Soul of a Duelist

Turn 12: Strength of Soul

The chaos caused by Aegis' controversial match had halted the massive tournament until the middle of the afternoon. The local law enforcement was called in to actually strip search every single duelist and anyone remotely related to the Millennium Tournament. Aegis supposed they had to make sure the rest of the people involved were all human.

For better or worse, Aegis had also made international papers for his feat. Though the majority of the world acknowledged the strange things that happened with Duel Monsters, most people had the sense to never speak of it as it was frowned upon. But with something so dangerous happening in the Millennium Tournament it had directed all the eyes of the world to watch and pay attention for any strange mishaps that could be tied to Duel Monsters.

Being the man who was caught up in the shadows, Aegis had drawn a massive amount of attention from all sorts of people. Those that remembered the black-haired man from his former dueling days to new agents that were interested in signing him on before someone else could. It was difficult for Aegis to move about at the tournament site as he was easily recognized from his massive trenchcoat and the ever changing headgear.

Little children seemed to love his company the most, Aegis assumed it was because he looked like some rugged superhero from a comic book. He often would give simple advice to the kids that gathered around his table when he was eating lunch. Many of them wanted to take a look at Aegis' deck, though it never left his hands he always obliged the requests, it also gave Aegis a chance to study the combinations he could use himself.

Aegis spent the evening sitting up in the stands, where even more people wanted to talk to him about his morning duel. In all honesty Aegis just enjoyed watching heated competition so he wasn't entirely keen on the constant assault of questions. Still, he did enjoy the company; it was a lot better than being alone in Europe.

Rather unexpectedly Aegis noticed he drew the attention of women in around the same numbers as he could attract children. Though all sorts of people wanted to meet and greet with Aegis, those two groups were the ones he noticed came to him the most. Despite his outward laissez-faire demeanor, Aegis found that he was rather guiltily enjoying the feminine attention.

For the moment Aegis found that he was accompanied by half a dozen rather pretty looking women. They had complimented him on how brave or how strong he was for surviving in the Shadow Realm. To maintain his stoic aura, Aegis had retreated into his notebook while dealing with his audience. In doing so it made him appear aloof, but also moved the conversation onto his writing.

In all honesty Aegis was rather poor at dealing with those from the other gender. He figured that if he kept relatively calm and unmoving on the outside no one would notice that boyish jittering of his hand, or could simply write off the constant twitching as a habit when holding a pen.

The crowd suddenly roared, Aegis' attention moving away from his paper to the game at hand. The intermission was over and the next two duelists would appear. Aegis didn't even hear David introduce the two so he wasn't sure who would pop out.

Strutting out of the left hallway wearing a black leather jacket was a piece of Aegis' rather distasteful recent past. Vincent Vesarius was the classic bad-boy in how he dressed and in how he conducted himself. Wearing a pair of sunglasses, nice black leather biker pants to top off the look. His dark brown hair had been gelled to one side to complete the persona.

Vincent's flamboyant and reckless attitude captivated the attention of Aegis' cohorts. Suddenly Aegis truly wished he was as detached as he appeared to be.

"Isn't that Vincent Vesarius?" One of them spoke curiously. Aegis could feel a swirling mass of dread in what would inevitably happen next.

"Yeah…It is." No choice but to say those words. The news of what happened in Spirare was known by everyone at the Millennium Tournament.

"Didn't he beat you?" The red-head to his left then asked the next question. It was posed innocently enough but Aegis had enough experience with people to detect the connotation.

"Yes…He did." Again, there wasn't anything else he could think of saying.

"You know I hear he's had two dozen offers of being sponsored for the pro-league!" The damage was done, Aegis couldn't do a thing to stop the snowballing of support for Vincent. He pretended to half listen to the gossip of what they had 'heard' happen between Vincent and Aegis.

"I…Don't think I like that guy."

Aegis buried himself into his notebook to drown out the gossiping. It didn't serve him much good but it was an attempt to change the course of his train of thought. The opposite sex always made Aegis feel rather inadequate. Despite his new found confidence and that rough exterior, he was no better at dealing with girls than he was when he was ten.

At times Aegis dared to look at the dueling field, Vincent was dominating his opponent exactly like how he beat Aegis. His lone swordsman Sonaris was slashing through the opposition's field with ease. Aegis hoped by watching the duel he would gain some insight in how to beat Vincent.

Aegis was facing Vincent in his next match tomorrow.

The duel finished quickly, Vincent winning with ease. The moment he won for whatever reason Vincent was able to stare straight up at Aegis' seat to give him a hateful stare. Though the women seated around him mistook it for a flirtatious advancement which caused a collective squeal.

The seats around him emptied themselves at breakneck speed, a flurry of miniskirts and purses rushing by Aegis. He watched with a bit of bitterness in his heart as his makeshift posse abandoned him for Vincent. After Aegis was sure that they were out of earshot he slumped over and let out a defeated sigh.

"I didn't think you went for the ditzy type." Aegis spun around and looked around for the source of the voice which just addressed him. Finally he looked straight up at the row of seats behind him, locating the origin.

The voice that Aegis heard came from a rather tomboyish looking girl, actually the voice was somewhat androgynous so he couldn't peg the owner of it until he looked.

"I don't…But…It's kind of nice to have company sometimes." Aegis murmured his response, his shyness kicking in already. Next to him, his new companion took an open seat, which is when Aegis took the chance to examine the girl.

She was slightly shorter than him, coming just short of Aegis' forehead. She wore a blue and white jacket with fading blue jeans. On her head she had a white baseball cap over her neatly tied waist-length black hair. Aegis then noticed her auburn brown eyes looking at him through a pair of thin black framed glasses, inquisitively returning his examination.

Aegis suddenly realized how strange he was acting and directed his eyes to the notebook in his lap. He could feel some blood rush to his cheeks involuntarily, he hated how childish his conduct was.

"My name is Alice Feague. But you can call me Al." Despite the almost stalker-eyes Aegis had used on Alice, she still seemed to be considering him a friendly. Aegis' hand fumbled around for a moment as he dug it out of his coat pocket to offer to Al.

"Aegis. Aegis Hallow." Suddenly he realized how odd it was for him to introduce himself. More than likely she had already known who he was. It wasn't like he had a face that blended in, actually most of it simply blended in with his black hair, the right half of his face simply covered up by it.

"Are you from around here, Al?" Aegis' mind raced through the conventions for how to conduct himself in such a situation. The question was generic and general, it would be acceptable and in Aegis' mind he could see a scoreboard handing him a point.

"Yes, I live rather close to this stadium. It's really something to see as big as the Millennium Tournament come to this city." Alice smiled as she talked, Aegis couldn't help thinking that she had quite a charming smile.

"Ah…How do I say this…You kind of look like someone I know…" After seeing her smile the sense of familiarity came across Aegis' mind. There was something a bit familiar or at least similar to something he had seen somewhere else. Alice appeared a bit troubled by Aegis' comment, the scoreboard suddenly taking away that one point.

"Ah! N-never mind! It must've just been me, haha…" It wasn't a duel, it wasn't a life-threatening situation, but his confrontation was making Aegis sweat. Without even thinking, his right hand extracted a pen from his pocket and advanced it towards his notebook. Alice's eye noticed the movement and pointed to the page of scribbling.

"Are you writing something, Aegis?" The mental calculations went firing off in Aegis' head. Alice seemed to be actively striking up conversation, despite the two mess-ups Aegis had caused. The numbers crunched themselves and the ultimate result was one point for Aegis.

"Yeah, actually I am." Aegis' voice gained some confidence. Writing was one of the things he was confident about ever since he started. "People don't know this, but I've been writing ever since I left the dueling world. I don't use my actual name, so I go by Mister S. Taljanan."

At hearing the name Alice perked up. "To be honest…" Alice pause enticed Aegis' curiosity and made him dare a second glance over at his companion. She was fidgeting slightly with both her hands in her lap, the sight made Aegis' cheeks redden, it was simply too cute. "You're actually my favorite writer!"

"Ah! That's…That's great! I've never met a fan before!" Aegis' voice increased in volume as he could feel his ego swell. Another point added to the scoreboard. "Then again, no one has figured out my real name until now!"

"I decided that it might be a bit inconvenient for me to use my real name. So I decided to use Mister S. Taljanan. Taljanan is Germanic for 'tell'. Mister S. Tell, or Mister Storyteller." Aegis had waited for a very long time for the opportunity to explain the origins to his penname. Alice clapped lightly and smiled at Aegis, she appeared to be impressed. Another point for Aegis.

"Can I see what you're working on? It's been a very long time since you published anything, Mister Taljanan." Aegis laughed and shrugged his shoulders. He put away the pen in his hand and snapped his notebook shut before placing it into Alice's delicate hands.

"Well, since you know the truth about one Mister S. Taljanan, mainly that he's the former dueling prodigy Aegis Hallow, you're not going to find a lot of my stories in there for now." Alice hummed but still opened up the pages of the notebook.

"I do have something I think I'll finish in a bit. But right now I've been recording information on the other duelists." Somehow Alice's smile grew a bit larger at hearing about the content.

"A duelist first and a storyteller second?" Aegis thought for a moment at the comment and then laughed.

"Hard to say, they're both things I really dedicate myself too. But, right now, I'll be Aegis Hallow the Duelist instead of S. Taljanan the Storyteller." Alice smiled radiantly which caused another blush from Aegis, the boy looking away quickly.

Alice skimmed through the pages slowly, carefully examining Aegis' scribbled notes that covered the margins. Aegis made sure to write down as much as he could about each duelist, and then assessed how much of a threat they could be.

Suddenly it occurred to him, he had placed his own personal commentary in between the lines of useful notes. Remarks on the hairstyle or any quirks were written in. To him they were things that made him laugh, but what would Alice think?

"His hair looks like it was my lunch." Alice then read one of the remarks Aegis penciled in. His head firing to the side to gauge the reaction of his reader, much like how he would wait feverishly to hear from his editor on how well his latest story was doing. Then Alice snickered. Yet another point for Aegis. Then Alice turned the page, reading more of what Aegis wrote. He strained his mind to try and think back at what he had written next.

"Vincent Vesarius…I don't really like him much. What a stuck-up jerk! Get over things in life!" Alice seemed more curious than she was amused by the header on the page. Aegis suddenly felt like he lost a few points in his mental scoreboard.

"Vincent is your next opponent, isn't he?" Another point thrown out the window. Aegis nodded his head mechanically, his mind scouring for words to defend himself with.

"Do you think you'll win?" Aegis' minded grinded to a halt, the silly notions of how to impress his new reader were tossed aside to reconsider reality. The reality was that facing Vincent had more meaning than anyone would guess. There were many things Aegis wanted to atone for, what he did to Vincent and the residents of the apartment complex ranked high on that list.

Tomorrow was when Aegis would put himself to the test. Aegis wanted to make sure he could stand his ground in the face of some of his worst sins coming back for him. Each one he could overcome meant getting one step closer to living a life he only dreamt of.

"Yeah. I'll win. I don't care how many bad memories Vincent throws at me. The past is the past, we can only learn from it, nothing else." Alice thought on the response for a moment and then giggled. Aegis looked away while lowering his head; the embarrassment was great that day.

"I'll cheer for you tomorrow, Aegis!" The encouragement flooded Aegis' body with a surreal warmth. For some reason he felt very comfortable while around Alice. She then turned her eyes back down to Aegis' notebook and turned the page. For a moment her left eyebrow shot up, something had greatly caught her interest, but it was only for a moment and her expression returned to normal.

"Iris Lifian. She's as good for me as a viper shoved down my throat, chewing up my oesophagus and injecting me with venom all the way down." Alice recited the passage on the page. Aegis instantly grumbling to himself when recalling his rival.

"In the end, she'll be the biggest competition I have. That and I need to beat her to get back my hat!" Aegis found that he was forced onto his feet by sheer fighting spirit when reminded of his hat. Alice tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you so hung up about a hat?" Aegis' head spun around, his eyes fierce as he directed his eyes to Alice.

"I've had that hat for so long it's like a piece of me! That worn out hat has kept my head dry in all the rain and snow, I feel like it helps define me! Besides!" Aegis calmed down, seating himself once again after his little outburst.

"It's the principle of the matter. She beat me with a bunch of mind-games! I didn't sleep the night before our duel because of some things I was thinking about, those mind-games only made things worse! I need to pay her back for messing with me like that!" Alice appeared saddened by the reasoning, though Aegis didn't notice. She closed the notebook and handed it back to Aegis.

"Well, I have to go for now. It was fun talking to you, Aegis." Alice stood up and turned to face Aegis, Aegis also jumping onto his feet.

"Y-yeah. I'd like that, Al. I'm mostly hanging around someplace I can write if uh…You're, you know, looking around for me…" Aegis had a strong start to his voice, but near the end it began to waver and dwindle away. There goes another point.

He watched 'Al' walk away quietly, Aegis' mind replaying the events and already throwing 'what-ifs' at him. However a piece of Aegis resolved to leave it be. He had just gotten free of his incident with Noah from five years ago, and it wasn't a messy resolution either. There was a lesson to be learned from that, Aegis sighing and taking note of his own advice for once.

Aegis' hand reached into his trenchcoat and reproduced the black cowboy hat he had wore in the morning, put it over his head and plunged his hands into his pockets.

"If it's not one thing, it's another. I should learn how to stop worrying so much." Despite all the logic that was employed, Aegis' mind still couldn't help but wish he was a bit classier in how he conducted himself. "This has been a long day. Way too much has happened to me…" Aegis smiled faintly, patting his left hand against his left coat pocket, a lumpy mass in it.

"You better get back soon, Noah! From here on out I'll be walking ahead!" Aegis didn't speak to anyone, simply shouting up into the air amidst all the chatter around him. Amused at himself, Aegis decided to retire for the night. It was going to be a long walk back to the hotel anyway.

The clouds had moved back in overnight, Aegis frowning heavily as he stared up into the sky outside of the stadium. Aegis thanked his good fortune that he was still in the Millennium Tournament. By the end of the first day a quarter of the duelists were mowed down and ejected, forced to nurse their bruised egos until their next chance in four years.

The gray skies reminded Aegis of Spirare's sky. He wondered at how everyone at the homeless shelter was doing at that moment. Aegis wanted to call them when he returned to the hotel last night, but he didn't count on being so exhausted and collapsed onto the bed immediately after returning. In the morning he also didn't have a chance to pick up and dial the center's number since he didn't want to run late for his match.

A melancholy sigh came out of Aegis as he stared up at the dark clouds. He felt a bit guilty that he didn't even take the time to call after so much drama and effort on the part of the shelter to get him out to the Millennium Tournament. "Right! After I beat Vincent the first thing I do will be to call everyone!"

Suddenly Aegis retraced his thoughts. 'After I beat Vincent.' Aegis laughed quietly. He changed dramatically after returning from the Shadow Realm; at least it seemed like that. His former dueling essence was flowing back into him, that confidence was what made him a legend years ago.

"Well, times change. But this time, I think it'll be ok if I'm a little arrogant." Aegis chuckled to himself and slowly filed into the stadium amidst the rest of the spectators.

With David's introduction finished, Aegis walked out of the corridor and greeted the dueling fanatics by tipping his porkpie hat. The hat gave Aegis the air a sophisticated gentleman, Aegis even seemed to be acting the part. He stretched his arms out to the side and turned to face the audience, tipping his hat and bowing lowly before straightening up and putting his hat away into his trenchcoat.

Aegis then quickly scanned the stands, looking around for a pair of black framed glasses and a white baseball cap. However it was nearly impossible to tell anyone apart as all the faces and clothing simply blended together into a mosaic of the masses. It suddenly occurred to him how foolish it really was trying to find Alice in the crowd. There wasn't any real reason for her to be present either, the encouragement was more of a formality than it was a task.

In one final search attempt Aegis turned his dark brown eye up and to his left at the spot he was seated in yesterday. To his surprise, a hand waved back at him. To his disgust, it was a black gloved hand. Attached to it, the owner wore a black uniform and the most aggravating smile Aegis had ever seen in his life.

"Iris? Why is she in the one spot I look at?! Stop smiling at me like that! Just rubbing in how she took my hat! Stupid smug, Iris!" Aegis paused himself. He looked away from Iris' serene smiling face, feeling his cheeks filling with some extra blood.

"To think…If Noah was serious back in the Shadow Realm…The very last thing I might've thought was how I wanted to see Iris again! That's…Not what I wanted to think! Why did that even come to mind?! This is…I…Did I always worry so much?" Aegis couldn't help but cover his face up with his gauntlet. His facial muscles were in disarray. He felt strange inside, it didn't feel nice.

Aegis knew that he was being much more irrational about how he conducted himself on the matter of Iris than he usually was. But to think that the last thing his mind came up with in such a dire situation was her overconfident smiling face simply unsettled Aegis' calculative mind to no end. It almost seemed like his heart or his soul had betrayed his consciousness. What a dreadful feeling.

"Chickening out already, Hallow?" Vincent blasted through Aegis' boyish worries. He had silently appeared across from Aegis with his entire gangster attire. Black leather jacket, pants and dark sunglasses that rested a little way down his nose so he could give Aegis a good cold glare with his ruby red eyes.

Aegis paused before reacting, making sure to evaluate himself as his mind replayed the events of the last duel, his breakdown and the weight of his sins. For some reason, the deaths that hung over his head did not seem so numerous, the anguished cries no longer reaching his ears.

The things he had done were still there, the facts did not change. Aegis wished for the best to those that remained like him. The past was gone, the only thing Aegis wanted to do was to honour those that lived.

"I am not who I was. I am here, and I am now. So, I will live. And I will respect those that have let me come so far. If they forgive me or not is not up to me. I have forgiven myself. Right now, I just want to be heard and that is good enough." Aegis lowered his arms to his sides, took in a deep breath and let it out very slowly. "I'll be alright."

"Vincent, when I'm done here today, I'll make sure you understand who I am!" The duel-disk armed itself, the blade ejecting with such force that sparks shot out of the servos and motors, Aegis' metal fist clenching together with a metallic ringing.

(Vincent: 8000 Aegis: 8000)

"I'm going to like crushing your dreams for a second time! Maybe after this you'll finally stay dead!" Vincent opened up the war with a powerful shot. He was sure it would hit with the power of a howitzer, judging from the suddenly silent Aegis, it appeared to be a direct hit. Any moment Aegis would start trembling again!

Then something strange happened. Aegis looked away quickly, his face a bit red and his eyes shut tightly with a look of reluctance on his face. "Stupid Iris being in the stands today! It's got me all wound up! I better not hear anything about this anywhere afterwards."

Aegis looked over at Vincent with a solemn face, then proceeded to undo the top button to his trenchcoat. "I'm only doing this once, so pay attention." Vincent grunted as Aegis actually appeared to be undressing himself! The crowd also became to act up at the sudden action; they expected something strange from the day's match, but this was too much!

Aegis listened deafly to the excited whispering in the stands, burying the lower half of his face into his tall collars to try and hide as he undid another set of buttons. Vincent was flustered by the obscenity of it all, slamming a foot into the metal floor and shouting in protest.

"I think it's time I taught you what it really means to have the strength to live!" Aegis decided it was no time to be bashful. He had to maintain his dueling reputation of a fierce hardened duelist. With his face solidified once more and turned to stone, it would be time to get back his reputation with his next display.

With a large swinging motion Aegis whipped open his trenchcoat and spun the entire blue fabric mass straight up into the air, the massive coat hanging up against the force of gravity.

Underneath his trenchcoat, Aegis only wore ratty faded away black dress pants, leaving his entire upper-body in plain sight for thousands to see. The reason as to why Aegis took to wearing such a large article of clothing was mostly out of self-consciousness.

His body had been covered in numerous scars and burns that never quite healed. Cuts and gouges ran the course of Aegis' thin frame, he looked much frailer than he led the world to believe. Still, the tattered body was not one for a weak man; there was plenty of muscle that was finely honed over years of harsh experience.

Aegis reached up into the air into his floating trenchcoat, then hurled it far off to the side, in his hands a wrinkly white dress shirt. He promptly swung it around his back and slid both of his arms through the sleeves before beginning to do up the buttons.

"You say I'm weak, Vincent. Yet you don't understand the strength you need to simply live, to walk forward in life." Aegis' voice was more of a savage growling than it was coherent speech, his hands doing up the very last button around his collar.

"So you got a few scars, big deal! I got scars too from gang fights, so what?!" Despite his words, Vincent still seemed a bit disturbed by all of the damage on Aegis' body, as was most of the crowd. Aegis was acutely aware of the talk in the audience as well, which left his cheeks somewhat rosy.

"I got these scars from pulling people out of fires. For being shot at for protecting someone. I've had more than sticks and stones hurled at this body, and I'm still here. Don't think all I've done in my life is run and hide." Aegis didn't raise his voice during his counterattack. He simply talked with the same low grating voice that he used all the time.

"And you think I have?! Ever since you ditched us I've devoted myself to fighting against those in power who keep taking everything away from the weak!" Aegis shook his head which only made Vincent's temper worse, one of the judges blowing his whistle sharply when Vincent began to make advances towards Aegis.

"Whether you like it or not, you and I are more alike than you think." Aegis adjusted his collar with his steel gauntlet, the coolness of the metal fingers passing through the white fabric around his neck.

"I'm not a wimp like you, Hallow!" The exchange was over with one final defiant vocal blasting. Vincent had had enough of the banter and drew his five card opening hand. "I'll tear you apart just like I did in Spirare!" Vincent took the initiative and took his sixth card.

He then shoved a card from his hand into his duel-disk with enough power to bend the metal that held it together.

"I activate Swords of Revealing Light! We play this game by my rules, Hallow!" A large green spell card lifted off of the ground on Vincent's side of the field. Along with the arrival of Vincent's cards came massive swords of light that rained down from the sky and into Aegis' field.

"I'll end my turn, Hallow. Let's see your stupid ghosts again!" Vincent sneered and spat at the ground towards Aegis' field, one of the judges frowning at the display.

Aegis acknowledged the turn priority passing back to him, but he couldn't help but fidget with his collar yet again. His old dueling uniform was in fact the same black dress pants and white collar dress shirt he had on. The only thing that was missing would be his favorite red velvet tie which he had to leave in his bag.

"Honestly…Doing something like that just now…I feel so exposed…" Aegis shook his head again, not for a second finding it odd that he was paying no attention to his duel or Vincent. Vincent detected the lack of focus and slammed his foot into the metal yet again.

"If you're not even going to pay attention then just give up and save yourself the humiliation, Hallow!" Aegis lazily sighed and rolled his head in a slow circle before resting his left eye on Vincent. His silver right eye peaked through his bangs of hair to give his face an eerie glint, Aegis' laid back posture only contributed to his almost rag-doll appearance.

"I'm not worried because I know the outcome. I will show you the difference in our strength, Vincent." Aegis pulled a stack of cards off and spread them apart with a flick of the wrist. "By the time this duel is over I will make you understand who I am. I'll make sure to get my point across by extracting each and every one of your life points!" The crowd rose up and roared at the daring challenge. Vincent snorted and shoved his sunglasses back up and over his eyes.

"You're blowing steam, Hallow! Get on with it!" Aegis wordlessly complied, commencing his turn with his sixth card. As he pulled the card off, he could feel a flare up in his silver eye, the eye pulsing in its socket for a moment. At first Aegis was startled by the sensation, then he noticed the card he had drawn and it suddenly became clear. In his left hand he held onto XI-5 – Kiris, upon seeing it a thin smile crossed Aegis' face.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but this time just leave things to me." Aegis put Kiris' card away at the very right of his selection of cards, right next to the silver musician Orpheus. Aegis couldn't help but smile a bit to see such eager and supportive friends, but for Aegis to beat all that Vincent was, he wanted to do it with his own strength.

"I activate Angel Impact! This lets me add the monster, Seraph the Fallen from my deck to my hand, and I'll summon him right away in attack mode! (1700/1600)" It was time for Aegis to make his big debut, and to commence it was his signature monster.

With a similar professional air as Aegis, Seraph shot out from the ground with his massive blue wings furled around his body. While high up in the air so that the entire stadium could see, he forced his six great wings apart and hovered for a moment.

The crowd marvelled in the dramatic entrance, Seraph's black and blue uniform reminiscent of a clean cut business suit. The silver designs on his shoulders and wrists shone brightly with holographic lights, even his silver hair could produce a reflection.

Aegis couldn't help but smile as Vincent looked on in confusion at the card as it descended into place on Aegis' field. "That's right, I'm not the same as I was when we duelled last time."

"To end my turn I activate Pandora's Box!" Beside of Seraph a tiny ebon black box materialized. The lid of the small accessory rattled the moment it appeared, a subtle yet disturbing thing for it to do. "I won't lie. I have done many sinful things in my life. I wish I could right the wrongs, but-"

"Then lie down and die for once, Hallow!" The sudden outburst didn't seem to go over so well with the crowd, the onlookers stunned and unsure of what to do. The papers seemed to have failed to mention the intense hatred between the two.

Aegis appeared unfazed by the words. Many worse things had been echoed within the confines of his mind, and he had survived them. He wagged his metal clad finger at Vincent with an amused smirk. "If I could atone and fix everything with just my life, then I would have died a long time ago, Vincent!" The reply was firm and had no hint of sadness, only a strong second meaning behind it.

"You and everyone saw the pains of this body, yet I'm still here, only part by choice, the rest by the will of those I left behind!" Aegis hurled his arm forward, pointing accusingly at Vincent, all the while smiling with some unknown expression on his face.

"Only by carrying my head high can I honour those that have come before me! As long as I draw breath and walk forward will I have the chance to atone for every sin I've committed! One scar, one agonized cry at a time! Now be quiet so I don't have to stand up here all day trying to duel you!" Aegis tapped the metal on his duel-disk impatiently, the smugness he was displaying was sufficient in keeping Vincent silent it seemed.

Aegis chuckled and shrugged his shoulders laxly. Vincent growled at the nonchalant display, knowing that he was starting to test the patience of the judges and even the crowd with all of his character attacks on Aegis. "First, I'll set two cards and now…When I end my turn I can do the unthinkable and reach into Pandora's Box, opening it up and releasing its evil. But, for you that just means I can add a card with Relic of Sin from my deck to my hand."

The black box shot up into the air and straight into Aegis' outstretched left hand, stopping nicely in his palm. Aegis was impressed with the card's dynamics, the projectors just seemed to play his cards in such a way that it felt like the projections were real. He felt like he was trying to weave a story, except with all the power of creation of a god and not just his pen and paper.

Aegis flipped the box over and cracked open the trembling lid, legions of black howling spectres flying out of the small box and into the air. He couldn't help but be amused as the other systems of the dueling field kicked in, powerful fans from underneath the stadium gusting and blowing air into the air all over the stadium so as to give the audience the feeling they were involved in the duel.

With a slight of hand Aegis made it appear like he reached into the box and pulled out a card, the truth of the matter was he simply let his deck fall into his hand as he plunged it into the hologram. Then fanned it apart before pulling out the card he wanted. The action was the sort of practiced slight of hand that often saved his life in the past; and it was a great party favor. The lid fell back into place after Aegis pulled his hand out, the box falling to the ground and the stadium fans ceasing.

"To end my turn I add Relic of Sin – Samael's Wing to my hand." As luck would have it, Aegis' titanic royal blue trenchcoat was lifted into the air by the stadium effects, the fans blowing it high above him. But as it came down, the garment was positioned to land just a bit to Aegis' right, so he shot his metallic right arm up and clean through the right sleeve. Not to break stride, Aegis followed through and swung the other half of his coat and put it back on.

Aegis' smile only widened as he reflected on his own good fortune. But judging from the scowl and the blood vessel that was about to burst on Vincent's forehead, not everyone was glad it seemed.

"I don't know where you got all this nerve, Hallow. But I'm getting real tired of your attitude!" Vincent's voice was as loud as ever, blasting Aegis' eardrums with massive decibels.

"First I activate Wandering a Thousand Nights! When I send it to the graveyard I can summon Wandering Swordsman – Sonaris! And for every standby phase that goes by I can also search my deck for an equip card to put into my hand!" Aegis glanced at the glowing luminescent swords surrounding him. More than likely they were to buy Vincent the time he needed.

"Next I activate Quantum Leap!" A large white swirling portal of energy gathered in the center of the dueling field, the artificial winds whipping up and creating a massive gust that blew through Aegis' open trenchcoat furiously.

"I'll pay 2000 life points and then every card on the field is considered to have been there for two more standby phases!" The vortex expanded as Vincent's life points ticked away, the winds approaching hurricane force and the crowd yelling and screaming in the process.

(Vincent: 6000 Aegis: 8000)

After hurling wrappers and some of the bodily possessions of the audience into the air, the wind finally died down and the white vortex dissipated. The card Vincent had played right before also vanished, in its place was Vincent's titan.

"I'll send away Wandering a Thousand Nights now to summon Wandering Swordsman – Sonaris in attack mode! (0/0)" The swordsman appeared in his cracked and battle worn royal blue armor, his long uncut black hair forming into black strands that fell all along his weary face.

"By the effect of Quantum Leap I've tricked my spell card into thinking it was on the field for two turns. Like I said, now I'll be able to add two equip cards from my deck to my hand, and I pick Katana Ying and Katana Yang!" Aegis frowned, his original estimation was incorrect. Vincent didn't need time to bring out his swordsman, he simply wanted to ensure that Aegis couldn't launch into a counterattack immediately.

Vincent pulled his sunglasses down slightly so he could give a sly glance from his crimson eyes, making sure to drink in the frustration on Aegis' face before continuing. "I equip both Katana Ying and Katana Yang to Sonaris. By their effects they'll automatically supply my swordsman with two swordsmanship counters as long as they're equipped. Furthermore my swordsman gains 3000 attack points! (3000/0)"

In both hands a long bladed katana formed. The one in the swordsman's right was a glowing white blade that gave off a white trail of fire. The weapon in his left was a long pitch-black blade that also let off black embers as the sword almost was immaterial in its appearance.

"Weak? Weak?! Don't make me laugh, Hallow! I've spent the last five years surviving on my own! Do you understand the strength my two hands have?! I've crawled and scrapped out my existence, I've protected others from a fate you condemned us too!" Vincent folded his arms together triumphantly, at a moment's notice he could unleash his warrior's full power.

"You're stuck living in the past, Vincent! You've become fixated upon that one event!" Aegis' counterattack struck a nerve in Vincent, his body quaking with rage from the very simple statement. The reaction intrigued Aegis, he had found something that could finally take apart Vincent's assault.

"Stop wasting my time with your semantics, I'll tear you down! I'm discarding another card to give my swordsman another counter and boosting his attack by another thousand points! (4000/0)" Vincent did his best to steer the conversation away from anything that could be detrimental to him. Focus went back to the battle on hand, Vincent's swordsman readying his two blades.

"Go! Fatal Strike! Get rid of this guy already!" The swordsman charged for the angel's head. Both combatants readying, and at the last moment before the two ethereal blades would cleave apart the seraphim, it dodged.

"I'm activating the trap card, Angel Impact – Infinity!" One of the two cards Aegis had prepared lifted off the ground, the red coloration agitating Vincent as if he were a mad bull.

"First your attack is negated. Then you take damage equal to Seraph's attack power!" Aegis' avatar burst forward after sidestepping Vincent's warrior. The angel wound up and just as he closed the distance between himself and Vincent, fired his fist right through Vincent's body, the hologram passing through him easily.

(Vincent: 4300 Aegis: 8000)

Vincent's fisted tightened, his face scowling behind his sunglasses. After a tense moment of loud snarling, he shot his arm forward again. "Swordsman! Attack again! Fatal Strike!" Vincent watched for Aegis to flinch or at least twitch, instead the second charge of his swordsman was greeted by another smile from Aegis.

"If that's the case I'll activate Dimension Wall!" Aegis announced his move with confidence that he never would have imagined having last time he faced Vincent. By not letting the character attacks get under his skin, it seemed like the entire threat that was the painful past was no longer any harm.

A portal opened up between the two monsters, the swordsman's weapons passing through it and ending up sticking through Vincent's torso. Aegis stood firm, he wasn't letting a single attack get through to his life points. On top of that each attack Vincent declared was greeted by failure and backlash, not only with his card plays, but also in the psychological warfare.

(Vincent: 2000 Aegis: 8000)

"Even though I take the damage, your monster is still destroyed, Hallow!" Aegis' defensive portal soon evaporated the two blades that were displaced reappeared on their original course, through Aegis' seraphim. With no more resistance left the angel was ran through by the two blades.

"Seraph the Fallen won't give in that easily!" Aegis pumped his right fist up in the air, clenching the metal fingers together forcibly and creating another metal tang. "It'll take at least two fatal attacks to destroy Seraph, sorry, Vincent!" Aegis' monster sprung back from the injury, kicking the swordsman back to his starting position on Vincent's field.

"I don't rely on the past anymore. Now I understand the lessons it's left for me. Each encounter has shaped me into who I am today. Without the people that have helped me I wouldn't be the man I was today! Can you say the same?!" Aegis' passionate words reflected the nature of his newly burning soul. The heat of his spirit firing up thousands in the stands with its intensity.

"I tribute Sonaris to summon my final monster, Wandering Swordsman – Vagabond! (3000/2000)" The thought was over as soon as it was created. Vincent dismissed the former form of his great warrior, in his place his older self materialized.

Garbed in a massive flowing torn tan cloth that barely covered his massive muscular chest, the Vagabond appeared. His armor was still damaged and remained in strange fragments on his legs and right arm. Aegis recognized the warrior instantly, reminding himself of his ultimate technique which was used to dispose of Aegis last time.

"I end my turn, Hallow." Again, Vincent's voice was quiet, an unknown emotion being conveyed in the tones. For whatever reason, Vincent did not respond to Aegis' question, avoiding it to the best of his ability.

"Vincent's swordsman could have beaten Seraph next turn, so why did he want to use his Vagabond? Maybe…" Aegis dismissed the thought and lifted a card off of his deck. "I'm activating Relic of Sin – Samael's Wing!"

Seraph's six large wings twitched and then all pulled to the right, swirling together into a single massive black feathered wing. Black feathers floated throughout the stadium as Seraph furled and curled his new singular wing. The wing covered the entire right half of the stadium, if it were real it would cast its shadow over a thousand people in their seats as they looked up in awe at the black feathers.

"By the effect of Samael's Wing, Seraph's attack and defence increase by a thousand (2700/2600) and all your monsters lose 100 attack points multiplied by their level! (1800/2000)" The true nature of Seraph's wing revealed itself in the form of the shed black feathers. As each one touched the ground the feather dissolved into purple vapour that hissed like burning acid.

Aegis sighed and lifted his hands up, shaking them dismally. "Since there are still two more turns remaining until I can attack, I'll end my turn." The black box lifted off of Aegis' field once more, Aegis deciding to keep up his act and so he dipped his hand back into Pandora's Box.

"With that, I'll take Relic of Sin – Fenrir's Fang from my deck and place it into my hand." Proudly Aegis augmented his hand with yet another odiously named card. Some in the audience had heard the details of the first duel between the two combatants. In the process rumors of Aegis being a murderer had arisen, the selection of cards that Aegis was using didn't seem to do much to counter such ideas.

"Why are you so proud of living in sin, Hallow?!" Something new and rather unexpected came tumbling out of Vincent's enraged mouth. Aegis' bodily motions halted for a moment, his mind carefully weighing the words. His heart did not feel anything, it was as if it was no different from lead. Still, Aegis took that as a response in itself.

"I'm not. But that's the key." Aegis paused again in his speech, slowly swaying his head from side to side as if he were stretching the ligaments in his neck. "I can live with my sins."

"It's not easy to move on in life. But, when you realize it, then you can start walking again." Vincent looked bored at Aegis' constant lecturing. However Aegis wasn't, neither was his audience. The crowds would remain deathly silent whenever Aegis began to speak, each one of them straining their ears to listen to the storyteller.

"For too long I've given up. I thought I truly was worthless. My languishing soul never once knew the true color of that sky above me." With his words imparted to the masses Aegis went back to fidgeting with his collar. Vincent appeared to be disgruntled over the constant speeches, however there was something else on his face. Aegis couldn't figure out what it was and simply didn't mention it.

"I skip my draw phase to give Vagabond one swordsmanship counter!" Vincent's voice was blatantly upset at that point, his tones would only worsen when he noticed Aegis frown at his move.

"What's wrong with you, Hallow?!" Aegis was blasted by Vincent's robust vocal chords, the man blinking for a moment before his mind pieced itself back together to react.

"I do admire the strength you have alone. But in the end it's still alone. By allowing others to enter your life will you grow and become stronger! However, I'm rather impressed that your entire philosophy reflects itself in how you duel!" The comment hit Vincent with the force of a knife being jabbed into his chest.

"I don't need anyone! Now go already, Hallow!" Aegis did not reply to the challenge, but Seraph did. The gigantic black wing shifted slowly at first before flapping mightily. The stadium mechanics came to life again and pelted Vincent and anyone behind him in the seats with a powerful gust of wind, holographic black feathers .

"After you end your turn, by the effect of Samael's Wing you will take 100 damage times the total level of all monsters on your field. Vagabond is a level twelve monster so the damage will amount to twelve hundred!" The storm of black feathers intensified, the feathers dissolving into purple ooze in mid-flight. It wasn't long before Vincent was besieged by a torrent of the liquid before the storm finally settled.

(Vincent: 800 Aegis: 8000)

"You know, I visited that retirement home you're fighting to keep open." Aegis decided it was time to orchestrate one more twist before ending the story for the day. Vincent straightened up at the mention of his crusade, tossing aside his vendetta to bask in his good deed.

"Have you ever actually asked if they wanted you to fight for them, Vincent?" A crushing blow. In the war of words Aegis had dropped a nuclear warhead overtop of Vincent's headquarters, whipping out any hope for a counterattack. Vincent's eye twitched, his sunglasses tilting at a strange angle with his confused face.

"I-I…" A drop of blood had landed in the water, Aegis could smell it.

"Well I have! And believe it or not, they don't actually want your help!" Aegis' right arm shot out, accusingly pointing at Vincent's shocked face. He was stunned to hear such news, Aegis was more surprised that he never once asked for the opinion of people he fought so fiercely for!

"That place was dangerous to live in! The floorboards could give out at any second, the pipes were leaking all over the place, and even if you kept it open, who wants to live next to a highway?!" The war was already over with the first nuclear warhead, the bombardment at this point was just ensuring Vincent's faction was obliterated forever.

"We both were living in the past. Now I've finally got my life started again, just try and keep up, Vincent!" Aegis slammed the card he had drawn onto the surface of his duel-disk, a monster materializing onto the field.

Standing underneath of Seraph's black wing a mechanical automation was revealed. It stood a bit shorter than Seraph, a purple metal body with golden horn accessories on each shoulder and long teal claws formed itself. On the machine's back was a long barrel that shifted up and down for a moment before pointing straight forward, the weapon at the ready.

"This game is finally over, Vincent. The monster I summoned is named Cannon Soldier! (1400/1300) It's a forgotten card by now, but it gets the job done. Every time I sacrifice a monster I can blast away 500 of your life points. By sacrificing Seraph and Cannon Soldier itself, I'll deal one thousand points of damage to your life points!" Aegis resigned himself from the duel, his focus was gone, it was no longer needed. Instead his body was on fire, the blood in his veins racing through him after being empowered by a heightened sense of self.

Vincent struggled against himself, unsure of how to feel over the situation. He was outraged at how arrogant Aegis was, yet he had only said the truth, each syllable hitting him somewhere close to his heart. Aegis was not even remotely like his former self, he had regained that air of confidence he used to have in television broadcasted duels. For an instant Vincent's anger seemed to fade away.

"I'm getting tired of people thinking they know who I am! So let me make this perfectly clear to you and this world!" Aegis stomped a foot into the metal ground, effectively silencing everyone in the stadium. For a second Aegis couldn't help but grin madly, he truly did have the entire world at his will for that second.

"With the weight of this world's pains in my right, with the hopes of new life in my left, creating a new path towards the future with these hands!" Aegis' angel faded away from the field. The cannon affixed to his mechanical soldier pointed itself at Vincent and let loose a thunderous shot

(Vincent: 300 Aegis: 8000)

"Even if this world is torn apart, the burning of my soul will shatter the heavens themselves!" Aegis smashed his metallic fist together with such strength that sparks flew out of his clasped palm, the metal joints in the gauntlet straining and shattering.

"Know my name, I am AEGIS HALLOW!" It was difficult to determine which was louder, the sound of Vincent's demise by the hands of the stimulated cannon shot, or Aegis' booming voice that bellowed through every corridor of the stadium. The crowd erupted with the energy Aegis fuelled them with, cheering and shouting that escalated into mindless screaming.

(Vincent: 0 Aegis: 8000)

Without a single attack and before the paralyzing swords dissipated, Aegis had been declared the winner. The electronic scoreboard counted Vincent's life points down to zero in a heartbeat, the duelist looking stunned to have lost so easily.

"I am…Never doing that again." Aegis thought to himself amusedly. He had remembered Noah gave dramatic speeches to introduce himself frequently, it was rather strange to find himself doing it once. Aegis was rather embarrassed at doing such a flamboyant act, but it wasn't like he never wanted to try at least once.

Aegis spun around, his open coat wafting in the air as he did so. He raised his right arm to retrieve the cards he had played, setting them back into his deck and allowing the metal blade to retract back into its dormant state. Then he noticed the metal gauntlet over his right hand finally succumbed to his fierce spirit, some of the joints and finger casings dangling freely from the pink flesh underneath.

"Punched through walls with this, and I break my gauntlet by clenching a fist. Go figure." Aegis laughed, picking off the damaged pieces and pocketing them to be repaired later. He listened to the world around him, the cheering crowd was something he had forgotten over the years. It wasn't too often he would be able to hear the energy and spirit of a small city around him.

Without a look back, Aegis quietly drifted out of the dueling arena, most likely to meet the media in the lobby. Dealing with Vincent was easier than he had thought, at least, it was easy when the past he used to fear were just mere facts.

"No more bad memories. I'm done with it all. Look forward and no where else."

The paparazzi converged on Aegis in hordes to interview him. Aegis didn't expect such a large gathering, even when considering the circumstances. After an hour they seemed to have their full and slowly began to leave the lobby, allowing Aegis to breath freely again.

As the crowds thinned to go interview another aspiring duelist whose match just finished, Aegis found himself straining his eye for a familiar baseball cap. Unfortunately he did not locate Al, just having a few false alarms when he saw some random passer-by with the sports hat on. Feeling a bit disheartened, Aegis propped himself up against a wall in the empty corridor. In some ways it was good to have the silence, it was exhausting to be in the chaos.

Ever since his duel had ended, Aegis enjoyed a blissful stillness in his heart. It felt like his soul became a crystal clear lake, reflecting his inquisitive face back up to him. More than likely the moment would not last, though there were no more demons from the past lurking to get him, Aegis still had to make his way to the finals to win the almighty Millennium Tournament. The childhood dream was becoming a symbolic act to Aegis, his journey would be his return to the world of the living, being a member of society again.

Suddenly something caused a ripple upon the surface of Aegis' soul. The gentle waves of water distorting the reflection and destroying the moment. Aegis turned his head to the right, his instincts telling him something was there. Standing with a faded jean jacket and some jeans was Vincent Vesarius. One hand holding onto his deck, the other with a single card in his fingers.

"You know, if I drew instead, I would have drawn a card named Muramasa." Vincent placed the card back onto his deck, pocketing it silently. He sighed and shut his eyes slowly, moving towards Aegis with both hands in his pocket like a disgraced delinquent.

"If I had used Muramasa, my Vagabond would have gained over 7000 attack points, even the ability to use Crucifixion. I probably could have won easy at that point." Vincent spoke quietly, no anger or bitterness as he explained his fallacy. Finally Vincent stopped within a few feet from Aegis, the man turning to face him with the tip of his porkpie hat covering up his one good eye, the long black hair covering up his other.

"I guess in the end you were right. If I had just…Accept some help I would've beat you." Vincent laughed weakly, his fighting spirit put aside for once. He looked at Aegis' face, though it was barely visible he could tell that Aegis was a master at a solemn gaze. The feeling that ran down Vincent's spine while Aegis' eye pierced his soul made him fidget, compelling him to speak.

"I think…I knew." Vincent's shoulders slumped, his posture slouching for a second.

"When they tore down the apartment my family got moved somewhere else. After that I remember my parents fighting and arguing a lot." Vincent paused to gauge Aegis' reaction. It was slight, but he could tell that Aegis' features were listening intently for the rest of the story.

"Well, after awhile my parents got divorced. Me and all my siblings got shuffled around a lot, our family just never put itself back together. I…Wanted someone to blame I think." Aegis remained silent, the story was heavy, its tones said carefully.

"I didn't have any friends at that time since we all were separated. With my family in pieces I didn't really have anyone to depend on…I thought that it was all your fault that everything happened…" Vincent paused again to catch Aegis as his mouth began to open. He raised his left hand to halt the inevitable words that Aegis would say, his story was not yet done.

"So I spent the last few years thinking I could be stronger than you by myself. But even I sometimes wondered if it was your fault. Even before you came our family was pretty shaky. I guess I just didn't want to pay attention to it then. In the end I just used you as a scapegoat. I think no matter what happened my family would still have split up." The red flame in Vincent's ruby eyes dimmed, the intense fire turning into a dimly lit candle that flickered slowly. Aegis said nothing, he felt that there were no appropriate words, the entire situation became clear to him at that moment.

"You know…I really did look up to you when I was younger…" Vincent decided to keep changing the subject. "I always thought you were so cool, and you seemed like such a nice guy for always helping people with your prize money or something. For me…You really were a superhero." A chuckle came from Vincent. He rubbed the back of his head nervously, aware of how silly he sounded while saying such things at his age.

"So when I finally got to see you again in Spirare…I think I felt betrayed. But not because you didn't show up that day five years ago, I felt like that because you were so broken." Aegis tilted his head in confusion. The words were interpreted, but his mind simply didn't draw the connection.

"I don't know…Just, when I remembered you, you were always so fired up and confident. When I saw you in the mayor's office huddled over and being his lap dog, it just got to me. I thought 'this isn't Aegis Hallow! He's not this weak, he's a lot tougher than this!'" Another pause. Vincent thought for a second before nodding his head, pleased with some thought.

"But I guess now I don't have to worry. It seems you're back again, at least that's what I think after that thorough beating you gave me out there!" Though it was strained, Vincent laughed at his own misfortune. He had hoped it would make Aegis appear somewhat more hospitable, but his lips did not curve up into a smile.

"Funny how life works out sometimes." Aegis spoke lowly, unaware of how his normal voice was grating and rather intimidating, Vincent faltering slightly as a response. Aegis smiled tiredly to try and ease Vincent's concern, suddenly it seemed alright for Aegis to show how tired he truly felt.

"So…No hard feelings?" Aegis nodded his head, Vincent laughing quietly in disbelief. Aegis pulled the hat off of his head, placing it back into his coat methodically.

"I've learned that if I think too hard on things like this, I'll never get a moment's peace." Aegis stretched his arms out, yawning loudly in the process.

"I'm too old to hold grudges and vendettas now. Rather just go sit down somewhere quiet and write." Aegis began to move down the hallway, in the process waving his left hand lazily back and forth. "Though, I also like having company, want some lunch?" The face that greeted Aegis did justice to his first memory of the boy. Eager and bright-eyed, a passionate flame in his eyes that lit his path.