Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon's Wings ❯ Chapter 2

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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A/N: Time for Chapter Two! And time for a couple of questions to be answered as well. *looks over at Trey, fuming in corner* Oh, and my muse is out of commission for the time. He's too busy plotting untold revenge on a certain Zutsokaki. So I abducted someone else to help me!

Seto Kaiba: *as angry as Trey* What am I doing here? I have a company to run and plans to make. And what's with him? *jerks thumb at Trey, who glares back*

Oh, it's going to be a long day. So let me straighten out these two while you read the fic. *Seto and Trey whisper in suspicious manner*

Disclaimer: *Joey in dog suit comes out holding pages of notes* Thin Edge does not own any already created places, people, or things mentioned in this fic, French toast, socks, or the state of North Dakota. She owns her own original characters, places, and things. All characters sent to her e-mail address will become hers. Offer void in Utah, some restrictions apply. *walks off, trying to tear off dog suit* Can I get paid now?

Chapter Two: Red Sky at Morning

"Rachel Summers, age 15." The shortest of the gang bent over the computer print-out and read it to his remaining two friends. "Brown hair, blue eyes. Goes by the nick-name Rachie." He poked the closest cohort in the shoulder. "Old friend of yours, eh Darian?"

Darian Gregory groaned in his throat and massaged a huge bruise on his shoulder. "Just can the melodramatics and read the rest, Zutsokaki." He lowered his head and let his black hair hide his eyes from view.

Zutsokaki Hiroki rolled his eyes and grumbled a few murderous words under his breath. "Fine, whatever." He laid out three more printouts and jabbed a finger at the first one. "Tomas Starling, age 16 1/2. Black hair, green eyes. Son of Starling Enterprises' CEO, Franklin Starling."

If the fact that one of their victims was in high standings, the small gang didn't show it. Zutsokaki ran a hand through his green hair and continued. "Mizuno Takane, age 14. Lavender hair, grey eyes. Goes by the nick-name Mizu. Half-sister to Tomas." He rolled his eyes at the sheer stupidity of it all, then moved on.

The slightly more brain-dead of his cohorts tapped him on the shoulder (a very unwise move on his part, but Zutsokaki decided to maim him later). "Uh boss? There's one extra. Who is it?"

In a tone of voice reserved for talking to the possibly stupid, Zutsokaki said, "The last one is already taken care of. Matt Conner, age 13 1/2. Brown hair, brown eyes. Calls himself Mateo." He looked away uncomfortably. "Sometimes I really wish we hadn't gotten into this..."

Darian snorted and leaned against the table. "What does it matter? We do Malik's dirty work, and we get tons of rare Duel Monster cards. It's a sweet set-up."

Zutsokaki shifted uneasily. "Yeah, but I don't-" His mouth snapped shut as the door to their hideout opened. Standing in the doorway was the long aforementioned blonde teenager, looking extremely angry for some reason. "Not the time to put my foot down," Zutsokaki thought to himself. "Hold off until later, when there's at least a slim chance of me living long enough to skip town..." A very wise decision on his part, as it turned out.

Across town, Tomas and Rachel were "hoofing it" towards Starling Enterprises' headquarters in the business district. The skyscrapers towered dizzily over their heads, twinkling like pure silver in the afternoon sun. Rachel had never even dreamed of setting foot outside of a ten-block radius of home or school. She "ooh"ed and "aah"ed at every turn, craning her neck up to look at the buildings. Tomas turned around so he was facing his friend while still walking. "For cripes' sake, Rachie," he groaned. "It's just a bunch of buildings. Get over it already!"

Someone jostled Tomas, knocking the shorter boy to the ground. From his place on the sidewalk, he made a noise generally reserved for hungry camels. He clambered back onto his knees and yelled up at the person, "Why don't you watch where you're going, you water buffalo?"

"Well excuse me!" The person knelt down and glared at Tomas with a pair of cool green eyes. Her shoulder-length blonde hair gleamed as a shaft of sunlight hit it, revealing the streaks of red in it as well. She frowned and extended a hand towards him. "Here," she said. "Need some help?"

Tomas took the girl's hand, grumbling murderous comments under his breath. But if the newcomer heard him, she was obviously unfazed by his hostile attitude. Instead, she grinned and withdrew her hand. "Hey there," she said perkily. "The name's Brood Mayran. So what're you guys doing here?"

Rachel (who had somehow snuck up from behind) smiled right back. "We're just going to see Tomas's dad at Starling Enterprises." She put Tomas in another head-lock and messed his hair up. "Ain't that right, Tomas?"

"Unhand me this instant," he groaned from his spot. "Or so help me, Rachel Summers, I'm going to maim you with my bare hands!"

Brood laughed merrily and shook her head. "Geez, you need to relax... Tomas, was it?" She pried Rachel's arms loose, and the Starling boy ducked away to fix his hair. Rachel glared at Brood for a moment (and Brood glared right back). Then the two pouted slightly and turned their backs on each other.

"Brood..." There was a clattering from the alley the trio had stopped by. Brood and Rachel whirled around to face it, and even Tomas stopped straightening his hair to watch. Zutsokaki came stumbling out of the alley, his green eyes not visible below a fringe of hair. He stumbled again and caught himself on the edge of a building. "Get away from here," he groaned.

Brood gasped slightly and ran to Zutsokaki's side. "What happened, Zutso-koi?" The boy only grumbled something under his breath. Brood raised one eyebrow and helped him limp away from the alley. "What was that, Zutso-koi?"

The reply was stuttery, but audible: "Don't.... call me... Zutso-koi." Brood laughed slightly before sitting Zutsokaki down on a nearby bus station bench. Rachel and Tomas looked at each other and shrugged before joining the other two teenagers.

Zutsokaki seemed to have regained his composure. He did a double-take as Rachel and Tomas jogged up. But when he noticed the strange looks, he immediately cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah, well..." He laughed weakly before turning to Brood. "Hey, listen Brood. You know that gang I was telling you about?"

"Uh-huh," Brood replied. "You took over after what's-his-name... uh, Sasuke, went and left town, right?"

Zutsokaki nodded. "Yeah, well things aren't going so good." He looked away for a moment, seeming to pour over something. "I think..." He looked back at the trio again. "I think Ishtar's getting a little unruly again."

"Wise thought, Hiroki." Everyone started at the cool voice interrupting the conversation. They turned towards the street, where Matt stood, arms crossed over his chest. Only this wasn't the Matt that Rachel and Tomas knew from school. The boy's brown eyes were glazed over, almost seeming not to see what he was looking at. "Again, a wise remark, Zutsokaki," he sneered. "But a little too late, I'm afraid."

Both Tomas and Zutsokaki tensed up (the latter actually standing up from the bench). "All right you," Tomas shouted. "You're not Matt. So stop pretending to be him!"

"I'm hurt," Matt said sarcastically. A smirk crept onto Matt's face as he looked at the two boys. "All right, fine," he sneered. "I'm not Matt. But this body certainly was his at one point."

Zutsokaki's face paled slightly. "M-Malik," he stammered. "Or is it Ishtar?" Rachel looked strangely at Zutsokaki, wondering just what he was babbling about.

"Matt" threw his head back and laughed. "If it makes you feel any better, Hiroki, it's Malik speaking." He frowned at Brood (who looked ready to leap off the bench and strangle him). "And I'd advise you not to go blabbing about me all over town. Unless, of course, you want a one-way trip to the Shadow Realm," he added.

Tomas was about to spring at "Matt", but it was Rachel who took the first action. The thin girl launched herself towards the boy and knocked him to the ground. "Now you listen here, Malik, or whatever your name is," she hissed. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and lifted him until they were nose-to-nose. "Don't you dare go threatening friends of mine while I'm around. You got that?"

Matt frowned for a moment, then he grinned craftily. "All right then," he said. "Let's settle this my way." Rachel let go of him, allowing "Matt" to stand back up on his feet. "You meet me at the west docks in one hour," he said. "We'll settle this with a card game. Fair enough?"

Rachel threw her head back defiantly. "Deal," she said. "I'll meet you there. And I'll make you regret ever messing with me."

"Matt" laughed again. "Fine then. I look forward to it." He walked past the irate duo of Tomas and Zutsokaki. Then he turned around to look at them one last time. "I expect to see all of you, including you, Hiroki."

As soon as he was gone from sight, Rachel turned to the others. "Okay," she said calmly. "What did I just get myself into here?"