Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monster GX Fan Fiction ❯ The Darkness of Destiny ❯ Pawn In a Game ( Chapter 15 )

The Darkness of Destiny

 

Chapter 15

 

Pawn In a Game

 

Ding-dong

 

Alexis heard the distant ring of the doorbell, and heard Sean's crisp footsteps as he moved to answer it. She had gotten maybe an hour worth of sleep last night, two hours tops.

 

“This is all my fault,” she thought, staring up at the ceiling. “Aster got kidnapped because he was looking out for me. The little bastard, I never wanted his help in the first place!” Alexis ended the string of angry thoughts before they began. Despite the fact she hadn't wanted Aster's help, she couldn't deny he had gone out of his way to help her several times. Why she didn't understand.

 

“Ms Rhodes?” Alexis sat up as Sean softly opened the door to her room. “I believe you should come with me,” Sean continued. Alexis nodded and got out of bed as Sean closed the door. She quickly got dressed and stepped out of the room. Sean led her down to the lounge.

 

“Good morning, Ms. Rhodes,” Sartorius nodded. Alexis was surprised. Aster's manager was wide awake and had been for some time. In a chair on the other side of the table was Mokuba.

 

“What's going on?” Alexis asked, moving to sit on the other end of the sofa from Sartorius.

 

“I've got a lot tell you,” Mokuba said. “What do either of you know about the Schroeders?”

 

“Not much,” Sartorius admitted.

 

“I've heard of them, but don't know much about them. They ran a company that folded a few years ago.”

 

“Yeah, Schroeder Corp and Kaiba Corp were big rivals back when my stepfather and Woden von Schroeder ran it over twenty-five years ago. About ten years ago, the Schroeder Corp CEO Zigfried von Schroeder tried to take down Kaiba Corp using a series of computer viruses to destroy our databanks during a tournament. We barely saved our files, and our company's reputation. A few months later he cut a deal with Maximillion Pegasus to market Duel Monsters and holographic projector systems for the game in Europe. But that was about the time my brother Seto and Pegasus had entered negotiations for the Professional Leagues. When Seto got wind about Schroeder, he threatened to pull every contract he had ever signed with Pegasus. So Pegasus naturally had no choice but to call the deal off. Schroeder Corp declared bankruptcy less than a year later.”

 

“So what do these guys have to do with Aster?” Alexis asked.

 

“About two years after the Schroeders vanished, we began the Professional Leagues. And two months later, the Underground Leagues began to spring up. We still have no idea how. The Underground Leagues weave deep into the black market and are heavily shrouded in secrecy, money, and mystery. And the higher up you progress in their ranks, the bigger a threat you become to them as you learn more. I'll tell you now, the Domino PD has about half a dozen unsolved murders believed to be connected to the Underground Leagues.”

 

“You think they kidnapped Aster because he was a threat to them?” Sartorius frowned. “But why now? Aster has been champion for two years.”

 

“Yeah, I'm getting to that,” Mokuba sighed. “See, I did a little background check. Over two dozen people who were employed to the Schroeders before they folded are now suspected to be involved in the Underground Leagues. One of them is named Thomas Shroud, and we have evidence he was once Zane's manager, and may be managing him now.” Alexis swore she felt her blood run cold.

 

“You think Zane has something to do with this?” she whispered.

 

“I think it's too early to rule out any possibility or make any irrational judgments,” Mokuba explained. “But I know for a fact Zane's one of the top-ranked duelists in the Underground Leagues. And he's Aster's biggest rival. Aster's disappearance means the Underground Leagues, and Zane, now have a pretty clear path to the championship of the Professional Leagues. If Zane wins that title…”

 

“Then Kaiba Corp's reputation would be ruined overnight,” Sartorius finished. “Your greatest rivals would have triumphed in your own tournament against your own champion.” Mokuba nodded. Alexis stood up and marched towards the door. “Where are you going?” Sartorius asked.

 

“I'm not going to listen to this,” Alexis muttered, looking over her shoulder. “Zane's done some bad things, but he's not some sort of industrial spy or saboteur. You don't know him like I do. He wouldn't do something like that, not even for the championship.” Alexis left the room, and Mokuba sighed.

 

“Her trust is admirable, but foolish,” he said. Sartorius smiled.

 

“It's remarkable how often those two traits coincide,” he quoted.

 

- - - - - - - - - - -

 

“Cyber Kirin is becoming less useful, but he's a good counter for Power Bond,” Zane mused, looking over his cards on the table. “If I replace him with that trap it gives me more versatility, but I'm short a monster…” Zane rubbed his chin in thought for a moment. He picked up a stack of cards from a suitcase beside him on the sofa and leafed through them. “If I replace Cyber Kirin with Des Wombat, I'll have a better monster for attacking, but Wombat isn't compatible with my other Machine cards…”

 

“Zane.”

 

Zane looked up at the muffled voice from the door. He stood up and walked to the doors, sliding back the chain and pulling it open.

 

“Alexis? How did you get here?” he frowned.

 

“Cab and a phonebook,” she replied. “Can I come in?” she asked. Zane thought for a moment.

 

“Sure,” he said, stepping away from the door. Alexis followed him inside and sat in a folding chair on the other side of the table while Zane went back to adjusting his deck. He looked through the other alternatives to Cyber Kirin, but his mind was shifting back to the young woman sitting silently across from him.

 

Damn it, why did she do this to him? She kept distracting him, even when she wasn't there. It didn't make any sense, why did he keep letting her get close? She was part of his life at Duel Academy, part of the life he had left behind. By all accounts he should have just told her to leave now and forgotten about her and focused on the tournament. So why didn't he?

 

“So, what's up?” he muttered, not looking up. He picked up Exploder Dragon and picked up another stack of cards, looking through them.

 

“Zane, does the name Schroeder mean anything to you?” Alexis asked. Zane shook his head, paying more attention than he had intended to. Grey Wing would help get more cards into the Graveyard and had higher power, but it didn't have the destruction powers of Exploder Dragon…

 

“No, why?” Zane reaffirmed.

 

“Well, Mokuba came to visit Sartorius and me today,” Alexis explained. Zane's eyes narrowed. Oh yeah, Sartorius, Aster's creepy little manager. Zane had heard of him during the GX Tournament a couple years ago. Apparently the guy had some trouble with aliens, or so the rumors among the tournament duelists had gone. One way or the other the guy looked the type to have such troubles. Who the hell had forehead piercings and purple hair?

 

“And?” he muttered.

 

“Well, there's a lot of evidence to show the Schroeders run the underground leagues. We think they might have kidnapped Aster as some sort of plot to take over Kaiba Corp,” Alexis continued.

 

“Fascinating,” Zane lied, picking up a card from the table.

 

“There's something else though. See, Mokuba did a little background check. Before the Schroeders went bankrupt and their company collapsed, their employees…some of them are believed to be working for the Underground Leagues now. One of their old employees was a guy named Thomas Shroud.”

 

The Polyermization card slipped from Zane's grasp and fell on the table with a small sound. Zane's eyes narrowed as Alexis leaned forward.

 

“Zane, I know you're involved with the Underground Leagues, so…I'm going to ask a question, and I want the truth,” Alexis whispered. Zane looked up, his eyes blank. Behind the cold mask, rage welled up. Shroud. A lot more pieces clicked into place in Zane's brain. “Do you know Shroud, Zane?” Alexis asked. Zane stared at her for a moment.

 

“Yes,” he said, trying to keep his voice even. The anger may have been great, but Alexis didn't deserve to be the unlucky victim of it. Zane had a good idea who did deserve to feel his wrath, though. His eyes strayed to the dark Duel Disk on his arm that Shroud has used to collar him like a rogue dog. Shroud was a lot of things, but he didn't have the brains to set this scheme up, to set him up. Shroud would pay, and whoever they were, the Schroeders would pay too.

 

“Then, did you know about Aster's kidnapping?” Alexis asked, her eyes narrowed. Zane growled and stood up suddenly, turning away.

 

“What are you asking, Alexis?” he hissed, clenching his fist. “What do you want to me say?”

 

“I want you to tell me the truth,” Alexis replied, standing up behind him.

 

“The truth? Or do you want me to tell you what you already think is the truth?” Zane sneered, whirling around. Alexis stepped back. “Say it, Alexis, I know you're thinking it, and that means that little Kaiba runt and Sartorius think it too. Go ahead, Alexis, ask me if I planned Aster's kidnapping. Ask me if I know who did it, ask me how long I've planned it, go ahead.”

 

“I've never accused you of anything!” Alexis defended.

 

“Oh? Then you coming to my apartment out of the blue, asking me about Shroud and the Schroeders and if I know them, I wasn't just imagining that?” Zane asked.

 

“Zane, please, you used to be a good and respectable man…” Alexis started.

 

“Used to be!?” Zane snarled, stepping towards her and kicking the table out of the way in the process. Alexis gasped and stumbled back against the wall, although Zane didn't pursue her. “As in, `I'm not anymore'? So then tell me, what changed Alexis?” Zane demanded. Alexis' face suddenly hardened, and Zane frowned, stepping back.

 

“You did,” she said coldly. Zane's face twisted into shock before he turned back around, his eyes closed.

 

“Zane, I don't know what happened to you all those years ago to turn you into this,” Alexis whispered. “But whatever it was took something from you. You're a top duelist Zane, but you gave up something to get to the top, and it wasn't worth it. The Zane I went to Duel Academy with would never act like this.” Alexis was silent for a moment before continuing. “Now, I want you to answer me. Did you have something to do with Aster's kidnapping?”

 

“I don't have to prove anything to you,” Zane growled.

 

“That's true,” Alexis nodded, heading for the door. “But it seems to me, maybe you've got a few things to prove to yourself.” Alexis left the apartment, closing the door behind her with a click. A moment later, Zane's fist shot forward and imbedded itself in the wall with a thud, making a large dent in the drywall.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

The soldering gun smoked as Zigfried withdrew it from the microchip. He blew on the chip slightly before lifting it and placing it inside the hollow section of the Duel Disk. He snapped the wire from the man circuit board to the new one, and reached around to turn on the device. The Duel Disk whirled out with a click, and the small pink light on the new circuitry lit up. Zigfried smiled and replaced the metal panel covering the two, then picked up a screwdriver and a small screw.

 

“Master Zigfried.” Zigfried stopped and turned as a man in a white coat held out a small tray. A stack of dueling cards lay on top. “I altered the programming on the cards as per your specifications,” he explained. Zigfried stood and picked up the top card from the stack. Destiny Hero Bloo-D.

 

“All of zem?” he asked, raising his eyes.

 

“Yes sir,” the scientist nodded. “The spies called this morning. Both of them have implanted the programs into Kaiba Corp's databanks, and neither detected any trouble from the security team or the system's firewall programs.”

 

“I vould not zink so,” Zigfried smiled turning back to screwing down the metal plate on the Duel Disk. “Herr Kaiba vas always a little too arrogant to his own good. Just look. Here my game vith him ist almost over and he hasn't even arrived at ze table yet.” Zigfried screwed in the last screw and picked up the Duel Disk, sliding Aster's deck into it.

 

“And ze warehouse?” Zigfried said, looking the device over. To the naked eye, it was a standard-issue Kaiba Corporation Duel Disk MKII. But if anyone were to look inside it, or even underneath it at the four black disks situated inside the armband…

 

“The welders are completing the construct as we speak,” the scientist replied. “Alicia is prepared and ready to begin any moment.”

 

“Zen come, ve must not keep a lady vaiting,” Zigfried said, walking to the door with the Duel Disk. He pulled a cellphone from his pocket and dialed.

 

“It is time to end our little game.”

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

“What did happen to you, Zane?” Alexis wondered quietly, walking down the street. “You used to be my best friend, but back there, I was almost afraid of you. What could have changed you so much?”

 

Alexis' pocket vibrated suddenly, and she stopped, reaching inside and pulling out her cellphone.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Hello Ms. Rhodes. Do you know who zis is?” the caller answered. Alexis looked around and ducked into an alley.

 

“Zigfried?” she hissed.

 

“Very good Ms. Rhodes,” Zigfried chuckled.

 

“You snake, where's Aster?” Alexis demanded.

 

“Now now Ms. Rhodes. I assure you, Herr Phoenix is perfectly fine, but how long he stays zat vay is up to you,” Zigfried replied. “Now believe me ven I say any attempt on your part to inform anyvon of zis call vill result in Herr Phoenix's rather untimely demise, so try and keep zis to yourself.”

 

“Fine, I'll play along,” Alexis growled, looking down the alley at the street. If what Mokuba had said about the Underground Leagues was true, Zigfried's threat wasn't an empty one. He probably had someone watching her at that moment.

 

“Good. You have exactly von hour to come to ze docks at Domino City, alone. If you do zis, I give you my word Herr Phoenix will remain unharmed,” Zigfried said.

 

“Why should I trust you?” Alexis asked, glaring at the phone.

 

“Because at ze moment, you have no other choice. You're just von of many pawns in my game, Ms. Rhodes, I am in no way obligated to prove my sincerity to you. As I said, you have von hour,” Zigfried laughed. The line went dead a second later, and Alexis snapped the phone shut angrily.

 

“A pawn in his game, huh?” she muttered, staring down at the phone clenched in her fist. “We'll see how much fun he finds this when I find him.”

 

I realized I've only been updating once a month, and with my intended length for this fic, that basically means I'll be writing it next Christmas. So from now one I'll try and update twice a month, but if not, I guarantee you won't wait longer than previous updates.

 

Yes, those little metal things are Sartorius' forehead are body piercings, I know, I've seen someone on TV with the same thing. It's not pretty though, as I recall small metal plates have to be implanted in your skull, and the piercings screw into them like, well, screws. I have no further information about the subject, but this is the Internet, so I'm sure it's out there somewhere.

 

Anyway, I'm almost done the set-up. Next chapter the real fun begins. Zigfried may not have access to the Millennium Items, but he's devised game so deadly it rivals any Shadow Game Marik or Bakura ever concocted…