Chapter 3: Pursuit and Capture
"Excuse me, miss." Chaud tried to say nonchalantly as he approached the young woman from his picture. He was stopping by a local market place to get supplies; food, drink, laundry needed done, the usual. 'Okay, you can do this. Just tell her. Hi, you may not know me, but I... oh that'll never work. What should I say!!' he thought.
"Yes." she turned back and looked at Chaud with her big violet eyes. He felt awkward looking into them. They were very similar to his own eyes. He sensed hurt, betrayal, redemption, happiness and sadness all at the same time.
"Er- Uh... Have you seen a little boy running around here? He's about ye tall," Chaud held his hand up to his waist indicating a height. "Looks like me a little bit, he has much lighter colored hair though. Please, it's urgent, he's my...little brother and Mom would be furious if I lost him." Chaud lied.
"No, I'm sorry. I haven't seen any little kids that fit that description." she replied.
"Oh, well thanks anyway..." Chaud stopped, not knowing her name.
"Akiza." Akiza smiled.
"Yes, thank you Akiza. My name's Chaud..." he started, but he trailed off. He was a murderer, and as far as that was concerned he didn't want to be hauled off again for typical civilian paranoia.
"See ya around sometime?" she asked. "Like when you're not chasing down children?"
"Yeah, sure!" Chaud grinned. He turned on his heel and began to pick through the growing crowd. He looked back one last time to perhaps catch a glimpse of her face. In that moment he ran into a security officer. He jumped back a foot and looked the officer in the eye. On instinct he took off, shoving people out of the way, yelling apologies as he ran. He rounded a corner and saw his Duel Runner in sight, before he was even half the distance to it he was tackled, cuffed and being shoved into the back of a waiting Security Cruiser.
30 minutes later, at the security office...
Chaud was just sitting there, tied to a chair. He told the officer already that he hadn't done anything. The officer was currently looking over his files, checking for parents, guardians, blood types, the things the police normally check for.
"I came as soon as I got the call officer." a thick, shaky voice said from somewhere behind Chaud. He turned his head to see one a man in a pintriped suit enter the doorway behind him. He had thinning black hair that was combed to the side, a pale face that appeared to have been cut several times over the years, and a crooked smile. He sttod behind Chaud and put his hands on the boy's shoulders.
"Blackthorn, whatcha doin' here? You haven't been called in since well two years ago." Chaud asked smuggly.
"I'm savin' yer ass kid, now sit there and shut up." Blackthorn muttered so only Chaud could hear. "I'm Mister Blaare's lawyer. Now I understand you've brought him in with no charges, that correct officer?" he asked, drumming his fingers on his black leather briefcase impatently.
"We brought him in under suspicion." the officer replied casually.
"Well you certainly should've found something by now right?" Blackthorn shot back.
"No sir, no we have not." the officer emphasized every word.
"So you're holding my client without any charges? Also, did you perhaps read him his rights?" Blackthorn asked. The officer swallowed hard, knowing he forgot something. "I could put you out of practice right now." he continued.
"Well I don't see anything coming up here, the boy's free to go." the officer said hurriedly as he released Chaud from the restraints in the chair. Blackthorn grabbed Chaud's arm and steered him to the door. He didn't speak until after the door was closed.
"You've got some nerve kid, running around here drawing attention to yourself. You're lucky I caught him on those two little things. By the way, Bass said to give you this." searching around in his briefcase Blackthorn procured a long silver tube. Chaud took it, made sure the security seal wasn't broken, then slipped the canister into his pocket.
"Thanks Blackthorn, though I never meant to get caught by Security, I was looking for her again and I just sort of ran into him." Chaud replied as if nothing happened.
"Well be more careful next time, I can't be called in everytime you or one of you other freaks gets hauled in by security. Pft! Seems like all you little brats do is cause trouble with your powers." he snorted as he pulled a cigar out of his briefcase. He lit the end of it until it caught and began to smoke.
"Eh, not all of us. Some of us just want to lead normal lives. But that can't happen seen as how you guys always seem to show up after we get these!" Chaud said agitatedly as he gestured to the symmetrical yellow marks under his eyes and along the ridge his jaw. The marks themselves were a simple line along his jaw line and two triangles that pointed downwards starting on his lower eyelids and moved down to about halfway down his face.
"Those are tracking marks? I thought you just wore guy-liner." Blackthorn laughed.
"Yeah, hahahaha, laugh at the little psychic boy. Look man, I just want to track down Akiza again and put all this crap out in the open. You gonna help me or not?" replied Chaud.
"I'd like to but..." a little mechanical beeping in his pocket cut him off. "I gotta go, good luck with looking for that girl." Blackthorn nodded and then hurried off down a different corridor. Chaud continued on his way until he found the exit then marched off into fading afternoon light. He was about to mount his Duel Runner when a high speed pursuit rushed past. Rather then just sit it out he took off after the perp along side the cop.
Izinski Residence, Middle District, 5:30 PM
"So Akiza, here's what we've found so far. Got any insight as to what this all is?" Yusei posed as he placed a messy pile of papers and other assorted relics from his expeditions onto the table in front of the girl who appeared just as clueless as the other two guys. Jack had joined Yusei for this particular leg of research.
"Nothing, it all just seems like old files nothing really worth... Hey! What's this?" inquired Akiza as her hand slid through the papers, when she lifted her hand back up it contained an old looking flash drive.
"Oh! I found that plugged in to one of the old computers. I don't have a computer to use it with so I was kind of wondering if we could use your computer to check it." Yusei responded. Akiza nodded. At that moment a loud crash rang out from outside.
Middle District, 20 minutes earlier
Chaud rode almost alongside the cop as the two chased after the third person. A short thirty seconds later the cop forced the activation of Speed World, dragging Chaud and the perp into a duel. "Damn it kid, surrender! This is between me and him!" the officer yelled.
"No can do, sir. I got dragged into this same as him. I'm seeing it though!" Chaud called back.
"Forced Activation, Speed World Active. Please choose pilot setting..." the mechanical voice sounded. All three duelists made their selections, Chaud picked Manual-Pilot, he knew the perp would choose it as well. He also knew the cop would pick Pursuit-Auto-Pilot not wanting to risk crashing.
"Duel!" all three shouted at the same time.
(Officer's LP: 4000)(Chaud's LP: 4000)(Perp's LP: 4000)
"I'm going first!" Chaud heard the perp yell from the front of the pursuit. Beneath the visor of his helmet, he couldn't tell what the Duel Runner, nor the duelist looked like. He did however notice a European accent, perhaps German. "I summon Assault Mercenary (4/1800/300) in attack mode!" he yelled. An anthropomorphic wolf warped from the card image onto the field. I held a futuristic blaster in its hand which it shouldered with a smirk. The officer chuckled next to Chaud.
"What's so funny?" Chaud yelled over.
"I'm bringing him in on charges of assault..." the officer began to laugh. His tone then changed to a disgruntled grumble. "Of course, I'm out here doing leg work while I should be cleaning up the conference center. Big explosions and I have to miss out..."
"That's not exactly funny, sir." Chaud shook his head.
"If you two are done jawin' I'd like to end my turn. One facedown, you with the choppa, go!" the perp yelled back.
"If you insist, my go!" Chaud yelled as he pulled a card from its holster. "I'll activate my Speed Spell-Cold Snap; this'll let me summon an extra monster for every monster my selected opponent has, and I'll choose the assault field. Now I can summon Blizzard Dragon (4/1800/1000) and Hypothermic Dragon (4/1900/800) both in attack mode!" from the heavens the dragons descended, dancing about each other in a beautiful and fierce display. They roared in unison, making the air itself seem to shake. "One down, go officer." Chaud ended as a giant facedown card appeared in front of him.
"Finally, my turn. I'll set two cards, next I'll send my three level eight monsters to the graveyard to summon Montage Dragon (8/?/0)!" a vortex tore open above the three duelists, from it three giant dragon heads emerged, followed by an enormous purple body. It made the other monsters shy away nervously when it appeared. "Now for his effect; he gains three hundred for each level star on the monsters I sent, that's twenty-four-hundred each bringing him up to seventy-two-hundred! (8/7200/0) It left my hand empty, but it's well worth it! Attack Assault Mercenary!" the officer yelled. The three heads reared back, then thrust forward in the same fashion as a snake striking. The Mercenary just stood and faced the gaping mouths.
"Ha! Mirror Force! It'll destroy all of the other attack mode monsters!" a shining barrier appeared between Assault Mercenary and Montage Dragon. One head bounced back on itself while the other went towards Chaud's monsters. All three exploded as the bodies collided.
"I activate Time Machine! This'll bring back our monsters like nothing happened!" Chaud called out as the dragons reappeared. "Unfortunately, the officer can't attack, sorry."
"Erg, fine! My turn! I summon Rose, Warrior of Revenge (4/1600/600)! That's not it by a long shot though, I'm tuning her and Mercenary together to form Colossal Fighter (2800/1000)!" Rose dissolved into green rings which enveloped Mercenary. His form began to change, becoming bulkier, larger, stronger. When the light faded a massive golem was floating above the perp's Runner. It had white armor with blue lights on it and it wore a green visor to cover its eyes. "Next I activate my Speed Spell-Spirit of the Fallen this will send all monsters of the given type to the graveyard from the decks. So both of you send all of your Warriors to the graveyard!" the perp demanded. Chaud's deck expelled no cards, but the officer lost every monster in both his extra deck and regular deck. The perp lost all of his monsters too. "Hehehe, now Fighter gains all of those dead warriors as attack points, one hundred per. I count thirty-four in mine plus the thirty-two in your 'yard. (9400/1000) Now attack Montage!" the perp yelled. Colossal Fighter jumped toward the giant dragon. With a thunderous crash the fighter punched the dragon in the chest, smashing ribs and ultimately causing the monster's death. With a final roar, the dragon exploded. A hologram of a card appeared in front of the per's Runner
(Officer's LP: 1800)
"How could you have packed a whole pursuit deck with only warrior types!?" Chaud yelled as he drew his next card.
"I wasn't exactly planning on this kind of situation!" the officer yelled back.
"Whatever man, my go! Oh and by the way, you may want to start heating your Runner. Just a feeling." Chaud suggested, knowing his abilities were starting to affect the field. "I Tune together my Hypothermic Dragon and Blizzard Dragon to summon Frozen Dragon-Cryofang (8/3000/2100)!" in a similar fashion to Rose, Hypothermic Dragon dissolved into snow. The snow enshrouded Blizzard Dragon, blocking all possible view of it. A moment later a much larger dragon's head appeared. It had glowing white eyes, blue scales that glinted slightly and a frozen mane that ran down its back. It opened its monstrous wings, flinging away the snow. Its body was easily three hundred feet long, a true behemoth. "I'll chain to the summon with the trap card Permafrost, now I can place Frost Counters on all monsters on the field if they are not Ice or Water Attributed." Colossal Fighter was frozen in place. "Now for Cryofang's effect, it can destroy all cards on the field that have Frost Counters on them." Cryofang roared ferociously, a card flipped around before its target disappeared.
"Assault Mode Activate!" the perp yelled. Colossal's armor fell off and shattered, leaving him with blue armor covering his chest, arms, and his entire lower half. A pair of mechanical wings extended from a jet pack on its back. "Meet my most powerful creature, Colossal Fighter/Assault Mode (10/3300/1500)! He doesn't get stronger with monsters in the graveyard, instead, your monsters get weaker. He now reduces your monster's attack points to zero!" the perp yelled.
"Hehe, looks like it's my turn to shine, I activate Reverse Trap! You two should both know what this does, turns all decreases into increases and vice versa." the officer cackled.
"Woohoo! Cryofang now jumps to sixty-four hundred! Attack Colossal Fighter/Assault Mode!" Chaud ordered. Cryofang scooped up the Fighter in its jaws and cruched down. Blood and mechanical parts rained down on the three duelists. All three lost control for a moment as they dodged the shrapnal. For seemingly no reason, Colossal Fighter pre-Assault Mode Activate reappeared on the field with its original 9400 attack points. Chaud then remembered that Assault Modes brought back the card that they transformed from when they're destroyed.
(Perp's LP: 900)
Chaud's ability then took hold and instantly froze the ground beneath the three Runners. All three lost control for a moment as they tried to regain traction. Chaud, sensing the danger, pulled the canister out of his pocket. He opened it quickly while maintaining some control. He pulled one of his syringes from the canister and eyed it grimly. He wanted to see this duel through but he had to stop his ability from hurting either of the other duelists. With a grimace he surrendered the duel, rolled up his sleeve and jabbed the needle into his arm, releasing a wave of complete and total relaxation. All of his muscles relaxed as his Runner spun out of control. When the effect wore off he was able to see a wall closing in on him rapidly. He hit it broadside, then he saw nothing, just empty blackness.
Izinski Residence, 6:30 PM
Chaud opened his eyes slowly, praying he wasn't back in the facilities. When everything came into focus he saw three people, possibly in their late teens or early twenties. Akiza was among them. The other two were some blond haired man in a white jacket, and a dark haired guy with a black leather jacket and tight black jeans. The other guy also had a tracking mark, a crooked line going down his cheek with a small triangle just beneath his eye. The man in the jacket had earrings that were shaped like letter A's and his hair was wrapped where it went down over his face. He was the first to speak.
"So, who are you?" his voice was rough. Chaud went to sit up and start an arguement, but before he could get up Akiza pushed him back down.
"Who the hell wants to know?" Chaud spat back. The dark haired boy advanced, jabbing a finger at Chaud.
"You're in no position to be making demands. We just saved your life. Don't see why we did though, considering we were mortal enemies."
"Yusei! That's no way to talk to him, you don't know if he was involved with them or not!" Akiza defended.
"Mortal enemies? That's impossible! You guys can't be!" Chaud shouted brokenly. His eyes opened in horror as the three rolled up their sleeves. Each one had a mark on their arm. Akiza's looked like a claw, Yusei's looked like a grinning face or perhaps the end of a dragon tail, and the blond haired guy's looked like a pair of wings. Chaud slowly started to crawl backwards. "No... It can't be! You were one of us! You can't be!" he pointed at Akiza. Before he could say anything else Yusei pinned him down.
"So you were a member of the Arcadia Movement! Tell me! What happened to the guy Goodwin sent to stem you guys? Huh?" he yelled as Chaud struggled under him.
"Didn't you hear, he's dead!" Chaud yelled as he flipped over and pinned Yusei. "You didn't hear? I killed him! He took my beloved, I took his life!" Chaud's voice broke a little bit at the end of the sentence. He got up and walked across the room, he covered his eyes. Before he could speak again, the television began to flash with a breaking news interruption.
"We interrupt this scheduled programming for an urgent news break. Today at around twelve forty during the annual meeting of High Religious Powers an unknown man ran into the conference area and mercilessly began to slaughter all who were present, details are sketchy, but it appeared to have used a gun of unknown origin. As a supposed final measure the man then set off an elaborate set of charges that destroyed the entire facility. There were no survivors and the death count has hit five hundred seventy three. It is unsure if the offender has escaped. Here is the only picture we could obtain from a security camera." a blurry picture of a figure completely covered in black, with a large crest along the top of his head, was on the screen for a moment. "We will bring more details as they arise."
"Huh, looks like there are worse problems then me just being here eh?" Chaud said grimly. He had blinked back his tears and was now facing the group again. "Now, for those of you who don't know, the Arcadia Movement fell, but they were planning a much larger thing then merely bringing down Iliaster, think global conquest." Chaud said with a shudder.
"What do you mean?" Akiza asked. Chaud just chuckled.
End of Chapter 3.