After learning that we were on our way to The Facility, I sat in the back of the Sector Security van like a statue, afraid of what was to come. I'd been afraid of going to The Facility before. Back in my Dimension, when Mina had found out from Akiza that Luna and I were in a relationship, she came over to question Luna, and I was terrified that I would be arrested for something. I knew, truthfully, that I hadn't done anything wrong, and Mina recognized that, I'm sure. Not only that, but there was no divide between the Satellite and New Domino at that point, and the treatment of those in The Facility was much more humane than it had been.
But in this Dimension, things were different. The Commoners and The Topsiders were at odds with each other in much the same way as their equivalents used to be in my Dimension. More importantly than that however, I had done something to warrant an arrest:
I'd killed my stepfather.
Whether or not Sector Security knew that remained to be seen. We'd only been arrested for 'harboring four fugitives', but who were those four? Tim? Yuya? Celina? Sylvio? That… girl in the blue hoodie? Me? Did they know that I wasn't who I was pretending to be?
The van broke quickly and my body jolted.
"We've stopped…" Shinji noted.
The doors to the van opened quickly without warning. "Alright! Out. All of you." Kurihara ordered, and the eight of us were unfortunately forced to oblige. Well, seven of us, really. I was certain that if Tim wanted to, he would have been able to break out of his handcuffs and overpower the officers, or at the very least escape. But no, Tim followed us out of the truck, humming a song to himself.
A shadow loomed over the eight of us, drowning out the last bit of sunlight from the sky. I glanced up briefly to see two massive towers, well, towering over us, connected by some sort of central hub, and behind that was an even larger structure which cast the shadow across the courtyard. It was so large I couldn't even see what it was.
"Are these the ones?"
My sight was pulled from the right tower and directed toward another Sector Security officer, this one a woman who looked to be probably around the same age as Mina, wearing a dark green variant of the blue uniform that the rest of the Sector Security officers were wearing.
"Yes." Kurihara spoke up.
"Alright," the woman looked down at the tablet she was holding, scrolling through it with her fingers. "Celina Belfri, Crow Hogan, Tyler Nochi, and you, unlisted," the woman pointed to Tim, "you four are to come with me. Now."
"Four?" Yuya asked.
"You're the boss, lady." Tim shrugged, slowly walking forward.
Celina looked Yuya's way. "I'll be fine," she told him as she too started walking forward.
I looked to Crow, who shrugged and did the same. I sighed, deciding it best not to try and put up a fight, especially since my last attempt ended in spectacular failure. I couldn't put up a fight even if I wanted to anyway. But as long as I stayed with Tim, I figured, I'd be fine.
I moved quickly to make up ground, following behind Tim, Crow and Celina in a single file, other officers no doubt keeping their eyes on us to make sure we wouldn't try and escape.
The four of us were led into another room, a hall dimly lit with flickering fluorescent lights along the sides. At the end of the hall was an elevator. "Move it." I heard the officer sternly say, as she directed us toward the elevator.
The officer covered one of her hands on the keypad so that we weren't able to see where she was taking us, and once the doors closed and opened again, I found myself facing a block of four cells all next to each other, thick panes of glass separating the sides of each one. The setup reminded me all too much of the Arcadia Movement, how Sayer had imprisoned Carly, Leo, Luna and myself. I shivered.
I gasped as the red bubble around my Duel Disk dissolved, freeing my arm. I noticed as well that Tim's, Crow's and Celina's handcuffs had disappeared too.
"O-our Duel Disks…" Crow muttered.
The officer smiled callously, opening the doors of the cells. "They won't work here. This cell block has been specifically outfitted with Real Solid Vision Jammers. Now, I want each of you in a separate cell."
Tim shrugged, once again doing as he was told. I followed suit, as did Crow and Celina. As soon as we walked into our cells, the doors closed automatically. The sound of my door closing was loud and sudden. It almost made me jump out of my skin.
"Tyler, are you alright?" I heard Crow ask. My panic was clearly showing on my face.
"So, when do they bring us the menus?" Tim asked.
"Silence." The officer said. "The four of you will be allowed out together, for two hours every day. One hour for a meal in the dining hall, and one hour for an activity in the recreation room. Apart from that, you will remain here."
"Why us specifically? What do you want with us?" Crow asked.
"You'll have to ask Director Rogét when he comes for you."
"Rogét…?" I whispered. I had once again wrongly assumed that with this Dimension mirroring mine in several ways, that the Dimensional Counterpart of Rex Goodwin would be the Director of this Dimension's Sector Security. I hadn't even heard of this Rogét person before, and it all just confused me further how alike and yet not alike our Dimensions really were.
"What does he want with us?" Crow asked.
"That's why you're here. The Director's very interested to meet with all of you." The officer looked over at Tim, gazing at him for a brief moment before looking down at the floor and leaving swiftly through the elevator.
Thoughts flooded my mind, questions of why the Director of Sector Security would want to see me swirling around. I denied any possibility that it was to do with the murder of my stepfather, because if that was the case, then Crow and Celina, who knew nothing about what I'd done, wouldn't be here as well.
The officer listed me off as 'Tyler Nochi' before, but Tim as 'unlisted' which told me that they did in fact assume that I was my counterpart, but also that they had no idea, rightfully, who Tim was. But then why was I here? What did my counterpart do to warrant me being separated from the rest?
"So, what's the deal with this place?" Tim asked, his voice to the right of me. "Is it basically just a prison?"
Crow, to the left of me, in his cell, nodded. "With a few exceptions, most of the people here are Commoners, brought here on false charges."
"False charges?" I asked, "Y-y-you mean-"
"Don't misunderstand me. There are two types of people here: those here on false charges, and those who have committed felonies. Arson, jaywalking, murder, rape, theft. It doesn't matter what you do. In the eyes of Sector Security, they're all as bad as each other, if you're a Commoner. If you're a Topsider, Sector Security tends to overlook all but the most severe felonies." Crow explained.
Tim blew out a quick breath of air. "Man, your Dimension's messed up. And I've been to places where children are forced to kill other children, and babies are fed other dead babies." Tim shook his head and Crow turned to him. Tim then stretched his arms out high above his head and yawned.
"Wait, so when you said you weren't from around here, you meant you were like Yuya? That you came from another Dimension?"
"Yep," Tim continued to yawn as he spoke, "but I'm nothing to do with that guy."
Crow groaned. "This is… this is just…" Crow shook his head. "Last week, if I had have known that things were gonna turn out like this…"
Tim looked over into the corner of his cell. "Oh, we probably shouldn't be talking about this kind of stuff. We've got cameras and microphones at the back of our cells."
I turned around to face the back of my cell, looking up at the rather obvious security camera hanging in the corner of the room that I somehow hadn't noticed until now. I continued to stare up at it, wondering who or what was on the other side, watching me.
"You know what? We should all just strip down. Get naked. That'll teach 'em for spying on us." Tim said, looking up at the camera in his room. I turned to him, narrowing my eyes.
"Please don't. That's r-r-r-retarded, and this is coming from an actual retarded person." I stated, Crow sighing as I spoke.
"C'mon, man. Why do ya have to talk like that?" he asked.
"It's technically true." I shrugged, looking back over at the camera.
"Woo! Here we go~!" Tim cheered. I turned to Tim once more, grimacing and physically flinching at the sight of Tim's naked body as he presented himself to the camera in his cell.
"Nope. Fuck this. I'm out." I stated, disconnecting my Duel Disk and putting it aside, climbing into the bed that felt like a plank of wood, before pulling the bedsheets over my body and covering my face.
"It's pretty chilly in here, isn't it?" I heard Tim say.
"That's because you're naked!" I called back.
"Technically, the only place that has heating here is the showers." Crow explained. I couldn't tell what his reaction to Tim's display was, but his tone made it sound like he was less than pleased.
"Hmm, yeah…" Tim mused. "I might put my clothes back on then… I wonder if they've got cameras in the showering block…"
"They don't," Crow said, and then under his breath I heard him mutter "thank God…"
I stayed under the covers, not even peeking out to look and see if Tim was clothed or not. I was just about done.
"Yo, little missy! You gonna say somethin'?" Tim asked.
"What do you want me to say?" Celina's voice came across cold, distant, and a little pompous.
Tim audibly shrugged. "Anything. You do talk, don't you? When people talk to you, it's polite to say something back in response. That's what a conversation is. Tyler the terror speaks, and he's got that speech impedimenta."
"Ew, don't call me that again." I groaned.
"You can imagine how difficult it must be for him to talk, but he still does it. Have you got a speech impediment?" Tim asked.
Celina sighed. "No-"
"Then stop being so cold!" Tim asserted. "Seriously, the last person who acted like you are now to me, I killed." Tim said sternly, before clearing his throat. "That was off the record, by the way." He said. I assumed he was now talking to the camera in his cell.
"Y-you've killed people before?" Crow asked.
"Well when you say it like that, it sounds bad. I've done it, but, I mean, it's nothin' impressive. It's easier taking life than giving it. Have you ever tried to give birth? 'cause I have, and lemme tell ya, I was sore the next day."
"…What?!" Crow shouted.
I groaned, clamping my hands over my ears and pressing my head on my hard pillow. I wanted Tim to shut the fuck up. He was so loud, I was tired of listening to him, and he wasn't funny. It was his fault I was in this mess in the first place. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have ended up in The Facility here.
I sighed, tensing my eyes closed as I shut out the conversation between Tim and Crow (which unfortunately had to go through my cell as they were on adjacent sides to me) as best I could. And eventually, thankfully, I found myself drifting off to sleep.
"Tyler…" a feminine voice whispered. It was soft, kind and gentle. I groaned. "Tyler, can you hear me…?" the voice repeated. I opened my eyes slowly to find a woman staring down at me with a warm smile. "Oh, good, you can. I was hoping you could."
She had dark hair and wore an outfit similar to that of the Dark Magician Girl, though instead of being blue and pink like hers was, this Magician Girl's outfit was red. She also had a pair of wings on her back, and smaller wings adorning her outfit. I realized quickly that she resembled Apple Magician Girl, one of the cards in my counterpart's Deck.
I blinked. The red shine of her outfit reminded me of Explosivo, but I tried not to let that bother me. "Um, hi…" I spoke softly, "a-are you a Duel Spirit?" I asked.
The young woman nodded. "I'm Apple Magician Girl. It's nice to meet you." She continued to smile.
"I-i-it's nice to meet you… too…" I stammered. "Wh-where am I? Am I dreaming?"
"Mhm. You're sleeping right now, but I thought I'd bring your consciousness here to our world so we could get better acquainted."
I sat up. "Your world? The Spirit World?"
"That's right." Apple Magician Girl offered a hand out for me to take, but thanks to the familiar red shine of her outfit, I hesitated. "Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you." She cooed, and I found myself taking her hand as she helped me to my feet. Apple Magician Girl giggled. "I can sense your soul's the same as his. I'm glad."
His. "Do you mean… your Tyler, my counterpart?" I asked softly.
Apple Magician Girl nodded once more, but her serene smile faded, her voice dampening. "That's right. We watched you and your friend find him. We all tried desperately to stop him from harming himself, but he'd just given up all hope. That's why I was worried that you wouldn't be able to hear me. Our Tyler closed off his heart, and we couldn't get through to him. His heart was in pieces because of what Kobi had done to him."
"It wasn't just his heart…" I muttered.
"I know. Kobi did some truly terrible things to him."
My eyes narrowed a little. "And there was no way you could have done anything to stop him?"
Apple Magician Girl seemed taken aback by my question. I probably could have phrased it better without making it sound like I was blaming her. I assumed that in this Dimension she had undertaken a similar role to the one Explosivo had for me. Of course, for me, it was all just a means to an end with Explosivo. I was nothing but a pawn, used so that I could free Luna from Zeman's clutches. I hoped it wasn't the case here with my counterpart and his Duel Spirits, just being used as a pawn in some cosmic game of Chess.
"I-I wanted to, we all did, believe me! But we couldn't! Our Tyler, he…" tears started to form in Apple Magician Girl's eyes and I immediately felt like shit, "the night it first happened was the last night he acknowledged us… he closed off his heart then and there, and we were powerless to do anything for him… I couldn't even use my power to bring him here, and when we spoke to him, it was like he couldn't even hear us."
"I am so sorry, I-I didn't mean-"
"No, it's okay," Apple Magician Girl wiped some of her tears away. "I can sense that your soul is the same as his, so I can only imagine you've gone through the same thing he has… that's why I'm so happy I was able to bring you here, and that you can hear me…" she sniffed.
I sighed, wishing I had some tissues or something to offer the poor Duel Spirit. I licked my lips and scrunched my face. "I really am sorry, I… I haven't been through exactly the same things as him, but I've gone through similar, and I've had my own issues with Duel Spirits who were… less than reliable in the past…" I said, putting it gently.
"You poor thing…" she muttered, my eyes going wide as she pulled me into a hug. "I don't know what it's like where you come from, but here, Spirits and Humans are supposed to help each other. Where did you come from anyway?" Apple Magician Girl asked, moving her arms from my body.
I scratched the back of my head. "To tell you the truth, I don't know exactly where it is I came from, at least in relation to where I am now, but it's a Dimension quite similar to this one. It has its own Spirit World as well, but I never had any cards like you or the others in my possession. I-I mean, you know, you and Berry, Chocolate, Kiwi, Lemon Magician Girl… I had no idea there were Duel Spirits or cards like you that existed, and, um… I know you had no say in me basically just taking you, but I…" I trailed off, looking at Apple Magician Girl's flawlessly beautiful face.
I averted my eyes as I was reminded of Seria, Akiza and Luna, three beautiful women who all tried to help me, and all I ended up doing was hurting them. In spite of my conviction, Akiza and Seria stood by me, and until the end, so did Luna, but their compassion was more than I deserved.
And I certainly didn't deserve any compassion from Duel Spirits.
I shook my head, turning away from the Duel Spirit. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken you. You weren't mine, you were his. And I don't know what he was like, but you and the other Duel Spirits shouldn't get involved with me. You don't know me and you shouldn't feel obligated to get to know me, or help me just because I have the same face as him."
"Tyler…"
"I've done some terrible things. Not all of it undeserved, but you seem really nice and I'd hate for you to get involved with someone like me. Trust me; you're better off without me. Just send my consciousness back to the Human World. I'll take care of your card and the others while I'm here in The Facility, but we can't become any more involved than just a Duelist with cards… a-and you shouldn't see me as anything other than a random guy either."
"Please don't close off your heart…"
I turned back to her. "Why not? What's the point of doing anything when there are probably infinite universes and none of it matters?" I sighed. "Please just send me back…"
Apple Magician Girl's face twitched, as though she was fighting back the urge to cry. "Okay… I'll send your consciousness back to your world… I'm just really sorry you feel that way… Me and the rest of the Spirits will be happy to lend you our support if you need it… It was nice meeting you, Tyler…"
There was a sudden blinding flash of light and I felt as though I'd been pulled through the floor. When the light faded I found myself looking up at the ceiling of my cell, lying on the uncomfortable bed.
A loud bang on the door of my cell quickly made me sit up, the female Sector Security officer standing on the other side. "Alright, you four, it's time for your meal. Get up and follow me. No funny business."
I could feel the eyes of several correctional officers on me as I stood in line to get lunch.
We weren't given any instructions about what to do or anything, so when I got to the front of the line, I just held my tray out in front of me, the man behind the counter plopping cold rice, old french fries, half a stale bread roll and a bowl of stew that looked like vomit onto my tray. "Thank you." I bowed, taking the food and moving out of the line.
"Oi, gimme one of your cards." Tim said as I passed him.
"W-w-what for?" I asked.
"I heard you can trade cards for more or better quality food here, and I need my protein, so gimme a card, will ya?"
"No way!" I shifted back, "remember what I was telling you before? And remember the Duel Crow had with Yuya? They're not just cards. They're real physical beings, and you're asking me to give one away so you can get more food-"
"Alright, alright!" Tim huffed. "Jeez, what's up your butt?"
My heart skipped a beat. "Don't even joke about that." I said sternly.
"I'll say whatever I want. Besides, you weren't even raped. It was your-"
"I don't care! It's not funny, Tim!" I snapped, turning and walking off in a huff, my hands shaking, rattling the tray.
I couldn't believe that Tim would even joke about that. How dare he? I mean, I knew I wasn't the one who'd been raped. I wasn't an idiot, I was fully aware of the fact that the Tyler in this Dimension and me were completely different people. But that didn't make it any less unnerving to see the corpse of someone who had the same face as me, and find out later that they'd been raped by a version of the same person who'd physically abused me. It could have easily been me in my Dimension, and that's what angered, scared and horrified me the most.
Nothing more could be done about it though. I'd killed Kobi, though sadly hadn't prevented my counterpart from falling prey to him. And there was still the issue of all the other versions of myself and Kobi, and what they were going through. I only hoped that there was at least one Dimension where Kobi and I actually got along.
I shook my head, realizing how pointless it was to think about it all. It didn't matter. None of it did.
The most important thing now (which showed how truly pathetic and insignificant my life was) was finding a place to sit. It was like school all over again.
I looked around. I couldn't see Crow or Celina, nor could I see Eric, Shinji, Yuya or that other guy. I could however see an empty table right at the end of the hall, and I decided that would be the best place for me to sit. I assumed everyone else was still in one of the lines to get food, and they could sit with me after if they wanted. Tim could as well, but I honestly didn't care either way.
I had barely made it past one of the tables before I lost my footing, stumbling forward and dropping my tray of food, spilling it all onto the floor.
"Oops! Sor~ry!"
I turned to look up at an older man, bald, a Criminal Mark on his right cheek, and who had a leg out to obviously trip me up.
"You should watch where you're goin'!" the man taunted.
I shakily got to my feet. It was all just getting too much for me. I was trapped in a world I didn't belong and didn't understand, surrounded by strangers, and had to watch a version of myself hanging from a ceiling. Now some random cunt had purposely tripped me over, preventing me from eating food, of which I couldn't even remember the last time I'd eaten.
I could feel my control starting to slip.
"Hey!" Tim shouted. I turned to him as he broke the glass with his fist, reached in and grabbed the fryer basket by the handle. "Supersize this!" he roared, throwing the oil over the prisoner who'd tripped me over. The man howled in pain, his body steaming, his clothes soaked in boiling oil as he covered his eyes to no avail, dropping to the ground, motionless, probably dead.
"Holy shit…!" I said breathlessly.
"Anyone want fries with that?!" Tim asked to the onlookers, before getting tackled to the ground by a mob of correctional officers.
I watched Tim struggle, standing back and doing nothing to help. To be fair, I'd seen Tim shrug off bullets, which was something I considered to be a superhuman feat, and figured that Tim would be more than capable of taking the guards. But whether it was because Tim once again willingly let himself get overpowered, or because he was genuinely outmanned, one of the officers managed to restrain him, while two others landed several punches in his chest before dragging him off.
I faced the ceiling of my cell, lying on my bed, thumbing through the cards in my counterpart's Deck, pausing as Apple Magician Girl's card came into view. I sighed, scooping my Deck together and shuffling it, putting my Deck aside and rolling over on my bed.
After Tim's… murder, he murdered a guy; I was sent straight back to my cell. Crow's cell was empty, and there was no sign of Tim. Celina was just lying on her bed and looking up at the ceiling, same as me.
I was grateful that Tim had stepped in, I really was. I had no idea what I would have done to either myself or that guy had Tim not intervened, but Tim shouldn't have done it. I wasn't worth going to the effort of protecting or saving, and even if I was, him throwing boiling oil in someone's face was certainly disproportionate retribution. In fact, it was a major overreaction. After all, what happened to me didn't affect Tim either way. If I didn't know any better, it almost seemed like Tim had done it intentionally, not to protect me or defend my honor or anything like that, but instead to get a rise out of the correctional officers.
I had no idea what Tim was planning, but whatever his motivation, him standing up for me like that was pretty cool.
I looked to the other side of me, Crow's empty cell disconcerting me. I was sure that Tim could take care of himself, but with Crow, I don't know, it just felt different. Tim was forcefully taken away for committing a murder, and I couldn't imagine Crow doing something like that, no matter how impulsive the Crow I knew was. I hadn't seen him at all during mealtime even though we'd all gone in together. Only Celina and I had come back.
"Hey," I called across to Celina, turning to her in her cell, "do you know where Crow is?"
Celina looked back at me for a moment and said "No," before looking back up at the ceiling once more.
I sighed lengthily, turning and looking back up at the ceiling until the doors of the elevator at the end of the block opened, the female officer stepping out, her stance commanding presence.
I sat up. "What have you done with Tim?" I asked. "And where's Crow?"
The woman smiled. "They're both being questioned. It'll be your turns soon." She said simply. "But for now, it's time for mandatory recreation." The officer, who I guess at this point was our warden, unlocked the doors to Celina's and my cells. "Grab your Duel Disks, Decks, and follow me." She ordered.
Celina got to her feet and strapped on her Duel Disk, as did I, slotting in my Deck. I was sure I could hear the hushed voices of the Duel Spirits swirling around in the back of my head, probably talking amongst themselves about what they were going to do with me, but I paid them no further attention, instead following Celina's lead as we trailed the officer back into the elevator. The officer pressed a button on the keypad and the doors quickly closed.
As we changed floors, my Duel Disk's screen flickered, and the elevator doors opened, revealing to us a short hallway, at the end of which there was a large room with a high gloss hardwood floor, tall walls, no windows (like every other room in the place), and all the doorways guarded by correctional officers. I noticed there were multiple Duel Fields drawn out on the floor.
Groups of inmates were standing together and chatting, most of them with Duel Disks attached to their arms. Some were in the middle of Duels, others were sitting around and trading.
"Alright, the two of you have one hour to mingle with the other inmates and get some Duels in, unless the Director calls for you." Our warden explained, Celina looking down at her Duel Disk. "But don't even think of using your Duel Disks to attack us. This is the only room in The Facility where Duel Disks can be used, and there's no access to Real Solid Vision here. Your Monsters'll just be holograms."
Celina twitched. "Whatever…"
Our warden snickered at the two of us before heading back down the hall we came in from.
I turned to Celina. "What do you wanna do?"
"You can do what you like," Celina said simply, "I'm going to go find some strong Duelists."
I could tell immediately from her haughty tone that she was referring to my Duel against Kurihara and how he defeated me in one turn. She obviously didn't consider me a 'strong' Duelist. But I didn't give a flying fuck what she thought about me.
"Y-you do that." I said coldly in spite of my stutter. Celina shrugged and walked over to a group of inmates.
I looked around. Again, there was absolutely no sign of Eric or the others. I hoped they were alright.
"Well, well, well…" a voice came from behind me, chilling me to my very core. I recognized it immediately. "Never thought I'd see you in a place like this."
"Well I always knew you'd end up here." I turned to him. "Joel."
"Is that right?" he asked with a smarmy, self-assured tone. It reminded me so much of my Joel in my Dimension, back when we'd first met after I got amnesia. I was passive, so afraid, because I didn't know him and I didn't know what he'd done.
But now I did.
And he was so assertive, so headstrong at that time, I really did believe that I was to blame for something, for whatever it was that happened. But I wasn't, and I knew that now. He'd somehow got it into his head that me running away because I'd been physically abused was my fault.
I could have backed down. I could have let things repeat themselves, but then nothing would change.
I spoke back with the same tone and conviction as my stepbrother. "Yeah, it is. I mean, you've always been a pathetic drug addict, so it was only a matter of time-"
Just as my Joel had done almost two years ago, this Joel suddenly grew angry, his expression hardening, grabbing me by my vest. "Alright you fucking shithead, listen here!" Joel shouted.
"What? Are you gonna hit me again?" I goaded, almost laughing. "Go on," I told him, "Do it."
And he did. And even though it hurt, it didn't hurt nearly as much as what he and his dad used to do to me. And it certainly wouldn't have compared at all to what my counterpart went through.
"How do you like that, cunt? That's what you get for breaking your promise!"
My mouth tasted of blood and I licked my lips. "My promise? You mean my promise to keep quiet about what you and your father did to me? To not tell a soul about it and stay in the City so that the two of you could continue to abuse me? Do you mean that promise? How messed up is your mind that you honestly think I'm to blame for what happened?"
Joel twitched, and looked like he was ready to throw me another punch, but by this point, most of the correctional officers in the room were looking our way, and even someone like Joel knew better than to try and hit me again. Instead, Joel smirked, took a step back and said "try taking the high ground all you like. The fact that you're in here with me means you're on my level now."
I knew what he was doing. He was trying to goad me, deliberately get under my skin. Truthfully, he didn't have to try very hard. His entire existence irritated me. "Is that right? I'm on the same level as a rapist's drug-addicted physically-abusive son?"
"You shut your fucking mouth!" Joel roared, punching me in the face once more.
"Hey! That's enough out of both of you!" two correctional officers came over to break us up, and I could see Celina looking over at me with an expression I couldn't discern. I wasn't sure how loud I'd been, so I wasn't sure if anyone besides Joel and myself had heard what I'd said or if they'd only seen him punch me.
"Get your hands off me!" Joel barked, struggling in the grip of a heavy-set guard. "My father's a member of the Public Administrations Bureau in Neo Domino!" he shouted. I brought my hands up near my head, showing the correctional officer that I had no intention of struggling or fighting back. I felt blood start to run from my nose but did nothing to stop it. The correctional officer who'd restrained Joel let him go, and he staggered forward. "At least I have a father, you retarded degenerate! Daisuke was lucky enough to die when he did so he didn't have to raise you!" My nostrils flared at the mention of my father's name and Joel smirked, noticing my reaction. "Ah, did I touch a nerve?" He fucking knew he did! "I thought I might. After all, you're still wearing that old thing." Joel's eyes focused briefly on my Duel Disk, and my eyes widened. "Still Daisuke's-"
"Sh-sh-shut up!" I tried to snap, Joel's eyes piquing with interest.
"Is that a stutter?" Joel laughed, "Man, I thought it'd be impossible for you to get any more retarded than you already were, but I guess you proved me wrong, huh?"
I licked my lips once more as blood ran to the corner of my mouth. I kept telling myself he was saying everything deliberately to get under my skin, but damn was it working! The longer I looked into his infuriating blue eyes, the more I realized how different my life could have been.
If I had've never ran into him at that damn card shop, my life would have been completely different. Sure, I would have still regained my memories thanks to Zone, probably, but I wouldn't have even really known Joel, or had any sort of connection to him while I had amnesia. The fact that he kept quiet about it the whole time, pretending to be all buddy-buddy when he was really just like the Joel standing in front of me, was the main reason I felt he had to die for what he did. If I had have never met up with Joel, if I did get my memories back, I'd be angry, sure, but I wouldn't have been so eager to throw my life away, destroy New Domino City, and cast aside all my friends and my relationship with Luna.
"You and Kobi ruined my life." I said bluntly, activating my Duel Disk. "It's time for you to pay!"
"Please. You're not seriously suggesting that we Duel?" Joel asked incredulously, loudly. I realized he was trying to get the attention of some of the other inmates, like he wanted to humiliate me in front of a crowd or something. "I mean, I know it's been a while, but you can't have forgotten all the times I thrashed you?"
"The last time we Dueled, I got too bloodthirsty to think clearly, and the time before that, the Duel dragged on and I only won by using an overpowered card. This time, I'll be sure to finish you quickly." I said, catching Celina looking over at me.
Joel laughed. "What the Hell are you talking about? You've never been able to beat me. Did you get into my stash?" he teased.
"Shut up!" I snapped. "You've had this c-c-coming for a long time! Duel!"
Joel activated his Duel Disk. "Alright, I'll shut you down for good this time."
[Tyler: 4000 LP]
[Joel: 4000 LP]
"I'll start!" Joel shouted. "I Set one monster face-down, and Set another card in my backrow." He said, doing exactly that. "Go."
I closed my eyes, thinking to myself – and hoping that the Spirits could hear – that if the Spirits really did want to help me, support me, I'd need their strength now more than ever.
I opened my eyes and drew from my Deck, looking over the cards I had in my hand. "I play four cards face-down, and Summon Celtic Guard of Noble Arms!" I threw the card onto the Duel Disk, the elfin warrior appearing, dual-wielding swords in both hands [ATK: 2100].
"Really? You're coming out of the gate with him?" Joel jested. "You realize you can't attack with him, right? Not when you've got a card in your hand-"
"I wasn't finished." I told him. "I activate the effect of my Celtic Guard of Noble Arms, letting me Special Summon my Celtic Guardian from my hand." Another elfin warrior appeared beside my first, this one reverently clutching a sword in his hands [ATK: 1400]. "I enter my Battle Phase! Celtic Guardian, attack!" I shouted.
Celtic Guardian jumped into the air before bringing his sword down on Joel's Set Monster. The monster, revealed to be an Armed Dragon LV3 [DEF: 900], was destroyed easily. Joel muttered something under his breath.
"Celtic Guard of Noble Arms, attack directly!" I shouted once again, refusing to let things settle. Celtic Guard dashed forward, his swords passing through Joel's form, as I was reminded that in this Duel, our monsters were holograms. I grimaced, realizing that if they weren't, like in Crow's Duel against Yuya, Joel would have probably been severely injured if not killed outright as his front and sides were slashed by my monster.
[Joel: 1900 LP]
I continued, once more refusing to let things settle. "Next, thanks to the secondary effect of my Celtic Guard of Noble Arms, I get to draw two cards." I explained, drawing two cards – equal to the number of Celtic Guard monsters I had out on the field. As I drew, my eyes widened, and I revealed one of the cards I drew to Joel. "I've drawn Palladium Oracle Mahad, and his effect allows me to Special Summon him whenever he's drawn!" a dark-skinned Spellcaster wearing gold-plated armor appeared on my field, twirling a scepter about for a moment [ATK: 2500]. "And by the way, Joel, it's still the Battle Phase, so Mahad can attack you directly as well."
"What?!" Joel gasped as Mahad jumped into the air as my Celtic Guardian had done, twirling his scepter about once more as a yellow light burst forth from it, flying towards Joel. "Damn, I was saving this… reveal Trap Card! Call of the Haunted!" Joel shouted, his Armed Dragon LV3 [ATK: 1200] returning to the field and intercepting my attack.
[Joel: 600 LP]
I tensed my free hand, angry at my failed attempt to defeat Joel as quickly as possible. "I end my turn."
"Finally…" Joel smirked as he drew. "Raigeki!" he shouted, thunder bolts raining down from above and incinerating all my monsters, leaving only the skeletal black husk of Mahad.
It was my turn to smirk. "Nice try, but when Palladium Oracle Mahad is destroyed, his true form is revealed and I get to Special Summon a Dark Magician!" I shouted. The black husk turned to mist, and from that mist came the form of a great magician with light blue skin, clad in black armor and holding a black scepter of his own [ATK: 2500].
"Fine." Joel tossed his head back, "I Set a monster and end my turn."
I drew. "I attack with Dark Magician!" My Spellcaster brought both hands to his front, gripping the scepter between his hands as a ball of dark energy formed at the tip. "Then, I chain my face-down, Magician's Circle! So from my Deck, I Special Summon Dark Magician Girl!" the blonde-haired scantily-clad Spellcaster appeared in a pink heart-shaped wave [ATK: 2000], just as Joel's Set monster, Flying Kamakiri #1 [DEF: 900], was destroyed by my Dark Magician's Black Magic Attack.
I assumed that Joel could see the hopelessness of his situation, that he knew there was no way he could win. I hoped he could see it. Feel the hopelessness, the dread. That's all I used to feel from him, and I assumed my counterpart had felt the same way I did.
Nevertheless, rather than give up as I had hoped, Joel continued, though it was all for nought. "I use Flying Kamakiri #1's effect to Special Summon another Flying Kamakiri #1 to the field!" Joel shouted, another giant four-armed bug-eyed insect appearing on his field [ATK: 1400].
"Dark Magician Girl, attack!" I shouted, the blonde Spellcaster happily complying, pointing her wand at Joel's Monster as a wave of yellow, red and black struck it, depleting Joel's Life Points.
[Joel: 0 LP]
Both my Magicians looked back at me for a brief moment and I smiled at them, nodding. "Thanks…" I whispered, before they faded away.
"Damn it…" Joel muttered. "How…? You've always been a third-rate Duelist with a fourth-rate Deck… I used to beat you so badly I made you cry!"
"You think that's why I used to cry?" I asked.
"There's no way… no way I could lose to you…" Joel shook his head softly, looking past me aimlessly, as though I wasn't even there.
I chuckled lightly as tears welled up in my eyes. There was so much hatred flowing out of me that I was past the point of anger. I walked over to Joel, closing the gap between the two of us and sniffed. "You really have no idea how much I hate you, and that's what upsets me the most. You were so caught up in maintaining your own pathetic life that you failed to see what you were doing to other people. You created my hatred for you, you created my darkness, but I dwell in the darkness, and darkness is where I belong."
Joel's eyes refocused on mine. "You…"
"You saw what happened with your father, Kobi… and do you remember what you said to me? When I asked you to help me? You said 'Just stay quiet and take it. You don't want your mom to get hurt, do you?'…" I exhaled shakily. "And when I threatened to go and tell Sector Security, you beat the shit out of me. You didn't care. You didn't stop him. And he just kept doing what he did, and I thought I was powerless to stop him."
"You ruined everything…" Joel muttered breathlessly.
"Your perfect life, you mean? You never had to deal with what I did. That body was raped and abused, and you got everything you ever wanted handed to you. You never had to work for anything, or struggle to survive, wonder when your next meal will be or if there will even be one, wonder if you made the right choice leaving your mother to deal with a complete monster and his cunt of a son-"
"Shut up-"
"I don't want to know why you did it. I mean, I do, but I've done plenty of things in my life that I can't explain why I did them, so… I'll understand if this is one of those things. All I want from you is an apology. And if you don't give me one, I'll kill you just like I killed him."
It was a stupid thing to say, admitting to a murder that no one knew about whilst literally standing in a prison and being surrounded by other inmates and officers, but Joel's reaction was absolutely priceless. The look of shock on his face as I could visibly see his brain ticking over to comprehend what I'd said.
"What do you mean?" he asked, but he knew what I meant. I flashed my stepbrother a smile, hoping my teeth were still stained red from his punch. I'm sure someone like him could piece it together. I leaned forward, spitting some blood onto the floor.
"Prisoner Nochi," I turned to face another correctional officer, "the Director will see you now…"