Chapter 35 Yuya's POV

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Word Count: 1154

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Phantom and I nodded.

'Well... where should I start...?'

Phantom and I waited silently as Zarc formed his thoughts.

"How are you doing that?" Phantom asked aloud.

"Doing what?" I asked him.

Does Phantom see something I don't?

'I've had a lot more practice shielding my thoughts than the two of you.' said Zarc.

I realized then what Phantom was talking about, he noticed that Zarc seemed to be thinking, but at the same time, we never heard a word from him.

'I guess the beginning is the best place to start any story...'

**this is in the mixed view, so its like a flashback, but the narrator cuts in sometimes, I wasn't sure how to do it, so I hope all of you can understand**

'Eighteen years ago, when I was ten years old, I was introduced to the card game, 'Duel Monsters'. And no, I wasn't always the silver furred being before you. I used to be human. When I made my first deck, my fate was decided. I had always felt as though something was missing from it, but regardless to what it was, my deck got me all the way to nationals. So I decided to ignore it.

As I climbed higher, that feeling of emptiness within my strategy grew. It wasn't until after I had one in the national tournament that I received my first warning though. As a token of appreciation, I was given the chance to grow stronger, but I'd have to join the person we may face momentarily; the money blinded man by the name 'Serif Akaba'. He is also known as the grandfather of Reiji Akaba, and the father of Leo Akaba.

Unlike Reiji and Leo, Serif only cared for himself. He wanted me to join what he called, "The Phantoms"; it was a team of Hyper-strong duelist that would gladly murder to be on top of the dueling world. As anyone else, I was hesitant, but eventually I joined; I joined for the reward he promised me.

He told me, the one who not only went to nationals, but actually came out on top, that my deck was flawed.

"I know many strong duelists, but they have all mastered their dueling styles. You on the other hand, have so much potential just waiting to seep through! I've heard rumors of your deck feeling as though it's missing something, and I think I could fix that for you!

If you join, I will personally assess every strategy you have in your arsonal and make the perfect pieces your deck is missing, the key to your potential!"

I was shortly moved into one of the skyscrapers in the heart of the city. When I arrived, I met the other four members of the group. I was the youngest, the oldest being fourteen, the next two being thirteen, and the last being thirteen, while I was only twelve. I can't seem to remember their names, not that we ever used our real ones. We were always instructed to use our code-names in and out of the facility.

But sadly, it seems even those have escaped me now... Anyway, after dozens of tests and researches, the cards promised, were made. All of them were shiny and new, and looked fairce, but sadly, in later trials, I came to see they just weren't right for me...

Serif then decided, since he had made a total of four new cards, and that I couldn't use them, that he would give them to the other members to try in their decks. Immediately, they all seemed to love them. They were all excited about the new cards, but one was not. It was the eldest one.

He wasn't. He wasn't showing much emotion at all. He merely stared at the card. Afterwards, he left back to his room without a word.

After winning in the nationals, moving to the heart of the city had made common knowledge to the other competitors. But once I won, I had become hated by all the opponents I faced. And as more battles were won, the anger only grew worse...

"What's with this guy! He's untouchable!" one kid said.

"No he's not! There's always a way to take people down." Said another kid.

I hear similar remarks coming from people as I walk down the streets. As the years went on and I became fourteen, the resentment had grown to what i considered its peak. Even some of the tournaments I applied for began turning me down on account of it being for 'casual play'. Solid vision had also come a long way since then and action duels had become increasingly popular. I continued working with the Phantoms as we began using action duels more and more often.

I don't overly remember why, but the youngest, now fifteen, was the one who taught me the jist of Action Dueling. The only reason it semi-peaked my interest, or struck me as weird, was that we're teammates on the outside, but meant to be rivals . So showing me how to do such fun and show-stopping tricks wasn't really in his favor.

One day, during the semi-finals of the post-world tournament, I and my opponent knew one another. He was one of the many I had beaten along the way more than once, but he always kept coming back.

"I'm gonna pound you into the ground! Your silver spooned luxury ends here!" He yelled to me before we began.

During the battle, he had tried to cheat. Doing what I could, I managed to stop him. Had I told the referee, his dueling days in any tournaments would certainly be numbered.

He had hidden a card in his sleeve, and was going to use it, but instead, out of shock and impulse, I ended things immediately. I usually try to make the duels more interesting for the viewers, but this was not something I was willing to drag on. Unfortunately, the recoil from the destruction of his life points caused him to fall from his spot on a holographic tree. The impact caused him to break his arm...

The crowd was silent. No one had truly been hurt in an action duel before, so no one knew what to do. The stadium was sickeningly silent for what felt like an eternity.

Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. eventually the entire stadium erupted into cheers. The uneasiness faded for a moment, at least until I saw my opponent being whisked away on a stretcher by two nurses.

Later, back at what we came to call, "The Tower", the other phantoms were excited, all but one. The one who had taught me everything I know about dual-tainment.

"Oh come on! You should be happy. He's given us yet another way to spice up our duels!" The oldest said in an attempt to comfort the other.

"Why would I be happy!? Action duels are meant to make people smile and laugh! The younger responded.

The older one looked a bit taken aback.

"T-they were!"

"Even his opponent?"

The oldest did not respond.

I myself felt the same way as my mentor. Hurting others wasn't the way to get more suspence... As you already know, the world eventually was thrown into an age of a more violent sense of entertainment.

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