Chapter Text
“Next time, I’m packing a parachute,” Leo rubbed at his sore arms, feeling the scrapes forming from where they’d hit the concrete. He’d taken tumbles from his skateboard before, so he would like to think he’d gotten used to falling in a safe way. “Always make sure to protect your head” had been the key advice from Jack Atlas in that safety infomercial that played every break between cartoons. When Leo fell out of the window, he made sure to do just that, making his arms brace the fall. Maybe from this point on, he should start remembering to wear his elbow and knee pads as well.
“Now to find that runner so I can help Yusei,” that had been his mission from the start. If he could get some info on Greiger’s “mystery runner”, then that could be a huge help to Yusei in their upcoming duel. Greiger was strong, and though Yusei was probably the coolest turbo duelist he’d ever seen (right behind Jack Atlas, of course), he’d need all the help he could get next round. Leo didn’t know all that much about duel runners, besides how cool it was to watch them during turbo duels, which was why he’d also packed a camera to take some pictures. Yusei would know all he’d need from that. But before then, Leo needed some light. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the flashlight he’d packed.
The first thing the light illuminated was a long, chalk-white skull with curved, black horns glaring straight at him.
Leo let out a scream that would have been embarrassing if he weren’t alone, as he fell back on his butt with a Crunch , scrambling to get away from that… thing . He backed into the cold, stone wall of the garage, his heart beating in hyperdrive. Though the monster still towered over him, it made no move at him. Leo raised his flashlight with a shaky hand, examining the “monster” more closely.
“Is that…” the light revealed handlebars, a seat, and large, black wheels. That skull was only the feature point of what had to be the most beastly duel runner Leo had ever seen. The angle of his light, way below where the skull was mounted, made it look even more threatening than intended. The young boy let out a breath, he had gotten himself so worked up over the exact thing he’d been looking for.
Just when Leo thought he’d gotten his heart rate under control, a grating sound pierced his ears as a red, flashing light went off. Of course Greiger’s garage would have an alarm! Now it was only a matter of time before either he or security showed up. How many years in jail does breaking and entering get you? Would Leo get shipped off to the Satellite with a tracker mark like Yusei’s too? If that happened, Luna would never let him live it down.
Leo looked back up to the window he’d fallen out of, it had swung closed after he got in and was too high up for him to try to get out through. He scanned his flashlight across the garage, the only other clear exit was the metal overhead door on the other side of the runner. Leo tentatively stepped over the wheel at the front of the duel runner, coming to the shuttered door. He put the flashlight in his mouth and squatted to lift the shutter, but no matter how hard he tried, the heavy metal refused to budge. And from what he could see, there were no ways to open it from the inside.
He needed to get out of here quickly, before he was caught by either security or Greiger; Leo wasn’t quite sure which option was worse. Greiger seemed nice enough during their duel, but the guy was still built like Mt. Fuji and Leo had no plans to test how forgiving he could be. And the blaring alarm and flashing lights just made it even harder to think.
“Aghhhh! It’s no use!” Even his own voice was drowned out in the noise of the alarm. If no one got him out of this garage soon, the noise, wind, and lights would drive him crazy first!
Wait …just where was that breeze Leo was feeling coming from? He gave the garage another once over, focusing more on the direction of the air. He noticed a box against the wall, with a tarp draped over it, the edge of the tarp being lifted slightly. Pushing that box out of the way revealed an air vent on the far wall, the opening just a little shorter than him.
Shining his flashlight through the grates showed a path that veered off to the left, away from the window he’d come in from. It was screwed shut too tightly for Leo to just pry it open. But he did recognize the flattened shape of the screws. Digging around in his pocket, he found just what he was looking for: his dad’s old Swiss army knife that he’d let Leo keep. One of its many tools was a flathead screwdriver. There was a twinge of excitement that he’d finally get to put the thing to good use after carrying it around “just in case” for so long.
He got to work unscrewing the grate, it took a good bit of force, but once they budged, it was easy to finish. Leo carefully placed the grate to the side, kneeling down at the mouth of the vent. He’d have to crawl on his knees to get through, but the thought made him a little giddy. This was just like the Time Thief movies!
Ok, maybe it isn’t just like the movies , Leo thought this to himself as he gave another kick to the grate. The vent path had taken him winding though the garage, with several dead ends he’d had to backtrack from. This was the first opening he’d found that seemed to lead outside. The grate was rusted and not as secure as the others he’d encountered, and Leo had spent the last… forever kicking it. The last kick seemed to have done something, if the screech of rusted metal scraping against brick was any indication. Alright, one more time! Leo gave one final kick with both feet, freeing the grate from the wall.
“Freedom!” The metal square clattered to the stone ground as Leo climbed out of the vent. He stretched his arms far above his head and twisted his body, feeling the sensation come back to his numb knees. With his little spy adventure over, it was time for him to make his way home. He was absolutely starving.
Now…just where was home? The vent had ended in an alley, illuminated slightly by the city streetlights and billboards. Getting back to the sidewalk revealed that he was quite a ways downtown, in a lively part of Neo Domino. It was an area he’d usually never need to go to, nothing but bars, clubs, hotels, and adults stumbling drunk between each. All the fluorescent lighting was going to bring back that headache the alarm had already caused.
As Leo walked down the street, dodging the drunkards who paid the child way out of his element no mind, he looked for any direction back to his home in Tops. Even in the swarm of bright lights vying for attention, the familiar red duel runner caught Leo’s eye on a screen. The TV being advertised in the front window of the electronics store was showing the highlights from the first round of the Fortune Cup earlier today. And front and center was Yusei. Though Leo had already seen the duel live, he still pressed his face against the glass to watch as Nitro Warrior dealt the finishing blow to Hunter.
The image of Yusei on the screen then froze, the camera making sure that the yellow tracker mark on his cheek was in full view to the audience. This then cut to two newscasters in a heated debate. Though it was too complicated for Leo to follow very well, he could get the gist of it. Even in the audience, he could feel the air shift when Yusei won his duel. It was as if he, Luna, Dexter, Himuro, and old man Yanagi were the only five in the crowd of thousands happy for Yusei. Now one of the debaters was throwing around accusations of cheating, with the other firing back that they should watch their tongue, as Rex Goodwin himself was overseeing the Fortune Cup. At this point Leo got bored, his eyes were instead drawn to the time in the right corner of the screen: 8:50 PM.
“Shoot!” Leo was out way passed curfew, his mom was going to…
But then he remembered that his parents were off who knows where on their “job”. Though Sebastian was around, the butler had seemed to decide that outside of keeping them fed, clothed, and healthy, the twins were free to do as they pleased. Would his mom or dad ever even find out about his little escapades to places in the city the twins had been forbidden to go to? Or the ex-con from the Satellite crashing with them?
Leo shook the thoughts out of his head, that didn’t matter right now. He was sure that Luna was going to be worried sick. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be wandering about this late looking for him. His sister rarely left the house as it was, did she even know her way around the block, let alone the city? But if Yusei were with her, she was probably fairing better than he was.
“Alright Leo, use your brain,” he leaned against a streetlamp to think, Tops was in the north most part of the city, and his apartment was the highest point. Most of the time, it was pretty easy to see from anywhere in the city. “There it is!” The skyscraper was quite a bit away, and the buses had stopped by now. It looked like he had a long walk ahead of him.
As he stepped away from the streetlamp, he collided into an even more solid figure, sending him tumbling to his butt. Said adult’s stride didn’t break at all, the black cloak fluttering behind as they went on their way. Leo wanted to shout at them, but the words fizzled out in his throat as the cloaked figure looked back. The shadows of their hood made it impossible to make out any features, yet Leo knew they were staring right at him. A violent chill went up his spine, rooting him in place as their gazes locked. Something deep in his being was telling him that this person…if Leo could even call them that…didn’t belong here.
But what even was that here? This city? This era? This plane of existence?
An odd memory came to him. Leo had often used his dad’s old duel disk as a kid. It had been a decades out of date model. Once while dueling with it, he’d run into a bug where his banished monster wouldn’t leave the field. The hologram would still move and react to the duel as if it were still in play, but it couldn’t attack, be attacked, activate effects, or even be used for tributes. Trying to play a new card in that zone didn’t help, the duel disk couldn’t register it. His parents had chalked it up to the old duel disk having a hard time with the new mechanics, as some new updates weren’t supported on the model. He and Luna had gotten their first duel disks on their birthday not long after, so he’d forgotten all about it.
Why was Leo remembering that now?
Before he knew it, the cloaked figure broke their gaze, continuing down the street. It occurred to Leo that that was merely a passing gaze, barely half a second long. Yet to him, it felt like a stare down that had lasted for hours.
Leo, once again, picked himself off the ground. No one else on the street seemed to notice the strange, cloaked person. They took off in the opposite direction of where Leo needed to go. Leo knew he should be getting home, but his feet carried him to retrace that cloaked figure’s steps.
They weren’t hard to follow, their tall stature and the pitch black robes with yellow highlights made sure they stood out in the crowd. And they didn’t seem to notice Leo either. They didn’t seem to pay much attention to anyone for that matter, tunnel vision propelling them to their destination. Those around stepped out of the way, but there were several moments in which someone, usually a stumbling drunk too slow to react, bumped into them. Yet neither seemed to notice or care.
Soon, the crowd thinned as their path led them to a less busy side of the city. Despite the dark, he could recognize that they were close to the Daimon Area, which put them on the far south side of Neo Domino. Leo gave a bit more distance between them, often hiding behind corners and letting the figure go on ahead before continuing to follow.
The cloaked figure seemed to reach their destination, it was an old, abandoned hotel. The building was situated far from any businesses or residential homes. It looked as if businesses once surrounded it, but had been torn down, leaving the hotel standing alone. Faded indents in the building’s face showed where the letters of the hotel’s name used to be, but it was too fuzzy to make out any words. Leo imagined that this hotel had been impressive at some point, it wasn’t far from the shore, so tourists would have quick access to the beach. But even in the dark, Leo could make out the shadow on the horizon, with the line of an unfinished bridge reaching towards the city. Maybe having the sight of the Satellite from their rooms made tourists a bit too uncomfortable.
The front doors and windows to the hotel had been boarded up, Leo watched as the cloaked person looped around the front of the hotel to the back, hearing the screech of metal, then a slam. He counted to thirty before following. There was a rusted, metal door around the side of the building, which was likely where the cloaked figure had entered from. But if he went through that same door, Leo would definitely be noticed. There weren’t any more good openings on this side, so Leo scanned around the other sides of the building. He eventually found an old fire escape. The ladder to it was a little high up, but the landing was right next to a second story window missing its glass pane. He just needed a boost.
There was a metal trashcan lying on its side not too far away. Leo rolled it over, placing it upside down under the ladder. It was a little wobbly when he climbed on top, but it held up long enough for Leo to grab onto the ladder and hoist himself up to the metal platform. Luckily, despite how the hotel seemed to be falling apart at its seams, the fire escape was still pretty sturdy. Not even a creak as he made his way to the window and climbed inside. The window led to a large suite that had long been cleared out, with rotted wooden floors. The exposure to the elements hadn’t helped, as there was a chunk of the floor missing about the size of Leo’s fist.
And from that hole, Leo could hear the conversing voices of a man and woman. A candelabra sat at a table, casting gentle light through the hole. He bent down, pressing his ear to the floor.
“Get a good look at your Signer?” The woman asked playfully, “My, if I were you, I’d feel a little bad about bullying a child.”
There was a snort, “Never underestimate your opponent,” the man lectured, “Forcing a tie can often be more difficult that winning.”
“So you’re saying…”
“Something happened during that duel, the girl only lost because she wanted to lose. If she’s reconnected with the spirit world, it may pose a problem.” Signer? The duel they were talking about sounded familiar. He’d been out for most of Luna’s duel against that creepy professor, but he remembered that it ended in a loss for both players. Leo felt like there was something else he should remember from then too. Something about a promise…but was it he who made it or Luna?
“But even so, you still have her dragon. My, my, you’re taking a lot of precautions against her, aren’t you?”
“Her connection to duel spirits makes her dangerous, it’s best to clip her wings before she becomes a problem.” Okay, now Leo knew they were definitely talking about Luna. And whatever they were planning wasn’t good.
“In any case, only four of the five Signers have been identified. To mirror that, we have four Dark Singers currently in our ranks. Even if they find the fifth Signer before we make our move, the Earthbound Immortals still outnumber them.”
“You watched the duels today, was there anyone who stood out?” There was a feeling of something itchy on his hand, he glanced to the side to see a little, white body crawling down his finger. Leo just barely managed to stifle a scream as he rose and flung his hand around. No surprise that the old hotel would have termites. After dislodging the little pest, Leo leaned back down to the hole. He may not know what a “Signer” or “Earthbound Immortal” was, but if they were talking about his sister, he needed to listen.
“Hmm, that man…Greiger, was it? I did get a good look at his face. There was sorrow in his past, fury in his present, and…death in his future. He believes he’s already lost everything, so he’s the type of man who would gladly destroy himself if it meant destroying his enemy with him. All you’d have to do is point him at a target.” Were they really talking about the same Greiger Leo dueled? The more the woman talked, the more Leo felt like he’d heard her voice before. He tried to get a better angle to see the two from the hole.
The man gave a considerate hum, “We’ll wait for tomorrow’s duel to see for sure. I couldn’t get a good read on his skills from that last duel, his opponent was a complete joke.” Leo felt a stab to the heart at that. He’d really given it his all in his duel with Greiger, had even managed to take off a good chunk of his life points. Greiger even said that he should be proud of his determination and quick recovery.
“She has a twin, right? I did think it was a little odd that her deck and duel disk switched. Looks like the audience fell for the classic twin switch.”
“Pulling pranks at a time like this,” the man snorted, “This is why I don’t deal with children.” And this is why adults are totally lame , Leo thought to himself. He could just barely make out the top of the man’s bald head, wide shoulders, and arms crossed over his chest. But the woman stayed out of sight no matter what angle he shifted to. As every move was followed by subtle protests from the wood, Leo decided it was best to stop moving, lest one of them hear him.
The woman giggled at that, “For someone with the Mark of the Monkey, you sure do have a poor sense of humor. But…” she continued with a more serious tone, “My intuition is telling me that there’s something else…Devack, don’t just focus on Luna, watch out for that boy too.”
Whatever the man…Devack…said next, Leo couldn’t hear over the creaking of the floorboards. This was followed by a Snap . Leo tried to move, but it was too late as he felt his stomach drop. He didn’t know what was louder, the sound of the wood breaking out under him or his scream as he fell. His arms came up to protect his head on instinct, but with this height, would that even help?
Yet unlike when he fell into Greiger’s garage, there was no pain that came with his landing. Leo felt his back hit something soft, giving him a slight bounce as he landed. Despite the wind being knocked out of him, and the plume of dust making him cough up his lungs, he was considerably fine for having fallen through a ceiling. Once Leo felt he’d gotten his bearings, he cautiously peeled his arms away from his face and pried open an eye.
It was just in time to see the 2x4 falling directly at his face.
But the wood plank’s path was stopped by a slender, pale hand. Leo stared at that hand as a rivulet of blood seeped out from where a nail had pierced the center of the palm, spearing straight through. If that plank had hit him…
“My, my,” said the soft voice of the woman over him, with no regard for the trail of crimson now traveling down her wrist and around the tattoo of a lizard on her forearm, “Would an ‘I told you so’ be too childish, Devack?” Leo tore his eyes away from her injured hand to the woman herself. It seemed that when he fell, he’d landed on a couch where the woman was also sitting. His head landing directly in her lap as well.
The woman was very pretty, with long, black hair, a slender face, and a soft smile gracing her lips. A tear-shaped gem lay in the center of her forehead, framed by her parted bangs. Leo’s suspicions were confirmed, he did know this woman from somewhere. She was the lady from every cosmetic ad around the city, from TV commercials to billboards. What was her name again? Monica Lily? Miranda Lane? No, the greater question was, What was Neo Domino’s top model doing in a place like this?
Whoever she was, Leo got the same feeling of wrongness from her as when he’d seen Devack. He’d never noticed it when she was on screen, but being this close to her brought back that same feeling that she shouldn’t be here. Watching as she yanked the nail from her hand without so much of a flinch solidified that feeling even more. A drop of her blood rained down, landing on Leo’s cheek with a cold that froze him in place. He couldn’t move an inch, his eyes drifting to her companion.
Devack, the man he had followed here, was even more imposing up close. With his hood down, Leo could see that he was a tanned skinned man, with parallel red markings down the lines of his face. His arms crossed over his chest were stiffened, and revealed a tattoo of a monkey in a similar style to the woman’s lizard. And maybe it was a trick of the low light, but to Leo, it looked as if the parts of his eyes that should be white, were instead black. Devack’s features were already harsh, and the glare he was giving Leo didn’t help. It was the same look Leo would give to an annoying fly buzzing around his ear.
“ Yes , Misty. It would be.” That’s it! Her name was Misty Lola. And though she didn’t look at Leo with the same disgust as Devack, her stare was still intense. It and the conversation he’d overhead made Leo think that he hadn’t just stumbled into a run-of-the-mill “celebrity’s secret boyfriend rendezvous”. There was no way Leo could run now. He was used to getting into trouble, but usually had his sister to talk him out of it. She was a lot better at knowing exactly what to say to adults. Just what should he say that could get him out of this?
“My mom buys your lipstick line,” fell out of his mouth. And this was why he left the “talking their way out of trouble” to Luna.
Misty Lola blinked at that. Then she reached behind her with her uninjured hand, pulling out a clean, white handkerchief with yellow flowers on the edge. She licked it, then pressed the cloth to Leo’s cheek, scrubbing away the speck of blood.
She gave Leo another serene smile, “Sorry about that. That fall must have been scary enough,” Misty helped him to sit up on the couch, picking out wood chips from his hair as she did so. “What’s your name?”
“L-Leo,” he sputtered out.
“Leo, huh? That’s a good name,” Leo was suddenly reminded of something Luna had once told him about names being important. That knowing a name could give fairies and witches power over you, enough to curse you. The thought made him think that maybe he shouldn’t have given his name up so easily, even if it wasn’t his full name. But with Misty and Devack’s eyes on him, there was no way he could lie to them on the spot.
“Leo, you heard everything, didn’t you?” Devack asked. Leo couldn’t lie, but he couldn’t say that he had either. The look on his face must have given it away though. Devack took a deep breath, the tension leaving his body and face as he did so. He knelt down to the wooden table and brushed aside some dust and pieces of wood, “How about a game?” He offered with an unnerving calmness.
“Of…Duel Monsters?” Why would he want to play Duel Monsters at a time like this? The man only set the candelabra to the side, then patted at the other side of the table. Leo could only follow his instruction and kneel at the table.
“Not a full game, just a quick round with…special rules.” Devack took out a deck, shuffling it. Leo copied the move with his own deck. “Include your extra deck as well.” That made Leo raise a brow, but he did so. He didn’t have too many cards in his extra deck, so it didn’t change the size much. Devack passed his deck to Leo, allowing him to give the final cut and Leo did the same. Just as Devack finished stacking his deck, he set his hand to the side, palm facing it.
Leo watched as several cards from his deck slid out; Devack caught them in his outstretched hand all without having to touch the deck. The young boy stared slack jawed.
“That…” he finally got out, “Was so cool! I’ve never seen a card trick like that! No, no wait…you must be a psychic duelist like the witch, right?!” The man seemed a little bit taken aback by Leo’s enthusiasm, but Leo couldn’t help it.
“Devack…” Misty’s voice was barely a whisper, with a bit of a warning underneath it. The man gave her a glance, but ignored her, regaining his cool to place Leo’s deck in front of him.
“If that’s what it’s called today, then yes,” Devack took his own deck, doing the same move and separating out a sliver of cards. “For this game, we won’t need any spells or traps, just monster cards.” He set the little pile from Leo’s deck to the far side of the table along with his own, then placed his main deck in front of himself. “We will both draw the first card in our deck. Whoever draws the stronger monster wins.”
“That’s it?”
“That is the only rule. If you win, then you are free to leave, and I will leave both you and your sister alone for good.” In Leo’s excitement, he’d almost forgotten that this man had his eyes set on Luna. For what reason, Leo couldn’t know for sure. But if he or Misty had plans to hurt her, they were undeniably bad people.
Leo gripped his deck tight, “Promise?”
Devack nodded, “By law of the shadow game, I am obligated to keep my word.”
“Then…” Luna was Leo’s little sister, there was only one answer he could give. Leo looked Devack straight in his odd eyes, “I’ll play. You’re on.” If Leo won, he could put a stop to whatever they were planning right now. He’d made a promise to his sister that he would always protect her, what type of big brother would he be if he backed down when it mattered the most?
“In that case…” the light of the candelabra flickered, then intensified, taking on a ghostly blue flame, “May the shadow game commence. As I am the challenger, you may take the first turn.”
“I’ll warn you, my draw luck has always been top tier!” Leo bragged. Almost half of his deck was traps and spells, most of them being equip spells. With it thinned out like this, he’d have an even easier time drawing his stronger cards. And since Power Tool Dragon was included, if he could just draw into that card, then it was a certain win.
“This battle will not be based on mere luck,” Devack placed his hand on the top of his deck, “It is a battle of will. If your will to win is strong, then your card spirits will respond in kind.”
“Well joke’s on you, because I have a lot of that too!” Despite his bravado, Leo closed his eyes tight as he drew the first card in his deck. With the card in front of his face, Leo cautiously opened his eyes. The sight of the white border instantly made him break into a grin, “Check it!” He flashed the card to his opponent:
Power Tool Dragon – Level: 7 – ATK: 2300/DEF: 2500 - Attribute: Earth – [Machine/Synchro/Effect]
He knew he could always count on his trusty dragon for the save! Looked like his monsters’ will was just as strong as his own!
Devack’s only reaction was the first smile that Leo had seen from him all night as he drew his card. It wasn’t one meant to encourage, like Yusei’s or his parents’, nor was it an attempt at comfort, like Misty had tried. It was a self-assured smirk, as if he had already won. The man didn’t even look at the card he drew, just flipped it to show Leo. Leo was just barely able to make out the artwork of a monkey, along with ATK: 2800.
But then the world went to nothing.
Huh?
What had just happened?
He’d lost, right? Leo knew that much as soon as he saw the attack point difference.
So then who was that slumped over the table? The small figure’s deck was knocked askew, but Power Tool Dragon was still firmly between his fingers. Cloudy, half-closed eyes stared back at Leo, the color he’d only ever been able to describe as “greenish amber”. Leo had only seen that color in two people, his sister and…himself.
But if that was Leo on the table, then why was Leo standing off to the side looking at his own body? He held up his hands, flexing them in front of his face. Then he stomped his foot, the reverberation it sent through his leg confirming that he was, in fact, right here (nevermind the curious lack of sound that followed).
Leo reached a hand out to nudge the boy’s…his own…shoulder, but even when his hand connected, he couldn’t move it an inch. It was as if his hand wasn’t touching anything at all. And those glassy eyes continued to stare in his direction while seeing nothing.
“It’s okay…it’s okay…” Leo assured himself. This was just one of those…out of body experiences. He’d had dreams like this before where he was watching himself in third person. And at least one where he’d watched himself sleep. The last time it happened, all he had to do was wake himself up.
He just had to wake up.
Wake up…
WAKE UP!
“Why can’t I wake up?” Leo could only stare helplessly at his own empty eyes.
“Oh, how curious…” A smooth, mocking voice spoke behind him. Leo found himself more aware of his surroundings outside of himself and his body. He was still in that dark hotel lobby, with Misty and Devack in the same places they had been last he’d checked. Misty sat with her hands wringing in her lap behind Leo, her face scrunched as she looked straight ahead at Devack, the blue light of the candelabra giving her an air of sorrow. Devack seemed calm as ever, as he held a card facing Leo. The card that had won him their game.
What struck Leo was just how…still…the scene was. Looking at the lack of flicker in the bright blue flames of the candelabra confirmed it. The scene before him had been frozen at the moment right after Leo…lost.
But then, a dark shadow moved, slithering from around the shoulders of the “Leo” at the table. It curled around Leo, trapping him in a loop. At first, Leo thought it was something like an anaconda, but following the trail of the shadow led him to look behind him.
The “anaconda” was just a part of a much larger beast. A black monkey towered over Leo, even as it sat on its haunches, its head nearly scraped the high ceiling. Yellow markings formed the face, with the markings continuing on its belly and running down long, gangly limbs.
The Monkey tilted its head, regarding Leo. It was the same Monkey as the one Devack had pulled from his deck.
“It seems your will is not quite ready to let go of this plane,” The Monkey gave a high laugh, “Not like that will help you! Your life became forfeit the second you agreed to that shadow duel!” Leo’s heart caught in his throat, staring again at his body that wouldn’t… couldn’t wake up. He’d never asked Devack what would happen if he lost. But it had never for a second crossed his mind that Devack’s win would mean Leo’s…
“So…I’m…”
“ Dead , yes,” The Monkey had no problem filling in the word that Leo couldn’t, “Taken before your time, utterly tragic.” Despite saying that, the words were void of any sympathy. “My Dark Signer truly doesn’t play around. Eons together and still so boring .” Whatever amusement it had gotten out of the situation at first seemed to run its course, it leaned its giant head on one fist resting on its knee, then gave a dismissive wave to Leo with the other hand. “Well, no matter how much will you have, you’re on a one way trip to the Shadow Realm.”
“No!” Leo protested.
“Don’t worry, its absolutely lovely this time of year. And you won’t be alone for long, the rest of those Signers ,” he spit that last words out, “Will be joining you. Including your beloved little sister.”
“Luna…” Leo wasn’t Devack’s real target after all, it had been Luna from the start. He knew Devack had intended to hurt her, but did he really intend to kill her? No, the answer to that was obvious. He’d killed Leo with no hesitation or fanfare. “You can’t!”
“Don’t blame me, blame the curse of your fate. Or in your case, blame that accursed dragon that dragged your sister into this.”
Accursed dragon…Leo’s memories from his sister’s duel during the Fortune Cup cleared. He barely remembered the month that Luna was in a coma when they were three, but he could recall the images he’s seen during that duel. He remembered young Luna playing in a garden with her fairies around her. There had also been a beautiful, blue dragon with fairy-like wings…Ancient Fairy Dragon, was what Luna had called her. And that dragon had made Luna make a promise to protect her and the spirit world…by staying there forever. And Luna agreed.
If Leo’s voice hadn’t gotten through to her…if she didn’t break her promise and really stayed there forever…no. If Ancient Fairy Dragon hadn’t forced that promise onto his sister in the first place!
“That’s,” Leo’s voice trembled, “That’s not fair!” He shouted at the Monkey with a rage he didn’t know he was capable of. “If your beef is with this “fairy dragon”, then leave Luna out of it!”
The Monkey wagged a finger, “No can do. Every dragon has a Signer, and every Singer has their dragon. Even if we have Ancient Fairy Dragon, you can’t kill one without killing the other. And have to kill all of them before they kill all of us .”
“Then…don’t. You already have Ancient Fairy Dragon, Luna won’t be able to fight. She’s not a threat,” Leo attempted to reason with the Monkey.
“And how do you know she won’t be?”
“Because…I won’t let her be,” Leo placed a hand over his chest, clutching at it as he faced the Monkey head on, “If you take me on as your…Dark Signer…then I’ll keep Luna from ever fighting. If your don’t hurt her, then I promise, that she’ll never hurt anyone.”
“Oh,” The Monkey leaned in close, those drawn on eyes examining Leo, as its long tail looped around him twice more, “Even if it means locking your sister away forever and throwing away the key?”
“Yes.”
“What if she hates you for it?”
“Anything is better than letting her die.”
“Hmm…” The Monkey scratched at its chin. It then threw its head back, laughing even louder and higher than before. When the laughing abruptly stopped, it said only one word:
“Interesting.”
“That was a cruel trick, Devack,” Misty’s sharp eyes would have stabbed him for real if she could. He knew, given her history, that she wouldn’t like what Devack had planned. But it was something that had to be done, child or no. Making Misty do it herself would have been crueler.
Cruelest of all would have been letting the child live to see what would happen to his sister.
“I showed as much mercy as I could,” It had been a quick death, one snap of Cusillu’s tail on the back of the neck and it was over before the boy knew. There were certainly worse ways to die, Devack’s hadn’t exactly been as pleasant. “He knew too much to let him leave.”
“I could have come up with a convincing lie,” those words were a lie in and of themself and Misty knew it, averting her eyes, “He was just a kid.”
Devack sighed, shaking his head, “You’re too sentimental for your own good.” Misty had been revived for almost two years now, she knew very well what being a Dark Signer meant. “Izayoi is also a child, would you afford her the same?”
“That witch lost her right to be called a child the day she murdered my brother,” Misty returned harshly. Devack nodded, his point made clear. Misty’s rage at the Signer that held Black Rose Dragon was what drove the Lizard to choose her. If anything, what she had planned for the Izayoi child made what Devack just did look like a mercy in comparison. She knew exactly what it would mean when she summoned Ccarayhua. The only reason she hesitated tonight was because she had a face to the life. And that face must have reminded her a little too much of her little brother.
A muffled tune cut through the silence, Misty taking out a cellphone. She groaned, “It’s my assistant.”
“At this hour?” Though in their state, time tended to blend together when sleep wasn’t necessary.
“I’m supposed to be at a party in Tops, stepped out for a ‘smoke break’,” Misty stood, brushing dust off of her dress as she headed towards the door, “I have to take this. He,” her eyes drifted to the child, “Better be gone by the time I get back.” She hesitated for a moment before leaving, “Put him somewhere he’ll be found.” And with that, she flipped open the cell and left, her conversation fading into the distance.
Devack turned his attention back to the boy. He lifted a hand over the cards that had been knocked off the table, willing them to move as he commanded. As he did so, he could get a better feel for the boy’s cards as well. The deck was just as childish as him, full of gadgets and toys that couldn’t stay in place. It left a bad taste in his mouth, Devack had thought since his awakening that this era was much too obsessed with the latest technology, constantly throwing out the old for an upgrade. And this child was another product of that, most of his cards were brand new and his deck was on the larger side. He got the feeling this child was always going for the newest cards, always adding new ones to his deck, without taking the time to really know his cards’ effects and weed out the useless ones. Just like a child from the Tops.
He set the deck to the side in the neat pile by the boy. Devack couldn’t put the deck aside quick enough, the card spirits’ cries of mourning for their master was going to give him a headache. Card spirits were meant to serve, ruled by respect and fear. It was no wonder why the boy lost if his will wasn’t even strong enough to do that. Instead of respect, his cards were full of nothing but… affection towards the boy. Devack would never call it “love”, he knew from experience that spirits couldn’t feel that emotion. And their concept of “affection” was enough to make him sick.
The child was still slumped over the table, his eyes half-open and hazy. He reached a hand forward and closed them. Devack’s first instinct was to just burn the body to dust, but out of respect for Misty’s wishes, decided not to. He didn’t have a family, so he couldn’t quite understand why it was so important to keep the body. She’d said herself that as much as she wanted to remember her brother in life, the sight of his mutilated corpse would never leave her head, so why would anyone want to see that? Though maybe it was the confirmation, so that they wouldn’t have to waste time hoping for them to come back…
Devack could understand that sentiment well enough.
There was still one more card, the toy dragon the boy had drawn in their duel. He hadn’t let it go, even in death. Devack reached for the dragon-
The path of his hand was stopped a breath away from the card as something gripped his sleeve. Devack’s first thought was that Misty had come back, but he could still hear her muffled conversation outside the door. That just left…
“Hey,” the boy…Leo, as he’d introduced himself, was looking up at Devack. Gone was that childish innocence and determination his eyes once held, replaced with only fury and a hunger for retribution. But that wasn’t what made Devack freeze; looking closely at the child’s glare revealed black sclera, much the same as Devack’s eyes.
Devack flung the hand off of him, jumping back just in time as a flurry of wind tore through the room, knocking the table and several other pieces of old furniture to the walls. It blew out that old candelabra, plunging the room into even more darkness.
“Devack?!” There was a banging on the door of the room, Misty’s voice calling frantically on the other side, “What the hell is going on in there?!” Though the doorknob turned, the wood didn't budge.
Leo dragged himself to his feet on unsteady legs, his deck clutched tightly in one hand. Shadows poured from the cards, pooling and curling around the boy’s feet. He looked curiously to his deck, then rose a hand to his face to pinch his cheek. That seemed to confirm something to him, before his glare drifted back to Devack.
“No fair.” Blue flames erupted behind Leo. They spread around the room, closing the circle behind Devack. Devack knew exactly the meaning behind the flames that both illuminated and cooled the dark room.
Leo was challenging him to a Shadow Duel.
“Hey, Devack,” Leo had dropped the shred of politeness he’d once shown, “I want a rematch. A real duel this time.”
Devack clicked his tongue in annoyance, “Another of Lord Cusillu’s games, I take it?” Though he had pledged to serve Cusillu, he’d been put on the receiving end of the Monkey’s “pranks” more times than he would have liked during the past two decades since he was awakened. This was obviously yet another trick from the Earthbound God to “make things interesting” as he’d often put it. Sometimes Devack wondered if his being chosen to serve Cusillu was because of his stringent attitude, that his forefathers had anticipated that leaving Cusillu to choose on his own would open up too many complications.
“Don’t think just because Cusillu showed you a little pity that I will too,” Devack unfolded the duel disk at his arm, sliding his deck into place, “Are our terms the same as last time?”
“Yes,” a duel disk appeared on Leo’s arm, it was small and round to fit his frame, but the dark color and sharp accents were similar to Devack’s, making it clear who was granting Leo this duel after his death.
Just as Devack’s deck finished shuffling, a card popped out of the top.
“One more thing,” Devack wanted to wipe the smug look off of the child’s face, but instead took the card, his eyes widening as he did so:
Earthbound God Cusillu - Level: 10 - ATK: 2800/DEF: 2400 - Attribute: Dark - [Beast/Effect]
“Cusillu has chosen to sit this duel out to spectate instead,” Devack also didn’t like how casually the boy referred to the God, “This duel decides from here out who will serve as Cusillu’s Dark Signer.”
Now that drew a reaction from Devack, he couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up from his stomach. Probably the first time one of Lord Cusillu’s pranks had gotten to him.
“Fine, since you had will enough to rise from the dead, I’ll take your challenge,” Devack threw the card upwards, it stayed stuck in place in the air high above between them,. That would be a good spot for Lord Cusillu to watch the duel.
“And since you’ve agreed to not use your strongest card,” Leo’s deck shuffled in the duel disk, several cards popping out when it was done, with Leo taking them and putting them in his back pocket, “I won’t use any Synchro monsters.”
“That’s quite the handicap.”
“Oh?” Leo giggled, a hand coming up to cover his mouth, “Cusillu said it was only fair since you’d be so handicapped without him.” Yeah, Devack was going to wipe that look off his face by the end of this duel. Maybe then Cusillu would also start to focus as they drew closer to the start of the Dark Signers’ move.
“If the conditions are agreed upon,” Devack took his stance as he faced his opponent, both drawing their first five cards, “Then let us get this over with.”
“Duel!”
Leo: 4000 LP
Devack: 4000 LP