Another fucking dream. I just keep running down long corridors. Every door I open just leads to more corridors. Everything looks the same. Dull and grey. Every step feels I'm wading through water. I look down, I'm not. I keep going. I suddenly get the feeling of being chased. I start to move faster. I check every door I pass. More endless corridors. The aura of whoever is chasing me lingers. It's familiar, I can't put my finger on it. Eventually, I open the right door.
I'm standing at the entrance of an apartment. I look at the large windows that take up most of the wall. I move to the window. I look out over the City. Near the Tops, I reckon. It's not quite the same City as I remember. Someone calls my name. I turn around. Yusei sits at the breakfast bar, drinking a cup of coffee. His hair is longer, reaching the base of his neck. The tight white t-shirt and jeans he's wearing are a welcome change. No. The longer I stare at him, the more I realise. This is not my Yusei. His gaze is different. The look in his eyes isn't quite the same. I go to speak. The room starts to fade. All the colour drains and seeps into the floor, turning pitch black.
Everything's reset. I'm standing in an endless black void. I look around me. Nothing. I move to look back in front of me. I jump. Raiden. He stares at me. My skin starts to tingle. My hands shake. He says nothing. I feel the fear in the pit of my stomach. My eyes start burning with tears. Suddenly, I'm back in the old Black Flag base. I see the rage in Raiden's eyes. The hatred inside of him. Betrayal. That's what his eyes say to me. He stretches his arm out towards me. Dark End Dragon spreads out its wings. The dragon lifts its head up to attack. Raiden's lips move just before Dark End Dragon shoots a stream of vile energy towards me.
Just you wait.
I wake up in a sweat. I sit up and brush my bangs off my forehead. I exhale loudly. I start to control my breathing again. That dream felt so real. It almost felt like I actually saw Raiden in front of me. The thought of that day scares me. I'd have to look Raiden Kimura in the eye. His presence lingers in everything I do. Sometimes, I wonder how much of me is Raiden. He had such an impact of life. How many of his personality traits have affected me? Leading Team Liberation. Will that lead me down the same path that Raiden once walked? Will I become that twisted, evil man that he was?
I feel Kaoru knocking at my door before I hear him. I tell him to come in. I turn my lamp on as he enters. He takes his usual seat by the sewing machine. He looks like he hasn't slept a wink.
"Did I wake you up?" I ask, just to make sure.
"No, wasn't asleep in the first place." I look at the clock. 3am, ouch.
"Oh." It's all that I can manage to get out. He stays silent for few minutes. My mind is too groggy to try make out his thoughts.
"What's the deal with Raiden?" He bursts out with that all of a sudden. I'm confused, he continues. "How do you get to be like that? How do you become that twisted?"
"Well, it's complicated." I pull my knees up to my chest. "He was apparently a normal child, according to Shinji anyway. Then, his parents were going through a rough patch. His psychic powers just appeared out of nowhere."
"They didn't take it well, I'm guessing?"
"No. His dad just straight up left. He was never the same after all. He got mixed in with the wrong crowd. Then, he started Black Flag. It was supposed to be a place where psychics could be just be psychics. Shinji joined because, y'know, they're related. He said that he looked up to Raiden a lot back then. Reika joined because she was friends with Shinji. They started to gain more and more territory. They actually managed to make a name for themselves."
My mind runs over everything that Shinji has told me. I take a deep breath. Now, I have to start dragging up memories.
"That's where I come in. Things were okay at the start, I guess. Then, he started to change. His strategies became more aggressive. Anako left, I think that's why she did. Eventually, he became nothing like he was before. Then, I fought him and left. That's where we are now." I stare at my hands. I've conveniently left out all of my relationship with Raiden. I can't bring myself to talk about that right now.
"Okay." Kaoru manages to say after some silence. He crosses his arms. "There's still some gaps."
"What do you mean?" I ask him.
"Anako has told me some things. Her story lines up with yours, though what youse two said is basically the same. What we don't know is what made Raiden change in the first place. Anako has her guesses, but she's not certain." He crosses his arm and moves one hand to his mouth, deep in thought.
"We might never know." Kaoru's head snaps to me. "He might never come back, y'know." There's a twinge of sadness in my voice. I don't know why, I don't want him to coming anywhere near me ever again.
"I'm sure he's planning something." Kaoru mutters. "I can sense it." I just sit there. I can't say anything. All thoughts are just stuck in my throat. I feel like my jaw is wired together. I pull my knees closer to my chest. Kaoru stares at me, waiting for me to say something.
"I'm going for a ride." I manage to choke out after a few minutes.
"That's not a good idea." He catches my arm as I move to stand up. "Not when you're like this."
"I'm fine." My voice shakes. "I just need to get some fresh air." I take Kaoru's hand off my arm. I walk out of my room and down into the garage. I grab a different jacket than normal. I don't put on my shoulder pads or anything. I just want to get into the fresh air already.
The roads are completely deserted. Though, that's to be expected with it being 3am. Nearly 4am, I correct myself. The fresh air is doing me good. I'm starting to calm down. One by one, it's clearing all thoughts of Raiden from my head. I notice an aura approaching behind me. I look back, there's a D-Wheel tailing me. A invite to duel pops up on my screen. I accept.
"Speed World 2, set!" I set the all important card.
"Duel Mode, on. Autopilot, standby." My D-Wheel boots up into duel mode. I take a deep breath. I am ready for this.
"This lane will be starting a Riding Duel. Will pedestrian vehicles please diverge immediately." The robotic announcer voice comes onto the speakers. The bridge starts changing around us.
"Riding Duel! Acceleration!" I call out.
"Lane selection. Two optimum, usable lanes. Submitting duel lanes to central. Authorisation."
"A duel will be starting." It drones on repeat. "Will pedestrian vehicles please diverge immediately." Then, it starts repeating the phrase again. The mysterious duelist and I turn into our lane, but he beats me on the corner.
"My turn." My opponent cuts straight to the chase. "I summon Genex Searcher(ATK:1600), set one card and end my turn." Wait. That monster. It's real. I'm dueling a psychic? They shouldn't be materialising monsters. Unless... I try to see if I can recognise his voice. I don't. It's pretty masculine but I can't quite place it.
"My turn." Our Speed Counters increase. "I draw." A Tuner Monster, nice. I look at my hand. A hand full of monsters. I see it. I can summon my strongest Synchro Monster this turn. "From my hand, I activate The Fabled Nozoochee's effect. I send a Fabled Monster from my hand to the graveyard to Special Summon Nozoochee(ATK:1200). Now, the other part of Nozoochee's effect activates. If it's Special Summoned in this way, I can Special Summon a Level 2-or-lower Fabled Monster from my hand, I choose Fabled Raven(ATK:1300). Next, I activate Fabled Soulkius' effect from the graveyard. By sending two cards from my hand to the graveyard, I can Special Summon Fabled Soulkius(ATK:2200)." Here we go. "Level 2 Raven tunes Level 2 Nozoochee and Level 6 Soulkius. O fabled herald of destruction, arise from the deep and lay waste to all! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Fabled Leviathan(ATK:3000)!" A red-haired demon emerges from a dark void to sit on a throne. A smile breaks out on my face. There's always a satisfaction in summoning such a high level monster. "Leviathan attacks Genex Searcher! Wake of Destruction!" The demon raises his hand and snaps his fingers. A blast of energy is sent spiralling towards the monster, destroying it. The mysterious duelist's life points drop to 2600. I swear that I hear him tut.
"I activate Genex Searcher's effect!" They interrupt me. "When it's destroyed in battle, I can Special Summon a Genex Monster with 1500 ATK or less from my deck. I choose Genex Ally Crusher(ATK:1000)."
"I end my turn." I'm in quite a good position. I'm still happy that I managed to summon Leviathan on my first turn. I try pulling up next to this mysterious duelist. I can't get a good look at his face. I think he catches onto what I'm doing, and pulls off.
"My turn." Our Speed Counters go up again. "I summon Genex Ally Birdman(ATK:1400). Crusher's effect activates. When I Normal Summon a Monster with the same Attribute as this card, I can destroy one card on your field. I choose Fabled Leviathan!" There goes all my hard work.
"Fabled Leviathan's effect activates! When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can choose three Fabled Monsters in my graveyard and add them to my hand. I choose Fabled Kushanoo, Nozoochee and Raven." I sigh. This should at least get me somewhere.
"Level 3 Genex Ally Birdman tunes Level 4 Genex Ally Crusher. Earth, fire and light combine into one. Use the power of the trinity to suppress your foes! Synchro Summon! Appear, Genex Ally Triforce(ATK:2500)!" The monster causes a shockwave as it appears. My D-Wheel shakes a little bit. At that moment, I am grateful that my Autopilot is off. "Genex Ally Triforce attacks you directly! Elemental Fury!" I barely miss the brunt of the attack. I start to spin out but I manage to get myself back on track. "I end my turn." I take a deep breath. I can't afford to take another attack like that.
"My turn." Our Speed Counters keep increasing. Though, I still don't have a Speed Spell to make use of it. "I draw." Another Tuner. "Again, I activate Fabled Soulkius' effect. I discard two cards to Special Summon it from the graveyard(ATK:2200)." I take a look at my hand. My mind is still groggy. I can't even remember if I can Synchro anything. I suppose taking less damage is the best I can do right now. "I end my turn."
"My turn." I seriously can't recognise this voice. Wait, something about this aura is familiar but I can't quite place it. It's not Felix, it's not Saoirse, it's not Raiden. It's not anyone that I know. He's from a gang. I know that much. He's clearly out to hurt me. He tracked me down on the highway at 4am for a reason. "I summon Genex Neutron(ATK:1800)." Oh no. I've lost. I try move to the centre of the lane, so I'm not flung off it. "I activate the Speed Spell - Forbidden Lance. By removing one Speed Counter, I can choose one Monster and until the End Phase, it loses 800 ATK but it's unaffected by Speed Spells and Traps. I choose Fabled Soulkius(ATK:2200-1400). I attack Soulkius with Genex Neutron." My life points drop to 1100. I start praying to every God whose name I can remember. I look back. I spot a dent in my D-Wheel. I look back to my screen, it's flickering. I take a deep breath. "Genex Ally Triforce attacks you directly! Elemental Fury!" My D-Wheel's screen immediately blacks out. The force of the attack sends me flying. My D-Wheel flies in one direction while I fly in the other. I hit the ground rolling. Their D-Wheel stops. I finally stop rolling. I can feel them looking at me. There's blood in my eyes. I can't see. I hear their engine moving away. I try lifting my head up to get a final glimpse at them. It's no use. My head smacks back down onto the ground, knocking me out.