. I should've saved my card.

Kalin said, "This's such a waste of time. I activate Double Summon, bring Shadowknight Archfiend to the field, and sacrifice him for Skull Archfiend of Lightning!"

Thunder shook the building as the winged skeleton flashed onto the scene. A web of lightning showed off the Fiend-type's 2500 attack. "Skull Archfiend battles your face-down!"

"I activate Zero Gravity. Battle positions change for all face-up monsters, meaning your White Dragon and Skull Archfiend can't attack this Battle Phase!"

"Greeeat. More stall. How insanely impressive," Kalin said. "Don't see how we won against them high-IQ tactics, honestly."

I covered my mouth with my hands to stop my snort of laughter. It wasn't even that bad of a jab, but the short guy got so, so angry. Kalin said, "Think I'll end my turn there."

The angry, short guy said, "I play Chosen One! I pick three cards in my hand. One's a monster and two aren't. I'm gonna shuffle them, and you try your luck, Kessler. Which is the monster?"

He scratched beneath his headband. "The middle?"

"Congratulations." The short dude had one unsettling smile. "You picked the monster, so I get to special summon it! Come on out, Criosphinx!"

A blue-skinned centaur waltzed onto their field alongside their still face-down monster. I mumbled, "That wasn't very nice. He acted like you would want to pick the monster."

"Right?" Kalin said. His sigh expressed a longing for times since passed, and he threw up his hands. "Miss when strangers had manners. All shitheads these days."

"The hell are you sighing for?" the tall guy shouted. "You kicked us out of our territory!"

Kalin just snickered. Both opponents were simmering now. The short guy said, "I'm tributing the Criosphinx you let me special summon! Try to call us dumb shitheads after this, Kessler. Our best card, which we didn't have a chance to summon last time: Exxod, Master of the Guard! By tributing a Sphinx monster, I can special summon our ace in defense position!"

An armored Egyptian knight towered over us. Golden knuckles met, and light spilled from the monster's connected fists; its defense was a whopping 4000. The Team Golem member continued, "Every time we use one of our flip effects, you'll take 1000 damage! I'll test it out now! I flip summon our face-down Guardian Sphinx. Its effect activates, returning every monster on your side of the field returns to your hand!"

Uh-oh. Wind carried grains of sand like a building dust storm. After it passed, our field was empty. Theirs had a newly-revealed addition: a large, stone cat with a man's face, the Guardian Sphinx. Beside it, Exxod slammed its knuckles together. The ground quaked. I nearly lost my footing. Kalin was unfazed as our life points dropped to 3000.

"See if you keep your cool," short guy growled. "Guardian Sphinx attacks directly!"

The stone watcher lifted its paw like a panther and swatted at us. The dust from its ancient limbs stung my eyes. Our life points dropped to 1300. The short guy chuckled. "Guardian Sphinx's ability flips it back into face-down defense position so we can use its ability next turn. Think we're a waste of time now, Kessler? You'll be losing your disks this time, and all because you didn't take us seriously."

Kalin crossed his arms, which strained the wire attached to his duel disk. The tall one lurched forward in response. The courage he kept in the wake of our disadvantage had me gaping at him. "Oh, you'll find that I'm taking this very seriously. It'll hit you this turn when Rain beats you."

Eh?

"You Satisfaction pricks are so full of it," muttered the tall dude. "There's no way she can beat us this turn while our strongest monster is on the field."

I glanced to Kalin. He wasn't paying attention to the field. He was smiling at me. It wasn't a jokey grin this time. It was a genuine, confident smile. My stomach tied in knots. I drew my card with shaking fingers and wondered how I was supposed to pull this off.

A bong sounded from the sky. The Future Fusion counter shifted from 1 to 2. The shadows of three dragons soared upward through the yellow windows. The light in the sky exploded in a shower of blue electricity.

A three-headed dragon roared, shattering the windows. His crash upon the earth leveled Future Fusion's skyscrapers. The dragon's three heads hovered over me, and his 4500 attack shone on the display. I attempted my best impression of Kalin's poised stature and acted like this was totally the plan all along. "Future Fusion brings the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to the field! His attack beats your best monster by 500!"

"S-so what! That doesn't mean the duel is over!"

"Wrong again," I called. "I'm using Trade-In to discard the Blue-Eyes you sent to my hand to draw two more cards. Future Fusion put my Blue-Eyes White Dragons in the graveyard. With Trade-In, they're all reunited, so I'm playing Dragon's Mirror! This spell fuses them by banishing them from the grave to create a second Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

Yet another Ultimate Dragon alighted from the heavens to my field. The short one stepped back. "That's a, a lot of attack power, but not enough!"

"This here's a team game, so I'm calling on my partner for aid! I activate Kalin's trap, Archfiend's Roar, to bring Skull Archfiend of Lightning back to us for one turn!"

A scar of lightning blinded the room. The skeletal fiend screeched after the light left. The looks on their faces said they knew how the turn was about to go down. I commanded, "Ultimate Dragon number one destroys Exxod, and Skull Archfiend of Lightning destroys your face-down Guardian Sphinx!"

A multicolored beam tore through the golden, Egyptian knight. Webs of electricity ripped through the Sphinx. Their 4000 life points were wide open, and my remaining Ultimate Dragon was voracious enough to consume every one of them.

I cast my arm forth, shouting, "Neutron Blast!"

Three heads reared back. A rainbow of colors built as energy in their throats. Beams of sapphire, gold, and emerald twisted together. The attack was large enough to swallow both duelists at once.

Grunts and yelps sounded from within. Their life points dropped to zero, and a low-pitched sound effect rung out. Disks sparked and exploded. Kalin snatched his cuff out of the air with ease. I struggled to gather the wires of mine. The other two shivered. The tall one said, "The hell was that? You felt it, too, didn't you?"

"Y-your clothes are steaming, bro!"

The pair stared at us, their mouths agape. Kalin didn't even look in their direction and waved a hand through the air. "'Grats. You summoned your 'best monster' and lost worse than last time. You proved doubly you two're wastes of my time. So. If you try to cross us again, you can bet the pain will be worse."

The Team Golem members fled, bumping past Kalin and me. I wanted to celebrate, but his words gave me pause. I observed the ground my attack had razed and looked to my Ultimate Dragons. Leverage, Kalin had explained, was a flex of power in the Satellite. I wondered if, to him, I was…

Kalin peered at the exit to make sure the gang members were out of earshot. His intimidating pose dropped, and he beamed. "Woah, Rain. You blew that duel out of the water! To be honest, I was bluffing with the whole win-in-this-turn thing, but you totally pulled it off! Damn. Believing in you always pays off."

"R-really?"

He laughed a little. "Yep. Yeah, really."

I tried to work up the courage to ask but it wouldn't build. Kalin knelt next to the kid Team Golem was threatening. "Hey, are you alright?"

"You guys-" The child leapt into the air. "You guys are totally awesome! Thanks for saving me!"

"No problem! Team Satisfaction's the name, and saving's the game. Sorry about your duel disks, by the way. We can bring you a couple of extras if you stay right here."

The child's eyes sparkled. "You mean it?"

"Yeah! We'll be right back, kiddo."

The exit outside the chamber seemed to take twice as long as entering. I kept trying to form the question. My throat tightened or breath hitched, so I gave up and followed my leader without words. His smile never once faded.

We wound through alleys chased by morning light. Puddles splashed when he led us through them, and we laughed. At the hideout, he cracked open a trunk hidden in the debris on the lowest floor.

Kalin sifted through a sea of duel disks to find two in good condition. We each carried one back. The kid waited in the main hall of the chamber building. He cried with happiness at the shiny gifts we had brought.

While the kid left, Kalin threw his hands up in the air. "Yet another success in the books for Team Satisfaction! All in a morning's work, right, Rain?"

I stared in the direction of the exit. The kid and his tearstained duel disks were long gone by now. Kalin's grin was slacking. I had to speak up, but once again, I choked on the many questions I had.

"Er," he said, "Something the matter-"

Boom!

The two doors beyond the chamber crashed open as though a battering ram had smashed into them. Hundreds of pairs of boots rushed inside. Kalin went stick-straight, his face white as a ghost.

A squad of Securities flooded the large hall and surrounded us. The man leading the charge adjusted his yellow scarf as he stepped forth. His moustache wriggled when he spoke.

"Well, well, well. We've finally cornered the leader of the infamous Team Satisfaction! I'd never forget Kessler's mug. If you know what's good for you, you won't resist."

Kalin and I stood back to back. I ducked my head to peek at him. It was the first time I had ever seen him afraid. "I swear I covered my tracks. I swear… dammit. The team, my deck, everything, I'll lose everything if-"

He noticed me watching. Kalin whispered, "It's alright, Rain. We have to go with them, or else-"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do we have to go?"

"Look at all of 'em." The squad had us outnumbered forty to two at the least. Some wielded firearms, some batons, and the man with the scarf kept a taser in his grip. Judging by the way he ran his thumb over the weapon, he couldn't wait to use it. Kalin muttered, "They have the most power on this shithole of an island, and they flex it wherever they can. Anyone tries to change that and this is what happens. We can fight gangs. There's no escaping Sector Security, though."

"What if," I said, "there was?"

For the briefest of moments, his fear dispersed. The next second, he said, "I know I said I wouldn't let anything happen to you, but this is the one thing I can't help. I'm so sorry."

"That's okay," I whispered. I removed my deck from its slot and sifted through the contents. A certain Quick-Play Spell caught my fancy. "I'll handle this one."

He said, "What?"

My outstretched hand resembled a claw. The card I'd chosen floated between my fingertips. A coat of red energy surrounded my palm and raced up my arm. Crimson streamed upward from my feet. Three red pillars formed among the Securities.

The ruby crumbled to unveil three Blue-Eyes White Dragons in a triangle formation. The glow of their azure eyes cut through scarlet. The trio roared in unison. Translucent red like crimson ghosts crawled from the dragons' feet. The red washed outward. The ghoulish energy crashed over the Securities in a tsunami.

The Securities dropped like flies. Various weaponry clattered on the grimy tiles. The dragons faded, and the red dispersed. My knees buckled. My deck splattered on the floor. I tried to move my limbs, but they wouldn't work. I was left staring at the only card that'd landed face-up, the one I'd used: Rage with Eyes of Blue.

Kalin flipped around once, twice to search the premises. There were no signs of movement in the massive building besides him. He said, "What- what did you do?"

My hands had landed in my lap. I tried to ball my fists, twitch my fingers, anything. No luck. I murmured, "Rage knocked them out."

He clutched his forehead. "I thought you killed them."

"Would you like me to?"

A weighty breath racked his shoulders. His expression showed nothing less than horror. "No. No, Rain, never do something like that."

"I thought that's why you brought me." I dipped my chin so my bangs shadowed my eyes. "You said leverage is important. Didn't you ask me along because my powers give you that?"

He fell to his knees and placed his hands on my shoulders. "Listen. I asked you to partner with me because I wanted to spend more time with you. Now that they know about your powers, you…"

"I messed up," I murmured.

"Nah, just- promise you'll use those powers as little as possible, okay? I know I got a little ahead of myself earlier, but we're not trying to scare or kill anybody."

My throat tightened. I stared at my knees. My fingers moved this time. I bunched up my baggy pants in my tight grip. Tears welled in the corners of my eyes. I whimpered, "I'm s-sorry."

"Are you crying? Soft or scary, you gotta pick one!"

The tears streamed down my cheeks. I peered up at him through the slices in my bangs, expecting anger, but he showed panic. I hiccupped and asked, "I'm s-scary?"

He quickly said, "What? No! Who said that?"

"Kalin, I, I asked what I did earlier because I thought it's what you wanted."

"Why would that matter?"

"I just want to be useful."

Kalin grimaced and rubbed at the back of his neck. He spotted the scattered cards of my fallen deck, gathered them up, grasped my wrist, and placed the restored deck onto my palm. "You're fine. You did bail us out, but, Rain. You're already an incredible duelist. You're useful just being yourself. You don't need the powers or any other shit, got it?"

The last of the tears sprinkled the burnt ground. I swiped my knuckle beneath my eyes and swallowed a deep breath. "Got it."

A corner of his mouth lifted. He hopped up, rocked a step back, and steadied himself. Kalin held out a hand. "Let's get out of here."

I clicked my deck back into its slot and accepted his help. We strode past the legions of fallen Securities. The noonday sun greeted us outside; the storm clouds had scattered.

The financial district passed in a blur. My thoughts kept me elsewhere. Halfway through the route back, Kalin asked, "Nervous again?"

Sunlight brightened the hair wrapped around my index finger. I pursed my lips before saying, "Why did you want to spend time with me?"

"That's easy. Because I like you."

The spiral around my finger tightened until the skin swelled. That made zero sense, because I kept messing up and I scared him and-

He stopped in his tracks and spun around. Kalin untangled my hand and intertwined my fingers with his own. His whisper was difficult to hear over the thrum of my pulse. "Does this help?"

My nod was miniscule. He walked along, my hand in his, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Kalin stopped at the edge of Martha's forest. "Be sure to rest up! Next gang fight's tomorrow, bright 'n' early. Oh, and… nobody else needs to know about that whole deal with the Securities. Got it?"

I couldn't look away from our hands. "Why?"

He winked at me, saying, "Today is our little secret, alright?"

"Alright. Partner."

The term brought out his smile. He freed his hand and said, "See you tomorrow, partner."

The world grew a little colder when he left. I looked to the palm of my hand, and the warmth returned.

End of Chapter Four

A/N: I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ