I recommend listening to Fate/Stay Night Heaven's feel Ost "The Butterfly flutters" for this chapter.
Edited at Jared's part.
Chapter VIII
The uninvited pt. III - Breaking
Bonaparte squeaks at the sight of the summoner, jumping out of his chair and hiding behind it, ordering the man:
"D-do something about him!"
"Oh, I'll. We have some old scores to settle, don't we, kiddo?"
"Mad Dog. I hope you weren't crying too much after I stole your crown as the king of the underground." He smirks provocatively.
"Bwahaha! You think you got it all, kid?! I'm also a king of the underground."
"What do you mean?"
"A little frog in a well, are you? If you think the underground runs only in the main region, you're mistaken, I've become the underground King of the East after climbing my way from hell."
Zane's eyes narrow, that means he must have influence and that explains why he'd be here with Bonaparte. Did that fox call Mad Dog here knowing he had a past with him?
"Were you trying to backstab me by bringing him here, flea?" The teal-haired glares distrustful at the slave master.
"Iiek! I'm just a businessman, it's none of your concern who my clients are! And you should pay for that slap!"
"I'll do more than just slapping you after I'm done with this guy, you filthy pig!" He takes out cards from his pocket.
"I've heard you have no gems, aren't you just a cornered rat?"
"You dream."
He pulls out a gem from his pocket, the garnet he swallowed to trespass the security, his conceited smirk turning in perplexity as he holds the object in his hand, his eyes quivering subtly at the sight. The garnet is now a hard rock, drained out of energy. How?
A quick scene flashing into his head, did this happen when his powers were leaking out? How did the energy inside the gem get drawn out too? The rough laughter of the sturdy man startles him, bringing his attention back to the situation at hand.
"You really fell right on the spider's web! Now, don't cry on me, let's relive some nice old memories, kiddo! I will be more than happy to see you suffer!"
"We'll see about that."
"Acid Slime!" He summons three of the blobby creatures. "Do you remember them from your first duel in the underground? It was a real blast, wasn't it?"
"Yes, I do remember how you lost in the end!"
His duel energy pours out as he summons three Cyber Dragons at once, an internal shudder in his body. Did he lose this much power already? This is very odd. Is this another of Bonaparte's tricks? How did he pull this out?
"Cyber Dragons, take care of those disgusting slimes!"
One of the dragons soars in the air, flying fast in a whirling motion, reaching to one of the slimes, when the Cyber Dragons shoot blasts to destroy the slimes, his enemy grins:
"Not so fast!" He flips a card, showing it to Zane, looking down on him. "Last Machine Acid Virus!"
"So you can use traps too now…" He clicks his tongue.
The metal on his dragons plate armor starts rusting, the pieces clacking together and shaking, threatening to burst apart, failing to move fluidly. One of the slimes takes the chance to jump on one of the Cyber Dragons, enveloping its structure and furthering the corrosion of the metal. A piercing shriek disrupts the quietness.
"Cyber Dragon!"
Before Zane can react, his body is hit by a current of electricity, shivering, a muffled grumble coming out of his throat, his feet slide, but he stands still, his eyes flashing in rage at the side.
"That won't work, dumbass!" He snarls.
Bonaparte screeches after receiving that intense glare. He holds a gun with a big barrel from where a blast of electricity came out, his hand trembling. He'd forgotten how gruesome those underground duels are and how every duelist and summoner must use electrodes.
"Cyber Dragon, get him!"
The Dragon darts, its pieces about to be wrecked as the rust spreads, it only scares Bonaparte more, he dives to the ground, dropping the gun and using both hands to cover his head. Zane flinches when he hears a roar, this time from Mad Dog, tackling him like a furious ox.
"Tsk. I got too distracted with Bonaparte!"
He berates himself while holding the enemy by the shoulders, his arms shaking at the force he employs to not be fully smashed in his grip, they both roll on the ground, taking distance form each other and standing up again, on the background another battle takes place: a meter before the Dragon can have a meal made of the slave master, it bursts apart, its plates flying all over, destroyed by the machine virus.
"This is bad…" Zane opens and closes his fists, letting blood circulate, but his hands don't have a proper grip, he can feel his power wasting away. "How much of my duel energy has been used up exactly?"
At the front of the mansion
The slaves are gathered, many whispers and a low chattering as they wait anxiously, looking all around to the streets and to the skies, wondering where their saviors will come from.
The pink-haired servant inspects the group, taking a look at their faces, they hear a deep shriek coming from afar, from the other end of the mansion.
"What was that?"
"Who knows? That summoner isn't here, maybe it's him there."
Her eyes are transfixed on the direction that sound came from, a glint that borders panic, her feet giving a step ahead, and another until someone grabs her by the arm. The same slave from before who talked to her, his worried gaze identifying fear instilled in her face.
"Darling, you shouldn't go there, it's dangerous."
Rie's lips tremble sourly, trying to find words, his brows curling up in confusion, why does she have this face as if she did something wrong and doesn't want to tell? Guilt. It doesn't make sense, she's the purest little angel he'd met, she wouldn't do anything mean to others, would she?
"Sweetheart, is there anything you need to tell us?" His finger lifts the tip of her chin gently, in an affectionate, but slightly distrustful manner, still keeping her in place by holding her arm.
She gulps, shaking off her head, her eyes squinting afflicted. Yanking her own arm, to free herself from the companion, she rushes back to the mansion, he tries to call her back, but she's far gone. The slaves gape and comment about her, exchanging a glance and shrugging shoulders, wondering just what is going through her mind?
At the garden
The blue-haired summoner avoids a punch from Mad Dog by holding the closed fist of his opponent. Mad Dog grins excitedly, investing more strength, making Zane's arm recoil. In a contest of might in which they both try to push each other he's losing, his wound aches as he forces his muscles more and more. The stitches he got not long ago are about to snap, he sweats coldly.
On the background another of his Dragons burst into pieces of junk, tinkling while hitting the ground, his enemy provokes by shouting and guffawing:
"Did you slack off on training, kiddo?" He looks at the side.
An Acid Slime jumps at Zane, he reacts by breaking free from Mad Dog's grip and stumbling a few steps back, making distance between the man and his monster. His enemy does not wait, charging at him again, but he's blocked by a rusted Cyber Dragon that roars, standing in the way.
"Fight all you want, you cannot win!"
He pulls a card from his deck case and summons Multiple Slime that darts onto the other summoner from the side, he leaps backwards to evade. In the meantime, his other Cyber Dragon is enveloped by two of the Acid Slimes that melt its plates as if cries to the skies, bursting into pieces. Zane grinds his teeth furiously.
"What's the problem? Not gonna summon more? You'll get in trouble, kid."
"This guy… He's testing around to see if I'm hiding any tricks…" He collects his thoughts, paying attention to the slimes that enclose the perimeters menacingly. "He knows if I keep summoning, I'll corner myself… Damn… Why even that spare garnet got depleted? I thought only my own energy was leaking… I was wrong to assume that."
"If you're not gonna do anything, then I'll!"
He throws his hand ahead all his three slimes dart at the Cyber Dragon at once, he can hears the sounds of the metal melting and smoke coming out, a pained roar of his Cyber Dragon, his fists clenching, he runs towards his enemy, if close combat is all he can do for now, so be it! He attacks with a punch, Mad Dog grins derisively at his failed attempt, holding his fist.
"Pathetic, kid! You'll need more than this to defeat this underground king here."
He scoffs at Zane, but his eyes widen as the younger man delivers a leg swoop, making him fall to his knees, grinding his teeth, he stands up infuriated, throwing a punch that the summoner avoids skillfully.
At the same time, Bonaparte recovers from the previous assault, crawling behind the mess of a table and chairs broken apart on the ground and touching the stony floor to find his gun again. He finally gets it back, standing up in joy and trying to aim at Zane again, even if it can't hurt much, at least it'll distract him.
When he smirks confidently, with the summoner right on his vision, someone jumps at him from the side, his eyes widening and his body instinctively turning a bit, The pink-haired servant rolls on the ground, holding his wrists, he tries to escape her grip, but she fights him for the gun.
Both the other men look in awe at the scene, Mad Dog is quicker to take advantage at Zane's confusion that another person came into the brawl.
He delivers more punches, forcing the opponent to step back. The teal-haired lands his feet on the ground firmly, the impact echoing inside his body, his wound. It's hurting again, his eyes twitch briefly, but he lets no other hints surface, pretending he's in his best form. Regardless, it's enough for his enemy to catch it.
Without hesitation, Mad Dog punches his torso, on the side. He's been observing Zane's movements for a while and everything indicates he was being defensive of a particular side of the body.
The summoner groans in pain, spitting some saliva, he can feel the blood soaking his clothes again.
"Crap, he noticed it… And why did she come?"
Grimacing, Zane takes the chance to grab Mad Dog's arm and twists it to his back, the man hardens the muscles, not letting him have full control of the fight, they hear clacks on the floor, plates of steel flying in all directions, the remaining Cyber Dragon succumbs to the virus.
His eyes also dart at Rie who's pushed back, sitting to the ground with a hurtful plop while Bonaparte aims the shock gun at her, she quickly takes a broken chair and jerks it to his head, his eyes roll around before he falls to the ground with a thud, she gasps, startled when she hears the summoner's harsh voice:
"Get out of here!"
Mad Dog grins, using his eyes to sign for his Slimes to attack her instead now that no Cyber Dragons were on play. The summoner scowls at him, summoning Three Cyber Dragon Viers that shoot blasts of light at the slimes, defeating them. At this point he knows he's stalling, his grip on Mad Dog weakens, his body has been so drained out with just simple summons.
"Clone Slimes! Go get the girl!" He summons another set of three effortlessly.
His Cyber Dragons attack thoughtlessly in fury, Zane can't stop them anymore, as soon as the Clone Slimes are destroyed, the Acid slimes come back from the graveyard.
"Falling for the same trick, you're so incompetent!"
Mad Dog pushes him back, kicking his side, he holds the leg of his enemy, trying to execute a move, but an Acid Slime jumps at him from the side, onto his body, his opponent takes the opportunity to get his leg freed.
The slime melts around Zane's torso, the acid slightly corroded his garments, he can feel it sipping through his skin, burning it, an excruciating pain, he yells, falling to the ground, one of his Cyber Viers attacks the blob, by biting it off of his master, unfortunately, it's late.
He lies face down to the ground, his feet sliding and toppling in a move to get up, one of his hands propelling him up a bit, the other covering his wounds, drops of blood trespassing the layer of clothes, falling down almost soundless along with drops of sweat.
"It seems you're not so tough after all, are you?" He kicks the side of his opponent again, Zane grumbles, glaring at him. "Yes, those eyes… You haven't changed a bit kiddo, you're a wretched one, as powerless as before. It seems you haven't learned your lesson properly." He cracks his knuckles. "Pfft, a summoner that can't even summon! What can you do?"
Another Cyber Dragon Vier darts to assault Mad Dog, its attempt interrupted by another summoned slime that jumps head in front of it, blocking its path.
"Multiple Slime!"
Zane pulls his weight up to try standing, but his body quivers, giving in the pain, he fails, dropping again to the ground, his fists clenching, he can feel a small pool of blood under his torso.
Mad Dog stomps his hand, crunching his knuckles, a wicked grin on his face, he raises his feet, stopping Zane's head next, once, twice, many times, his delighted guffaw echoing in the air.
His eyes drop, as if uninterested in the weakling he sees now, an air of superiority swelling in his chest, he raises his leg again to give a final stomping, then, an electric current hits him on his back, his muscles pulsating unwittingly, he gnarls, whirling back.
His angered expression turns into sheer confusion as he sees the pink-haired slave holding the gun, both her hands trembling, she drops it out of fear when he notices her deed, taking a step back in reflex.
A smile spreads on his face, he turns around to look at her, a frightening and nefarious curiosity in his eyes, as if he's planning something. When he steps ahead, a shadow arises from behind him, so quick he has no time to react. A strong blow hits the joints of his knees, forcing him to bow down, from behind, Zane laces his neck with both his arms, his grip choking the man.
"Your… little, guah-"
"Such a scrawny kid, but such brute force…" He notes mentally, cursing the younger man in his thoughts, unable to voice it out loud, only some muffled grunts coming out of his throat as his aerial ways are blocked.
He grits his teeth to hold his ground, hitting the wound of his opponent, but it seems to have no effect. Is he numbed to the pain this much? The green, fierce orbs of the summoner land on the pink haired, she jolts.
"I told you to stay away…"
It's obvious he's not well, he's sweating aplenty, and as pale as her. She looks around, there are pieces of rusted metal scattered on the ground, slimy remains and Bonaparte, a big part of the garden was destroyed by the blasts of energy from his Dragons.
Her eyes waver afflicted, the summoner's face is no better than the destroyed place, there are purple marks on his forehead and cheekbone. He plays with death, but he shouldn't.
"Get out… of here." His voice starts failing, he won't be able to hold his foe much longer.
The power in his arms start to fade, his muscles demand a rest, even now as he does his best to keep his composure, his energy is drained, little by little by his monsters engaged in fights with the slimes.
It takes but a small reduction on his grip to allow Mad Dog to react, grabbing both arms of Zane, he manages to force them away from his neck and tosses the summoner over his head, far away.
His body flies past the girl, hitting the tables and chairs, he slides off the debris, sitting to the ground, grumbling lowly, covering his wound. She squats down, to check on him, he complains:
"Don't-"
In a second, another surge of duel energy leaves him, as if he'd summon many fusion monsters at once, it floats out of his body. Why? His heartbeats accelerate, he's reaching his limit for the day, without gems, it's a death sentence.
Before she can help him, Mad Dog approaches, snickering. She stands up, stepping between him and the other summoner reluctantly, opening her arms and shaking off her head he makes out a "please" of lip reading her.
It just entices his cruelty more, with a single hand, he grabs her cheeks brusquely, making them fold, forcing her to look at him as he comes closer to her face, she struggles to take his hand away, but he's on another level.
"Oh-ho, someone is not afraid of getting hurt. I like it."
"Our fight is not over yet, Mad Dog!"
Zane supports himself on the debris, to stand up, but a buzzing sound strikes inside his ears, his vision muddying, he slides on something, looking at his hand. His own blood. It's odd, more of his power just poured out, as if the loss of blood was not enough to make him dizzy.
"Why are you so confused? You chose to be near the girl, no wonder you can't summon anything, idiot!"
"What… Do you mean?"
Surprise is stamped on the face of the other man, a smirk gradually playing on his lips, first he jeers in a low tone, then it turns into a loud laugh. His head bending back, he slaps his own forehead as if he heard the funniest joke in the world.
"This is hilarious! Really, you were in the same room with her and didn't realize anything's wrong?!" He shakes his head in disapproval, it's too good for him to believe. "Fine, I'll show you, kiddo."
With a heavy slap, he slams her to the ground, she falls with a thud, sideways, hitting her head, as she tries to recover from the pain in her bones, a thick line of blood delineates her face from her forehead to her chin, she's stunned for a moment until the man grabs her arm, and turns her around so her back can be seen by the other summoner, she supports herself on both her arms, still dazed by the hit.
With a devilish grin, he rips off her clothes, exposing her skin and back, she covers the front with both arms, curling up so the cloth remaining is still in place.
"Take a very good look at this beauty!"
Zane gapes, his eyes widening ever so slightly. There's a blue gem adorned by a silver framework encrusted into her lower back, following the line of her spine, around the gem he can see the silvery filigrees made of pure metal above her skin, they probably had to melt it to put it there with how it's popping up and not just drawn like a tattoo.
His senses are sent into disarray, fading for a while, he can only see those two and nothing else besides it, the devious grin of his foe and how she cries silently; the ambience becoming a shapeless background he can make nothing of. A single question popping in his mind, his interior shaken at the truth:
"She's… A human catalyst…?"
Interlude V - "Human Catalysts" from handwritten hidden records of unknown source.
A Human catalyst is, as the name says, a type of catalyst. Naturally only gems should be able to store and enhance duel energy, but due to scientific research and advancements, through tortuous experiments, some humans had gems imbued in their bodies, turning them into living catalysts.
They are a great source of energy and said to be more practical than gems because they can walk and freely control their powers as well as communicate, helping thus the summoner they are bound to. Unlike other catalysts, they need to be under a contract that happens by smearing the blood of the summoner on the gem of the catalyst. The blood works as an "identity card" to unlock the use of the gem that is generally blocked by a spell placed during fabrication.
The use of power of a catalyst may occur without the consent of the catalyst in having their energy drained, thus falling under the label of "dark-summoning" methods, also for the resemblance of how Dark-summoners force spirits of monsters into some contracts.
Catalysts can freely use their energy to charge gems without any sort of contract established, but they cannot simply imbue this energy into a summoner if they do not have a contract. How the scientists achieved this is puzzling, although it's more than clear they made perfect war tools.
The "lock" on a catalyst's gem was simply a measure to not have enemies easily finding out how to muster their power once they did not know anything about this form of canalizing power.
The absurdity of performing experiments and creating human catalysts was marked in history as one of the worst tragedies, however it was due to this that the Empire won the war. After the war, the Empire created a law to prohibit any form of use of catalysts as weapons, on paper only.
In truth, the law does not control the market of human catalysts that are even more in demand every year. Rumors say they're sold to other kingdoms as well and the Empire controls how many can be sold, most of the commerce is among the innermost Imperial regions.
Catalysts are able not only to transform their own life energy into power for their summoner, but also to store energy in their gems to draw it out later. They can drain energy from many sources, including summoners and energy stored in other gems, taking it into their bodies, the latter isn't recommended as it can cause dire side-effects in a short span of time.
Due to the type of work they perform, catalysts are known to die at a young age from exerting their bodies and often perish to illnesses because their body immunity also drops due to the exhausting work. Not all catalysts live such lives, some hide their identities and perform manual labors at other regions or simply other works, living longer and leading a healthy life, unfortunately that isn't true for most.
Whether the Empire is responsible for this, is yet to be discovered, but my theory is that they are and they hid it from common folk. Whoever you are, if you're reading this, take my writings into the hands of scholars who do not bend to the will of the Empire. We must fight together for the well-being of human catalysts, they are people too.
At the garden
Mad Dog relishes this petrified, utterly speechless expression in Zane. He did not know it. He was outwitted by Bonaparte who took advantage of his weakness of trying to help people and used it against him. A trap laid based on his compassion, the worst type and the most effective one.
"This whole time, then…"
His thoughts run amok, organizing the memories in a line to understand it all better. The reason why his gems were all useless, did she do that? Then, when he was asking her to take him there, and his power was leaking out then and a moment ago, was it also her? Is this the reason she was trying to keep distance and panicking when they were close? He thought she was afraid of him, but… What if she was afraid of draining his energy this whole time?
He's seen catalysts in the war, a recollection he wishes he could forget, but one that kept draining a summoner's power? That's new.
Is this why Bonaparte had her close the whole time? Because she wasn't just a slave, but one of his catalysts and he's going to send her to the princess of the kingdom, like a prize? He probably forced her to be close and drain all his energy too. Did she come back here because she knew what she had done and felt regret?
"I bet she was the one that gobbled all your gems and your powers too. Isn't that ludicrous?! One of the said slaves you were trying to help will be your downfall"
He sneers, not constraining his hoarse laugh. Zane's lips are unsealed for a moment, gathering the words, then he declares firmly:
"Leave her alone!"
Making an effort to stand up, he fails, his body falling flat-face to the ground, his fingers twitching on their own, his hand ahead of his head, more of his energy leaves his body. It seems she's unable to control her powers. His head raises, looking at the two in front of him, she still struggles to get free from Mad Dog, but it's useless.
"Don't worry, you'll have a poetic end, nothing better than using your own power to kill you!"
His eyelids blink heavily, the image of his opponent blurring, he watches in cuts of scenes as Mad Dog grabs her by the head, flipping her his way, so he faces her. She tries to crawl away, but he keeps a steady grip on her skull and she flings her arms onwards, in a desperate attempt to hold onto something, but there's only air.
Gnawing on his thumb, the bulky man stabs it with his teeth, opening a small cut, blood flowing from it, he shakes some droplets off onto the gem on her back. A shudder runs her whole body, her mouth opening wide in a silent scream, all the power stored in her body released at once.
A bright light flowing out of her eyes and mouth, her gem shining, he can feel her pain, she stretches her arms towards Zane, shaking as she tries to reach him, an impossible goal. His brows curling upwards, despite all she was forced to do, he's the only person she could rely on now. How much more of this misery will he have to watch?
"Wow! Such an outstanding power!"
The radiant light emanating from her creates pillars of light behind him, an army of slimes summoned in a matter of seconds, the man laughs, savoring his own victory. Zane's consciousness is at the verge of fading when he hears those words from his opponent:
"Time to die, loser!"
Year 2051, Spring
Southern fronts
The teal haired teen, dressed in an army uniform looks around the camp. Dark tents are mounted everywhere, he passes by them, taking a peek inside, but he can't find what he's searching for.
"Is there a problem, Truesdale?"
The deep voice comes from a taller and bulkier man. His long brown hair tied into a low ponytail, a single long strand falling over his face; his posture is dignified and the uniform makes his shoulders and chest look impeccably sturdy; his grey eyes are stern, marks of insomnia under them. His uniform is different from all others, it's white and dark-blue, golden medals attached to it.
"I haven't seen Atticus and Yusuke in a while, Sir…"
His stoic face makes him look unbothered, but his general knows him enough to understand it's just a mask. The man sighs deeply, looking around and proclaiming as an order.
"Come with me to my tent."
The superior sits down on a chair, showing the seat across from him, the soldier obeys. A table is in between them, a map of the whole south spread over and all sorts of chess pieces thrown orderly on many areas.
The only source of light is the lamp standing on the table, the flickering flame casting shade on their faces. Impatient with the scrutinizing gaze of the man, he starts:
"Sir. Atticus and Yusuke have gone missing ever since last night. I wasn't aware they were on any mission and no soldier remembers that they were assigned any special duty, they should be in the camp…"
"Truesdale." He looks at his meticulously cut nails. "I understand your worries, but even a young man like you should know people go missing in war."
"Sir, with all due respect, they weren't the type to run ahead with their own plans, they respected rules and-"
"And?" He interrupts, sighing in disgruntlement. "I understand how you feel, really. All of you. You've all suffered with the loss of Adriel not long ago, it must have dealt a huge blow to your hearts and… To your minds as well, losing other friends would be unbearable. You're young, Truesdale."
His green orbs sharpen, annoyed at the uncaring and seemingly offensive tone of the man, his fists clenching above his legs.
"Sir, this has nothing to do with Adriel. It's about Atticus and Yusuke. They were last seen yesterday night during dinner, then I haven't seen them either in the tents or anywhere after then, it's been a whole day after that, another night fell and they're not here. Sir, I want permission to investigate what happened."
"For what purpose? We need all the soldiers we can spare, just because you're young, doesn't mean you're exempt from duty."
"Your men are more than capable on their own, they don't need a mere student like me aiding all the time, Sir."
"You do not have permission, Truesdale."
"Excuse me?" He gapes, astounded by the brute, dry answer.
"This is war, not a walk in the park. I'm not allowing one of my soldiers to go fetch a bunch of deserters." His face darkens at the accusation, Zane frowns at him.
"Sir, you know them, they wouldn't desert the army, they weren't cowards! They were ready to fight, if anything Adriel's case motivated them to fight more and be stronger!" He stands in for his beliefs.
"Truesdale." He looks at his nails again, then casts a brief glance at the unruly subordinate. "Your mission is to stand in the fronts and bring glory to the Empire, if your friends don't want that, they're the ones missing out, but I won't allow you all youngsters to do as you please. The duel academy was teaching you all summoning for a reason, I'll not let the efforts of those before you go to waste."
"Which efforts? They're… They're using humans to canalize energy, those… Those are not gems! They're not objects, they're people! You call that glory?!"
"And there you have the reason why young people like you shouldn't be using human catalysts. You wouldn't understand their importance to this war. Now, you're dismissed."
Zane stands up scratching the ground with the chair, knocking it back, his fists clenched in irritation at the man looking at him as a peon.
"I don't care about the Empire! I never came to this war to fight for them! What they're doing or whatever they plan to do to win this war, I don't care! I always fought to protect my friends and my family, so I won't just stand if you tell me just because 'I need to fight for the Empire'! This brainless creed isn't mine to follow!"
"Insubordination is a dangerous thing, Truesdale. Do not test my patience."
The grey eyes scout his intentions, looking sharply into him, Zane relaxes his posture, saluting and lowering his gaze. He won't get anywhere disagreeing with the general.
"Yessir!"
"I'll let you go this time, but next, you're getting punished."
The man nods and sways his hand to let him go. As soon as he gets out of the tent, that rebellious glint in his eyes burns again, if he's not gonna receive permission to search, he'll just sneak out of the camp.
Fast forwarding to the next morning, a crowd of soldiers cackle, they look at the teal-haired teen wrapped in ropes, standing tied to a trunk near the leftovers of a fire camp, his face covered in bruises.
"What's wrong with him?"
"He went crazy 'cuz the general didn't let him search for his friends!" He makes a sniveling motion. "The dude went berserker and summoned his monsters when some soldiers caught him outside the camp without orders."
"In the middle of war he's causing infighting?! What a moron!"
They stop their gossiping, making space, standing and saluting on the sides as the general walks to the front of the boy.
"This demeanor of yours is a problem, you must be educated properly."
"You know they aren't deserters."
"Where are they, then?" He looks around, opening his arms wide. "Show me!" A faint, mocking and sly smile. "You can't."
"Can you prove they deserted? That they weren't kidnapped or got lost or anything else?" His defiance has no limits, tense drops of sweat roll down the faces of the fellow soldiers.
"Truesdale. You think you know everything don't you? This attitude of yours seemed like a good thing at first, but your arrogance… This attitude of yours will ruin you someday, Truesdale. You'll fall to your own disobedience and to this arrogance." He smiles faintly, a fake display of kindness as the young summoner frowns at him, tipping his chin once.
"I'm not a pawn for the Empire."
The general stands tall, grabbing the whip under his white cloak, belted to his waist, another man interrupts in a hurry:
"General Jared, Sir! We've got reports on the fronts, the Kingdom is making an attack! They're calling all the men, they have something… Tremendous and Powerful on their side! An unseen creature!"
"Our talk will have to wait. I'll be looking forward to making you an example for the others, Truesdale."
He spits the last words in distaste, flicking his cloak, making it clap at the wind as he walks, followed by his soldiers, leaving Zane alone in that camp.
The consciousness of the summoner travels far away from that memory, the faces of Atticus, Yusuke and another boy, he can only see his smile and some wavy strands of brown hair, his upper face covered in shadows, it all flashes in his mind.
Other confusing scenes are added to the mix: the moment he steps onto a stage, a man rewarding him a medal, then he's on the ground, Aster Phoenix standing across from him, standing tall, snow blanketing his feet and an empty stadium of cold rocks surrounding them as the blizzard make snowflakes accumulate on his hands and head.
"Tell me, Zane Truesdale, what exactly are you protecting like this?" His tone is calm, a genuine piece of advice. "You're here on the ground and no one can help you, if this was war, you would be dead and so would the ones you're protecting. You'll achieve nothing with this rage."
"I'm not afraid of death."
"You won't go far thinking like that… If you want to protect anything, you need to think on ways to live, not how to best die. What you do is called cowardice, not bravery, Zane."
"I'm not trying to die, but if I don't… If I don't exceed my limits now, I'll…"
"You're just searching for an excuse to run away, not for a way to protect others. Even if it's painful, you need to face things head on or you won't exceed any limit."
His memory leaps into another place again, all in darkness, his face still to the ground. A foot pokes him with its dark shoes, he lifts his eyes to find himself there. A younger version, he's still dressed in that nostalgic obelisk dorm uniform, all white with details in dark-blue.
"What are you doing?" His other self crosses his arms. "This is pitiful."
"Shut up."
"How long have you been here, stacking your mistakes, just pretending like you're improving? You've reached your limit yet again." He crouches, despising his older self.
His fists close tightly. He knows it's true. He thought he'd acquired more power, but then… Rie's face appears in his mind, how her eyes and mouth gleamed with power pouring out, a tool for the Empire. Nothing changed from back then in the war, did it? He's still stumbling his way to the untouchable Empire, being taken down more times than he can handle, trying to do it all alone despite the advice.
Atticus, Yusuke, he couldn't find them even after so many years, he couldn't save Adriel either. He couldn't give comfort to Alexis by bringing her brother home alive. He couldn't keep his promise of protecting his friends. Even as he climbed as the King of Underground, he just distanced himself, toughened up. Had he noticed that slave was a catalyst before and planned ahead, he could've saved her too.
All this suffering. He's tired of it. He's tired of losing and losing and letting things slip his hands. He alone survived, but what is the point? Aster was right, he was just seeking death because he couldn't bear the loss and the thought of losing more. He thought he got over that, but…
"You're about to be trampled over by your enemy and all you can do is lay low on the ground?" His other self smirks. "This is abject, Truesdale. I'm ashamed."
"You can't be ashamed. You don't exist…"
He supports himself on the ground, lifting his torso up with difficulty, and standing up slowly, his younger self had the most evil smile on his lips, feeling he won this time, as he shoves his arm into him, his hand dividing the teen like mist, he disappears into the air. The standoff expression sculpted on his face has a sad, conflicted air to it.
At the gardens of Bonaparte, Mad Dog cackles out loud, inebriated by the power flowing through his body from the girl he holds by the head. A small rock hits his hand, he recoils by reflex as the stone bounces off and falls down near Rie.
Letting go of the head of the woman, she falls flat to the ground, the unnatural shine from her body disappearing as she regains senses, blinking slowly, to recognize the world around. Her blue eyes land on Zane.
An inexpressive semblance on him as he raises his head to look at Mad Dog, they were at different heights, but he didn't look any intimidated or inferior, his orbs had this confidence, a smirk forming on his lips, a defiant glare cast at Mad Dog.
"I see you lost your sanity! You've lost, accept it alrea-"
The words don't come out as Zane's smile fades, his head toppling down, the last of his energy floating in the air in the form of a grainy blue and uncanny dust.
He's in that dark area again, standing, around him, lights of summoning arise from the ground, the shining figures of his monsters appearing in a circle around him, like a council, all his three Cyber Dragons, Cyber Dragon Zei, Drei, Vier and even The Proto Cyber Dragons roaring restlessly.
"I don't care if my body is destroyed or if I die…" His eyes tear up looking at them rampantly. "I want you to pulverize everything in this mansion…"
With a swift movement of hand into his pocket, he takes out a card, Overload Fusion, rising it, the Dragons squirm, letting out pained shrieks, for their master, they must bend to his overwhelming wishes. Their figures twisting in a swirl of darkness, exploding and mingling into one.
"Chimeratech Overdragon! Burn it all down. Destroy this place! Let's make a big flag of fire to end this slave empire and get their eyes here! The Empire no longer has power to control this region through their puppet! Show them what freedom is!"
He orders, tears trickling down his cheeks, his eyes lost in the darkness of that place, seeing memories buried in his heart, his eyes becoming bloodshot.
On the outside, Mad Dog steps back, gulping as fifteen Cyber Dragon-alike monsters appear at once, is this guy kidding? He's summoning this many monsters on his deathbed?
"Fuck-"
With a move of his arm, he orders his army of slimes to attack, but the Dragons shine all at once, exploding into shards of metal, the plates reverberating and clamming together to form a new creature, the man has to look so high, his neck hurts, Chimeratech Overdragon materializes and howls with all its fifteen heads.
Rie's is dazzled by it and terrified, her eyes quivering seeing the lines of blue dust emanating from the summoner to the creature.
It charges many blasts of light, from all its heads and shoots it in lines, annihilating the slimes quickly, some of the heads, shoot at the garden, the walls of plants and statues of plants falling down and bursting into vibrant colored flames. Even Bonaparte is surrounded by the fire, everywhere she looks, things are burning fiercely, some of the shots bursts the walls of the mansion.
Destruction spreads everywhere at each burst of energy, she blinks at the sound of walls crumbling apart, but for some reason, she has the impression the creature feels sad as it roars to the heavens. Her eyes move to tears, the scenario is hellish, the embers flying around her, only the blazes reflected into her orbs.
Mad Dog recoils a step, his heart racing scared of what he sees. He remembers it well, this was the monster that destroyed him that time in the underground, his body shivers just thinking about it, and now, it's even larger.
Turning around, he runs away, letting the creature set the whole mansion into flames. Rie's eyes flicker wildly, glistening with the wateriness, she looks at the summoner, her sight partially blocked by a small rock and becoming gradually blurry. On the ground there's the last gem he had in his pocket, little did he know she also had drained it, he tossed it at Mad Dog's hand before to help her. It was all her fault, had she warned him somehow…
This destruction, it's all her fault too, she stole his power and now, he's gonna die. Taking the rock into her hand, she musters strength on her trembling arms, crawling closer, very slowly, tears dropping, making a trail as she drags herself near enough at the crackling noises of fire engulfing all matter.
Her hand stretches, pushing the gem under his palm, then covering his hand on hers, closing his fingers around the rock, her eyes giving in to the tiredness, in angst.
The flames consume the surroundings, burning brightly, making smoke flow up. From the city streets, people touch the ashes, watching in confusion the grey flakes and the thrilling shriek of the multiple headed beast, echoing through the city, astonishing the citizens at the spectacle.
At the entrance of the mansion, some people in ragged clothes organize the slaves in a line, taking them into carriages composing a full caravan. They look back at their place of torment, burning in flames, embers carried by the wind. Some of them cry, the companion of Rie cries too, attempting to go back, he's held by others as they take him away, he covers his face, in tears. Everything is aflame.
Not far from the mansion, Mad Dog stops on his trails, looking back, his eyes squinting, he'd like to have finished the summoner today. He flinches when a voice declares out loud, amidst all the fire:
"Armed Dragon Level 10!"
A dark cloak flutters, the man shoves his hand into the air, his spiky hair as sharp as his dark eyes, a sapphire in a simple pendant around his neck, shining brightly, contrasting with the flames.
"What-?"
He braces for another fight, a huge chunk of the wall falls down, blocking the way between him and the monster, Mad Dog smirks, his luck didn't run out today:
"You better worry about the people still in there, kiddo!"
It's a bait and a distraction for him to escape, but the other man falls for it anyways, they dart past each other, Chimeratech Overdragon roars wildly in the background, he clicks his tongue annoyedly.
"Damn, he never knows when to stop! He should've waited for me!"
His feet skid as he breaks his run suddenly, dust arising when he sights two people unconscious on the ground, gaping at the scene in amusement. He knows the ugly mug of Zane, but who is that pink-haired girl?