Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kal Iszarc walked up to his degraded house, the only thing other than his deck that he could call his.

He got to the front door. He checked to see if the front door was locked. It was still secure.

He turned around and surveyed the area. No one was around, just like normal.

He reached into his shirt and pulled out a chain, a heavy silver key was on it. He unlocked the door, and had to shove on it with his shoulder for it to budge.

As soon as he got inside he shut the door as quickly and quietly as he could… He didn’t want them to hear or see him.

Kal collapsed into his only chair and groaned.

‘Another long night,’ Kal thought, ‘but this is for the greater good….’

That’s when Kal decided that he was hungry; he went to the refrigerator and took out a small container.

“My last can of ArBur, I’ll have to go to the market soon…” Kal said out loud. Being lonely like this lead Kal to talk to himself quite frequently. He considered himself his only friend, and the only person to know that he was still living…

Kal sat back down and started eating the artificial burger with a spoon. At least he tried. It tasted horrible; maybe it was starting to go bad.

He sat it down on the floor, and decided to forget about eating. He will go to the market as soon as he could.

But right know he needed to rest. The morning was his night, and the night was his day. He was almost completely nocturnal by now….

He stood up and went to the staircase. He had to skip a couple stairs that were rotten through.

Soon he was at the top, and after that he was in the master bedroom. Inside was one bed, unmade, and mirror. Under the mirror was one table, and that was where he sat his duel disks and cards when he slept.

Kal took off his ragged leather jacket and let it fall to the ground. He sat his duel disk on the table and looked at his face in the mirror above it.

He looked tired. Not only that, he looked stressed. But below that you could tell that there was anger in his eyes.

Kal looked away hurriedly and flopped into his bed. He was asleep before he could count to three.

His slumber was filled with dreams, dreams of what had happened.

It wasn’t new; he has had the same dream for 4 months straight.
_______

“Kal,” the police chief of Aequitas said, “I need to talk with you.”

Kal looked up from the many papers surrounding him on his desk. He dreaded this, and now it was happening. He stood up and walked towards his boss.

“Step into my office, won’t you?” the chief asked, motioning toward the door.

“Alright,” Kal said brusquely. Kal sat down in the nearest chair, not wanting to hear what would come next.

“Kal, you are one of the best officers we have ever seen here, I must say that. But what has happened to you?” the chief asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, in the last month you have dueled only five times, that’s not like you. What’s more unlike you is the fact that you lost all 5 of those duels. Most of the people in Aequitas are duelist, and most duelists happen to be into crime. But it is our job as the Duelist Police Force to stop them. You normally duel and catch 2 people a night, sometimes more, and you have never once lost.

“But then you found Joel Karne, the biggest crime boss in the entire history of the city, and you duel him following our rules. You lost, and he was allowed to get away. Your only defeat, but you didn’t let the feelings stop there.

“It’s almost like your spirit has been broken, and you don’t feel like dueling at your level anymore. You were so good that we even sent you into the Cyborg Program, almost like our version of the CIA.”

“Yeah, and you guys just got the legs finished last week,” Kal said, eyeing his legs, “I like the new speed these mechanical legs give me.”

“Yes, but unfortunately you cannot continue with the program.” The chief said.

“What?” Kal asked, dumbfounded.

“I am sorry to say this, but I’m going to have to let you go,”

“WHAT??” Kal said as he stood up in aggravation, knocking over his chair in the process.

“There’s no reason to get angry, Kal. Look at is objectively, like you usually do. You have let something that happened to you affect your conduct on the job, and that directly reflects upon me. I cannot have the best DPF Officer we have ever seen get reduced to a n00b status in a month and still keep him on active duty! You know that! That is why I must let you go.”

Kal rushed out of his office, knocking over the mail cart going by on his way out the front door.

Kal woke in a start; he felt rain on his face.

‘Not again, I just fixed the leak yesterday…’

But he heard no rain. He put his hand to his eyes to feel that he was crying.

He quickly wiped the tears away, like someone was watching him.
_______

A few hours later he walked to the market in silence. He had no one to talk to anyway…

When he got there, he went to his vender. He got to know more about her each time he met her at her cart, and he knew that she could keep his being in Aequitas a secret.

“Good morning, Alina,” Kal greeted as he walked up to the cart.

Alina looked up when she heard the familiar voice, and she smiled. “Kal!” she exclaimed a bit louder than she should have, then she said a bit quieter, “What is going on with you these days?”

“Oh you know. The usual. Walking around at night, and coming to get supplies from you on a weekly basis.” Kal said. He couldn’t help but smile too.

“Oh, well we just got a new flavor in! It’s called ArChi.”

“Artificial Chili, huh?” Kal said.

“You’re good at guessing the names, aren’t you?” Alina asked.

“I’m getting better, yes. I’ll take two of the new ArChis and two of the ArBurs too.”

“Just four today?” she asked, sounding kind of sad.

“Yes, I’m in a bit of a rush today.” Kal smiled, “Where did we leave off last week?”

Alina smiled. “We left off at Monsters! You told me that there are 6 types of monsters…”

“Can you name them?” Kal asked.

“Well, we have the Normal ones, and the ones with Effects. Then we have the blue Ritual guys, and the purple Fusion ones, and the white Synchros…. And then there are the black Allies. Is that right?”

“Yep, that’s right. Can you tell me how a Fusion Monster is Summoned?”

“You use Polymerization, or some other fusion spell card, and take two or more monsters and mix them together, right?”

“Yes, that is correct. How do you Summon a Ritual?”

“You need a Ritual Spell and the Ritual Monster in your hand, and then you need tributes that add up to the level of the ritual, right?”

“Yep. Same question for Synchros.”
“It’s sort of like a Ritual-Fusion, where you put these guys in the extra deck and you tribute monsters whose levels add up to level of the Synchro, right?”

“You forgot that you need a Tuner Monster for the Summon of a Synchro, but yeah. That’s it. What is the special perk about the Allies?”

“They stack on top of each other!” Alina said.

“Yep, and who do you know that uses a deck like that?”

“You do!” Alina said.

“That’s right. So, does that cover my bill?” Kal asked.

“Yes, it does for this week, Kal.”

“Alright. Well, I’m going to be headed home. Next time I will talk to you about Spell Cards. You’re going to make a fine duelist some day.”

Alina blushed, “Think so?”

“I know so.”

“Well, I’ll be seeing you…”

“Good by, Alina.”

Kal took his bag and started off the way he had come. He could feel Alina’s eyes on him as he walked down the street.

He got about half way home when he heard a voice.

“Hey! You in the leather coat! Yes you, come here.” Someone said.

Kal turned and saw a muscular man in a tight fitting shirt walking down the street toward him.

“What do you want?” Kal asked, curt.

“I saw that you have a duel disk, and I am quite fond of that leather jacket you’re wearing. What do you say to a duel for it?” he asked. It was obvious that it wasn’t a request and that if it was denied Alina might not get he lesson in Spell Cards.

Kal dropped the bad of artificial food, and raised his left arm.

The man grinned and raised his left arm as well.

“Duel!” they both said, and they each drew 5 cards.