Chapter 7: Freedom
"I'm going to ask you a question to which only one answer sees you out of this facility." He said directly and roughly. "I want you to work with us." Goodwin said simply.
"Not much of a question so much as a statement or command." Chaud replied smartly.
"Are you going to work with us or not?" Goodwin replied, his irritation subtle.
"What's in it for me? Other then ya know, freedom." Chaud asked.
"We'll make sure you remain sheltered, fed, protected." Goodwin responded without thought. Chaud sat there, acting like he was thinking. Akiza noticed that he wanted to free his hands to scratch the stubble of a beard that had grown on his face. After an uncomfortable thirty seconds he spoke again.
"What's the catch?"
"We're going to have you living with one of the people here. We need to make sure you won't go back to how you were."
"Ok, I'll go along with your little plan. On two conditions of my own. First; I want to go back to my own apartment. Second; she has to be my 'keeper' as you're so delicately trying to put it." Chaud said as he nodded to Akiza. "That work for you, miss?"
"Glad he's not bunking with me, least we know his 'preferences'." Jack sneered. Chaud shook the comment off and looked over to Akiza, she didn't look back, instead she seemed to look through him. She was considering the options; Yusei had yet to speak, though he looked like he was itching to interject. Before he missed the opportunity, he spoke up.
"Director, how are we so sure we can trust him? Especially with Akiza, she's..." he began but was cut short by a wave of Akiza's hand.
"I'm what Yusei? A girl? You think I can't handle living with a boy?"
"No, no it's not that. It's been confirmed he's dangerous, I don't think someone..." Yusei paused, trying to word this right to avoid offending Akiza. "Any of us should have to live with him."
"Well, I'll accept the responsibility of taking care of Chaud. Besides, we're psychics, practically related; it only seems fitting that I look after him." Chaud looked down and snickered.
"Excellent. Well Mr. Goodwin, I'll accept your offer. Now, if you'll unchain me, remove the IV drip and let me bathe I'll be more then happy to escort Akiza back to the shop. With the Senator's consent of course." he said quickly looking at his father. Senator Izinski half-looked-half-glared at the boy. Until a DNA test confirmed it there was no telling whether Chaud would be her brother or a rapist who would simply overpower his sweet little girl. Unfortunately, he had no other option.
"Very well." he said slowly.
"Thank you very much, Senator. Ms. Izinski, if I may speak with you for a moment." Goodwin ended the conference as he pulled Akiza aside. Chaud was taken away by the security guards. When the doors closed, Goodwin spoke. "Remember how he said you were to be his keeper? Well he was right, we need you to keep an unwavering eye on him. He's dangerous..."
"None of us are dangerous Goodwin, we were trained as soldiers, it could be all he knows is violence." Akiza interjected, boredom in her voice.
"You don't know him the way I do. He willfully murdered one of our own."
"Trace?! He was a pathetic zealot, he deserved what he got. He almost killed me once upon a time!" Akiza snapped back.
"Though his methods weren't the best he got done what he needed to get done." Goodwin replied in a prepared way. Akiza didn't take the time to hear anymore. She stormed out of the room before he could explain how she should keep her guard up, to her he would be speaking a foreign but all too familiar language.
After about a half hour Chaud had packed and bathed and was preparing to leave when Goodwin stopped him. In a quick movement a device that greatly resembled a watch was clasped onto the teenager's wrist. He stared at it stupidly for a second before he realized what it was. He noticed what appeared to be a GPS in Goodwin's other hand. "Shoulda known it wouldn't have been this easy..." he sighed.
"Now Chaud you know why I have to do this. You were deemed a threat to our organization and we can't have you just running around completly unchecked. Unfortunately you have no choice but to comply, I have the only key to that tracker." he replied slyly.
"Erg, fine, I just want to get my Runner and head home. Prepare for Akiza and what-not." Chaud shook off Goodwin's hand and continued on his way. He was led to a van where he was rechained to a seat and then taken to his apartment via an address provided by Goodwin. After an uncomfortably long hour he was back at the flower shop located directly below his apartment. The neon open sign was turned off. Chaud unlocked the door and proceeded up to his small three room apartment. The apartment itself was small; bedroom, living room, kitchen; a small bathroom was in the hallway between the living room and bedroom. The rooms were adequately furnished, Chaud's Aunt Kasi provided most of the furnishings despite Chaud's protests. He did however get enough money through various odd-jobs and long nights gambling, along with the income from the flower shop to buy a television. He brought his X-Box 360 from his room at the Arcadia Movement's HQ in America which is how he kept in touch with his friends. He siphoned his internet from the neighbors. He looked at the mess of a bedroom, clothes thrown everywhere, electronic equipment and various unidentifiable objects. He quickly set about cleaning up the messy room making sure it was clean for his guest. Within an hour he had changed the sheets on the bed and had everything put away, right before a knock at the door.
"Erm, hello." he said slowly. Akiza just gave a small wave. Chaud stood aside and let her in, he could tell she was already sizing up the apartment. "Umm, you'll be staying in my room right over here." he said quickly as he opened the door. She glanced around, unimpressed at the size of the room, it was rather small, the bed took up about a third of the room. "Sorry it's a little cramped, can only afford so much on a florists salary..." he said dumbly.
"No! No, it's fine." she said with a reassuring smile. He grinned back.
"Can I get you something to eat?" he offered.
"Sure, what do you have?" she said.
"Lemme see, off the top of my head I know I've got: ramen noodles, leftover pizza, and I think some regular pasta."
"Ramen noodles please." she replied as he finished the list. He nodded then went... well into the next room because every room is pretty much right next to each other. A few mechanical beeps could be heard then Chaud appeared with a duel disk in his hand.
"While we wait, duel me." he challenged. Akiza looked at him nervously then took her own duel disk out of one of her suit cases. They exited the apartment and stood in the street. Both duel disks activating simultaneously.
(Akiza's LP: 4000) (Chaud's LP: 4000)
"Ladies first. Go Akiza." Chaud surrendered the first turn.
"Why thank you. I draw! I'll start with three cards face down and a set monster. I end my turn."
"Hmmm... Now I know you use a similar strategy to Audrey post the Movement's crumbling... but what's that monster... I'll find out now with my monster; Hai-ile the Frozen Behemoth (3/1600/900)!" a wyvern rippled out of the pavement and spread its shining white wings menacingly. "His effect states that if I attack a monster who has a greater dominant stat I can choose to end my battle phase and place a Frost Counter on that monster. I'll attack your facedown now!" Hai-ile launched itself at the facedown monster which flipped face up revealing a giant wall of man-eating plants. The monster instantly turned blue to show its field status.
"You rammed Hedge Guard (3/0/2100), however your dragon's effect cancelled the attack so you won't have to worry about your life points." Akiza noted as the wyvern back peddled with its wings and landed on Chaud's field. It then opened its mouth and began to blow gusts of arctic wind down onto the hedge, wilting some of the leaves and causing a layer of frost to appear on it.
"Heh-heh, I figured it was a wall. Regardless, I'll set one card and end 'er there. Go."
"Draw! I release my Hedge Guard to summon Rose Tentacles (6/2200/1200) and it'll attack your Behemoth! Because I'm attacking his effect isn't applied." tentacles sprung from the ground, they pulled a rose that looked suspiciously like an octopus head along with them. The tentacles wrapped themselves around Hai-ile who tried futilely to fly away. Once the dragon exploded one of the tentacles slammed down on Chaud. Akiza gasped at the sight, had she lost control of her abilities again? Chaud looked on with a smirk completely unscathed.
(Chaud's LP: 3400)
"Who told you I liked being whipped?" he joked. Akiza made an "ew" face. "No sense of humor... Oh well. I take that lack of movement as an end to your turn. So I'm going now. I'll activate my face down card Frost Snap! This places a Frost Counter on all of your face up monsters that don't have any on them, then summons Ice Attribute monsters from my graveyard equal to the number of monsters with Frost Counters on your side of the field. You've been waiting for it; the one, the only...!"
"Are you going to do this everytime you special summon a monster? This kid Lua does it and it's so annoying. Cute kid, annoying dueling mannerisms." she sighed. Chaud kept talking.
"Hai-ile, the Frozen Behemoth (3/1600/900)!" the white wyvern reappeard in a gust of wind and snow. "Next I'll summon Sl-eat, the Frozen Behemoth (4/Tuner/1600/900)!" a light bule version of Hai-ile formed from the moisture in the air. It was almost completely identical to its icy brother except for the pattern of its scales looked like falling water. "Then I'll activate my spell card Cold Front." the hologram of the card depicted a weather map with a blue line moving across it across northeastern America. "This cards effect lets me sacrifice my battle phase in order to inflict half of the attack points of one of your monsters that has a Frost Counter on it to you as damage." he said with a swift air punch. In an instent the temperature dropped along with Akiza's Life Point meter.
(Akiza's LP: 2900)
Chaud's eyes widened in horror as he felt the temperature drop. He dropped to his knees and prayed his ability wouldn't do any real damage to Akiza. Akiza shivered and hugged her arms to herself, she was never really dressed to handle the cold. Before too long however the cold subsided and Chaud continued his move. "Ah... One face down, end."
"I draw!" Those Frozen Behemoths probably have some effect that benefits from having them both out at once. I should probably remove them from the field before he tries to pull off his combo. "I summon Copy Plant (1/Tuner/0/0)." A tangle of roots with glowing green eyes sprouted from the ground. It glared in an unnatural way at the American duelist who shrank back a little. "I now tune my Copy Plant to my Rose Tentacles to Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon (7/2400/1000)!" she called out. Copy Plant wrapped itself around the plant octopus and began to glow. In a flash the two disappeared and were replaced by a giant black and red dragon. The back parts were covered with thorns and the red parts looked like rose petals. "I'll activate Black Rose Dragon's first effect and..."
"Like hell you will! Activate face down: Ice Block! This trap card negates an opposing monster's effect and places a Frost Counter on it. Furthermore any monsters with Frost Counters on them have their effects negated for the remainder of the turn." he chuckled.
"Then I'll attack your sleet dragon with Black Rose Dragon!" Akiza ordered as her dragon sprang to life. Thorned vines shot out from its body and wrapped themselves around Sl-eat. The wyvern was dwarfed in comparison to the dragon and was instantly crushed. It hung limply for a second before turning into water and splashing on the pavement. "Two cards face down, and I equip Black Rose Dragon with Thorn of Malice giving it six hundred more attack points. (7/3000/1000)"
(Chaud's LP: 2600)
"He-he, now the fun can really begin!" Chaud gestured to the water with a sneer. Hai-ile began to glow and shrink in size. The puddle of water began to ripple, suddenly Sl-eat reemerged in a glorious splash and sparkle of the water. "Sl-eat's effect states that if Hai-ile is on the field when he gets destroyed I can cut both mosters' attack points in half to keep them around. (3/800/900) (4/Tuner/800/900) It's my turn, and I'll tune my two Behemoths together!" Chaud held his arms up as Sl-eat burst into four stars which circled around Hai-ile. Hai-ile began to grow; his head became broader, two additional limbs grew from his torso, his skin darkened to a navy color. "Prepare yourself! Behold my greatest Frozen Monster! Frozen Titan..." the navy dragon roared, seemingly distorting the air itself. Its mouth was lined with two rows of razor sharp fangs. "Win-Tear (7/2700/1700)!" Black Rose Dragon roared a challenge at the new monster which replied with a roar of its own. Two titans prepared for a duel to the death. "Win-Tear's effect states that as long as I have only Frozen Behemoth's in my graveyard he can't be killed in combat. Furthermore for every Frozen Behemoth in my graveyard he gains one hundred attack points! (7/2900/1700)"
"I see where this is going! Activate trap: Ingrain! When this card is activated I can choose one of my plant monsters or Black Rose Dragon and make it immune to battle destruction for the remainder of the duel!" she responded.
"Umm... ok? Anyway! I activate Precious Cards Encased in Ice; this card's effect states that I can discard two Ice attribute monsters to draw two cards! I'll pitch another copy of both Sl-eat and Hai-ile, then take my two cards. Oh these are nice! I'll activate Inside the Winter Storm! It'll place one frost counter on one of your monsters for each of its level stars. I count seven on Black Rose, so it goes up to eight counters!" (7/3100/1700) More of Black Rose Dragon's petals wilted, to which it paid no mind. It merely sat there looking at the Frozen Titan. There was however a significant drop in the temperature. As Chaud watched Akiza shiver he began to reconsider letting the duel continue. "Hey, umm... how about we just call it a game? It's getting cold out here and..."
"No! You wanted to duel, we're gonna duel. Besides, it's interesting dueling someone new. So make your move already!"
"Right, Frozen Titan attacks Black Rose Dragon!" Chaud pointed at the opposing dragon. His dragon charged it, ramming it in the chest with its massive head.
(Akiza's LP: 2800)
A cold wind whipped up quickly and then died away as the energy from the beasts colliding was released; the players hair and clothes were blown backwards dramatically. When the wind died down Akiza took the opportunity to make her move. "I draw! Now I'm going to have Black Rose attack your Titan!" Black Rose Dragon roared as its sinister black vines wrapped themselves around the Titan.
(Akiza's LP: 2700)
"What for? Win-Tear has more points! You're just taking damage!" Chaud shouted as Win-Tear bit down on the vines around its arms causing Black Rose Dragon to screech in pain.
"Thorn of Malice's effect! If I attack one of your monsters with the monster it's equipped to then that monster loses six hundred attack points! And that decrease is permanent!" she shouted over her dragon's screeches. Sure as she had spoken it, a giant thorn stuck into Win-Tear's arm and it caused him to shrink. (7/2500/1700)
"Uh-oh!"
"'Uh-oh' is correct! Now your monster is going to be a much softer target!" Akiza grinned wickedly. Chaud looked on with a helpless feeling.
"Erm, ok then! My turn! Ugh, this isn't good... I suppose I'll switch my Titan to defense mode and save me some damage." Chaud said as the parts of Win-Tear that weren't already blue turned to blue to show the change in field status. "I end..."
"Big mistake! Black Rose, attack his weakened Titan!" Black Rose Dragon seemed to grin with wicked delight as it took flight and kicked at the Frozen Titan.
(Chaud's LP: 1300) (7/1900/1700)
"Crap! I'm not safe anywhere! Well he's going back into attack mode to say the least! Umm... One card face down and that'll do it for me." Chaud said defeatedly. Akiza took her next move.
"I'll activate Poisonous Flowers of The Ancient Tree and equip it to my Black Rose Dragon; it gives one plant type or Black Rose Dragon and extra one thousand points of attack power! (7/4000/1000) Now attack his Titan and end this duel!" When she declared teh attack Chaud's face down card flipped up.
"Ice Barrier, cancels any life point damage." he said simply. His Titan still took the point hit though, a third thorn stuck into its back. (7/1300/1700)
"Fine then, my turn ends here." Akiza gestured. Chaud drew, holding his breath.
"This duel ends now! I summon Frozen Hatchling Blyz-hard (2/1000/2000)!" a tiny dragonling appeared from the shadow of the Titan. It squeeked in an attempt to roar ferciously. "His effect is a nasty one. If he's on the field and in attack mode I can siphon off the attack points of one monster you control and add them to one of my own monster's attack points. The only stipulation is that the selected monster must have Frost Counters on it. Your Black Rose Dragon should work just fine for this, he now loses all four thousand of his attack points and my Titan now gains them all! (7/0/1000) (7/5300/1700) Now for one last part, if I attack with the monster that gained all of those attack points you only take half of the battle damage from this battle phase. So go Blyz-hard, attack Black Rose Dragon!" the infant dragon blew a small blue flame at Black Rose Dragon which merely blinked as the flames made contact.
(Akiza's LP: 2200)
"Frozen Titan for the game!" Chaud roard as he punched the air. With a roar a strong arctic wind blew towards Akiza who threw her hand up, cutting through the wind to protect herself, snow blinding both duelists. Chaud had already abandoned the thrill of the win to make sure Akiza wasn't in danger. When the snow cleared she was laying on the ground, her skin paler then he recalled. He picked her up a little and gave her a quick shake. "Hey, you awake?" he said gently. Her eyes snapped open and she began to shiver.
"The hell... What was that?" she asked. Chaud shook his head and led her back into the apartment. When they were inside he sat her down and wrapped her in a blanket, pushing a warm bowl of noodles in front of her. She slowly ate them, taking the time to let her body warm up again. "Was that your...?"
"For the most part, that's why they had me in that super-heated room. I'm really sorry, no control..." he said simply, he left out anger as a controling mechanism.
"You mean you just tried to kill me?"
"Well, in a normal situation it would have" "But you survived. Fascinating."
"Why didn't you end the duel if you knew that?!" she yelled to which Chaud shrank back, away from the reach of her arms.
"But you survived. Fascinating."
"Yeah, I saved myself with my abilitiy. I suppose... It's ok, you said you had no self-control and I guess I'll trust you. And don't apologize, it's who you are." she reassured. He grinned at the sentiment. Growing up he was never told that. He was told to be a war machine, and sadly that's what he is. A frail war machine.
"Ummm... You like music? I got some stuff here on the three-sixty, lemme just find something here... " he said as he selected the randomize finction, a dramatic guitar rift began. Akiza squinted at the television screen.
"Does that say nymphomaniac?" she asked, an edge of concern in her voice. Chaud's intent glare turned into a look of surprize, red seeping into his tan and yellow cheeks.
"No! No... You know what, I need to check the news." he said quickly as he flipped back to the news channel. When he found the station a news announcement filled the screen.
"Another attack was made today against famed lawyer Carmine Blackthorn. He told our reporters that he was headed back to his hotel room when a man in a black mask appeared from an alley and lunged at him. The assailant managed to cut Blackthorn's left cheek with what he described as a ballistic knife, the blade of which the assailant fired soon after the attack began and proceded to break the lawyer's nose in several places, all non fatal. No other information was available. Blackthorn himself is famed for handling all legal affairs for the World Oganization's Arcadia Academy, a school that trained children and adults with psychic abilities to control their 'talents'."
"That what they called it?" Chaud asked in disbelief. Akiza shrugged.
"In a related topic the trial..." the screen cut to black. A sinister chuckle, made less threatening via voice changer, came from the television. The picture then changed to that of the white mask with the broken glass design. A close-up of the Gentleman.
"Like phase two of my plan? Or is it still phase one? I'm no good with plans... Regardless; as you can see, my strategy for a better world requires some drastic measures. Sadly by the end of this the world will be out of about half of its people. Since I know you'll never catch me-alive-I'll tell you now, I plan on killing... everyone! Lawyers! Scientists! Politicians! All of them merely shit on the shoes of a perfect world!" the camera backed up and then panned him slowly, he was standing in a perfectly black room with a single spot light on him. "I regret that the lawyer lived to tell of his experience, but I will see to it that there is no more talk of his little accident." he cackled. "Now you may be sitting at home in fear, praying to your deities that the boogeyman won't claim your souls. Rest assured... If you don't stand against me... he won't. Well I've wasted enough of my time. You probably have episodes of your precious soaps being interrupted." and with a lift of his hat the screen returned to normal. The newscast just briefly interrupted.
"In other news; student and suspected computer hacker, Hideki Nando, was found missing from his residence in the central district earlier this morning. Security is currently following a lead, but no details have been released. More on this and the Blackthorn case as they develop."
"Wow, just what I need, another wicked terrorist gunning for me... us." he said with a look at Akiza.
"You think this Gentleman Alias is after us? The psychics?" she asked. A bite of fear in her voice.
"Why else would he pick those three specific types of people to mention? Scientists made many of us like this, politicians defend us to pull votes, and lawyers make sure we aren't discriminated against." he shot back, a hint of irritation creeping into his voice.
"You're paranoid." she replied without emotion.
"Whatever, you'll never get it. I'm going out." he said as he slipped a blue vest on over his white shirt.
"Where?" she asked suddenly.
"Out." he said quickly, suddenly vicious. Akiza decided not to question any further. He left silently. Akiza immediately began to look through her bags, when she re-entered the living room she had a tracker in her hand. She watched it carefully as a blue dot moved across a grid of what she knew was Neo Domino, the dot headed toward the Satellite and stopped in front of an unlisted address. She immediately pulled out her cell phone and dialed up a number quickly. After a few rings she began to speak.
"Yusei? Akiza, listen we need to get down to the bridge now. Chaud just left, and when I asked he got all mysterious and vicious. We need to check this out. No we don't need to get Jack involved."
A half hour later
Akiza and Yusei tracked Chaud down to a warehouse. Now it wasn't the fact that he was there that made no sense, heavy bass vibrations and loud techno music almost literally shook the building. When they entered they found themselves in a giant dance party. Bright colored lights flashed, and teenagers were dancing in a fairly normal way. The way they dressed was a cause of concern, however; nobody wore clothes conventionally (black fishnet shirts over green undershirts etc.), they wore sunglasses in the dark, and they all had pacifiers in their mouths. This being said it became very easy to find Chaud, he was dancing with an impressive number of girls, and looked like the only normal person there. Akiza pushed her way through the crowd to the American's position. When she got to him she was stopped by a guy whose hair was styled to look like the wind was blowing against his right side. His huge sunglasses made a mirror though which Akiza could perfectly see her face. "Want one?" he said as he held up what looked like a pile of small round mints. She looked over to Chaud who quickly shook his head. She declined his offer, to which he merely shrugged.
"What did he just offer me?"
"Extasy, helps one feel the PLUR." he explained.
"PLUR? Wait, why the hell are you at a rave?" she began her interrogation.
"Why do you care?"
"Becasue Goodwin appointed me to watch you!" she yelled.
"Ok, chill, do you want me to go home?"
"No, you can stay, just tell me these things first." she said in an all-business way.
"Fine. I'll be home in a few hours." he said calmly. Akiza just gave him a pointed look and left with Yusei in tow. Yusei signed to Chaud that he'd be watching him before he left with Akiza. Chaud ignored it and contiued to dance.
"The freak's back again." a cruel voice cut through the music, Chaud was definately meant to hear it and whipped around on the spot grabbing the first person he saw by the front of his shirt.
"What'd you say?!" he barked. The person was the same person who offered Akiza the drugs.
"You heard me, freak! I don't want your kind around these parts! Only thing you've been useful for is keeping the room cool." the guy spat back. Chaud lost control and began to freeze everything he was touching. He didn't realize however until the guy's shirt froze and shattered in his grip. As the guy hit the ground Chaud roared in anger, but as quickly as he lost control he reconsructed his rational thought and ripped a syringe from his pocket. He stabbed the needle into his arm and sent the calming fluid into his veins. He then sprinted, knocking everyone in his way to the side, to his Duel Runner. In an instant he was recklessly driving the complicated streets of the Neo Domino, making his way back to his apartment. When he finally got through the door, an hour later, he was completely broken down and was shouting uninteligible words and groaning in pain. Akiza, who was watching a movie with Yusei jolted upright in alarm as the bluenet collapsed on his floor, shaking uncontrolably.
"Is he alright?!" Yusei said as he jumped up.
"I don't know! He never revealed much about himself... Other then he listens to songs about nymphos..." she said the last part quietly. Yusei looked at the writhing boy on the floor then to Akiza. "Long story, help me put him on the couch." she shouted as the two pulled the shaking boy onto the couch.
"I'm a monster! They made me this! I don't deserve it...!" he yelled as he was overcome with hyperventilation.
"Chaud, stay with me! Calm down! Tell me what happened." Akiza tried to sound soothing, but Chaud still shook violently, and no inteligible words were spoken. His eyes snapped shut and in moments he had slipped into unconsciousness.