Chapter 3: Rise of the Enforcers

Years had passed, and Akiza had come to enjoy her new life. Sure, there were very few, if any, of the creature comforts she had from her previous life, she quickly learned to make do with what she had. Besides, what it lacked in comfort, it made up for in how much closer who new family was. Whereas her mother and father never seemed to make time for her, Martha always made sure to give her wards equal attention. Speaking of which, she had grown quite fond of her new foster siblings. Jack was the one who got on her nerves the most, with his pompous attitude, but even then he knew where to draw the line. Crow could be a hassle, especially when he argued with Jack, but he also knew how to have fun. And Yusei...Yusei was something else. She didn't know why, but every time she got close to him, she felt...different.

Overtime, she got to know the other residents of the neighborhood too. All of them had been living there much longer than her, and each had their own stories to tell. Their view on their home differed from person to person. Some resented their life, and longed to escape to New Domino City (Akiza had long since learned that this used to be Domino City) and make a name out for themselves. Akiza wished she could tell them how horrible the city truly was, but kept her mouth shut. Besides, its not their fault her life before sucked.

Others had come to accept their fate as society's trash, and just seemed to meander through life. Akiza would see these people on the street just somberly walking about, not really caring about the world around them. She couldn't help but feel sorry for them, wondering if she would've become just like them if it hadn't been for Martha.

And then, of course, were the people who decided to do something about their lot in life. And by do something, that means make the lives of their fellow residents eve more of a nightmare, if that was even possible. At the beginning of every month, like clockwork, a group of goons would come and demand money from her. At first, Martha would shoo them off. Despite her age, she was more than capable of fending for herself, as many would-be thieves would find out. But one day, one of them held a knife to Crow's neck and threatened to slit his throat if she didn't comply. That did the trick for her, and the thugs took practically everything.

"Martha, you shouldn't have done that! I could've-"

"No, you couldn't, and I'd never forgive myself if something happened to any of you."

So she let them take whatever they wanted. There wasn't much else they could do.

"Pleasure doing business with ya, miss!"

This made Akiza's blood boil. Seeing her foster, NO, her real mother be treated like this made her sick. And she wasn't the only one who felt this way.

"This is stupid! We can't let them do this to Martha!"

"They have weapons, Jack! We can't just go marching in and demand her money back!"

"Well, there has to be something we can do, Crow!"

"Guys, calm down! Come on, we're late to meet Kalin!"

Realizing Yusei had a point, Jack and Crow broke their fight up and followed him and Akiza to the hideout. Kalin was another resident of Satellite they had met a few years ago, and they'd been firm friends ever since. Kalin was passionate, and often had a temper, but loyal, and they knew they could trust him.

The minute they walked through the door, Kalin could tell something was off.

"Hey guys. What's wrong? Did something happen?"

His friends explained the whole situation with the thieves.

"People like that just make me sick! We're all struggling to get by, and what do they do? They come along and make things worse! Man, I just wish I could get back at them somehow!"

Kalin thought for a minute, stroking his chin in thought. Then an idea occurred to him.

"What if we could? Follow me."

Curious, the four followed Kalin into their hideout. Once they reached the main room, Kalin showed them his plan: five duel disks, some chains, and some electrical wires.

"I've been working on something for a while now. See, this chain here will force a duel disk into active mode, and won't let go until the duel is over. And these wires here will send a electric shock through the chain, destroying the enemey's duel disk when they lose."

"So what's this got to do with getting even?"

"I know these gangs. They put on a tough act, but corner them in a duel and they go to pieces. We find their hideout, ambush them, and make them pay! What'd you say?"

The four foster siblings glanced at each other. It seemed like a crazy plan, but if it meant getting back at the people who did this then they were going to take it

"We're in."

That night, the five of them gathered outside an abandoned warehouse that the gang was using as their base of operations. All of them stood with their modified duel disks ready.

"You guys know the plan?"

"Of course. Go in, teach them a lesson, get the money and get out."

"Right. Be careful, guys!"

And with that, Kalin led the charge, busting in the door and cornering the leader in a duel. His underlings tried to rush in and help him, but Jack, Crow, Yusei and Akiza held them back. Within the hour, the thugs were bruised and beaten and the money retrieved, Akiza making sure her opponent got an extra thrashing for good measure.

"Next time, pick on someone your own size!"

Later that night, after returning the money to Martha and giving her a false story about having found it (though Akiza could tell the older woman wasn't buying it), the five returned to their hideout to discuss what had happened.

"Alright! That'll teach those punks to mess with us!"

"Maybe next time they'll stay on their own side of town!"

"Man, I tell ya, it felt good sticking to those rotten punks! Makes me wish I could do this more often."

"Why don't we?"

All eyes fell on Kalin.

"There are more people like that where those weaklings came from, and unless someone does something about it Satellite isn't safe. So I say we take the fight to them and form our own Gang! With the five of us working together, we can't lose! What'd you say?"

Yusei, Jack, and Crow were in immediately, but Akiza wasn't so sure. Even after all these years, she was still terrified of dueling. What if she lost control again and hurt someone? Or worse?

"Akiza?"

Akiza snapped out of her thoughts to see Yusei's bright face, his warm smile melting her fears. Her resolve regained, she placed her hand in the circle with the others.

"Alright. From this day forth, we'll be The Enforcers!"

"Right!"