I don't own Yu-gi-oh GX

Worth ones salt

Zane darted down the vacant alley oblivious to the icy, cold rain that continued to fall, devouring the city in its bleak, grim tears. As to why he was doing this, Zane had no idea! He had long since given up caring about what happened to his little brother, or at least he thought he had. I had no problem challenging him to a hell duel back at the academy, so why am I going to save him now! Zane shouted at himself, as he continued to follow the route to the underground. Why do I care about what happens to him? I don't what to care about him, so why do I! Zane cursed to himself as he succumbed to his inner need to save his little brother, despite his unwillingness to actual admitted it to himself.

A wave of anticipation flooded over Zane, as his hand made contact with the door handle to the entrance of the dark arenas and he found himself climbing down the familiar staircase. However, the comforts and security that come with familiarity never washed over the Kaiser. All his precious descents into the underworld had been made as Hell Kaiser, with Zane Truesdale, if any of him actual remained, in the deepest, most locked away parts of his soul. But now that part of his soul, although still very locked away, had began to come alive again for the moment, and Zane, despite his longing to remain in the darkness, his sanctuary, was allowing that tiny bit of light to guide him; for now at least.

The stone labyrinth was full of nothing but twists and turns, but Zane had found himself in this zigzag maze so many times before, he knew the marble web like the back of his hand. As soon as his feet met the stone floor, he took off running down the tunnel on the far left, where the hardest and bloodiest of all the hell duels always took place, and knowing Syrus's poor luck, Zane was guessing that was where he had ended up. Brainless little shrimp always getting himself into the most treacherous and dodgy situations, Zane thought, and he always either goes in half cocked or as spineless as a jellyfish. I can't believe that I related to such a pathetic weakling. God he is so much like….

"Now I activate power bond," Syrus's voice interrupted Zane's inner thoughts.

Both relief and anger filled Zane as he came into the camber at the end of the tunnel. Relief that he and finally found his brother, anger that Syrus was dim enough to actual engage in an underground duel, anger that some other underground duelist would dare to even think about challenging his brother, and most of all absolute rage at himself for even giving a shit!!! Zane stared at Syrus opponent, Tanner Backer. Tanner a fellow dark duelist, was very well-known for torturing the opponents he defeated, but even more renowned for how he agonized the duelist that dared to defeat him. He would even take a souvenir. That was the thing that truly separated hell dueling from regular dueling. In regular dueling, there was a winner and there was a loser, that simple. In hell dueling, if you wanted to walk away from the duel, not only did you have to win, but you also had to make sure that the loser was on the ground. The use of electrical ornaments, and the other methods of dueling torture, weren't just for kicks, or to ease some sick desire for pain; you needed to use the shocks to subdue your opponent in the duel, so afterwards you wouldn't met the same fate. Leaving an opponent standing, especial one you had defeated, as people tended to be pissed when they lost, was pure suicide. Dark dueling was like shooting a lion; you had one shot to kill your foe, and if you missed, you were dead. Hell dueling was kill or be killed, and there was no chance in hell that Syrus could ever duel that way.

"This duel is over," Zane said as he stepped in between his brother and Tanner, deja-vu washing over him as he recalled doing something very similar years ago.

Back to where we left Syrus last chapter…

Syrus turned, goose bumps running up and down his arms, as he stared up at the attacker. Fear and dread swept over him as he met the dark duelist's eyes. He was a big, muscle clad guy, who would have made even Hassalberry seem tiny. But the most frightening thing about him were his eyes. His devilish, almost black eyes, eyes that liked pain and suffering, eyes that wanted blood, eyes that had sight there sights on Syrus. Unlike Zane and Jo who were dressed in all black, he was clothed in green camouflage pants, and although his shirt was black, he wore a brown hunting vest with the name Tanner Becker stamped over the pocket. The vest, Syrus noticed, was not all brown; there were lines of red spots that went across the chest. On closer inspection, Syrus realized with horror that they were red thumbprints.

"The price of dueling is blood, little one," Tanner said with a sneer as he drew his dueling disk. "I taught each and every one of them that," he said as he pointed to the red spots, "and now, now I'm going to teach you that lesson."

"That's disgusting," Syrus stuttered both sickened, and horrified. "Dueling is about having fun and showing respect. Not about adding another trophy to your collection."

"Is that so," Tanner hissed.

"Yeah," Syrus said as determination filled his soul, the same kind of determination that had made him challenge Zane back at school despite his fear, "and now I'm going to teach you that lesson." If I can get though to this guy, then maybe it will give me some ideas about how to get though to Zane, Syrus thought as he too drew out his duel disk.

The duel was quick and intense. Each duelist was throwing everything they had into the duel. Syrus was pushing himself harder then he ever had before. Wining this duel had become everything to him. He had somehow convinced himself that saving Zane depended on also winning this duel. If he could just defect one underground duelist and show him the true meaning of dueling, then it meet it was still possible to rescue Zane and recover his real older brother. He needed to win this duel; he had to win this duel.

Syrus smiled as he drew his trump card power bond; with this card, he was going to win the duel. After his duel with Zane, Syrus had decided to keep power bond in his deck. In a way, it was like keeping a piece of his brother alive. A keepsake that he couldn't part with. It's as if Zane, the real Zane, is telling me to go ahead and win this duel.

"Now I activate power bond," Syrus said as hope and relief filled his soul, as he knew that this move was going to win him the duel. I can do this, Syrus said to himself, I can win and I can save my brother.

But relief and hope quickly boiled out of his being as he heard Zane's voice shout out "This duel is over," and saw as his now blacked clad brother stepped in between the duel, just like he had done all those years ago.

Back to Zane…

"What in the world do you think you're doing Truesdale," Tanner hissed as frenzy radiated out of his eyes, "this is my victim!"

"That's Hell Kaiser to you Tanner," Zane jeered as he stride up to meet the juvenile's eye, "and I'm telling you to back off."

Tanner flicked his eyes into an even deeper glare, trying to intimidate Zane into backing off, but it was to avail. There was something about Zane that made him different from the other opponents Tanner had faced. Zane wasn't challenged or unsettled by Tanner's almost black eyes or his bloody thumbprint fixation. In fact most of the time Zane just seemed annoyed by it. Like Tanner was just some insufficient, lacking little fly that was more of an irritation then a threat. That frustrated Tanner to no end and made him long to have Zane's thumbprint added to his collection. But right now, Zane didn't look annoyed, he looked livid; and where Tanner had no intension of showing it or backing down, a fuming Zane scared him to his core. Something was wrong with that guy, not that he could talk, but still there was just something that made him different.

"What's it to you Kaiser," Tanner mocked despite his inner fear, "me accumulation more victims for my collection is no business of yours."

"Zane I got a handle on this," Syrus said nervously coming up to the two underground duelists. "I mean I'm not just using the card, I'm playing it, aren't I?" Syrus asked as all the confidence he had been feeling early evaporated. It was as if once again he was in that playground where Zane had stopped his duel and told him he had been playing wrong. It was in that moment that Syrus had lost all his confidence, not only in dueling, but also in life. He now realized that Zane had only being trying to help him; teach him the right way to play so he wouldn't get into trouble later. Nevertheless, Syrus still felt like a disappointment. Even now with friends like Jaden, Syrus still felt that he needed to prove himself to his brother. What am I doing wrong! Syrus screamed at himself. I was going to win this duel. I know I was going to win, I played power bond correctly, so why did Zane interfere. Did I do something wrong without knowing it again? Syrus felt like crying, but he refused to let the tears fall.

Zane, ignoring Syrus's words, crouched down and withdrew a small pocketknife from his boot. Zane had never been the type to use knifes on people, to messy, but to come to the underground armed only with a deck of cards, was a death sentence. Zane gazed at Tanner as he flicked open the bland and saw with a certain notice of satisfaction that Tanner's eyes widened in fear. Disregarding the gasp that came from his little brother, Zane slow brought the point of the knife to his thumb and pierced it. Zane smiled as the red liquid fled from the small wound, and slowly covered his thumb. After retracting the knife, he gradually placed his thumb on Tanner's vest leaving another red mark.

"There's your prize," Zane whisper menacingly as he removed he thumb, "now get out of here."

Tanner blinked as Zane removed his thumb, and stared at his latest trophy. The prize he had longed for, ever since he had first seen the Kaiser duel was now his. An evil grin lined Tanner's face as he withdrew his duel disk, and he stared walking towards a side exit. Now was not the time to mess with Hell Kaiser and Tanner was not enough of a fool to even try. "I don't know what Hell Kaiser wants with you kid," Tanner murmured as he passed Syrus, "but I don't envy you."

The two brothers watched as the blood-loving duelist left the stone hall, and continued to stare at the exit until his footprints died away. Now an unsettling silence had fallen over the room. Syrus had no idea what to do. His stomach was in knots; what had he done wrong! I know I was not just using that card I was playing it. So why did Zane stop me? Why?

"Your friends are looking for you," Zane muttered as he interrupted Syrus's thoughts.

"Oh," Syrus said as he looked down and stared at his shoes. "I was playing that card correctly, Zane. I was going to win you know."

"I know you were going to win Syrus," Zane said with clenched teeth, "that is why I stopped you."

"I don't understand Zane," Syrus said looking up at his brother as tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

"Look around here you little twerp," Zane yelled as gestured to their surroundings with his arm, "do you honestly think that if you had won the duel Tanner would have just let you walk out of here. Most of those thumbprints were from duelist that did defeat him in a duel!"

"I don't understand," Syrus said again.

"If you had won that duel the only thing that would have happened, is you would have had to deal with an angry Tanner. He could have killed you Syrus, and I'm not being dramatic here either. This is the underground Syrus, people die here, and the majority of the them were duelist that won the duel, but didn't defeat their opponents enough to walk away. Agggg, you are such a hopeless little, diminutive, dimwitted jellyfish. Tell me, what would you have done if you had won this duel and had to deal with an angry Tanner?"

"You said my friends were looking for me, I sure they would have shown up to help me before anything really bad happened," Syrus perked up.

"Your friends would have shown up, your friends would have shown up!" Zane shrieked as he rounded on Syrus. "News flash Syrus, you can't always count on other people to bail you out! You have to learn to get yourself out of predicaments. You have to learn that the only person you can count on is yourself, and you have to be willing to do what ever it takes to survive. Friends don't always show up in time. The ambulance doesn't always show up in time and if you don't get out of the car on your own you're going to die! I swear you are just like Dad!"

"Just like Dad, just like dad, just like dad….." the words that Zane had shouted recounted off the walls again and again as they seemed to surround the two brothers. Zane just stood there shocked at what he had said. He just couldn't believe what he had said. He didn't know how to react to what he had just said. Hell Kaiser just stood there in shock with no idea how he was suppose to feel or even what he was feeling. The only think he knew was that he wanted to run. But he couldn't run right now, not until Syrus was back were he belonged.

"Zane," Syrus asked as he approached his older brother. Their father had always been a touchy subject for the eldest of the Truesdale brothers. Syrus had never known their father; he had died when Syrus was only a few days old. Zane on the other hand had known their father and where he had been very young when he died, he still remembered him. How they felt about their father was one of the many things that separated the two brothers. For Syrus he more missed the idea of a dad, where as, Zane missed their actual dad. It had always been a very painful gap that had separated the brothers; one that was two painful to even think about filling in.

"Your friends will be at the entrance," Zane said in a mute tone as he turned and started heading back down the tunnel, saliently indicating for Syrus to follow.

It seemed as if the eldest had gone into a sort of autopilot mode and this frightened Syrus greatly. Zane and always been strong, always been brave, and even when we was anger he had never lost it, at least not like he just had. Syrus unsure of what to do or how to handle the situation just turned and followed his brother. The two continued to walk down the passageway without a word being said, until some very familiar voices broke the unnerving silence.

"That is it; this has got to be the most confusing maze I have ever seen. I feel like Theseus," Bastion's voice bounced off the walls.

"Who?" Jaden's puzzled voice asked.

"You stupid slacker, Theseus from the story of the Minotaur," Chazz snapped.

"What's a Minotaur?"

"It's a mythic monster that lived in a stone labyrinth."

"Ha, Ha, Ha, a monster in a maze that's a good one Chazz," Jaden laughed. "So what, this monster just waits around in a maze until people turn the corner and run it to….AHHHH…..Oh my gosh Zane! Don't sneak up on people like that! What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?" Jaden yelled as he crashed into Zane.

"Jaden," Syrus bawled as he ran out from behind Zane and pulled Jaden into a bare hug.

"Syrus!" The whole group shouted as they all came together in a big group hug, all but one black clothed person who silently slipped away.

"We were all so worried about you little blue."

"Yeah, don't you ever do anything like that again slacker."

"How in the world did you get out of there solider?"

"Zane," Syrus answered as he once again looked at his feet.

"Hooray, I knew the old you was in there someway," Atticus shouted as he throw his arms up in the air looking around for Zane. "Zane, old buddy, old friend, old pal, were are you? Where did he go, he was just here?"

"Zane needs to be alone right now," Syrus voiced up to the group as they started to look around for him. "Dad kind of came up when we were alone."

Back to Zane….

Zane hurried up the stairs and quickly throw himself into the ice-cold rain. The water was like knifes as it meet with his skin, but Zane only found comfort in it. Now that Syrus was taken care of he could run. He could run away from this and never look back. He could leave everything about whom he had been in the past; he could let the water wash away all the pain and memories.

Zane ran down the street, crashing into and pushing nameless people out of the way. He felt broken right now; broken and alone. It was like being in a pool of water and as soon as he had gotten to the surface for air, another heap of water was dumped on him. He was drowning! Drowning in a mass of memoirs. Images of his father, and his father's funeral kept playing in his mind. He had been young at the time so he only remembered random things, which ultimately had no meaning, but still pledged Zane with pain. He remembered the white china plates that the food had been served on at the funeral. How he hated those plates! Those stupid, damn plates! All Zane could think of right now was running back to his apartment, where he could be alone. He had dug himself a grave and now he just wanted to be buried in it.

Zane forced his key into the keyhole and hurried into his apartment glad to finally be alone. He sank down to the floor with his back against the door and brought his knees to his chest. Zane just set there and as he did his feelings did a complete 180; the isolation started to suffocating him. He started gasping for breath as though he couldn't breathe. He needed to get out, he needed to stop being Zane, he did to stop being Hell Kaiser, he just needed everything to stop.

Zane looked down at himself and realized that his cloths were dripping on the floor. Now suddenly the water that had early made him feel clean made him feel dirty. He quickly ripped off his wet cloths and tossed them into the hamper, before crawling into bed. His bed, a place where nothing could hurt him. No stupid friends who said they were going to be there, but weren't when you really need them. No stupid Sheppherd to lecture him. No stupid dead dad to hunt him. But something was missing; something Zane needed to feel sheltered. Slowly Zane reached over, picked up the phone, and dialed a number.

"Hello Jo Tannin speaking," Jo's voice answered.

"Jo," Zane called over the line.

"Zane," she replied, "I'm glad you called. So did you save the twerp or do I need to go shopping for another black dress."

"Jo I, I …" Zane mumbled out weakly.

"Zane what's wrong. Did something happen to Syrus?"

"No Syrus is fine. I just …I just… can you leave you phone on tonight. I just need to hear that someone else is there," Zane whispered over the phone.

"Do you want me to come over," Jo asked with concern in her voice.

"No," Zane muttered. "I need to be alone right now; just not totally alone. I sorry, that really doesn't make any sense does it? I'm not really my self right now."

"It's okay to not make sense ever once in awhile," Jo answered, "I'll just put you on speaker phone for tonight and come over for breakfast tomorrow. We can make omelets or something."

"Thanks Jo," Zane muttered as placed the still on phone on his nightstand and listened to all the sounds Jo made as she went about her night. He heard her as she cooked dinner, and heard the sounds of the TV shows she watched, and heard her mutter something about a stupid retainer, as she brushed her teeth and got ready for bed.

"Goodnight Zane," she called as he heard the rustle of her sheets as she climbed into bed.

"Night Jo," he called back.

Zane listened to Jo's slow breathing and light snoring that night, and for some reason it brought him some comfort. It was nice to know that someone was there; that he could be alone with out truly being alone. It didn't take much longer for Zane to fell into a deep, dreamless slumber, knowing that in the morning things would be better. After all Jo had said something about omelets, and Jo with eggs always equaled a good laugh.

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Well I hope you guys liked chapter 7. Please leave a review and tell me what you think about it so far. Big thanks to Anime 300 and Kaiseress for reviewing chapter 6. Also, tell me about anything you would like to see in this story. I might use them or they might inspirer my own ideas. I hope this helped brighten up your Monday, and I'm sorry the up-date was later then usual; I had a lot of test at school last week. Thanks for reading.