Chapter 8: Fate of the Losers! Escape From The Trash!

"This is where the losers go?" Flare demanded in shock as the elevator opened and the two people escorting her shoved it out. "That's how it works, girlie," one of them snorted. "Winners win the spoils, and losers lose everything," the other added.

"I'll show you a loser," she hissed, arming her Duel Disk, but the elevator doors had swung shut and it was already ascending back up to the Duel Palace.

"Alright, where the hell am I?" she questioned, turning back to look around.

"It's the garbage processing plant," a voice told her. Flare looked up to see a purple-haired girl in a red outfit standing over a conveyor belt littered with all sorts of garbage. "The losers of the Friendship Cup go down here to sort garbage,"

"Hey, you're that girl who lost just before my Duel. Selena, right?" Flare recognised her. "Yes,"

"Yuya told me to look for Gongenzaka Nobuto. Do you know where he is?" she asked. Selena jabbed a thumb to her right. "Try that way. He said something about tracking down a lousy, good-for-nothing double-dealing Duelist promoter, I dunno. Just make sure that if anyone looks your way, you look like you're sorting trash. It gets ugly if they think you're slacking off,"

"Got it. I'm Flare, by the way. Nice to meet ya," Flare looked around and immediately spotted a member of the Security in guard walking towards them, armed with a nasty-looking baton. "No sense in rocking the boat, however tempting it may be," she sighed, taking up a position next to Selena and mirroring her actions.

After a moment, she blinked in surprise. "Wait - there's a card in here!" She pulled the thin piece of cardboard from underneath a banana peel. "There's a lot more than just one card in here," Selena snorted. "What do you think Tops do with the cards that aren't good enough for them?"

Flare inspected the card. "The Unhappy Maiden," she read. "Gee, I wonder why she isn't happy?" the redhead sarcastically questioned, rolling her eyes.

"Well, what do you do with the cards you don't need?" Selena asked. "I give them to people who do need them. That, or I keep them just in case I do need them," Flare retorted. "You must have a lot of cards back home," the girl snorted.

She paused, remembering her home's fate. "Where I'm from, everyone had all the cards they needed and more,"

"Sounds nice," Selena shrugged.

"It used to be," Flare agreed. "Well, see you around, Selena,"

As she wondered down the conveyor belt, every few seconds she spotted more cards. Darksea Rescue, Gravity Warrior. "I can sense the potential that every single one of these cards has," she seethed, rescuing each one without fail. Unexpected Dai, Rose Fairy. "Who the hell do these Tops think they are to throw them all away like trash?"

The redhead paused, looking at the latest card she had rescued. "This isn't right," she fumed, marching forwards. Loud clangs echoed through the hall with every footstep as another card joined the growing pile in her pocket.

Graceful Revival. An exact duplicate of one of the cards in her own Deck.

"Alright, who the hell is in charge here?" she demanded, walking into the brightly lit, air-conditioned office.

The redhead suddenly walked into something big and white. Big and white and shouting. "I, the man Gongenzaka, will not stand for this! The way you treated that man was an outrage!"

"You're Gongenzaka?" Flare asked in surprise and excitement. The big man turned to look at her and she gulped. In a word, the martial artist was huge. "Yes, I am. What's it to you?"

"I'm a friend of Yuya's. After I lost in the Friendship Cup, he told me to come find you and you'd help me," Flare explained, a bit nervous about the boy who was easily four times as large as her staring her down.

"Did he now?" Gong raised an eyebrow. Then he smiled, clapping a hand on her shoulder. "Any friend of Yuya's is a friend of mine," he nodded. "Now come on, this guy just doesn't get common dignity,"

Flare blinked as Gong turned back to the person he was shouting at. "What do you want me to do? He's gone. That's the end of it," the aged, thin man with dark skin and sunglasses shrugged.

"Why are we arguing with a rapper from the 1970s?" Flare whispered in curiosity. "One of the other losers from earlier today was an ex-Tops. When he got down here he tried to get better treatment and this Gallager guy had him carted off somewhere worse," Gongenzaka growled. "Worse than this place?" Flare breathed.

"There's nothing I can do now, and if you don't leave I'm going to call Security," Gallager threatened, and Gong huffed. "Fine. But you haven't heard the end of this," he glared, turning and leaving. Flare hastily followed.

"This place is nuts," Gong fumed. "Tell me about it," Flare agreed, pulling her stack of rescued cards from her pocket. "I've pulled this many cards out of the trash in the fifteen minutes since I got here,"

Gong whistled. "That's almost enough for a whole Deck,"

"It is, huh?" Flare sighed to herself. "It's this skill I have, I can sense the potential in people and objects. Every single one of these cards has so much of it and they just throw them away. It's despicable,"

"This entire place is messed up," Gong agreed. "So, how do you know Yuya?"

"I was his opponent in the first round of the Friendship Cup. We had a few minutes before the match began and talked a bit," She paused, thinking. "You're from Standard Dimension, right?"

Gong looked at her in surprise. "You know about the Dimension War?"

She laughed mirthlessly. "Know about it? I was in the middle of it when it started," she snorted. "Huh?" Gong blinked. "I'll give you a hint," she smiled, opening the Extra Deck compartment on her Duel Disk and pulling out a black card. "Galaxy Stealth Dragon," Gong read. "An Xyz monster. So . . . you're from,"

"Yup," Flare nodded. "Xyz Dimension. I came here to Synchro because I hoped that I could get the people here to help," She chuckled. "Look how that turned out,"

"Don't give up," Gong advised her. "Trust me, I'm not. I just hope your home's more helpful than this place," Flare smirked.

"Oi! You two! Back to work!" someone shouted. "Stick close to me," Gong recommended, and Flare nodded.

"So, how do we get out of here?" Flare asked. "From what I've heard, we Duel," Gong shrugged. "If you can Duel your way out of here, you're home free," he shrugged.

Flare's nostrils flared as she picked another two cards out of the garbage. Steam Synchron, Scrap Archfiend. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"The other losers of the Friendship Cup," Gong told her. "I'm not sure why, but even though there should have been six Duels today, only four losers showed up. And one of those got taken away. Me and Selena, the only other loser who's still here, made an agreement. Once everyone who lost because of the Friendship Cup's here, we'll all team up and work together to escape. Did Yuya tell you about the Lancers?"

"Yep," Flare nodded. "All bar two of the Lancers are in the Cup, so we should all bar two - or three, if one of us wins - end up here sooner or later. Once we've all regrouped, we're busting out of here," Gong told her.

"So, you, Selena and Yuya are all part of this Lancers thing?" Flare asked, and the samurai nodded. "Declan said that he was considering asking me to join when I met him," Flare recalled. "Makes sense. He recruited Shun, who's also from Xyz," Gong nodded.

The redhead blinked. "Shun Kurosaki? Tall, green hair, Duels with big metal birds?"

"That's him. You know him?" Gong frowned. Flare nodded. "Not well, but I knew his sister," she nodded. "Ruri? The one who got captured?" Gong asked. "He told you?"

"Something like that," the martial artist nodded.

The conversation died down as they continued sorting the trash. "Here," Gong picked out a card from underneath a worn shirt that Flare had missed. "Thanks," she nodded, taking a quick look at the card text. "A Synchro monster . . . that supports Gemini monsters?" she blinked in surprise.

"That good?" Gong asked. "Do you know how to Synchro Summon?" Flare asked in curiosity. "Sure, why?" the martial artist questioned.

"Can you teach me?"

X

"So all that I'm gonna need is a Level 1 Tuner, right?" Flare questioned. "Yep. Though since you've got a lot of Level 4 and Level 1 monsters, plus Level 7s that aren't Gemini monsters like that Brutdrago needs, you should probably try to get at least three more. A Level 2, a Level 5 and another Level 8," Gong explained. "Got it," Flare nodded, before remembering something. She fished the Legendary Black Crystal out of her Deck. "Is this a Tuner?" she questioned.

Gong took a close look at the card. "Hey, yeah, I think it is. But it's a Pendulum too, so I can't be too sure," he commented. "It says Tuner right there. That's kinda conclusive," Flare reasoned.

Suddenly, a gloved hand snatched the card from her hand. "Hey, this card looks pretty rare," a Security guard grinned at them. "I think I might just take it,"

A vein pulsed in the redhead's neck, and the dragon inside her growled at him. Flare quietened it and adopted a mean smile. "Oh really? You do, do you?" she asked, arming her Duel Disk. "Unless you think you can put up enough of a fight to win it back from me," the officer smirked, arming his own Duel Disk. "But no one's ever beaten me,"

"Alright then. But I don't think these stakes are quite fair. If you win, that card's all yours, but if I win, I get to choose one card from your Extra Deck and take it for myself," Flare smirked.

The officer blinked in surprise, but shrugged and let her take her card for the Duel. She placed it on top of her Deck as he made his decision. "I guess there's no problem with that. Because it isn't like I'm gonna lose anyway," he grinned. "Especially not to a loser like you. You gonna duel, or we gonna keep talking?"

"Duel!" Flare growled, establishing the connection. "I'm taking the first turn," her opponent snorted. "Can you tell me your name? I want to know who I'm about to crush," she asked her opponent as Gong watched, who he saw her place Black Brutdrago in her Extra Deck and nodded. "I'm Shigeru, also known as Garbage Guard 239," Shigeru introduced himself.

"I Normal Summon Plaguespreader Zombie from my hand!" the officer declared, and the black, disfigured Zombie Tuner appeared with a leering grimace. "By discarding a Level 1 monster, I Special Summon Big One Warrior from my hand!" he added, and a man in white spandex that looked like he was straight out of a Sentai TV show with a red 1 where his face should be appeared next to Plaguespreader "I Tune my Level 2 Plaguespreader to my Level 1 Big One! Appear, Goyo Warrior!" he commanded, and a squat fighter with a riot shield and short sword appeared with 1000 ATK. "I activate Warrior's effect! I Special Summon another copy of him from my Extra Deck!" A duplicate of the monster appeared. "Now, I activate the second Defender's effect! I Summon a third!" And a third one to boot. 3 Level 3 Synchro monsters with 1000 ATK each.

"You considered Rank 3 Xyz?" Flare off-handedly suggested. "What?" Shigeru asked, not understanding what she was talking about. "Doesn't matter," she shook her head. "I set two cards. Turn end," her opponent decided.

"My turn! Draw!" Flare declared, consulting her hand. Gong looked over. "Why do you have Pendulums?" he questioned. "Yuya's pendant," she shrugged, immediately formulating her strategy. "Time to test out the new guy. Using the Scale 2 Legendary Red Crystal and the Scale 8 Red-Eyes Parabola Dragon, I set the Pendulum Scale!" Her two monsters rose into the air in pillars of blue light, and her opponent's eyes widened. "Wait, you have that Pendulum thing that the guys in the Friendship Cup were doing? Wait, wait, I-I wanna back out!"

"Sorry," Flare shook her head. "Deal's a deal,"

"Not happening!" he panicked, turning and dashing away - but Flare pressed a button and a cord shot from her Duel Disk, which magnetically locked onto the Security officer's. He looked into her eyes and shivered at the way they almost appeared to be on fire. "This is a technique I used to make sure that the Obelisk Force bastards who destroyed my home didn't run away from me before I could destroy them. I really hoped I wouldn't have to use it here," her smile turned savage and the dragon inside her grinned, "but I don't like it when people not only try to steal my cards, but break their agreements too. Now, are you gonna Duel and try to reclaim even a shred of your dignity, or am I just gonna have to take what's owed to me?"

The officer gulped and nodded. "Okay, I-I'll Duel,"

"Alright then. I Pendulum Summon!" Flare declared, but was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. Gong stared down at her. "This ain't right, Flare. Dueling shouldn't be like this,"

"There is no should be when it comes to Duelling! There's only what you have to do to survive and win," Flare growled at her friend.

In the silence that followed as Gong took in her words, Flare heard the stammering, frightened mutters of her opponent, whimpering in fear. Regret washed over her face as she realised what she was doing.

She pressed a button and the clamp released itself from her opponent, retracting back into her Duel Disk. "You're right. Duelling shouldn't be like this. It's a game, not a weapon," she sighed.

"THis guy's not your enemy," Gong reminded her. "Sure, he's an infuriating, self-righteous bully, but he isn't who you're angry at,"

"I know," Flare whispered, nodding. She looked down at the four cards in her hand, and Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon looked back at her, its glowing red eyes nodding in approval as she pressed her face into Gong's barrel of a chest. "I just want it to end," she moped, "to go back to Heartland with my dad and my friends,"

"We all do, Flare. We all do," Gong agreed, gently patting her back.

Receding footsteps interrupted them, and Flare turned around to see that Shigeru had taken the opportunity to escape. "Jerk," she groaned, rolling her eyes as Gong spotted something white that he had left on the ground. He moved over and picked it up, and after seeing what it was offered it to the redheaded girl. "Maybe not entirely," he shrugged as she took the card that the guard had left behind.

"Armades, Keeper of Boundries, huh?" she read. "A Level 5 Synchro monster, just what I needed," Flare smiled.

"Come on," Gong jerked a thumb at the trash lines. "Let's see if we can find you another Tuner or two,"

X

"Are you really sure that you have to go? I like having you around," Melissa sighed.

"My apologies, but it is my duty to do as my lord wishes, and he wishes for me to go to where the other losers are. Even so," Tsukikage paused. "Perhaps we shall meet again someday?"

"I'd like that," the commentator smiled.

A/N

A/N

Okay, so not too much action this time around, and a bit shorter a chapter too. Originally I was going to have a full Duel and give Flare a second Level 8 Synchro Monster, but I think character development was the better choice at present. That can come later.

Which reminds me. Since there are no original cards that I haven't already given card text for, and I just mentioned I plan to give Flare a second Level 8 Synchro, can anyone guess what I intend to give her? Three hints;

It's a real card that's been printed in both OCG/TCG.

It matches relatively well with her Red-Eyes Deck's styles.

It's not a Signer Dragon or a Duel Dragon.

Oh, and in case this wasn't obvious . . . I totally ship Melissa and Tsukikage! XD

Anyway, reviews?

Thanks for understanding, Corinne. I got it. :)

Aww, thanks, Leafeon . . . what, didn't you notice the giant destructive golem? XD

Considered the official website, death? Or even google for that matter?

Peace!