Chapter 6: Psy-Soldier: Origin
Summary: Some just want to bury the past, but no matter how deep you bury it, it will always resurface.
Takashi and the others undo Alexis's bindings and drape her on Takashi's back, who looks emotionally drained. "Jaden, Chumley you guys should probably grab Titan so we can turn him into the school." Jaden nods.
"Alright." As they turn to where Titan was, they are shocked to find him missing. Takashi snaps out of his shock and grunts.
"Looks like I didn't hit him hard enough. Fine, we'll report him to the school still at least. I guess we should just be glad everyone made it out alright." With that he turns back towards the exit and begins walking out with his friends in toe. As they exit the building Jaden looks at the walls, taking advantage of already being in the building to "investigate" the abandoned dorm. He pauses when he sees a framed picture on the wall.
"Is that…?" He grabs the picture to take with them before running to catch up to the others. "Alexis will want this."
Once outside, Alexis begins coming to, and Takashi gently sets her on the ground. "W-what happened." Takashi looks at her sadly, before sighing.
"You were dragged into my problems, that's what happened." Alexis gives Takashi a confused look, while Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley look at Takashi with concern. Jaden reaches out to put his hand on Takashi's shoulder, but Takashi pulls away.
"I know I said I would tell you guys what happened tonight, and I will, but let's do it tomorrow in my room. We'll have privacy there and it will give me time to get myself together. I'm honestly not sure if I have the mental or emotional strength to get through it tonight." Alexis, while still looking lost, now shares the concerns of the other three.
"Yeah, that's fine Takashi we can talk tomorrow." The other three nod in agreement and Takashi sighs again.
"If you don't mind guys, I'd like us to walk you home Alexis, then us Slifer Red boys will walk back together. I just- I'll just feel better if I can make sure everyone makes it to their dorms safe." They all agree and begin making their way to the Obelisk Blue Girls Dorm.
/RFSXPL/
Titan is limping away from the abandoned dorm, leaning on a tree to keep himself steady. Panting, he brings the hand clutching his side to his face to see more blood. As he's about to keep moving his phone rings. Gritting his teeth he answers. "You bastard, you knew!"
The voice on the other end chuckles. "Whatever do you mean Titan?" Titan's grip on his phone gets tighter.
"You know damn well what I mean! That freak can do actual damage with his cards!"
"Wait a minute, I thought you were a shadow duelist Mr. Titan?" The voice reeks of condescension, further enraging Titan.
"Don't give me that shit! You clearly knew I was a fake! What was the point of this?! Were you just trying to make a fool of me?!"
"You must think very highly of yourself. Do you really think I would take time out of my day just to humiliate a worm like you? It's laughable really." Titan is shaking in rage at this point.
"No, you see I have much bigger goals than that. I'm going to create a new world, a better world, using you to test my pet project just made perfect sense. After all, you would use the exact type of methods to draw out his rage."
"So, I was just a pawn in your game!"
"Of course not, being a pawn implies you were ever on the board." Titan's eyes widen as a drone suddenly hovers in front of him. Before he can even shout, the barrel of a gun emerges from the drone, shooting him in the forehead. Like a puppet having their strings cut, he drops to the ground, a pool of blood forming beneath him. "Goodbye Titan. Don't worry, I'll build you back up, stronger than you could have ever dreamed." The call is disconnected as the drone shoots a beam at Titan which caused his body to disappear, a small pool of blood being the only sign that he was ever there.
/RFSXPL/
Takashi was silent the whole trip to the Obelisk Girl's Dorm. On the way, Jaden had given the picture he had grabbed to Alexis; it was a signed picture of her brother. She had thanked him for giving it to her, then thanked all four of them for coming to save her. Upon reaching the dorm, Alexis said her goodbyes.
On the way back to the Red Dorm Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley made awkward conversation, trying to involve the silent, drained looking Takashi. After reaching the dorm, they climb the stairs to their room, and Takashi finally turns to look at the others.
"We'll explain the situation to the Chancellor in the morning, then we can all go back to my room, and I'll tell you guys my story." Syrus and Chumley exchange worried looks while Jaden scratches the back of his head nervously.
"I mean if you really want to, I guess. But if it makes you uncomfortable-" Takashi raises his hands to quiet Jaden.
"It's not something I like talking about, which is why I'm not telling Bastion, but you four were dragged into my mess and deserve to know. But for now, I'm going to bed. Have a goodnight, guys." With that, Takashi turns back around and enters his room for the night, leaving the trio to stand awkwardly outside. With a sigh, Jaden looks at the others with a grin.
"Alright guys, sounds like we have a full day tomorrow, so let's get some sleep too!" Jaden marches into their room with Syrus and Chumley exchanging one last look before following him inside.
/RFSXPL/
In the morning, the five who were in the abandoned dorm stand in the Chancellor's office. Chancellor Shepard leans back in his seat looking at the group expectantly. "So, what can I do for you all today?"
Takashi steps forwards. "Last night, a hired hitman known as Titan, kidnapped Alexis to get to me, or more specifically, the cards I'm testing for Mr. Pegasus." Upon hearing that Shepard relaxed posture is replaced with a serious one as he leans forward in his chair to give them his full attention.
"Tell me everything, children." Alexis steps forward.
"I was breaking curfew to leave a rose in front of the abandoned dorm for Atticus. After talking to Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley, who were there for their own reasons, we parted ways. When I was alone when Titan came up from behind me with a chloroform covered rag, knocking me out. I came to, briefly tied up in a coffin, he then pulled out some fake Millennium Puzzle and knocked me back out with some light. I managed to scream, and that's all I remember."
Sheppard nods and looks at the four boys. "Is this where you all come in?" Takashi is about to step forward, but before he can, Jaden, after sharing a nod with Syrus and Chumley, stop him by putting an arm in front of him, and steps forward himself.
"Actually sir, that's when the three of us," Jaden gestures to Syrus and Chumley. "Come in. Takashi was in his room; we were the ones breaking curfew, not him." Takashi tries to interject.
"But Jaden-" He's cut off by Syrus, who steps forward.
"Yeah, he told us not to go out or near the abandoned dorm, but we didn't listen."
"Syrus-" This time, Takashi is interrupted by Chumley.
"He's always trying to keep us out of trouble, so we'd said we would stay in and went out anyway." Takashi stifles tears, looking at the trio trying to protect him.
"You guys…" Jaden takes the lead again.
"So yeah, we were out past curfew walking around the abandoned dorm and taking a look at the outside of it, when we heard Alexis's scream. We ran in to try and help her, that's when we came across the room where they were trying to perform Shadow Duels." Syrus nods rapidly.
"Yeah, and when we got there, we saw Alexis in the coffin, we were going to help her when Titan stepped out of the shadows like some kind of horror villain and said he was going to use us as bait for Takashi." Chumley takes over.
"And then that creep video called Takashi to show he had us and challenged him to a duel, we tried to stop him when he was hanging up but then he pulled out a gun, aiming at Alexis, to get us to wait for Takashi." Takashi takes over again.
"That's when I got Pegasus to give me permission to enter the dorm, as I made my way there. I dueled him and exposed him for a fraud; he was using hypnosis to trick our brains, and when I did that, he forfeited the duel and ran away." The three boys behind him share a glance at the missing detail. Shepard hums as he contemplates what he has been told.
"Is that everything?" The students nod in response. "First, I would like to say I am deeply sorry this happened to you all on my campus. I'm glad you all made it out safely and am proud of the heroism you boys showed." Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley grin at the praise, but when Shepard continues, it makes them pause.
"However, four of you have admitted to breaking curfew, with three of you admitting to ignoring the posted signs and entering the grounds of the abandoned dorm. But I will have to bring this to the disciplinary committee." Takashi steps forward and begins trying to plea.
"Chancellor, I know some serious rules were broken, but considering everything that happened surely some leniency is warranted!" Shepard raises his hand to silence Takashi.
"I understand your concerns Takashi, I will explain the situation to the committee. Considering what specific rules were broken, and the horrific situation that happened, I can assure you that expulsion will be off the table. For now, you all are dismissed, the committee will call you for sentencing when a decision has been made." They all say, "Yes Sir" and make their way out of the room.
Takashi turns to the others. "Well unless you all have something else to do, we can go to my room now?" The four of them exchange apprehensive glances before Jaden steps forward putting his hand on Takashi's shoulder.
"If you really want to do this, we're ready to hear what you want to tell us." Syrus and Chumley nod while Alexis steps next to Jaden putting her hand on his other shoulder.
"I still don't exactly know what happened but I'm ready to hear you out too." Takashi gives them a tired smile.
"Well then, let's go." With that they make their way to Takashi's room.
/RFSXPL/
Takashi opens his door letting the others in, who look around, especially Jaden. "So, this is your room Takashi. It never really crossed my mind we haven't actually been in here before, it's sure different from our room." He looks at Takashi curiously.
He sighs. "I promise there was no real intention by it, I just find your room cozier than mine." He gestures to all the mechanical bits and vaults for his cards scattered around his room. "But we didn't come here to discuss my room." He walks over to a wall and touches a spot, opening panel with a keypad. The others look at him curiously with Jaden speaking up.
"What's that and do we have one in our room?" Takashi dryly chuckles.
"No, but Pegasus was really worried about the privacy and security of these new cards when I told him I was going to go to Slifer first, along with the safes for the cards and things I needed for my prosthetics, he added some privacy features. The walls are soundproofed, and when I put in a code into the keypad…" Takashi enters the code, letting the metal plates that slide down from the ceiling which cover the door and window speak for themselves.
"The plates have tech inside them that lets out a hum at a specific frequency that messes with people's hearing, making it impossible to hear through them." Syrus curiously puts his ear to the plate to hear the hum. The sound sends a shiver up his spine that goes away when he takes his ear off.
"Woah that felt freaky!" Takashi gives a weak laugh.
"Yeah, it will do that. Alright everyone, go ahead and take a seat and we'll talk." Alexis sits on the bed; the three guys sit on the floor while Takashi sits at his workbench. "Before I say anything else I'm going to show you all something." He reaches into a deck box and pulls out an Adamancipator Crystal – Dragite card. As Chumley is about to question what he's doing, the monster materializes on the floor in front of Takashi, making them gasp before Alexis speaks up.
"How did you do that?!" Jaden nods excitedly.
"Yeah man do you have your own personal hologram projector in here?!" Takashi chuckles.
"Why don't you touch it Jaden." Jaden looks confused.
"Huh? I can try I guess." Jaden reaches out towards the fossil, thinking his hand will pass through. When his fingers touch the fossil, his eyes widen, almost bulging out of his head. "I can touch it!" The other three's eyes also widen as they go over to touch the fossil themselves, gasping as they touch it. Alexis looks up at him.
"How are you doing this?" Takashi sighs as he lets the fossil fade away.
"I'm what they called a Psychic Duelist." Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley look at him and at the same time ask.
"Psychic Duelist?" Takashi nods.
"Essentially, I can make cards real, the cards themselves, their attacks, and their effects." The three boys nod in amazement while Alexis hums.
"You said "they called". Who are "they"?" Takashi sighs, looking like he just aged 20 years.
"That is where my story comes in. I have few recollections of my life before them, I vaguely remember having a duel with someone and accidentally hurting them with a real card attack. After that, all I remember is the lab."
/RFSXPL/
9 Years Ago
"Wake up brat!" A shout and the sounds of a fist pounding on his middle door wakes a five-year-old boy. He stares at the ceiling with tired eyes. The boy is dressed in a gray jumpsuit, with a metal collar around his neck and two metal bands on his wrists. He gets up and looks around the room that he has called "home" for the last couple of months.
The room's walls and ceiling are stainless steel, and the floor is concrete. The only things in the room are a bed and a toilet. The walls have no windows but have small holes, about as big as a pencil; in the upper walls that act as vents to let the air circulate. A single door is the only way in or out of the room.
The boy walks up to the door and waits for it to be opened so his day can begin. The door opens and he sees one of the compound's security guards, standing there with an annoyed look. "Come on brat, time to start your tests!" The boy nods and silently follows the guard.
/RFSXPL/
The room the boy enters is empty except for a camera and a speaker in the top corner of the room. Strapped to his arm is a duel disk. He looks up at the camera and the speaker comes to life, a deep voice is heard.
"Welcome back Psy-Soldier. I hope you slept well, because it's time to improve your dueling skills, and of course stress test your gift." A simple exoskeleton bot rises from the ground with a duel disk built onto its arm. The bot and Psy-Soldier activate their duel disks as the voice announces. "Duel!"
Psy-Soldier draws and sets a monster facedown and ends his turn. The bot draws and activates Shield Crush destroying Psy-Soldier's Obnoxious Celtic Guardian. It then plays Gene-Warped Warwolf, and attacks directly. When Psy-Soldier loses the life points, the metal bands on him emit a large electric shock causing him to scream in agony. The pain is too much, causing the boy to pass out.
The voice over the speaker sighs. "Such a shame, his pain tolerance still hasn't built up yet. Oh well we'll have plenty of time to grow it. Guard, take Psy-Soldier to the examination room, we'll perform our other tests today. he can try dueling again tomorrow." The guard that brought him here enters the room, slinging the boy over his soldier.
/RFSXPL/
The boy is now lying on a table, unconscious, with wires connected to various parts of his body, with the majority attached to his head. A group of scientists are studying the readings they're getting off the boy. One of the male scientists speaks up.
"Now that we got a baseline for the morning, the commander wants us to run stress tests today, see if we can't get any growth." One of the female scientists begins typing on the computer sending a low pulse of electricity into the boy's brain. His fingers twitch a little.
"Hmm, small response right now, he seems to be remaining stable. Up the voltage." As more electricity is pumped in the boy starts having small convulsions.
"He's convulsing, but the energy levels in his brain are staying stable. Up it more." With the new levels the boy's eyes snap open as he begins screaming and violently convulsing as the scientists calmly watch on. After a minute they cut off the voltage as the boy passes out once more. The head scientist checks the readings again.
"Looks like there was a minor spike in the levels partway through the last shock, but it dropped rapidly after. Alright, let's run a few more tests while he recovers, then we'll do another cycle."
/RFSXPL/
6 Years Ago
A now eight-year-old Psy-Soldier had just finished a gauntlet of duels against a group of duel-bots. He was panting and his fingers were twitching a little from the shocks he received but was otherwise in good shape. The speakers come to life.
"Good work Psy-Soldier, the guard will escort you to my office, and we'll have a nice talk." The guard opens the door and escorts a tired Psy to the commander's office. Entering alone, he sits down on the lone chair in the room and stares at the floor After a moment, the blank screen that covers the adjacent wall comes to life, showing a male figure on a throne. His upper half is obscured by shadows, only showing a silhouette and his white gloved hands.
"I do apologize for not being able to meet you in person yet, Psy-Soldier, but obviously I can't be at the lab every day. Easier to deny responsibility if the operation is discovered, you know how it is." Psy keeps his head down and doesn't speak up, causing the man to sigh.
"Come now boy, there's no need for this attitude, we're simply trying to help you become the best you can be." Still not getting a response, the man changes tactics. "You know, I actually believed it was time to give you the full explanation as to why you're here and what we're doing, but if you are going to pout, I guess I won't." The boy's head looks up with thinly veiled curiosity in his eyes, causing the man to chuckle.
"I thought that would get your attention. You see, young man; you are the future of this world! An evolution in humanity, that will raise the worthy up! But you have so much potential with your abilities that your brain was limiting you." The boy looks lost.
"Your ability to bring cards to life is impressive, but you weren't bringing out the cards true power, do you think all a mighty dragon like Red Eyes Black Dragon can manage to do is scorch a wall, it should be able to demolish it!" The man calms himself with a deep breath.
"Sorry I lost control for a minute there. But what I'm trying to say is, with your help we can study and improve upon your powers and learn to recreate them artificially." The boy's eyes widen, causing the man to smirk.
"With enough research, it is possible, and then we can make an army of Psychic Duelists that no country could ever hope to stop. After we topple the governments of the world, we'll create a new utopia. In this new world there will be no more war, no more poverty nor strife; all will be equal. And with enough time, we can even conquer death itself!" The boy's eyes gain a spark of life for the first time in three years.
The man smiles gently at the boy. "Isn't a little pain, a little suffering worth it, if you can make the world a better place? Please, won't you finally stop resisting, and help us change the world?" The boy opens his mouth and speaks for the first time this year.
"Yes."
So with the gang going to Sheppard about the abandoned dorm, another ripple is added. We are also delving into Takashi's backstory.