CHAPTER 16

Waking up from a splash of cold water on his face, Ken jerked at suddenly waking up, shaking his head to remove the excess water that's covering his face. What the hell was that — ?

His body froze as memories of what happened came flooding in. He moved to do something but felt a sudden restriction. Looking down, he pulled on the cuffs that were on his wrists and legs. He tried pulling harder on the cuffs, hoping that they were not fully secure, only to be returned with pain.

Looking around where he was, he could only see that he was in a dark room. It smells too, from the odor of mold to the amount of dust flying around in the room. With nothing to do, Ken recalled the memory, confused by what just happened to him.

Suddenly, as if a switch were flicked, the room lit up. The sudden luminosity caused Ken to wince as his eyes adjusted to the light.

"Look at who's awake! I hope you slept well."

His head snapped to where the voice came from. As his eyes adjusted to the light, the figure in his vision slowly got clearer and clearer until the person was recognizable. It took his brain a few seconds to process the information coming from his eyes before they widened in shock at the person.

"B-Bandit Keith?!"

The fuck is this guy even here?! He had never seen the guy in real life before, but from pieces of articles online and from the anime where he got cooked as a minor antagonist! Mind you, his memory of the anime was botched, but he could definitely remember this guy fighting the Pharoah in one of the earlier arcs and getting his ass cooked with the heart of the cards or some plot armor.

He looked horrible, though. His hair was now long enough to touch his shoulders; he clearly wasn't sleeping well from the eyebags; and his complexion was just not maintained by how dry and flaky his skin was. He still had his iconic bandana tied to his head, which defeats any purpose of concealment due to his infamousness in old media.

"Ho? You know me? I'm quite shocked!"

He grinned as he walked toward Ken. And surprisingly, the man took out a small key and uncuffed his restraints. Looking at the man suspiciously as he massaged his wrists, Bandit Keith simply grabbed an extra chair that was near the door to the room and dragged it, sitting down opposite him.

"I doubt you know what I do these days, though. Well, in simple terms, I make a team of duelists for illegal duels, and because of a... let's say an unfortunate accident, all my members disappeared. Therefore, that's where you come in!"

Taking out a tablet from his jacket, he swiped upwards towards Ken as a holographic image revealed itself, showing personal information regarding Ken, including his partnership with Industrial Illusion, Pegasus' company.

"The champion in the U-15 Domino City tournament last year was impressive, though I'm confused why you didn't play this year. Eh, I'll get my answers later. Hmm... and a partner of Pegasus in their new virtual society game, huh? Heh, if I were a few years younger, I would have used you to get back at that cheat! But I'm over that now, and I'd admit that you have quite the resume."

Keeping the tablet back in his jacket, Bandit Keith leaned forward as he explained.

"You see, your father owed me quite a lot of money. My people made him talk, and then I heard about you and your skills. I could use them, especially in the tournament bracket in a few days. So, with enough persuasion, your father and mother agreed to "loan" you for a period, a 90:10 split favorable to me."

With a snap of his fingers, the door to the room suddenly opened as someone dressed in black tossed him his Duel Disk, he recognized it's his from the custom paintjob that he paid for a while ago. As Ken scrambled to catch it midair, Bandit Keith stood up and signaled him to follow.

"Oh, and don't even try to do anything stupid. Follow my orders, and I try to not put lead into your body, princess."

As Bandit Keith said, his vision was filled with a handful of guns pointed his way, the sound of hammers clicking in place as the man patted his shoulder with a smug smirk and walked out of the door, the men surrounding the doorway giving way for their boss.

Well, crap baskets.

=

=

=

Following the former professional duelist, Ken's mind raced as the cold metal of the gun pressed against his head, forcing him to focus on every detail around him. The hallway stretched endlessly, its sterile walls and dim lighting only heightening his sense of dread. Every turn he took and every door he passed reinforced the reality that escaping was impossible. The place was like a labyrinth with so many turns and corners.

He desperately tried to think of a way out, but each one hit a dead end. The only hope he could cling to was the slim chance of outside interference. Hopefully, Pegasus realized that he would be missing, or else he's screwed.

They finally came to a halt in front of a pair of double doors. Bandit Keith turned to face him, his cold eyes boring into Ken's for a few moments before he gave a subtle nod. In an instant, two sets of hands shot out from behind, gripping Ken with ironclad strength. He barely had time to react before the icy touch of a gun barrel pressed against his temple, stopping his initial struggle.

CLICK!

A sharp, metallic sound echoed in his ears, followed by a sudden tightness on his neck. The hands released him, and Ken stumbled slightly, his heart pounding as his hands shot to the thing around his neck. It was a metal collar, he realized. Whatever had just happened, it wasn't good. The sinking feeling in his gut told him that his situation had just gone from bad to worse.

Keith tossed him something, which he grabbed midair. A deck box. He opened it to groan internally. Out of all the decks that he had, they grabbed this one instead? Damnit, he was hoping to use this when surprise was crucial.

"Seeing is believing, so you're going to duel a player from another team. The collar was for entertainment; don't mind it for now. You'll understand what it does very soon."

With a chuckle, Keith pushes the doors open, and Ken is soon blasted with cheers and excitement. His brain processed what was in his sights as he tried to silence the booming sound by covering his ears. It was a gladiator arena with two platforms that could be lifted a few feet high.

He was shoved from behind, urging him to walk forward. With no choice, Ken took a deep breath, trying his best to calm his nerves, before going to one of the two platforms. Feeling the change in gravity as the platform was lifted from the ground, Ken took the deck out of its deck box and started shuffling, waiting with his heart beating furiously in his chest as a commentator announced.

["Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the representative of Team Bandit, Yusou Ken! At only 12 years old last year, he has shaken the national stage with a one-turn kill in the U-15 Domino City competition! Furthermore, he has been rumored to beat even the game's creator, Pegasus, who was using his own personal deck!"]

The crowd went wilder in their cheers as Ken could see a figure walking up to the platform opposite him.

["And on the other side! Representative of Team Zyle, let me introduce you all to Horibana Shio! With a playstyle of brute force and fusions, he crushes his enemies to the ground with his dragons! Currently, this gentleman has a 12-win streak in the last season of our Shadow Duel Syndicate, and he is here today to get another win for this pre-season's prize of $25,000!"]

The opposite platform lifts up from the ground as Ken's Duel Disk suddenly activates, transitioning from its resting state into its duel state. Quickly placing his deck into its respective slot, he took a deep breath before looking at the challenger.

"The hell did they do to bring a child in this?"

Huh, there was a speaker on the platform. That made sense; they had to have people explain what their cards did. Looking at the speaker installed, Ken hesitantly answered, hoping that it also had a microphone merged into it.

"Uh... I got loaned to pay off my parents' debt? I don't know the details myself, but this was definitely not by choice."

The man on the other side of the platform sighed before shaking his head.

"This is... Whatever. I feel bad, but my life is on the line too. Sorry, this isn't personal, kid."

... Hold on. WHAT?!

"Wait! What do you mean, "on the line"?!"

The shock on the man's face chilled Ken to the bone, the tight collar stuck on his neck feeling much heavier all of a sudden as his speculations came true when the announcer started the duel.

["Without further ado, let the Shadow Game begin!"]

============================================

Come support me on my Pa tre on where I post early chapters (sometimes) and new story ideas not on any websites yet.

There's currently extra chapters that I haven't posted, want to stockpile them beforehand, so if you want to read early come join!

pa tre on . com /damaine_n

(remove all the spaces)

============================================