Chapter 14: The Beginning

'Onii-chan! I said I don't want to sleep in the same room with that bugger!' Amaya complained in her usual forceful and annoying tone. Yuchi immediately turned his head away and faked a few coughs.

'Amaya, don't be so stubborn. Commander Lupine said that it's a good chance for both of you to bond with each other as teammates.'

'Argh... Why am I in the same team with that bugger?' shouted Amaya like a mad person. The noise she made was so loud that the cubicle at the two ends of the corridor could hear her quite clearly. 'He bullied me before!'

Yuchi suddenly felt a sense of tickling in his heart.

Tenshi looked at Yuchi, who was standing beside the door together with his luggage, and looked back at Amaya. 'An order is an order, Amaya. Don't complain about everything,' he warned. 'If you care for your job as a Pilot, that is.'

'I – Don't – Want!' the girl barked. 'How can I sleep safe and sound with such a perverted bugger like him?' She pointed his finger rudely at Yuchi.

'Amaya!' Tenshi growled. His face was all red with fury. Amaya immediately zipped up her mouth. She could do nothing but glare like an enraged bull at the person she was about to live with. Yuchi turned away, continuing to pretend that he did not hear anything about the quarrel between the duo.

'Hgn!' Amaya snorted, after what seemed to be a few seconds of total silence. 'Fine, I'll live with the bugger.'

She stomped out of the room, giving Yuchi another glare before she left. Yuchi kept mum throughout the whole time.

Tenshi let out a sigh of relief. He turned his head to look at Yuchi. 'Amaya's always like that. Complaining and complaining whenever she's unhappy with the things around her. You'll get used to it, Yuchi.'

Yuchi burst into laughter. 'Yeah, Tenshi. I'll have to try to get used to her somehow, she's my teammate.'

'My Mistress…' bowed Fate. 'Here's the files as per your request. The biographies of all the U.N.D.E.A.D. pilots.' Carefully, he presented to Seraph four thick folders, each labeled with a pilot's name.

'Thank you, Fate.' Seraph took over the four folders and shone at them using the faint green light emitted from her pendant. She scrutinized through the covers, making sure that they were of the correct labels.

'By the way…' Fate continued. 'Soteria have a message for you, my Mistress.'

'Speak, Fate.'

'They would like to wish you every success in your next plan. Of course, that would refer to Step Three according to the script they have written,' informed the young servant in a respectful manner.

'What about their comments for Step Two?' asked Seraph. She was certainly referring to her recent operation that had failed with the loss of all the Unit Duels.

'Everything is going smoothly according to their script, my Mistress. They even said that there's potential that you might help them succeed…' said Fate.

'Excellent.'

'If Soteria succeeds…' continued Fate, wiping off the sweat on his forehead. The dark and secluded place was rather hot. '…They say they would let you reign over the whole of the world as you wish, my Mistress. Your Father King will definitely be proud of you…'

Seraph smiled weakly. She brushed her beautiful, long pink hair with her bony fingers. 'That would be… the best thing to ever happen in my life, my dear Fate. The whole world ruled under the thumbs of my Father King's ideologies. It will be a world filled with hope and light, a paradise that no other place could be!' She suddenly broke into sinister laughter.

'Thank you, my dear Fate…' She returned the folders to her loyal servant after she had browsed through all of them. 'It seems that Step Three will be another success. Ah, before I forget…'

'What else is it that you require, my Mistress?'

'Take me to the dungeon, my dear Fate,' instructed Seraph. 'I need to welcome our new visitor personally. He's the key to our success.'

'I don't see why not, my Mistress,' answered Fate, pulling out a heavy-looking golden key from his pocket. Holding a candle in one hand to illuminate the way, he led Seraph towards the darker and deeper regions of the underground chamber. It had been their only home since the arrest of Seraph's father.

Fate held onto one of Seraph's hand tightly as they walked, trying to avoid every single gap between the stone tiles. Slowly and cautiously, they passed several corridors, so dark and eerie that the only inhabitants there were a few rodents and bugs. Faraway, there was the dripping sound of water, punctuating the silence of the chamber.

'My Mistress, it seems that you've not been here for quite some time,' said Fate, breaking the silence of the darkness. He nearly tripped over something. On checking, it was actually the corpse of a dead dog who perhaps had entered the place unintentionally and died of hunger.

'Yeah, I think so,' replied Seraph, removing the cobwebs that had stuck onto her black gown.

They walked down a long flight of stairs leading to a chamber deeper below. As they began to near the place, the noise of people shouting and wailing became louder and louder. It was accompanied by the crisp and clear banging sound of chains against some metal gate.

'My Mistress, we have reached your dungeon. I shall lead you to the new visitor now.'

They walked along the long corridor. Seraph looked left and right around her. The people were being kept in cells, behind thick, heavy metal bars like birds that were trapped inside cages. Iron chains held them firmly to the ground so that they could not move at all. Most of the prisoners looked listless. They seemed to be deprived of all their souls, leaving behind their bodies without any consciousness.

'Let me out!' cried a teenage girl to Seraph as she walked past one of the cells one cell. 'Why am I chained? Where are my parents?'

Seraph ignored the girl's begs and smiled coldly to herself. 'You should be proud that you're here,' she called out. 'You will be serving Al-Magnum in the future, as a pilot of the Darkness Unit. Become the fodder for my Father King's success!'

This was followed by the wailings of a few other prisoners in the neighboring cells. The teenage girl started to weep.

'My Mistress, we are reaching our visitor. Here it is,' he reached out his hand to point at the cell at the far end of the corridor. Seraph fastened her pace. She yearned to see her visitor, immediately.

Behind the cold metal bars of the cell was a naked teenage boy, chained to the ground like all the other prisoners. His messy white hair covered most of his face, exposing only his right eye. The red eye seemed soulless, it was just staring at the front without any movement at all. The boy sat motionless on the floor, not doing anything, nor letting out any sound.

'What's your name, my dear visitor?' asked Seraph, bending down to look at the boy.

He did not reply at all. He turned his head away to look at his right.

'I repeat, what's your name?' Seraph raised her voice.

'Kaworu,' the boy replied monotonously. 'Kaworu. Ikari.'

'I heard that you wish to destroy the U.N.D.E.A.D., isn't it?'

'Yes,' said Kaworu. 'I want to save my friend.'

'Oh? Who is it?'

'Yuchi. Yuchi Kendai,' replied Kaworu.

'Why?'

'U.N.D.E.A.D. kidnapped him. Made him do work for them.' the boy said, a tear dripping out of his soulless eye.

'And so, you want us, Al-Magnum to destroy it? To save your friend?' Seraph continued to probe further. She was interested with her 'new visitor'.

'Yes,' said Kaworu. 'I… will do anything for you… If possible…'

Knock. Knock.

'Come in,' said Commander Lupine.

'Good morning, Sir.' Entering the room was Wiles. He looked a bit exhausted.

'What happened?' asked the concerned Commander. 'You seemed to have been staying up overnight. Just look at your bloodshot eyes.'

'Oh,' said Wiles, noticing his reflection on the glass window behind Commander Lupine. 'It's… nothing, Sir. I was just checking for some information on the Internet last night, that's all.'

'Don't overdo yourself, Euclid,' reminded the Commander. 'Remember, you are a Pilot. Pilots need to operate Units with full health so that they can defend Neo Domino City.'

'I understand,' Wiles replied, smiling at the Commander shyly.

'So, what is it that brings you to me today?' Commander Lupine took a sip of his coffee and leaned back on his chair.

'I would like to request for leave, Sir.'

'May I know the reason, Euclid?'

'It's some family problems,' explained Wiles. 'I need to go back to Vancouver, Sir.'

'I can approve your request, Euclid…' The Commander paused for a moment. 'However…' he pressed a button on his keyboard. A holographic screen popped up in front of him, showing data of Yuchi. '…Pilot Kendai is still new. If you leave now, and should Al-Magnum strike the city once more during your leave, I'm afraid his workload would have to be increased…'

'Never mind about that, Sir,' interrupted Tenshi, who suddenly showed up behind Wiles. 'I will tutor Yuchi myself so that he would be able to handle the increased workload.'

'Pilot Tenshi?' Both Commander Lupine and Wiles exclaimed.

'Yes, I will tutor him,' asserted Tenshi. 'Personally. As his rival who has defeated him before.'

'Commander…' Wiles turned his head to look at Commander Lupine.

'Approved,' said Commander Lupine, after some serious contemplation. 'Pilot Wiles Euclid, you may return to your hometown. I permit you to take leave from your position, at a maximum of 30 days, starting from next week. Is that enough?'

'…Yes,' said Wiles, still a bit surprised.

'For Pilot Tenshi Ryuma,' he looked at Tenshi. 'You have volunteered yourself as a tutor for Pilot Yuchi Kendai. Your scope of teaching will include aiding him to cope with situations of increased workload. Starting from today. Is that clear?'

'Roger,' obeyed Tenshi. He bowed to the Commander and marched out of the room in his usual arrogant fashion.

'Hey, Bugger! Bugger Yuchi!' Amaya stomped back into her room and kicked Yuchi, who was lying down comfortably on the floor, in his stomach.

Yuchi let out a loud 'Ouch!' He clenched onto his stomach tightly. Annoyed, he asked the unfriendly girl. 'What is it that you want?'

'Let me warn you first, bugger,' snorted Amaya. 'Even though I let you sleep in my room, it's no excuse for you to sekuhara (sexually assault) me. If you do, I'll make sure you get fired by Commander Lupine, immediately! Do – You – Understand?' She put particular emphasis on the last three words.

'Yeah,' replied Yuchi coldly, picking himself up.

'And then…' Amaya marched across the floor carpet to the other side of the room. There were two single beds there, with a wide gap in between them. She stopped at the middle of the gap, facing Yuchi. '…This!' She pointed at the floor. 'This is the maximum you can reach in this room. You sleep that bed, I sleep that bed. You dare come to my place, I'll make sure Onii-chan kills you! Do – You – Understand, Bugger?'

'Yeah…'

'Finally!' Amaya marched back to Yuchi and pointed her finger at the shared bathroom. 'Bathing time! You bugger, 1900 to 1930. Me, 1930 to 2000. Do – You – Understand?'

'Why can't I take 1930 to 2000?' Yuchi retorted. 'I need time to eat at the cafeteria, you know.'

'Then eat faster!' snapped Amaya. 'Pigs like you gobble up your food, isn't it? Bugger?'

'Okay…' Yuchi tried his best not to irritate Amaya. 'So I got downgraded to a pig now...' he mused. He didn't mind getting killed by Tenshi or whatsoever, but he would like to avoid hitting Amaya's berserk button at all costs. His eardrums were more precious than anything else.

'Sigh…' He looked outside the window. The Headquarters did not have any kind of beautiful scenery to view at all. Just an underground complex that helped nothing to soothe the soul. Lights were flickering outside. Yuchi wondered if that were the test-type Units that Wiles was talking about during their first meeting. He stared at the iridescent sparks, thinking about all the things that had happened during the past two weeks.

'First, I lost to Tenshi in a Riding Duel…' He could still recall Tenshi's arrogant laugh when he dealt the final blow with his Berserk Dragon.

'…And then, Wiles invited me to this Headquarters…' Images of Wiles' beautiful black saloon car, his first impressions of the U.N.D.E.A.D. Headquarters, as well as the people he met inside there, all popped up in his mind.

One of the test-type Units swooshed past the window. The young pilot on it waved his hand at Yuchi as he flew past.

'…On that same day, I piloted a Unit and defeated Jun…' Tears started to flow out of his eyes. '…Yet I couldn't save him at all…'

'So I'm putting all my hopes on you, Yuchi. I'm sure you can help many people…' Jun's words to him were still etched in his mind.

'…I met Sir Bowman, Midget Dog, Amaya and many other people during my return to the Headquarters, but still…' Yuchi touched his head gently. He could vaguely remember all those scenes in his mind when he had that big headache.

'…When I recovered, I quarreled with Kaworu… I had no choice but to leave him…'

'…Can you choose not to go, Yuchi…?' How he wished that he could reply 'yes' to his question, but sadly he couldn't. 'It's my Destiny, Kaworu. I need to help other people. I hope you will realize that.' Yuchi wiped off the tears on his face.

These two weeks had been quite an emotional rollercoaster for him. Yet, he could eventually brave through it and reach the pinnacle of his life. 'Father, Mother…' he put his hands together and prayed. '…Yuchi has finally done it. I've finally become an U.N.D.E.A.D. pilot and will help many people… Thank you… Now, please bless me, God, so that I can walk on my road of destiny smoothly.'

- Part One – Chapters 1 to 14 – Fin -

* 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' starts to play in the background *

The second segment of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Mirai no Sekai saga…

Covering from Chapter 15 onwards, continuing the story from where it left off in Part One…

Soteria and Al-Magnum's collaboration plan begins to unfold…

More Darkness Units invade Neo Domino City…

The truth behind U.N.D.E.A.D. slowly comes into light…

Our hero, Yuchi Kendai, yet…

Tentatively starting from 12th of March onwards…

Yu-Gi-Oh! Mirai no Sekai II

Don't miss it!

Preview of Special Chapter

The duel between Wiles and Yuchi began!

Why did they fight each other?

How would the duel end?

Yu-Gi-Oh! M.S. 2nd Special Chapter: Brave Hearts, up in mid-February!