CH. 4 - A Dark Night

Derek's steps echoed through the barren street, the stars shining especially bright this evening. The blonde teenager wasn't supposed to be out this late. His mother would give him an earful, once he got back home. Not that he blamed her. He'd heard the news anchors reporting on the missing people too. He just lost track of time playing Duel Monsters at his friend's. He had another duel with Varu in two days, so he wanted to practice the improved deck that he built based on his advice. Had it really only been a month and a half since Varu started to help him out with the game?

Derek came to a stop at a crosswalk, glancing up at the stars as he waited for the light to change. Sometimes he liked to imagine that each star was a separate place; places that he could visit if he had the ability to. He picked a random star, one where he envisioned that every day was Halloween and the monsters that his mother would tell stories about were very much alive.

A man, older than Derek and wearing some kind of cloak, shouldered past the blonde teen to cross the street, breaking him out of his daydream. Derek shook his head awake and followed the man acroos, keeping his head down as he rehearsed his excuses to tell his mother once he got home. In the middle of the fourth time mentally telling her that it wasn't his fault, Derek heard a sound coming from an alley ten feet in front of him.

Frowning slightly, the teen readjusted the Duel Disk on his arm before sneaking along the brick wall towards the alley where he heard the sound come from. As he approached the mouth of the alley, he heard the sound again. This time, he recognized it as something being thrown against a dumpster. Derek would have dismissed his nerves if it weren't for the sound of someone groaning from the impact. The teen immediately froze in place. He thought, What on earth is going on?

Then a voice spoke from within the alley. It said, "Interesting. The functions of this world are utterly fascinating. And the amount of darkness here is promising." There was a pause as Derek began to process the voice and what it said. The voice was deeper than any that Derek had heard before, cracking as if from old age. But with a methodical speech pattern, the effect wasn't pitiful, but rather insidious. Almost as if the oldest and wisest man loved to torture others in his spare time. It was a voice that terrified Derek as it continued, "Not that it matters to you. You are nothing more than a mindless Shadow of who you used to be." Another pause. "Still, you can be of use to me. Go. I shall have a purpose for you soon."

As the voice finished speaking, Derek felt his fear turn into anger. He hated bullies. He fought hem off of his friends all the time back at Domino High and the more he heard this guy speak, the more he sounded like an adult bully. Well, he wasn't going to have it. Without thinking about it twice, the blonde teenager stepped into the alley and saw a hunched figure with both hands clasped behind his cloaked back. He shouted at the figure, "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

The figure stopped and turned his head to look at him with piercing golden eyes. Derek faltered in his fury when their eyes met. The figure's eyes were cold, angry, and disinterested, as if to say, 'Why did you stop me you insignificant speck?' The deep voice spoke again, coming clearly from the figure to say, "I was walking away before you interrupted me."

"W-w-where's the other g-guy?" Derek stammered under the weight of those golden eyes. "I-I heard ev-everything!"

The figure didn't answer immediately, instead opting to fully turn around to face the blonde high schooler, giving him his first real look at the figure. It was a man with leathery brown skin, as if he spent most of his time outside, his skin tanning until its present state. While bald, he possessed a silver haired goatee about four inches long. He had a black and grey open front coat that had reinforced shoulders and a red interior, which he wore over an ivory colored tunic, black pants, and black leather boots. The man pointed at the Duel Disk on Derek's arm with a white, flare-cuffed glove. "I see you possess one of those machines. Are you, by chance, a duelist?"

"So what if I am? You haven't answered my question." The young man growled, his anger resurging over his trepidation. The older man smirked, deceptively good natured, as he replied, "But if you were, then I would be willing to answer all of your questions."

The smirk turned into a full grin as he pulled his other hand, the left one, from behind his back. This one was wearing a wicked looking duel disk of twisted black metal. On the forearm sat the typical screen that would display Life Points, but black, metal bat wings encircled it. The deck slot was a small ram's head with long, wide horns. The black wing of the duel disk seemed longer than the typical KaibaCorp Duel Disk, the end near the old man's elbow resembling an axe-head with a single, light-blue, slit-pupil eye sitting in the center. Derek was sure that he hadn't been wearing that terrofiying duel disk before, but the old man broke into his thoughts, saying, "That is, if you manage to defeat me."

Part of Derek knew that it was a trap, but he found himself smiling as he pushed the button that drew the two halves of the Disk's wing together. He moved to duel, as the older man had guessed, and quickly set aside his doubts. He would have all of the answers once he beat this old coot. After all, how difficult could it be to beat one old man in a game that he'd been practicing almost religiously for the last month and a half?

- KH x YGO -

Ten minutes later, Derek was flung into the side of a dumpster as the images from the duel faded into shadows. Maybe it was the impact, but the shadows seemed to reach out towards the blonde teen as the terrifying voice taunted, "How disappointing. I expected more from you, duelist."

The young man tried to move, to run away from the terrifying individual. Before he could muscle the strength to begin pushing himself up, a blow to his side knocked him to the ground, facing skyward. There was a lurching pain in his chest before his vision began to tunnel. The last things he saw before the darkness took over were the stars being blocked out by the image of the bald man, illuminated by a rose light and muttering to himself, "Now this is an interesting development. Perhaps you are not a disappointment after all."

-KH x YGO -

T/O : Hey everyone! Wow, a whole year from the previous chapter? That's a bit ridiculous on my end. I don't really have an excuse this time. This isn't even what I had planned for the next chapter. It was supposed to be the one after, but the duel in the next chapter is taking forever to write in a cohesive way. Anywho, ta da! A foreshadowing/plot chapter finally happened! KH fans will recognize who this guy his, but shhhhh don't spoil it! I'm excited to share with you how this story unfolds, but you'll have to wait and see! On to responses!

To Guest/Johnathen:

Maybe my app is acting up, but it's registering your name as Guest? Just something weird I wanted to mention.

But in response to your idea about other fictional characters being in the story, I don't think they'll be implemented as full duels in this story. It would just be too clunky and detract from the narrative that I'm trying to tell. However, they would make fun cameos. That probably wouldn't be too distracting - I'll look into it.

As for the idea about future game mechanics, it's the same problem. It would be too distracting. However, I have an idea for a spin-off that you might enjoy. If I manage to get this whole thing finished, that is.

Finally, thank you so much for staying involved with this story! I'll try to meet your excitement and not fall off the bandwagan again.

To Guest:

I'm glad you enjoy! Hopefully this and next chapter will satisfy you!

Cards

Wolf Onslaught

(Trap)

When a 'Wolfpack' monster you control attacks or is attacked, you can activate this card during damage calculation. Select another 'Wolfpack' you control. The attacking/attacked monster gains ATK equal to the level of the selected monster x200.

Wolfpack Pup

2* (EARTH) [Beast/Effect]

During your Main Phase (except the turn that this card was Normal or Special Summoned), you can tribute this face-up card. If you do, Special Summon a level 4 or less 'Wolfpack' monster from your hand.

[ATK: 200 / DEF: 200]

Keyblade - Kingdom Key

(SPELL) [Equip]

Can only be equipped to a monster with 'Keyblade' in its name. The equipped monster gains 500 ATK and DEF. If equipped to a monster with 'Sora' in its name, draw one card. During the End Phase if the turn that this card was sent to the Graveyard, add it to your hand.