Asuka was starting to hate the infirmary.
It had nothing to do with the care or quality of said care that the students would receive. It was the fact that every time she went there she would always be forced to witness the image of someone she cared about being in pain. Kuromu had been in twice now for injuries sustained in a Game of Darkness because of Oogumo and his obsession with the Kururugi family. How twisted did he have to be in order to achieve his goal?
So now here she was, sitting near Kuromu's bedside, the said patient resting on his bed, recovering from the recent horrific events by sleeping it off. Oogumo had done a number on him, his injuries just as bad if not worse than last time.
'What does this monster even want with Kuromu?' She thought.
It was then that she recalled this flash drive that Kuromu had on him. And Oogumo for reasons unknown desperately needed it. As much as she was curious about whatever was on it, it wasn't right of her to ask. And even if she asked Kuromu, he wouldn't know, let alone want to because of the Riders telling him that it wasn't the right time. They were hiding something, but it was for good reason.
Even still, at least Rex didn't get it as bad as Kuromu did. A small mercy from that terrible encounter that night.
The doors of the infirmary slid open and in came the Kururugi patriarch. "How is he?"
"Still not awake." Asuka shook her head.
Kyoshiro let out a sigh before he slammed his fist into the wall in frustration. "Dammit! Twice my son was hurt because of that bastard!"
"Mr. Kyo…" Asuka murmured sadly.
"How could I let this happen? I'm supposed to protect my family and I can't do anything about it!" he lamented. The man snarled as he recalled how smugly Oogumo taunted him before he vanished that night. "And every time, this monster taunts us like he thinks we can't stop whatever he's planning!"
Asuka couldn't exactly deny that statement. Oogumo did have that sense of superiority like Tsukasa had said about him.
Kyoshiro sighed as he calmed down, "I'm… I'm sorry, Asuka-chan. You're caught up in my family's problems, when you're having problems yourself."
"Huh?"
"Kuromu told me about your brother's disappearance." Kyoshiro frowned sadly. "I can't imagine what you're going through. That feeling of not knowing what happened to him… In all honesty, you have it worse than my family does."
The Obelisk Queen looked away in slight shame, something that Kyoshiro caught on.
"Ah… I'm… sorry, that was…" the Kururugi patriarch apologized.
"No, I honestly don't think you're out of line." she reassured him. "But… as much as I think about and worry about my brother, until I hear anything about him, I…"
"You don't need to put aside worrying about your brother for my son." Kyoshiro told her, feeling sympathetic to the Obelisk Queen's plight. "You care for both of them. And I'm sure my son would tell you the same thing."
She couldn't help but smile from hearing that, "Thank you, Mr. Kyo."
"No problem. I gotta check on the others, let me know when he wakes up." Kyoshiro said, to which Asuka nodded and the patriarch left the infirmary. Once he left, the Obelisk Queen focused her attention back to the sleeping Kuromu, whom she could only look at with worry and sadness. She could only hope that he would wake up soon.
Rex sighed as he examined himself for injuries with the Psycho Shocker fight. For the most part, he called himself lucky compared to the prison beating that Kuromu received. But the thing that irked him most of all, was the fact that Oogumo called him out on his past. For all intents and purposes, no one but him knows about that part of his life. And yet Oogumo somehow knew exactly what happened that night.
"No wonder you're the last one of your little troupe."
He looked at the wolf-tooth necklace around his neck, the one that served as a gift to him. The mutt couldn't help but recall the day he received this necklace… and the life he had left behind.
Flashback - Five Years Ago, New York City
"Hey! Get back here, you pesky thief!" a man running a deli shouted as two individuals quickly ran out of the restaurant with meat in their hands.
"Hey, I remember you getting a brick to the window last week after nagging about no blacks in your store. So that's fair game!" a much younger Rex gleefully shouted with a cheeky grin. Rex himself was wearing a yellow jacket over a blue shirt, blue jogging pants with black lines on the side, and yellow and white sneakers with blue soles.
"Good one, Cheeda!" his friend chuckled. He was a young man around his age with curly silver hair and dull green eyes, his attire was a dark gray shirt and a black and gray varsity jacket that had a jaguar design on the back, along with dark gray jeans and sneakers, gave him a high-five before running off with the deli owner in hot pursuit.
Rex soon packed their stolen goods inside his pack as he and his companion dodged both pedestrians and the deli owner alike.
"Yo, Wally! You're getting pretty slow, man!" he chuckled to his companion while he effortlessly began free running.
"Yeah, yeah, just keep running!" Wally rolled his eyes in amusement.
"When I get my hands on you-"
"You ain't doin' shit! This is for my boy, Dez!" Rex laughed before gleefully flipping the bird, pissing them off even more.
"You brats!" the deli owner roared while the boys easily escaped into an alleyway. Once the deli owner gave up the chase, the two boys shared a high-five for a job well done.
"Alright, we got the goods." Wally chuckled. "Nice work, Nick."
"Hey, you did a great job in keeping the guy busy." The mutt argued before they looked at their prize.
"You know me, my charm is one of my finer points." Wally smirked smugly, making Rex roll his eyes before packing up, "Come on, we should be able to leave undetected if we use the roofs." The mutt suggested as he climbed up the fire escape.
"Right behind ya buddy." Rex grinned.
"Oh, almost forgot." Wally noted before digging into his pockets and tossing the mutt something.
When he caught the object, Rex saw it was the very wolf-tooth necklace he wears nowadays.
"Had to scrounge up a lot of cash to get this." Wally explained while the mutt examined the necklace, "You're a decade old now, so I might as well give you something to mark the occasion."
"Dude, this looks so cool." Rex noted before they reached the top.
"Alright then. You remember what I taught you when it comes to jumping between roofs?" Wally asked.
"Always limber up and don't jump too early. I know, man." Rex casually said before putting on the necklace, "Now come on bro, time to run like the wind." He eagerly said.
*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK*
"Yo, Rex? Are you in there?" Judai asked, snapping the mutt of going down memory lane. "Can we come in?"
"H-Huh? Oh, y-yeah. Sure." Rex said as his fellow Osiris Red dorm mates entered his room.
"Hey Rex, you okay?" Sho asked, as he closed the door. "You haven't been yourself since yesterday."
"What? I'm fine!" The mutt tried to laugh off, but neither Judai nor Sho were buying it.
"Rex… did what Oogumo say still bother you?" Judai asked sadly, "What did he mean by you being the last?"
Rex's self-confidence faltered slightly as Sho stepped up, "We're just worried about you, that's all." He admitted.
"Yeah, it ain't like you to act well, like a lone wolf." Judai added.
"Look guys, I'm fine really." Rex said, trying to persuade them from not digging any deeper. "Yeah, I was a little mad at the guy, but I'm alright. Besides, it's Oogumo. Likely he just said that to get under my skin like he does with Kuromu."
"General. You know that isn't true." Diecarii refuted as he materialized with the rest of the quartet, "We know that you're still affected by what happened half a decade ago."
"Five years ago?" Judai blinked.
"Diecarii, what the heck man!" Rex snapped before shaking his head, "Ugh, fine. I'll talk." He groaned as the Osiris trio sat around on the floor, "You guys deserve the truth anyways."
"So, what happened five years ago?" Judai asked.
"I was a member of an old group of delinquents. The Wild Ones." Rex began to explain.
"You mean those thieves operating out of New York?" Sho gasped.
The mutt then took out an old glove he wore, one that had a prominent red paw on the back of the hand, "Yeah, I was one of the founders actually. We used to cause all kinds of trouble with people. Even the NYPD had their hands full with us. "
"Were you one of those… uh…" Sho gulped.
"No. Sure we stole and raised hell, but we never kill people. Back then, I saw the gang as my brothers." Rex shook his head. "At least, that's what I thought."
"So what happened?" Judai asked.
Rex sighed, "Karma came around and bit us in the ass. A good chunk of our ass."
Flashback - Five Years Ago, New York City
It was a large-scale police raid at the Wild One's hangout. Police sirens were blaring in the background as various teens scrambled for cover.
"It all started when we were up to our old tricks again, but… unfortunately, we pissed off the wrong people. A rich dude was able to use his resources to track us down and called a raid on us."
"Stop, criminals!" The lead cop leading the raid called out.
"Wow, they really went all out?" Jaden asked.
"When you've become that infamous in the city, chances are that they'll take no prisoners." Rex shuddered, "We're just a bunch of teenagers, after all. We weren't as bad as most of the gangs operating out of New York. But I guess it was only a matter of time before we ended up getting humbled. Most of us got cuffed by the cops during that because of their numbers and superior gear, and Wally and I were the last ones."
"How the hell did they find us?" Wally growled as he and Rex fought off some of the cops during their escape.
"Hell if I know!" Rex snarled, having grabbed a can of pepper spray from a knocked out cop to use on another officer. "Dammit, was it from the last job we screwed up? That's the only thing I can think of!"
"We were able to at least get away from the building, but as I reached the roof, I looked down and…"
"Wally!" Rex gasped as he saw several cops surround his companion.
"Hey! Help a brother out!" Wally called out.
The mutt wanted to rush in and help him, but then he saw a police helicopter shine a spotlight onto him.
"This is the New York Police Department. You're under arrest for several counts of thievery, delinquency, and disturbance of the peace." the cop on the chopper called out.
"At that moment, my instincts kicked in and I just… ran… ran like I've never run before…"
"Hey! Wait! Don't leave me!" Wally pleaded, "Nick! NIIIIIIICCCKKK!"
"We got a runner, boys!" the cop on the helicopter reported before they gave chase.
"I could feel my body screaming in pain as I ran, leaping from rooftop to rooftop in an attempt to escape. Yet the cops were on my tail at every turn."
Rex soon stopped when he saw the gap between the roof he was standing on and the next roof was too wide. With several cops about to reach him, the mutt spotted an open dumpster down below and took a gamble. Taking a few steps back, he dived headfirst into the dumpster and safely landed in it as he closed the lid, hiding from the police as he heard the helicopter fly overhead.
Judai… was speechless… "You… abandoned your friend?"
"I know, it was stupid of me!" Rex snapped, before looking down in shame, "That day was one of two things I regret."
"What was the other?" Sho asked.
"…Ever heard of the Maximus Murders?" the mutt asked, before Judai noticed something on Rex's desk. It was a burned Duel Monsters card, the lower half charred off while the top was slightly burned.
"That card…" Judai said, reaching over to grab said card. It was a Level 4 Beast-type Monster that was a DARK-Attribute. The numbers were difficult to read, but could still be deciphered. It had 1700 ATK and 300 DEF. As for the picture in question, it depicted a gray wolf standing guard over her three pups. "Aloof Lupine…"
"Yeah, that's the last card from my old deck." Rex looked down.
"Wait, what does a burned card have to do with an old murder case about a delivery service?" Sho asked.
"Because I used to work there." Rex revealed, "Big Boss… he was the one who helped me get my life back on track after years of being a delinquent."
"Hold on, but… if that's the case then…" Sho got out, before the implications started to make sense. "You were the last survivor?! I heard that out of the seven workers of the Maximus Delivery Company that vanished, only one was found. The rest were found dead."
"Yeah…"
"And that survivor was you?!"
Rex nodded as he could feel his hands shaking.
"So that's why you were scared of the Games of Darkness. Because that's what happened on that day." Judai noted.
"Yeah… and believe it or not… the one I fought against in that Game of Darkness… was Wally…"
"What?!" Judai and Sho gasped.
Rex sighed, "It's a long story, so get comfy."
Flashback - 2 Years Later, New York City
"After escaping the cops, I had to lay low for two years, hopping all over New York City to get away from them. From Manhattan to Queens, the Bronx, my home turf of Brooklyn, even the outhouse of the state that is Staten Island. I couldn't call my parents or visit what little friends I had after forming the Wild Ones. Worst of all, I was shit out of luck for finding a decent place to stay. My luck eventually ran out and found myself in juvie."
Rex was staring at the ceiling on a bed in a small cell, the sounds of the juvenile prison echoing around him. He sighed when he looked and saw his parents arguing with the cops to set him free, but he knew that he was in for a lecture and a grounding once he was out. In fact, he'd rather stay in prison and rot than face the wrath of his parents.
"I'll admit, I didn't get along with my parents at all. And for good reason. I was an obnoxious adrenaline junkie back then. Forming the Wild Ones with Wally was my way of sticking it to them, letting me and several others feel the freedom of the wind. Fat load that did for me…"
"So, you're the famous Nick 'Cheeda' Taylor." A new voice said. Rex turned to the source of the voice and saw a person he never saw before.
It was a man with a fisherman's beard wearing a blue baseball cap. It had a green wolf head on it alongside the letters MDC, followed by a black leather jacket over a blue shirt, and black and gray pants.
"Who's asking?" Rex muttered gruffly.
"I heard that you had it rough for the past two years since the Wild Ones got busted." The unknown man observed.
"Hmph, and what's that to you?" Rex scoffed, looking away from the man, "Just to get a laugh?"
"No, I don't think so." He refuted, "I hear you're a pretty okay kid. You just need to iron out some edges."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm here to turn your life around, kid. Whether you like it or not." He stated.
Rex was, rightfully so, very skeptical of the man's claims, "How are you supposed to do that? You're not a cop."
"No, I'm not," The man chuckled, "But I run a delivery service, and a good one at that. You could use all that running around you've been doing for most of your life for good. I'll even pay you double the rate of what I usually pay my employees; at least until you're able to get back up on your own two feet. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, don't you think?"
The mutt raised an eyebrow, "You do realize I'm twelve, right?"
"Your age don't matter to me. Besides, think of this as community service." The man pointed out, "I already talked it over with your folks and they seem to be on board with it."
"You talked to them?"
"And they agreed that it'll do you some good." The man nodded. "So whaddya say? You in?"
After looking around, he sighed. "Beats eating prison food." Rex shrugged as he walked up to the man and shook his hand.
"Huh, so this kid's gonna be our new delivery boy?" A rather short yet skinny man asked. He wore a gray vest over a brown shirt, brown slacks, and boots. Rex could also see he had some prominent buck teeth, as he asked the question in a Brooklyn accent, "I've seen this punk around, skulking in the Burroughs."
"That's right Kenny. Meet Nick 'Cheeda' Taylor." The man answered, who formally introduced himself to Rex as Mr. Chalk.
"He seems like a nice kid." a Native American woman observed. She wore a brown aviator's jacket over an orange shirt, and black slacks.
"Looks like a troublemaker to me." a rather tall man commented. He wore a brown striped shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of brown fingerless gloves.
"Heh, you see? Even he thinks something's up." Kenny agreed.
"Patients you two. I'm sure the boss has his reasons for letting him in." A rather bulky man told the group. He was in a brown and green shirt, wearing parachute pants, and boots.
"Indeed, it isn't like Chalk to simply let a troubled boy like him into the company." A man said, walking towards the Native American woman who cuddled up to him. He wore a white tiger-pattern shirt, a teal bracelet, and white shoes.
"Regardless, he's gonna be working with us for a while, at least until he gets back up on his own two feet and doesn't cause anymore trouble." Mr. Chalk said, "So I want you all to be on your best behavior, got it?"
"Yes sir." the rest of the staff affirmed.
"So you worked with them for a while huh?" Judai mused.
"Yep, turns out all that free running made me a great delivery boy." Rex said, letting out a small smile, "Those guys were the best. Ross and I always snarked at each other, Newman was a gentle giant, the Newstones became great friends with mom and dad, and then there's Mr. O'Neil. He's actually the guy who got me into Dueling. He played a mean Dino deck, one a lot better than Dinosaur Ryuzaki back in the old days."
"I guess that means they're your extended family in a sense huh." Sho commented.
"So what happened next?" Judai then asked, "How did… well…"
Rex merely looked down in shame…
Flashback - 1 Year Later, New York City
"I worked under the guys for a year learning the ins and outs of the business. And Big Boss, true to this word, paid me double the rate he would normally pay the others. Definitely helped my parents with affording the means to help me actually finish middle school and enter high school with my old friends prior to being a Wild One. They also helped curb my old habits, and soon, I was pretty much back to where I used to be. Free running. Though I did miss free running with someone else, I figured I could handle it."
Rex, now wearing the same cap that Mr. Chalk wore, walked towards a storage warehouse to pick up a package. He was halfway there when he spotted a car bust out of the warehouse with a bunch of rowdy thugs.
"What the?!" he gasped before quickly spotting one of the thieves holding a mysterious black and silver suitcase.
"H-Hey! That's mine!" he shouted before he gave chase.
He soon spotted an abandoned skateboard and quickly got on it, using his momentum to get in close and grab the fender of the car.
"Hey! I'mma need you guys to hand over that briefcase or-"
Before Rex knew what happened, the car suddenly turned to the side and screeched to a halt. Rex couldn't stop his momentum and crashed into the car, sending him tumbling.
"Ow…" Rex groaned, "Really gonna feel that one in the morning." he then got up before his eyes widened.
"Huh, fancy seeing you here… pal."
The mutt could only say one word before he was knocked out by his assailant.
"Wally?"
*WHAM!*
"Turns out Wally never really forgave me after what happened. He broke out of prison and reformed the Wild Ones. Only this time, they weren't just mere delinquents. These were actual gangsters. The little group he and I made had now become heisters, going after huge steals and not caring who gets hurt."
Rex slowly opened his eyes and found himself in the warehouse, tied to the ground. However, he wasn't the only one bound.
"What the?!" He gasped as he saw the other Maximus Delivery Company workers being strung up. They were bound by rope as they were hung on a large scaffold with cinder blocks tied to their legs, dangling over the Hudson River.
"Kid, you okay?!" Mr. Chalk called out.
"Big Boss?!" Rex gasped, "Guys?!"
"Hey, what's the big idea here?!" Kenny demanded.
"We're tied up, clearly." O'Neil groaned.
"Besides the obvious!"
"Kid, can you move?" Ronald asked Rex.
Rex struggled as he tried to wiggle his way out, but to no avail, "It's no good. I can't get out."
"That's the idea, brother…" He then heard Wally call out as he turned to see the man approach him, a Battle City Duel Disk strapped to his arm.
"Wally… how…"
"I broke out, that's what. And for one reason only." Wally said, squatting on his knees to look down at his former friend, "I'm gonna make you suffer for what you did to me three years ago."
"He's…" Amelia said wide-eyed.
"One of his friends, thrown in jail." Ty finished.
"You broke out of jail just for that?!"
"You ABANDONED me!" Wally shouted, standing up. "I called out to you for help, but what did you do?! You turned tail like the coward you were! I thought you were my BROTHER! But what you became was a cowardly TRAITOR!"
"You saw the copter, how the hell could I have-"
"You ALWAYS found a way to get us out! So why did you run, huh?!" Wally snarled while he held the mutt up by his collar, "Tell me!"
"I… I…"
"I'll tell you why! It's because you're a COWARD! You'd save your own SKIN, rather than risk it to save OTHERS!" He snapped, "You're just one big yellow-belly who only cares for HIMSELF!"
"That's not true and you know it!" Rex snarled
"Oh THIS I have to hear." Wally rolled his eyes.
"Not a day went by without me thinking about you or the others!" Rex shouted. "Everyday I regret what happened! I tried my best to find you guys and hopefully break you out! But every turn I went, every step I took, there was a cop ready to cuff me!"
"So you've hid like the snake you were AFTER all!"
"I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE!" Rex soon began to cry, "Wally, you gotta believe me… please…" he pleaded.
"Well now you have the choice right here and now." Wally said. "It's time to see where your loyalty TRULY lies."
"What are you talking about?" Rex demanded.
"Duel me, one-on-one. If you win, I'll let your so-called new pals go. But if I win, I kill them, and you have to serve me until the day either of us die. So whaddya say, brother?" Wally offered before tossing him a Duel Disk.
"Don't do it, kid!" Mr. Chalk shouted. "This is what he wants! You can't give it to him!"
"Shut up, old man! You're partly to blame!" Wally snapped before returning his glare back to Rex, "So what do you say?"
"Gh…"
"If you don't make your decision in FIVE seconds, I'm making ALL of them sleep with the fishes!" Wally threatened. "5! 4! 3! 2! 1-"
"FINE!" Rex shouted, "Fine… I'll Duel you."
Wally's sadistic smile couldn't be any wider.
"At first, I thought this was going to be a normal Duel. But then, when Wally landed the first blow… it turned into a Game of Darkness without me noticing."
"How? And when?" Judai wondered.
"I didn't know at the time, but he must have made a deal with some Duel Spirit to make it happen." Rex recalled, "I should have known something was off before… before…"
He soon felt the phantom pains from his scar act up.
"Rex, you don't have to say anymore, if you don't feel like it." Sho placated him.
"No… you need to know." Rex shook his head.
"Now before we start. Let's make it interesting." he then turned towards a pair of twins in red and blue respectively, "Hey, Fred! Toss me that briefcase!"
The red twin was about to get the briefcase which made Wally slightly cross.
"No, not you, Rudd!" The former companion snarled before the blue twin picked up the briefcase and tossed it to him, "Thank you." He then knelt on one knee and opened the briefcase, revealing eight Duel Monster Decks. "We choose one of these decks to Duel with. I'm feeling a bit generous, so I'll let you have first-pick."
"How do I know if you're not going to make me choose something that'll get me sacked?" Rex asked with some needed skepticism.
"Hey, we both don't know what kind of decks these are, so fair's fair." Wally pointed out.
As Rex looked towards the decks, he could hear something… snarling at him?
'What in…' Rex thought to himself, but shook his head, looking at the decks carefully again, before choosing one. "This one." He muttered. As he picked up the deck, he could swear he heard the sounds of various animals calling out to him.
"Alright then." Wally said as he turned the briefcase around, to examine the decks carefully, before choosing one himself. "I'll go with this one."
The two then shuffled their new decks and slotted them in, activating their Duel Disks.
"Oh one last thing to make this Duel even more satisfying. Every time you lose 500 Life Points, I drop one of those old geezers to the abyss." Wally grinned sadistically.
"WHAT?!"
"I think this should give you some needed focus to not screw things up." Wally mused. "Now then, shall we?"
Rex snarled before they both declared…
"DUEL!"
Rex: 4000
Wally: 4000
"You have the first move." The former companion said.
"I can't believe he's going through with this…" O'Neil muttered.
"Fine, I'll draw then." Rex said, drawing his sixth card as he examined the deck he had. 'Ooookay… so basically this is what I'm working with.' he thought. "I play Unexpected Dai! Since I got no monsters on the field, I can special summon 1 Level 4 or lower Normal Monster from my deck!" He then began to search through his deck for such a monster before he perked up, "I choose this one! Gladiator Beast Andal!"
From his side of the field, a large black bear wearing purple and silver armor, an eyepatch on its scratched right eye, as well as a pair of gauntlets emerged and roared into the air. (4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1500)
"Huh, so this is one of the prototype archetypes that one-eyed putz was planning?" Wally mused.
"Gladiator Beasts?" O'Neil mused.
"You know 'em?" Kenny asked.
"From what I heard, it's one of several experimental archetypes." O'Neil answered, "It was Pegsus's way of 'spicing up the meta' as he calls it."
Rex then read the rest of the cards in his hand and then picked two, "I place two cards face down and end my turn."
"My turn," Wally said, before drawing his sixth card. He looked at each of them and chuckled, something that Rex didn't like at all. "I play the Field Spell Temple of the Six! Each time I summon a Six Samurai monster onto the field, I gain 1 Bushido Counter on this card that depowers the ATK points of all monsters you control by 100. Good thing too, because I summon from my hand Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki!"
Suddenly as a large Japanese temple with a glowing gate appeared behind Wally, the temple's doors opened and out walked a samurai warrior with silver and copper armor over a set of red and black garbs alongside two mechanical arms holding samurai swords. The samurai then unsheathed both of his blades and entered the former companion's side of the field. (3/ATK: 200/DEF: 2000)
However, this had the adverse effect of Andal clutching his chest as he felt a bit of power leave him.
Gladiator Beast Andal: (ATK: 1900-1800)
"And now the Six Samurai as well?" O'Neil pondered, gazing upon the second unknown archetype.
"Now Kageki's effect activates! Science I was able to Normal Summon it, I can summon another monster with Six Samurai in its name outside of a copy of itself, and I choose The Six Samurai - Yariza!"
Soon, another samurai appeared from the temple's gate, dressed in black armor that sported blue glowing lines. Yariza then took out a technologically advanced Naginata that quickly activated (3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 500)
"Now that I have another Six Samurai monster on the field, Kageki now gains 1500 ATK points!" Wally declared as Kageki's swords began to light up while Andal's power continued to drop.
Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki (ATK: 200-1700)
Gladiator Beast Andal: (ATK: 1800-1700)
"Battle! Since I control a different Six Samurai Monster with a different name, Yariza can attack your life points directly!" he laughed, "Go Yariza!, stab him with Earthen Spear!"
Heeding the former companion's command, Yariza charged forward, jumped off of Andal before leaping forward and delivering a leaping downwards slash.
As Rex stepped away, the spear's tip slashed him in the eye, causing a large wound to open that would later become the mutt's scar. The mutt cried out in absolute agony.
Rex: 3000
Wally: 4000
Rex was left horrified as he staggered and fell on one knee, his free hand clutching the fresh wound oozing blood while the warehouse began to burn down.
"Heh, that's gonna hurt." Wally mocked him.
"Y-You… that wasn't a hologram." Rex stammered in fear. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
"I told you… I was going to make you suffer." The former companion revealed, "I gotta admit, I didn't think I would be able to invoke a Game of Darkness without a Millenium Item, but here I am!" He then smirked, "But first, it's time for those old fools to die, starting with that couple!" Wally declared as he pointed towards Amelia and Ty.
"NO!" Rex cried out.
Ty looked down in shame, "So this is it…"
Amelia looked towards her husband, "Ty… I love you…"
"I know…" he affirmed before the pair looked towards the mutt, "Nicholas. Please take care of our child for us, okay?"
Before Rex could say a word, a man with a light blue jacket laughed as he walked towards the Newstones' ropes and cut them loose, plunging the couple to the depths of the river. The mutt cried out in sorrow as he watched the couple drown.
"I set one card down and end my turn." Wally chuckled, "Your move…" he taunted Rex.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! DAMN YOU WALLY!" Rex yelled.
"Damn me?! DAMN ME?! WHAT A FUCKING JOKE! NO! HOW ABOUT YOU GO FUCK YOURSELF FOR GETTING US IN THIS SITUATION!" Wally shouted. "NONE OF THIS WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU HAD NOT ABANDONED ME AND THE OTHERS! YOU MADE YOUR CHOICE AND NOW YOU HAVE TO SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF IT!"
"C'mon kid! Get up! This ain't not time to be kissin' the ground!" Kenny shouted. "You can still win this!"
"But…" Rex got out.
"Boy, remember what I taught you." O'Neil said, "Don't panic, it will cloud your judgment."
"Alright then…" Rex said, as he took a breather and tried calming himself. "Okay, I can still do this… It's my turn now, draw!" the mutt snarled as he looked at his next card before putting it into his hand. "Okay, first I activate my own Field Spell, Colosseum - Cage of the Gladiator Beasts!"
This soon caused Rex's side of the field to change into that of a gladiatorial arena with glowing lines across the stone, complete with both anthropomorphic animals and Feudal era Japan villagers to fill the seats.
"Next, I summon Gladiator Beast Lanista in ATK Position!"
At once, a blue and white bird with green and white armor flew onto the mutt's side of the stage, brandishing a red spear in hand (4/ATK: 1800-1600/DEF: 1200).
"Next, I equip Gladiator Beast's Battle Halberd to Andal." Rex added as a large halberd appeared in the bear gladiator's hand.
"Now let's fight! Andal, destroy Yariza! Ursa Usurper!"
Feeling a bit of rage for the prior tactic, Andal charged forward and delivered a powerful slash that destroyed Yariza, damaging Wally in the process as several pieces of rock that were kicked up from the bear gladiator's charge smacked him in the face.
Rex: 3000
Wally: 3300
"I activate Gladiator Beast's Battle Harberd's effect. If a monster equipped with this card attacks, I can destroy one Spell or Trap card on the field!" the mutt declared, "So say goodbye to your Temple of the Six!"
Suddenly, the temple dissipated and allowed the arena to fully envelop the area. This also gave both Gladiator Beasts' their strength back while Kageki grew weaker.
Gladiator Beast Andal: (ATK: 1700-1900)
Gladiator Beast Lanista (ATK: 1600-1800)
Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki (ATK: 1700-200)
"Now to destroy Kageki! Go get 'em, Lanista! Aquilla Attack!"
Taking a stance, the eagle gladiator quickly spun his spear around before stabbing the bronze samurai in the chest, causing electricity to fire out from Kageki's back and zap the former companion.
Rex: 3000
Wally: 1800
"Ha ha! He got 'em!" Mr. Chalk cheered.
"If he can attack again, then he should be able to win this!" Kenny cheered.
"I end my turn." Rex sighed, feeling like maybe there's a chance he could actually win this.
"Okay, that was clever. I will give you that." he noted as he staggered back to his feet, "But that won't stop me from ending your life." Wally then glared at Rex, "It's my turn now. Draw!"
As he examined his new card, he smirked as the former companion first used one of the cards from his hand, "First, I activate the spell The Warrior Returning Alive, where I can add one Warrior monster to my hand from my Graveyard, and I bring back Kageki!"
Rex sighed and shook his head, of course he would bring that monster back to his side.
"Next, I activate my drawn Spell Card Six Samurai United! Each time a Six Samurai monster is either Normal or Special Summoned, I can gain up to two Bushido Counters!" the former companion laughed as he placed the card onto the field "Guess what I'm about to do!"
"You've gotta be kidding me…"
"I summon Legendary Six Samurai - Shinai to the battlefield!" the former companion shouted as a samurai with purple and gold shogun armor materialized and armed himself with two large clubs (3/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1500).
Bushido Counter (Six Samurai United): 1/2
"Now that I have this Six Samurai monster on the field, I can Special Summon Legendary Samurai - Mizuho, onto the battlefield as well!" he laughed as a female samurai clad in red and yellow armor appeared and drew two large sickles (3/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000).
Bushido Counter (Six Samurai United): 2/2
"Colosseum - Cage of the Gladiator Beasts' effect activates! Each time one of us Special Summons a monster, all Gladiator Beasts get a boost of 100 points to their ATK and DEF!" Rex declared as the beasts in the audience cheered for the Gladiator Beasts on the field.
Gladiator Beast Andal: (ATK: 1900-2000)
Gladiator Beast Lanista (ATK: 1800-1900)
"It's fine, I can cash out my Six Samurai United's Bushido Counters by sending that card to the graveyard and drawing two cards in return!" he declared, "Next, I activate my Trap Card, Return of the Six Samurai! I can target one Six Samurai Monster in my Graveyard and special summon it to the field."
"Not this time! I activate Parry! As long as I have a Gladiator Beast on my field, I can negate your Trap Card's activation!" Rex declared as he quickly saw the Trap Card get destroyed.
"Tsk, fine… I set one card face down and end my turn." the former companion snarled.
"It's my turn!" Rex declared, "Draw!" the mutt shouted before looking towards his new card, "Alright, I'm ending this early! Go, Andal! Destroy Yariza with another Ursa Usurper!"
However, Wally smirked, "Oh buddy. You should have listened to one of my lessons. Look before you leap."
The mutt stepped back in fear.
"I activate my Trap Card, Magic Cylinder! I can negate that attack and inflict the damage I would have taken onto you instead!" Wally declared as Andal ended up getting sent into one of the magic cylinders.
Rex didn't know what was in store for him before a second cylinder materialized and spat out the bear gladiator mid-slash, causing Andal to slash at Rex's back while he screamed in pain.
Rex: 1000
Wally: 1800
"Now that's another two of those geezers to die!" Wally declared, "Start with the big one and the rat."
"KENNY!" Rex shouted.
"What?! No! I don't want to die! No!" Kenny panicked, flailing about, in hopes to give the man who's cutting the ropes a hard time to cut it. And it was working… to an extent.
"Grr… stop moving!" The grunt snapped, trying to cut the rope.
"Uh-uh! No way! You ain't killin' me! I have a lot to live for, thank you!" Kenny protested, as he kept flailing about. He then looked at Rex. "Kid, for what it's worth, you're okay! No matter what, you're always one of uuuuuuuuuuuuus!" He soon was sent to a watery grave while Rex could only watch while he reeled from the slash.
"No…" he muttered in fear.
Then, it was Roland's turn; he accepted his death and looked towards a distraught Mr. Chalk.
"Ronny, I'm sorry that I brought you into this old friend." Mr. Chalk apologized.
"No, it's fine. It was an honor working with you, Paul." Ronald chuckled before, looking at Rex. "Happy trails to you kid, till we meet again…"
"RONNY!" Rex cried out before Roland's rope was cut.
The mutt was left crying, two more of the people he looked up to had died after a risky maneuver. However, Wally was more apathetic to these deaths.
"Come on now, you still have two chances left. You better play smart, Cheeda." the former companion snarled.
Rex couldn't help but step up and glare at Wally's amused face. However, as he got back to his feet, he noticed Andal looked apologetic for his attack. He didn't know if it was the pain or the tears that was making him hallucinate.
"Lanista… use your Aquila Attack on Mizuho." The mutt ordered.
Lanista once more readied his spear and quickly flew forward to skewer the female samurai. The eagle gladiator quickly kicked the spear into Mizuho which made fly into Wally, who had to dodge the monster flying his way, but ended up twisting his ankle in the process.
Rex: 1000
Wally: 1500
"I end my turn. Make your move." the mutt snarled.
"Alright then, my turn." Wally noted as he staggered back to his feet, "I draw!" he declared before looking at the card and smiling. "I summon back to the field, Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki to the field!"
As the bronze swordsman returned to the field, he then smirked, "I then activate his effect to special summon Legendary Six Samurai - Enishi in ATK position!"
Suddenly, a samurai clad in green armor decorated with yellow lines materialized and drew his sword which enthralled the Japanese villagers in the arena's audience (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 700).
Gladiator Beast Andal: (ATK: 2000-2100)
Gladiator Beast Lanista (ATK: 1900-2000)
"Since I have a Six Samurai Monster on my side of the field, I can now Special Summon one more card from my hand, the Grandmaster of the Six Samurai!"
Soon, an old grizzled man wearing black armor that had white circuit lines on it appeared and glared at the mutt, empowering the beasts further. (6/ATK: 2100/DEF: 800)
Gladiator Beast Andal: (ATK: 2100-2200)
Gladiator Beast Lanista (ATK: 2000-2100)
"You must like boosting my GBs so much." Rex grunted.
"Oh, do you really think so?" the former companion asked with a smirk, "I reveal my facedown card, Pestilence!" He declared, "I can equip this only on a Warrior, Beast-Warrior, or Spellcaster-type monster, but when I do, their ATK Points get dropped to 0. Then every time you enter the Standby phase, you take 500 damage to your life points. But that doesn't mean jack as I'm gonna win this Duel anyway!"
"Bastard, you had that all along?!" Rex snapped.
"Of course. The only reason I didn't activate until now is because I wanted you to writhe in despair as you watch your friends die!" Wally cackled. "I needed to see you suffer, so you can feel what I felt when you ABANDONED what we had built! Now I'll equip it to your Gladiator Beast Andal!"
Suddenly, Andal collapsed to his knees while a dark miasma gripped him.
Gladiator Beast Andal (ATK: 2200-0)
"Now then, how about I use my last face-down?" the former companion chuckled, "I activate Raigeki Break! By discarding a card, I can destroy one card on the field! So say goodbye to your precious arena!"
As the trap card zapped Rex's Duel Disk, the arena faded away, de-powering Lanista.
Gladiator Beast Lanista (ATK: 2000-1800)
"Now your fate is sealed! Attack Andal, my monsters! Finish him!" Wally declared as all three samurai monsters dashed forward to attack Gladiator Beast Andal.
That's when they both saw Lanista fly in and try to protect the bear gladiator from the samurais' blades.
'What the?! Am I… am I seeing things?' Rex thought.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
Suddenly, the force of the impact caused a large burst of sparks that scattered across the warehouse. One of these sparks caused the rope holding O'Neil's rope to burn away.
"NOOO!" Rex cried out before O'Neil merely closed his eyes.
"Do not blame yourself, boy. You did your best…" O'Neil told him before he was plunged into the Hudson River while the rest of the warehouse caught on fire.
Rex: 0
Wally: 1500
The mutt was left horrified as he staggered and fell on one knee while the warehouse began to burn down.
"Look at you, afraid of a little game… how weak" Wally mocked him, "Now then… you have to hold your end of the deal and become my bitch."
"F-Fuck you!" Rex snarled whilst still in pain, "I'll never serve you!"
"Who said you had a choice?" He then motioned to his goons, "Take him away. We'll focus on relocating the goods to a different location. As for the old man? How about showing him his new underwater home…" he said with glee.
Rex quickly turned and looked on in horror as the goon in light blue moved to cut Mr. Chalk's rope.
"BIG BOSS, NOOO!" Rex gasped as he quickly turned and kicked Wally with what little strength he had before running as fast as he could towards the men.
He quickly tackled the caught Mr. Chalk's rope before it could fall and maneuvered it to have him safely roll onto the floor instead. Unbeknownst to him, a deck box had fallen out of the mutt's pocket that quickly caught fire. The mutt didn't notice this as he tried his best to untie Mr. Chalk. The man quickly spotted the kid's eye and felt terrible.
"Kid… how di-"
"No time for that, Big Boss! I gotta get you out of here!" Rex said as he tried and failed to untie the ropes.
However, what neither person didn't realize, there was some rubble hanging above the pair. Wally, spotting this as he got up, threw a rock on the ground to knock the rubble from the roof and onto the pair in hopes of crushing them. Mr. Chalk, having noticed, quickly pushed the boy out of the way before…
*CRASH!*
The man was pinned by the rubble, but in immense pain.
"BIG BOSS!" Rex cried out before he tried lifting the rubble off the man to no avail.
"Kid, you gotta get out of here! This place ain't gonna hold any longer!" Mr. Chalk shouted.
"But… but what about you?" Rex said, still trying to lift the heavy object from his mentor.
"Kid, if you don't get out of here then you're either gonna die or end up in the Wild Ones' grasp!" he stated.
"But sir!"
"Just get the other decks out of here. Can you do that for me?" Mr. Chalk asked him.
Looking towards the briefcase that Wally handed back to the burly man, he wanted to go, but that would mean abandoning someone in need, again.
"Listen, kiddo." he said, "You gotta live. Not just for us, but also for those you love. My time is already up, but your story still hasn't ended yet." the man told him.
"But… but…"
Seeing the briefcase about to be taken, Rex looked towards Mr. Chalk, who merely nodded and the mutt shed tears.
"I'll never forget what you did for me." the mutt said.
"Neither will I…" Mr. Chalk said.
With that, Rex once more ran like before towards the burly man and the briefcase. Calculating an angle of attack, the mutt performed a baseball slide and picked up the briefcase right before the burly man could grab it.
"I'll take that!" he shouted before running.
Wally, shocked to see this, quickly ran after him with the rest of the Wild Ones in tow.
"Get back here, Nick! We had a deal!" the former companion roared.
"The terms changed!" Rex shouted while running through the burning building, clutching the wound on his eye with one hand and holding onto the briefcase for dear life with the other.
As he ran, the mutt quickly spotted a rope that led to several shelves of stolen goods. Realizing he had found a way to ensure his escape, Rex quickly grabbed the rope with his free hand and stopped to pull it as hard as he could. Wally and the other Wild Ones quickly realized far too late what he was planning as the large shelf came crashing down, putting a definite barrier between Rex and the Wild Ones. With his escape assured, Rex ran out of the building with the briefcase in hand.
"You can't keep running forever, coward! I'll find you and when I do, I'll KILL YOU!"
Rex soon continued to run as far as he could before he finally collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion. He soon noticed a lone Aloof Lupine card fly in the wind before it landed in the boy's hand. The last thing Rex heard before he passed out from the pain and exhaustion was the sound of fire engines and police sirens arriving on the scene.
"Next thing I knew when I woke up, I found myself in the ER with a gauze on my face and slight burns across my body from the fire and the Game of Darkness" Rex finished as he looked at the burnt Aloof Lupine card in his hand, "The cops approached me and thought I was a thief, but upon recognizing my face, they said they were happy to have found at least one of the missing eight."
"What happened to Wally? I mean, there's no way that he could have gotten out of there alive, right?" Sho said.
"As far as the cops told me, they said that Wally and the other Wild Ones are still considered at large due to their bodies having never been found from the wreckage." the mutt said as he felt tears run down his face, "But that didn't matter for me. I felt powerless to protect the people close to me again. I even started going by Rex just because I felt like my old self died in that fire."
Rex was left huddled up on his bed, staring at the briefcase. It had only been a week since escaping that fire, and he looked haggard.
*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK
"Hey, Nick? Honey?" he heard an older woman call out, "Can we… can we talk?"
"Lois, it's fine. Let me handle it." He heard an older man say before the door opened, revealing his parents who walked in. The first was an older man with ash gray hair, wearing a blue worker's jacket, a white collared t-shirt and jeans. The other was a woman with short pink hair and a black shawl around her white shirt and medium length skirt. "Hey there, sport. How are you holding up?"
Rex looked away, somewhat in shame. The older man sighed before sitting by the mutt's side.
"Listen, I know that we've been hard on you in the past." he admitted, "Seeing you spending more time running around like a hooligan made us think that you were just a brat who didn't get your way."
'Gee, how the heck did you come to that conclusion?' he sarcastically thought to himself.
"However, when we found out you disappeared… we were scared for you." Rex's mother continued, "We tried to help the police in our search for you and the other workers, hoping and praying that you would be alive. We began wondering if we would ever see you again. And when we got the call from the officers that they had found you in a very bad way… we felt like we had failed you."
Rex looked up as he heard that, remembering how his parents had visited him while he was in the hospital every day.
"So that's why your mother and I are here, to make up for the years of arguments that we've had. No matter what you did, no matter what you told us, you're still our son and nothing in the world will ever make us think otherwise of you." Rex's father said.
As the two hugged the mutt, Rex remembered not just his time at the Maximus Delivery Company, but also forming the Wild Ones with Wally. He then looked up and saw three more people around his age arrive. There was a young man with spiky blonde hair and heterochromatic eyes and a young girl with a blonde boyish haircut and green eyes. But the third person was what made him perk up.
It was a young woman with long purple hair and wore a rather simple purple dress.
"Henrietta?" he gasped.
"Hey…" she shyly said, "We just wanted to come by and check in on you. Especially after well…"
Rex's parents gave the four teens some time alone as they left the room. The four stood there, confused. This was the first time that Rex had interacted with his friends since not just the accident, but also forming the Wild Ones.
"So… how have you guys been?" Rex said.
"We're doing fine nowadays." his lone guy friend said, "Been practicing my dueling skills."
"I'm sure you'll make the pro scene soon, June." Rex chuckled before looking at the girls.
"You know, that scar of yours looks pretty cool." the blonde girl complimented him, "I heard scars give character."
"Huh. Maybe I should dye my hair black and start making my best Jeremy Irons impression?" Rex chuckled but fell silent when he and Henrietta's eyes met. "Look, I'm sorry for not talking to you guys sooner. I just… I didn't know if we'd still be friends after I got into all that trouble."
Henrietta crossed her arms, "Come on, did you really think that we'd abandon you like that after everything you've been through?" she chuckled, "We were worried sick about you. I was worried about you."
Rex couldn't help but smirk again, "Sorry for keeping you guys waiting, I guess."
After sharing a group hug, the four friends soon began to talk again as the mutt felt his wounds begin to heal both emotionally and physically.
"So that's how you first got the Gladial Beast deck?" Sho asked.
Rex nodded, "When I went to give this and the other decks to Pegasus, he told me I could keep my Gladial Beast deck as a way to say thanks for keeping it out of the Wild Ones' hands. I'm sure you can imagine which one I chose."
"And that's how he met us." Bestrouli noted before chuckling to himself, "Heh heh, the look on your face when you first saw us man, priceless."
"Ha ha…" Rex groaned "Very funny…"
"You did pee yourself, general." Murmullo pointed out.
"DON'T START!" Rex yelped as he felt himself blush, "But anyways, I'm getting off-topic. I soon worked my ass off to try and get into Duel Academia but, given the fact I barely scored the minimum to enter, I got slotted into here." the mutt finished.
"Hey, there's no shame in being a part of Osiris Red." Judai chuckled.
"Yeah, especially when the top brass act too high and mighty for my tastes." Rex noted before looking at Sho, "No offense to your brother or to Asuka, Rika, and Kuro."
"None taken."
"Still man, wow. That's… one heck of a story." Judai said.
"I guess so…" Rex agreed, "I'll admit, I still feel like I could have done something when Wally was calling out for help, or when Mr. Chalk was trapped in that rubble. That's why I ended up with my little way of life." He then gave a lazy shrug, "After all, just standing around won't get us anywhere."
"Yeah, that's the spirit man!" Judai cheered, "So tell me, what were the other decks?" he asked excitedly, "I mean you saw the other six decks in there, right?"
The mutt couldn't help but smile, of course Judai would be excited to hear about the other experimental archetypes. "Well, there was one called Aesir which had a bunch of Norse-inspired cards, there was a Gradius collaboration deck that looked cool, I remember seeing a deck based on Australian animals made by a guy called Hayato alongside a cryptid and Kaiju-based deck, and finally there was the Magikey deck which I really wanted to take home with me but Pegasus said no to that."
"Aw man, I wanted to see those cards in action!" Judai complained. "When do ya think Pegasus will distribute them?"
"Who knows? I heard they might get released throughout the year." Rex said with a shrug, "I mean heck, I got to Duel other Gladial Beast Duelists before I got here." he chuckled.
"Awesome! I can't wait to go up against whoever gets them!" Judai cheered in excitement.
"Of course, why am I not surprised?" Rex could only shake his head in amusement.
"Speaking of? How about it? You and me, one-on-one?" Judai offered.
The mutt couldn't help but laugh, "Of course you'd ask that." He sighed before he got up, "Alright, fine. I gotta get my win back from our last Duel anyways."
With this, the two of them went outside of the Osiris Red Dorm, with their Duel Disks equipped. Once they took their respective spots, they inserted their Decks into the Disks, to activate them. With a grin, both players drew their starting hand.
"DUEL!"