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Ken was perched up on top of the building, looking through the only ceiling window, as his mark walked into the room surrounded by 4 bodyguards.

"I don't get it," he whispered to himself. "Why do the most paranoid people always have to put their private quarter on the top floor of a place? That doesn't make them any safer." While Ken doesn't usually talk to himself, being on the job can get lonely at times. Especially if you stake out on top of a building for 2 hours, where your only companion is a little dove that loves to poop.

"Another thing. Why always put a window on the ceiling to. Yeah it may look nice but you’re just begging to get killed." So yeah, he couldn't help but taunt his future victims either.

Vincent, his current target, slowly walked around the room, checking every closet, corner, and cabinet; ANYTHING that could hide his potential downfall. Ken figured he had the right to be paranoid; after all he was an arms dealer. Selling deadly weapons to the highest bidder on the Black Market, whether that bidder be a terrorists or a little girl, he didn’t care as long as he got his money. Who knew the number of innocent lives his fancy skyscraper condo was built on top of. He was a crooked rat that deserved what was coming. After checking every potential hiding place twice, a third time, then a fourth time, Vincent proceeded to the bathroom. Two of his bodyguards stood station at that door, while the other two stood guard on the outside of the entrance. Not wanting to miss this golden opportunity, Ken sprung into the action. He discreetly opened the window, not making so much of a squeak with the hinges, and swooped down like a hawk. Or more like a raven, seeing as he wore an all-black suit, greatly matching his tall body, slim, strong figure, dark eyes, and wild black hair. He landed on the ground just 15 feet from his 2 future victims and they locked eyes. For a single second, an instant, they stared each other down.

One body guard made a move toward his waist, probably trying to get a gun, while the other opened his mouth, probably to alert the others. Ken would never be sure, as in a flash he pulled out his silenced equipped pistol and took out his targets. If the silencer wasn't there, any stray listeners would have heard only one shoot. Each shoot was nicely placed, claiming each victim right between their eyes. A little trick of the trade he picked up, a well-placed shoot, that caused his victims to gently fall back instead of making unnecessary noise as they would have had they just slumped to the ground. Lucky for him they were already so close to the outside of the bathroom wall to begin with.

He walked over to his lifeless victims, staring at them as their bodies slumped down the wall. Ken never assumed he knew what his targets were about to do the moment before their death. Not only did it make an ass out of them and him, but it helped ease his consciousness. It was this system that kept him from having nightmares about the families he has ruined. The lives he destroyed. He positioned the bodies on one side of the door, so Vincent wouldn't see them as he opened the door. Then he sat on the couch like he owned it and waited.

10 minutes later, Vincent walked out of the bathroom, wearing a red silk robe. Again, Ken and his victim locked eyes, for a second, an instant, before Vincent opened his mouth. A single bullet flew through his now open hole, through his tonsils, through his throat. Blood spurting everywhere, as he gasped, gagged, and choked on his own crimson fluids. Vincent feels to the ground with a big thump. His two bodyguards rushed into the room, guns drawn, and then guns ablaze as they quickly accessed the scene.

Ken turned and took 4 long strides, bursting through one of the wall windows. Everything slowed down, as for a moment he was suspended in air. This is the best part of the job, he thought to himself, the thrill of escape. His shoes sprung to life, as flames spurted from them. Suddenly he was airborne, flying through the skies with his jet shoes, as free as a bird. Almost. He took out his phone and called the headquarters of NIGHTLOCK, his secret government branch. They picked up instantly.

"Mission accomplished Ma'am, shall I head back now?"

"No", said a commanding female voice on the other end. "A few minutes away, at Silver Star Stadium, there is a show going on. I want you to go check it out. It will give you some insight into your next job."

"What does some sport have to do with my job, Ma'am?"

"DON'T question me Ken," she said forcibly, "You have your orders." With that statement the line went dead. Ken looked at his phone precariously and tossed it down to the ants below. It didn't matter. It was only good for 1 call. Afterwards the internal circuits burn each other out.

Ken soared through the endless sky, almost invisible with the backdrop of night. What the hell does my next mission have to do with a stadium? Sheesh I don't play sports or games, I kill for a living. This thought couldn't help but make him think about his past. What does killing have to do with my past? Hell for all I know, it could have been those damn NIGHTLOCK scientists that stole my memory. God knows they are always cocking up some strange experiment.

This brought back the horrible memory of lunch 1 month ago, when one of the science geeks had sprinkled some powder into Ken’s food. He unsuspectingly ate it, and then puked up his breakfast, lunch, and dinner from 3 days prior. He couldn't eat right for weeks. Back in the present, Ken covered his mouth as the memory resurfaced, disgust planted all over his face. So my name is Ken . . . Ken what? NIGHTLOCK wasn't big on names. As for as Ken is concerned, nobody in the facility has a last name. Even the leader of NIGHTLOCK, Raine (though he will never be caught even muttering her name without some form of respect), is always addressed that way. So when he was finally freed 2 years ago and told his name was Ken, and just Ken. He graciously accepted it.

Freed huh? That’s right there was a time that I was their prisoner before I was their killer.

2 years ago Ken woke up in NIGHTLOCK HQ, in his room. Room? Hmph that is an extremely generous word for it. His dwelling was more like a cell. He has only one bed, and a window barred on the outside. The only difference between his "room" and an actual prison cell was that he had a door. Anyway he woke up, having no memory of who he was, or where he was. So he did what any average, 16 year old would do in his situation, he freaked out. He tried to escape Head Quarters, causing quite a ruckus across the facility until he was finally caught and put to sleep. There is more to this, but that is a story for another day.

When he awoke in chains and asked what he was doing, his simple reply was "Look at my room? Can you blame me?" Well that was his reply after he asked the common who, what, where, when and why questions. After a few days in "Peaceful Rejuvenation" (he was in cell, guarded 24/7 and NEVER left alone. He was already paranoid, good thing he didn't suffer from Paruresis) He was rewarded with some good news. His name (Ken), his age (16), his job (assassin), his home (NIGHTLOCK). Any questions? He had tons! But of course they never asked him that, nor did they feel inclined to answer anything he wanted to know.

So wanting to get out of his "Peaceful Rejuvenation", he accepted everything he was told. He was going to escape, but nobody ever actually treated him badly, and eventually he was adopted in the NIGHTLOCK family of liars, murderers, and thieves. Is your family that bad? Probably not.

So here is, 2 years later, flying to a stadium with his impossibly silent jet shoes. Well I could've escaped, but what was the point? I knew next to nothing. I had no idea who I really was or where I really am from. Hell I don't even know if I'm really 18. But one thing I am certain of is that NIGHTLOCK means me no harm. If they wanted me dead, then I would be. Plain and simple.

Kens thoughts were interrupted as the roar of Silver Star Stadiums crowd blasted in his drum. He was only a few blocks away and yet they were so loud and lively. As much as he wanted to enjoy the cool breeze of the warm night, he had a job to do. Plus the excited crowd kind if made him curious about what was going on. "Hmmm maybe this show will be kind of cool," he said as he landed in an alley and proceeded to stride toward the entrance, "maybe my job will take an interesting turn for a change."

A person does not know how it feels to be a sardine in a can until he/she has been in a full stadium, surrounded by screaming fans. Ken thought he was lucky when he got one of the last few tickets left from the vendor, but realized he was horribly wrong when he got to Row 22, Seat 35. The only thing worse than being a human sardine in a sea of people at a sporting event, was being a human sardine in a sea of people surrounded by crazed fan girls where said sporting event was all about cards. But before Ken could get into the absurdness of that, the two male players, duelists is what people called them, who were going against each other, dueling is what people called that, were amazingly beautiful. Although this beauty had no effect on Ken, it only added to his bad luck, as every single fan girl screamed at deafening levels every time their favorite player made a move. And boy did they have a lot of moves to make.

On the stage, each duelist had some disk-like contraption that displayed holographic images of the cards played into it. Ken looked around the area, noticing structures that also helped display holograms in each corner of the stadium. Now that he noticed that, Ken noticed another strange thing. The entire stadium seats and people were all colored, as if a projection was placed on the entire stadium from some unknown source. He looked at his hand and it had a bluish tint. “What the hell,” he muttered to himself. The crowd suddenly erupted into cheers as an explosion sounded in the direction of the stage. It was pretty big, shaking the seats a little. Ken quietly cursed to himself as he quickly focused his attention onto the stage, obviously missing something interesting.

Remember Ken, this is a job; an assignment. You can’t afford to be drifting off the main objective, he thought to himself as smoke surrounding a player started to clear away. He looked away from that scene to something else that made him jump in his shoes. He saw a giant fearsome dragon, crimson in color, with red wings, piercing red eyes, and horns? A dragon . . . with horns. That definitely wasn’t there a moment ago. Forced away from his thoughts, the dragon turned and leered at Ken, or at least his section. A triumphant blaze of fire left the dragons’ mouth, heading right for the area.

“What the fu-” Ken started to say as he closed his eyes and braced for death. The past 2 years flashing before his eyes, his missions quickly replaying in his head like a rewinding movie. So this is how I go out, barbequed by a mythical creature? I always thought I would die in a blaze-of-glory, on some world changing mission or something. Drake and Sarah are going to have a fit when they find out about this. Oh well, goodbye cruel world. I just wish those damn annoying fan girls will shut UP! Even in death they are annoying as hell. Maybe this IS hell. Maybe this is my punish-Wait. WHAT?

Ken’s eyes flashed open to see a bright yellow . . . something completely engulfing him and everybody else around him. The yellow ended only for Ken to be welcomed with more cheers, screams, screeches, and the realization of 3 things. 1). he’s not dead. 2). the realistic flame was all a hologram, including the even realer looking dragon before him.  3). fan girls never shut up.

“What’s with all the screaming, this isn’t over yet,” said a confident voice over the speakers. Ken looked up at the big screen over the stadium to see a close up of the duelist that was surrounded by smoke. Obviously it finally cleared, and a small fiendish looking monster had appeared on the field in front of the duelist. It kind of looked like a clock, with the face as the base and a large, yellow colored minute hand attached to it, swinging back and forth.  Again there was more screaming from the girls and more disgust on Ken’s part. Some people, he thought to himself while shaking his head. They have no self-control.

“That was a nice little attack by your Red Dragon, and it would have ended me had it not been for my trusty little Battle Fader. That’s why I run three of this annoying little guy.” The screen changed images from the monster to the duelists talking and Ken finally started paying attention to appearances.  He was a dark-tinted individual, with low cut blonde hair (probably dyed), sharp side-burns, and brown eyes that matched a serene, confident smile. Ken couldn’t get an accurate take on his height, but he did have long legs. Looking no older than 20 or 21, he looked like a modern Chris Brown, even wearing clothing akin to the superstar. No wonder all the girls went crazy over him. “So if you don’t mind, I would like to take my turn. Do you end Vlad?”

The screen image shifted over to Vlad, an intense looking duelist, and giving Ken his first real look at the other duelist. Vlad had the bad boy look going for him for sure. He had startling silver hair, with sharp, haze colored eyes that accompanied a cocky smile and peachy, light skin. He wore black jeans with rips throughout it, not enough to justify his pants being old, but enough to give them some flare. A red t-shirt and black vest that had been ripped at the shoulders showed off his muscles, then red and black wrist bracelets with spikes completed his mastered look. “Tch. You got lucky this turn Jordan. I set 1 facedown and end.” A hologram of the back of the card appeared in an area behind the deadly dragon, but to the right of it.

“That’s right; if I didn’t have Battle Fader then your Red Dragon would have owned me. But your Heavy Storm took me by surprise. I lost my mirror force and call of the haunted,” he said while drawing a card from his deck. The big screen image changed to now feature both duelists and their field in plain view, but also included numbers of some sort for both duelists going down in a circle. Each numbered circle had a number in the center, followed by LP. Vlad had 2700LP while Jordan had 3000LP. What do those numbers mean?

“But,” Jordan continued after looking at his card while still holding his confident smile, “YOU lost a limited card. I’m not questioning your tactics, but this duel is still anybody’s game. I activate Double Summon. I’m sure you’re already familiar with this card, but for the audience sake I will give you a quick run-down of it. This turn, I’m allowed an extra normal summon or set. So I summon Evocator Chevalier.” A knight with glinting red and gold armor appeared onto the field, brandishing a flame in his left hand and a blade in his right. “Seeing as he is a Gemini monster, I will us my extra normal summon on him to unlock his potential.” The flame of the armored warrior spread out from his left hand, slithering across his whole body, and then igniting him with a brilliant fire that shined in the moonlit night.

“Now I equip him with mist body,” a face-up green card appeared behind the warrior; giving him a shimmering appearance, as if he was fading in and out of existence. “Now with his effect, I drop my mist body and destroy 1 card you control. Target: your Red Dragon Archfiend!” The spell image got absorbed into Chevaliers hand, growing in intensity until a huge fireball was being held. It looked like a bowling ball, except about 3 times bigger. He launched it at Red Dragon and another huge explosion engulfed him or her or it. Do dragons even have a gender?  The crowd erupted into cheers, at least about half of them did. Ken grimaced with frustration as he realized Jordan’s fan girls haven’t lost their voice yet. After the explosion cleared and the dragon was confirmed destroyed, Jordan entered his battle phase, and attacked with his warrior. It charged toward Vlad, blade raised and slashed down toward him.

“I activate Rainbow Life. I discard Flamvell Baby to take this damage.” The face-down card turned to be face-up, then shattered as a rainbow colored veil appeared around him. The knight slashed down, only for his blade to go right through his target. The circle on the screen that showed LP increased for Vlad, from 2700 to 4600 and shined bright blue. Chevalier jumped back to attention in front of Jordan.

“Rainbow Life? I didn’t know you used that card Vlad. People will start thinking you are going soft,” Jordan taunted. “I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn.”

“Shut up, Vlad responded back aggressively as he drew a card. “This Duel is mine and you know it. You only have 1 card in your hand while I have 3. You are finished this turn.”

Jordan just kept on holding his confident smile. “We will see about that. GO!”

“With pleasure. I activate Monster Reborn to bring back my Red Dragon Archfiend.” A blue, decorated symbol appeared onto the center of the field, growing larger and larger until the shape of a dragon begun to be formed.

“No so fast. I activate Gemini Counter. I flip my Gemini into face-down defense to negate your spell.” The knight went into a defensive stand as the back of his card closed on top of him. A ray of light shot out from the active trap, blasting a hole through the symbol and shattering it to little pieces.

Vlad just stood there with a cocky smile on his face. He sent Monster Reborn to the graveyard and said “I knew you had something. But this game is still mine. I activate Rekindling.” A pillar of fire appeared in front of Vlad that shot high into the night sky. Various shapes and figures were seen attempting to escape the fiery inferno. “Response?” Vlad asked coolly.

Jordan looked perplexed, deciding whether or not it was worth whatever course of action he was thinking. “Yeah. Solemn Warning.” His 2^nd face-down activated, and the screen showed his LP draining from 3000 to 1000. A fierce, blinding light from the sky blasted into the center of the inferno, scattering the blaze to the winds.

“I set a monster and end my turn.”

The crowd had gone ballistic when Jordan had made his two counters, though Ken had no idea why. His LP was 1000, so that couldn’t be good. And did no one else really notice the malfunction on the screen? Jordan appeared to lose over half of his LP for nothing. I don’t get this . . . this . . . game. It all seems so pointless and stupid. Hell I would never even be here if I wasn’t ordered to. I might as well leave now and get back to NIGHTLOCK. However despite his complaints, Ken’s body just refused to budge even an inch from his spot. No matter how he denied it, or hated it, this game has pulled him. The tension currently in the air, the realistic holograms, the actions, the cards, the incredibly realistic holograms; they all have made him too curious to just leave without knowing the outcome of this heated battle. The millions of questions he is dying to find answers to only adds to his wonder. Ken never was great at lying to himself. So he could not deny that he felt a rush of excitement, a rush of curiosity as Jordan spoke two simple words.

“I Draw.”

Ken let go a relaxing sigh as he shuffled his way out of the stadium. The many fans leaving the place were buzzing with laughter and complaints over the outcome of the duel while few were even in tears over the loss of their favorite duelists, which for many people was Vlad.  Approaching the backseat of the standard black limo that he knew to be from NIGHTLOCK, Ken opened the door and settled onto to the soft, velvet seats.

As the car drove toward its destination, no doubt NIGHTLOCK HQ, Kens turned his attention out of the window, and his mind went back toward duel monsters. I admit it, the monsters were pretty interesting . . . but I still don’t get what that has to do with my mission? I’m all for following my orders, but this seems too strange. I guess I’ll find out soon . . .

. . . . . . .

After arriving at headquarters, Ken reported straight to his boss. Approaching here office, Ken couldn’t help but tense up. Not out of fear, at least not entirely. No, he did so out of habit. The corridor to Raine’s office had many cameras trained on anybody approaching it from at least 50 feet away, not including the hidden ones situated within the walls of the long corridor. If an intruder made an attempt to get to Raine or an individual was deemed a threat, every single camera would come to life with a gun or laser, effectively making his body the equivalent of Swiss cheese. Ken couldn’t help but be reflexively ready.

Ken tentatively pushed open the door to his Raine’s office, and entered her domain.  Glancing upward from her desk, Raine’s fiery red eyes locked into Ken, freezing him in his place. Kens breathe left him as his mind struggled to form a thought, an action, or a reflex. He couldn’t break away from Raine’s predatory glance. Her blood red hair was a stark contrast with her light skin yet only amplified her intense eyes. Her savage beauty combined with her presence was enough to effectively shut down even the most secure individuals, which is not only one of many reasons she swiftly rose through the ranks, but also a necessity for her job and position.

“How long are you just going to stand there,” she snapped after she continued to fiddle with her files.

Clearing his throat, thankful that he can move again, he advanced toward Raine saying, “Sorry ma’am. I was . . . err . . . a little taken aback.”

“Hmph,” Raine glanced up at him, eyebrow slightly raised, "Problem?"

Stopping in front of her, Ken remained completely silent. He knew that was a rhetorical question, for she has a paralyzing effect on everybody that she meets and she knows it. Some may get it worse than others, but that is just who she is.

“Regardless,” she began as she tucked a strand of majestic, inflamed hair behind her ears and locked eyes with Ken again, “what did you think about your first introduction to duel monsters?”

Kens voice caught in his throat as he started to speak, but quickly composed himself with a quick breath. “Well, to be honest, I find duel monsters quite . . . pointless.  It seems like a silly game that belongs to kids, not adults; a game that belongs to small clubs, not in giant stadiums.”

With a small smirk that grew on her face, Raine swiftly replied. “That may be true, to an extent. I’m pretty sure the game of Duel Monsters was originally targeted towards the younger generations. However, that was many decades ago.  Eventually, the Duel Monsters Corporation became a powerful force in the business industry as it gained influence. When they released their virtual reality technology to the public, their grandeur became secured. People of all ages flocked toward their product, making them today’s most profitable business.”

Ken couldn’t help himself as his mouth hung slightly agape from the news he just received.  His mind couldn’t comprehend how he couldn’t know such a powerful corporation existed, and he had only just recently heard of them.

“Of course, this is probably all new to you, with your amnesia and all. It is very probable that you played the game before. But as long as you have been in our care, you most definitely have not.”

Quickly processing the information he was given, Ken went straight to the point. “So what exactly does all of this fit in with my job?” Of course Ken already had a general idea as the question left his lips.

“Simple,” she said, her smirk growing into a shady grin.” You will become a duelist in the world of pros.”

What? He thought incredulously, but still keeping his calm on the surface. “Why?”

“As I’ve told you, Duel Monster Corp. has become one of the most influential businesses in the world. As history has shown itself, all businesses of that caliber eventually fall into the underworld of crime, syndication, smuggling, and possibly terrorism.”

“Terrorism?” Ken coughed skeptically. “With all due respect, how can a children’s card game be a market for terrorism?”

“If they can boast advanced virtual reality technology, what other technologies can they have? Even if the company may have at once targeted children as their market, the goal of executives is to increase the cash flow in their pockets. And no other methods offer such favorable increase then the shady world of crime. Not to mention the company would be the last to be suspected of smuggling or syndication, and even less likely to be suspected of any crime at all, for the very reason you mentioned.”

“Now on to your mission. Recently there have been many deaths involving dueling monsters, one way or another. Some people have died while dueling, and in other deaths, duel monsters have been a common link. There is a tournament within a week, and the top 32 will gain entry into the national tournament a month from now. From there, the top 4 will go on to the international tournament, and officially enter the world of Pros. It’s extremely vital that you enter the Pro world, because that is where many of these deaths occur, and you will have more influence. You must find out why there are so many deaths, and make sure more don’t occur again. Any questions?”

“Just two; why don’t you use your connections to instate me as a pro and avoid all of this tedious work?”

“Simple,” she replied calmly. “The world of duel monsters is a competitive sport. Even more so than that, it’s extremely fan-based and pros have a huge amount of influence themselves; mainly due to sponsors and the like. Also, the world of pros is brutal. If you can’t compete at their level, then there’s no point in you even going on this mission. Other question?”

“Why does it matter to NIGHTLOCK who gets killed playing this game? Sounds to me like this would be something more concerned with local authority and not an agency of our . . . specialties.”

Suddenly Raines expression turned extremely dark. As her piercing red eyes stared darkly at Ken, he began to wonder if maybe he asked too much. A cold sweat started to roll down his cheek.  Getting up from her desk, Raine walked toward her window. Actually, it was a wall size plasma TV shaped like a window, displaying the outside world in real-time. “You are debriefed on a ‘Need-to-know’, and if I didn’t believe you needed to know this, then I wouldn’t tell you. We already had one of our agents infiltrating the pro world. He was one of the victims murdered Ken.”