Theodore Hamilton. That was a name that everyone remembered for one reason or another.
Some because of all the things he has accomplished for the World and his neverending passion of going back to his feet, never giving up no matter what was against him.
And for some, they remembered because they knew him in real life. Being one of the nicest and charming people anyone has ever met, with how he acts and treats everyone around him.
He was always there to help around anyone he could and befriending them.
Even the ones that he fought and were former enemies, turned allies in certain circumstances.
While he was emotionally stable, he did have moments in which his anger was the worst part of it and unleashed it on his enemies, never his friends. Which was something for some people the reason why they remembered him.
He was always ready to do the right thing and that he certainly did as his story was full of hardships, tragedy, laughs, fun, seriousness and much more than simple words can express.
In which, allow me to show you the tale of the Saviour Of Link Vrains and all of the hardships that he had to go through.
Flashcut to an image of a young boy, around the age of 6 years old, of the name of Theodore Hamilton sleeping on a futon that had covers of Volcanic Doomfire battling against an Elemental Hero Neos.
His room was that of a traditional Japanese room. He had a small desk with some figurines of popular monsters from Duel Monsters like Stardust Dragon, Number 39: Utopia and Dark Magician with figurines of popular duelists like Seto Kaiba, Zane Truesdale and Jack Atlas with a tiny silver red chair on it. There were several tiny books since today marked an important day for the young Theodore, it was his first day in school.
There were also some toys in a toy chest that consisted of toys of Kakashi Hatake, Sasuke Uchiha, Might Guy, Rock Lee, some Pokemon like Infernape and Blaziken, to characters like Ben Tennyson, Goku and several other popular characters from shows that he loved watching on in the living room which he loved playing with his two best friends.
There was a small wardrobe that contained his shirts, pants, socks and everything else that a boy needed to wear. Finally on the ground next to him was a deck containing a deck of Fire monsters by the name of Lavals, a deck that he really liked to use.
If you couldn't tell, red was his favourite colour, a normal thing for his age, and fire is something that really interests him. Something about it really interests Theodore, like how it was so destructive, but calm at the same time, why it was so cool, but really hot to touch, why it was so interesting, but so simple.
He wasn't a philosopher, not by a long shot since his two best friends, Kiku Kamishirakawa and Seigen Futai, were much more intelligent than him, even when they are kids, but that didn't mean he had many questions about a certain topics like flames and their favourite conversation starter, 'Is hotdog a sandwich?'.
Finally, Theodore Hamilton was a fair skinned boy with a small hair cut that was red on the bottom and silver on the top, with small red eyebrows. While they were closed for now, his eyes were a grayish purple.
The thing to note about Theodore was, despite him having an American name, he lived in Japan in the small city by the lake with a lighthouse a few streets away from his house by the name of Mustafu. The reason for this was because when his dad, Tyson Hamilton, and parents moved over to Mustafu for an easier education compared to Domino City in which he met his now wife, Ichika.
His dad, grandpa and every other male in Theodore's family, from Toshi's side of the family, were cops and despite him wanting to be a duelist, also wanted to be a cop to make him and his parents happy to take the role.
His mother's side of the family were in a different city and some tragically passed away by old age or by sickness.
His grandpa, Taniel, was a former cop and is a teacher to him of some martial arts when he was learning how to be a cop, while his grandma, Iris, was a doctor that worked with many patients and happily lived with her husband in the same city as their grandson.
How he met Kiku and Seigen were both in different situations. Theodore's mother and Seigen's mother were great friends when they were in high school and in college and when they had children of their own, they had an interesting idea of them being friends, which in the first hour didn't work well due to Seigen having the unfriendly look from his dad, but after that awkward hour they quickly talked about things that they liked and their interests and when they heard about Duel Monsters, they rushed over and dueled each other until they had to leave.
How Theodore met Kiku was when his parents were extremely busy one day with their jobs and since their parents were too far away, they decided to leave him at a daycare center until they were finished with their jobs. It was awkward for him, despite being friends with Seigen at the time being, he didn't have any other friends, so he took some toys and played with them on his own until a girl with blue hair and hazel eyes approached him and asked him why he was alone, in which Theodore replied that he doesn't have any other friends, and Kiku asked him if they can play together, and he agreed and ever since then, they became best friends, which his parents teased him to no end when they heard about this.
How Kiku and Seigen met was when his parents were busy, he also needed to go to a daycare center so he could be there safely. He saw his best friend playing with a girl, which of course in 5 year old fashion, instantly thought about cooties, but quickly got over it when they all played together and were inseparable.
They all learned so much about each other when they were growing up and trying to split up either of them would be like you spat on their friendship! They came over to Seigen's house to be on the computer since he was the only one allowed to have a computer, but only on specific times of the day, Kiku's house as they watched cartoons since it had the best options and awe on how cute her little brother, Kiki, was and then to Theodore's house to play Duel Monsters.
It was quite interesting to see since while Kiku was a social butterfly, the same couldn't be said for those two. It was also interesting for Theodore to have the nickname Teddy since they heard about someone with the name of Theodore having a pet Teddy bear and it was much easier to say for the little 6 year old children.
It was adorable the way all of them acted towards each other to the point they could have sleepovers!
The adults could also see how Kiku and Theodore acted towards each other compared with Seigen, not that he minded.
Life for Theodore couldn't be any better as he had loving and caring parents, loving grandparents and two of the best friends anyone could ever ask for, but he could feel something is about to happen for the worst.
"Hmm...no Seigen I didn't break your computer again...no I am not lying Kiku, maybe it was the wind..." dreamt peacefully Theodore as then his blue coloured alarm clock began beeping.
"It's time...to DU-DU-DU-DU-DUEL!" the alarm clock yelled out as he slammed the alarm clock with all of his 6 year old might.
"Ahh man, I just had a great dream." said a down Theodore as he brought his head down. He heard cooking from the kitchen and instantly, his ears perked up.
He looked over the alarm and saw the time.
7:00 AM.
So he had plenty of time to get dressed, use the bathroom, eat and get ready to go to school for the first time.
He took out his pajamas and placed on himself a white shirt, black jacket with yellow pockets, blue jeans and red shoes. He looked at himself, before nodding to himself.
"I look great! Can't wait to see how Kiku and Seigen react to this!" said Theodore as he heard Ichika yell from the kitchen.
"Teddy! It's time for breakfast!" yelled his mother as Theodore picked up his bag filled with books and placed it on his shoulders.
"Coming!" yelled Theodore as he entered the room to see his dad in his cop uniform already on him and his mom wearing her formal wear for her job as a teacher in the local highschool.
"Hey, Teddy." Said Tyson as he rubbed his son's head with his arm while drinking coffee, he really needed it for today, "Did you sleep well?" he asked as Theodore nodded his head.
"Yep!" he said popping the p. "I had the same dream when we were all playing a game on Seigen's computer, and when they had to get snacks, I...accidently broke his computer...for the 6th time."
"Did you admit it to him?" he asked as Theodore shook his head while grabbing chopsticks for the miso soup and steamed rice.
Tyson sighed, he knew that his son was good hearted, but he wanted him to be truthful, even while he was sleeping, but his wife, Ichika, said what he wanted to say, "Teddy, I know that it is a dream, but you should always be truthful with your friends, okay?"
Theodore stopped, but Tyson reassured him, "Don't worry, you are still young and its not like you actually did that in real life." he said, chuckling at the thought of his son actually breaking a computer all by himself.
Theodore nodded his head sheepishly as he defiantly, never in his life, absolutely didn't, 100% certain, that the innocent little Theodore broke a computer all on his own.
That never happened.
...okay he kinda did.
Ichika stops cooking as she brought herself a tray on the table and placed it on her side of the table, which was the same for her husband and son. It was a traditional Japanese breakfast, rice, miso soup, fermented soybeans, pickles and grilled fish.
As the family ate breakfast together, Ichika asked Theodore, "So, Teddy," the youngest Hamilton raised his head as he ate his soybeans, "are you excited for your first day in school?"
Theodore gulped his beans as he nodded his head, excitedly, "Of course! I can't wait to hang out with Kiku and Seigen all the time."
"Well, Teddy, you should know that you have to learn something for school, right?" asked Tyson as Theodore nodded.
"Yeah, I do know, but I really want to be with my friends all the time." he said as they nodded, but Ichika had a thought for her son.
"You know," Theodore looked at his mom, "I am a teacher in highschool, so I can help you with the tests and the subjects."
"Really!? You are the best mom!" he said as he stood up, but Ichika wasn't finished.
"And..." a smile appeared on her lips as her husband knew what she was about to say so a smirk appeared on his lips, "I can tell your classmates stories about you when you were little."
And just like that all the colour disappeared from Theodore's body as he looked like someone broke his favourite toy and his mouth created an O.
"No! Please no! I beg of you mom!" Theodore dropped to his knees, hands up and together like he was praying to a God, begging his mom not to tell all of the embarrassing moments of when he was younger or worse...
...baby pictures!
"Okay! Okay! I won't." she said as she crossed her fingers on her back.
"Thank you." he said as he returned to eating his breakfast as Ichika and Tyson looked at each other with smirks on their faces.
They are going to love when he goes to high school.
After they finished eating their breakfast together, they all got ready as Ichika went to her call and went to go to the highschool where she works while Tyson used his car and drove his son to school.
It was quiet and quick to school as it only took 5 minutes to get there. Tyson stopped at the school's entrance and saw his son's two best friends talking to each other.
"Now Teddy, I have to tell you that me and your mother won't come and pick you up since we are busy, okay?" he said as Theodore nodded as he opened the door.
Before he went out, he looked at his dad, "Dad?"
"Yeah, Teddy?"
"I want lasagna for dinner." he said to his dad who nodded with a smile.
"Sure, Teddy, we can have lasagna for dinner. I will tell your mother that." he said as Theodore smiled at his dad's words.
He hopped off the car and waved his dad goodbye.
He then heard voices from his two best friends, "Teddy, you came!"
"I thought you would never come!" said Kiku and Seigen at the same time as Theodore ran towards them and hugged each other.
Kiku Kamishirakawa was a little girl with blue hair that on her right side of her body was over her shoulder wrapped like a platte with hazel eyes wearing a blue shirt with a red skirt, wearing pink shoes.
Seigen Futai was a little boy with green eyes, brown hair that went down to his shoulders, wearing brown shoes, a white shirt and brown shoes.
"Sorry, guys! I didn't think you would show up so early." he said honestly as they stopped hugging.
"Well yeah, it is the first day in school. Why else would we be late?" asked Seigen as Theodore had nothing to say anything about that.
"Not to mention our parents wouldn't stop talking about how late we will be despite being 20 minutes away from my house." Kiku said as Theodore nodded to that.
"Yeah, okay so that makes sense." he said as he nodded.
Last night his parents wouldn't stop pestering him for not sleeping because it was 9 PM. Which was weird to the young red-silver haired boy.
While Kiku and Theodore decided to talk, Seigen looked at his watch and his eyes widened.
"I don't want to interrupt you two, but school starts in about 5 minutes." Seigen said as their eyes widened as they booked at the building.
They entered the building and ran all over the place, ignoring the pleas from a boy yelling, "NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!" so they could find their classroom, "Class 1-b."
They entered the classroom with only seconds to spare as they saw the faces of the classmates when they entered, but they paid no attention to it. They didn't even see a teacher.
Okay, something was wrong with the school.
They then took their seats, the only ones that were empty, which weren't up to par as they looked like centuries old.
They then saw a teacher open the door with a bright and real smile like someone gives to you when they scam you and then started speaking.
The rest of the day went as follows: The Teacher, who they forgot the name, introduced herself and wrote her name on the board, told everyone to introduce themselves, then began telling them about school work and how it is important for every child.
Then they had to write how everyday for the year all the subjects were in order, so they brought out their pen and took out their notebook and started writing the schedule, when they were done the bell rang, which was a break, but they needed to be in their seats.
After the break and the envy they had at all of the kids that got to play outside ended, the teacher then talked about school and how everything will be done in the future like tests, school trips, schoolwork, homework, projects which they most definitely won't ask their parents to help.
The teacher, when she finished, talked about how difficult highschool and college will be after elementary and middle school like any other teacher would.
When the final bell rang, which they thought was fast as they looked at the watch on the wall and told them that it lasted only 3 hours.
After all the children ran out of the classroom, with their bookbag with them, Seigen, Kiku and Theodore all walked out, disappointed.
"Well that was...something." That's all that Seigen could say at that point.
"Yeah, I thought it was going to be different than whatever that happened," said Theodore nodding with his best friend.
"Disappointing," Kiku said.
"I mean, in shows they show school being a happy place and an exciting one, but that was..."
"Boring?"
"Unexciting?"
"Yep. To both of them." Theodore said as his two best friends nodded with him on that.
"Also what was up with the equipment? It felt like it would break any second." Seigen pointed out.
"I felt that too, but also the teacher didn't look excited at all. She looked miserable." Kiku said as she felt like that the school would shut down due to poor management and neglect. At least what her dad said about school safety.
"Yeah, she felt like she wanted to be home, not that I blame her, but still." Theodore said as they were nearing the road.
"Don't forget about the other teachers. They scare the life out of me. Have they heard about brushing their teeth?" Kiku shivered when she saw a teacher with horrible dentistry.
"They looked like corn rather than teeth." said Seigen as Theodore and Kiku cringed at the imagery.
"Seigen...why?"
"Yeah, why? I am having nightmares tonight." said Kiku and Theodore at the same time as Seigen shrugged his shoulders.
"Sorry, I just wanted to say the truth about how they need to see a dentist," he said.
"The first time that a dentist is useful. Honestly." Theodore said as he hated going to the dentist.
"Teddy, you do know that they are the reason why our teeth are in good health, right?" asked Kiku as they were close to the road so they stopped.
"Yeah, I do, I just hated going to them." Theodore said as Seigen nodded with that thought.
"Can relate."
"I don't know, I kinda like the dentist." Kiku said sheepishly.
"Ignoring that, guys," Theodore began as his friends looked at him, "Wanna go to my house? I have this new game that we could play."
Both of them looked at each other, and sighed, "Sorry, Teddy. I have to go with my parents to visit my grandparents." Kiku explained as Teddy looked at Seigen.
"Sorry, but my parents would kill me if I wasn't home." he said as Theodore had a sad look on his face, but understood that.
"Okay, I understand, but how about the weekends?" he asked as they looked at each other before nodding with smiles on their 6 year old faces.
"Yeah, that works."
"I would love to." Both the brown haired boy and blue haired girl said at the same time as Theodore nodded with a smile on his face.
"Great! Well see ya' two tomorrow." he said as they all began walking in different directions, Kiku in the north, Theodore on the left and Seigen in the right direction as he would rather find out...
...he won't see them tomorrow.
As Theodore walked around the town, looking at all the stores, restaurants, cafes and much more, even petting a few cats along the way, he saw two scientists wearing some weird white robes, but couldn't see their faces since they were hidden by a mask on their faces.
They looked at the kid and they smirked at each other as they got closer.
He would be perfect for their project.
That doesn't mean he will be the only one.
They walked into the valley to discuss it much quieter so Theodore couldn't hear them.
Theodore thought nothing of it as he continued walking and walking towards his home through the valley way.
But then...the worst imaginable thing could have happened.
The two scientists grabbed Theodore, closing his mouth with one of their hands so no one could hear his screams for someone, something save him.
He struggled with their hold on him as he moved his hands all around, trying his best to get out of here and call for help so they could save him.
While he successfully punched one of the scientists in the face, making a bruise on his cheek, the scientist whispered yelled at the young red-silver haired boy, "Be quiet! Stop resisting!"
"He's right, kid. If you stop resisting, everything will go much nicer to you." said the other scientist as he grabbed something out of his pocket and took out a napkin with a bottle of chloroform.
As Teddy looked at the bottle he screamed as loud as he possibly could, but fell on deaf's ears as he saw several people walking through the valley, not noticing his situation.
As the scientist walked closer and closer, Theodore bit the hand that was closing his mouth, which made the scientist yell in pain, "OUCH! You will PAY for that brat!" he yelled as he let go of the 6 year old boy and pushed him on the ground.
Before he could make a run for it, the one that pushed him walked around and grabbed him by his shirt and looked at his partner and nodded.
Despite him throwing his feet around, none of them could reach him and before he could scream for help, the scientist grabbed the napkin and placed it on his mouth.
"Night, night, kid." said one of the scientists.
He knew what happens when you smell chloroform, his dad taught him all of the important stuff, but he couldn't resist taking a breath as he needed something to breathe on so he took a breath and he could feel his eyes close and be all tired.
He tried to fight back the sleepy feeling, tried his best to be awake so he could alert anyone on his current situation, but that wouldn't be possible as he could feel him fall asleep.
His eyes closed slowly as possible and the last thing he would ever see were the two scientists smirking before a project that would change his life forever.
After some time
Tired. Cold. Sad. Alone.
Those were all the feelings that Theodore could feel. He couldn't think why they would ever do this to someone that was only 6 years old, or anyone for that matter.
As he opened his eyes after...minutes? Hours?
He couldn't tell if he was honest.
He opened his eyes and looked around his situation. He felt the cold chilling air around him as it was almost empty.
It was a clear white room with almost nothing in it. No table, no chair, no carpet, no toys, no bed, but the only thing that was on the floor was a VR and duel disk that was similar to the days of Duel Academy, but it was slightly modified to have a hologram-like field when it is activated and could be changed from monster zone to Spell and Trap zones, with a graveyard and Extra Deck being near each other.
On the walls he could see a 8 digit number with a yellow colouring scheme. It had eight 9, or 99 999 999. On the ceiling he could see a little platform, but it was so high that he didn't even bother with it.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" asked Theodore as he looked over, left to right, up and down, forward and behind him, but he couldn't hear or see anyone.
"Mom? Dad? Are you here?" he said, becoming more and more frantic and scared by the second, "Grandpa? Grandma? Are you here, please?" he said, gulping down any saliva that was in his throat.
He banged the walls behind him and all over him, "Kiku?! Seigen!? Are you guys in here as well?!" He heard no response, and he could feel as if he could scream all he could want, but nothing could come out of it.
"Is this a joke?! If yes, then this is a very mean joke! Please, I am sorry! Just open this place up!" he yelled, in hopes of getting out.
"I am sorry, okay!? I am sorry for lying to you! I am sorry that I broke your computer! I am sorry that I stayed up late! I am sorry for everything that I did!" he said as he tried his hardest so anyone that could hear him and save him from this lonely place.
"PLEASE! I AM SORRY!" shouted the 6 year old as he could feel his tears running down on his cheek.
He thought he could hear someone from two sides, 1 girl and 1 boy, but for some reason, didn't sound like Seigen and Kiku, not even the slightless. He wanted to help them.
He wanted them to get out of this place.
He banged on the wall, "PLEASE ANSWER ME!" he yelled as he could feel his throat dried up, but no matter what, nothing could work.
Theodore fell down his backside, hugging his knees with tears over his cheeks.
"Why am I here?"
"Why did I do to get here?"
"What did anyone else do to get here?"
He said to himself as he looked around and felt lonely. He didn't have anyone around him that brought him joy.
His parents.
His grandparents.
His friends.
He wiped a tear as he remembered every second of his friends.
He looked at the duel disk and stood up. He walked up to it and decided to use this so he could feel joy. He placed a VR headset on him and activated it.
He saw a computer bot with 5 cards in his hand as it yelled out in a robotic voice, "DUEL!" as the field was set in a Master Duel type setting with 2 Extra Monster zones. The entire field looked robotic, but it was calming as he could at least have some fun.
The Life Points have been set to 4000 as did a regular duel. Theodore drew his 5 cards as did the computer. The 6 year old looked at his hand and noted it to be a Fire Warrior type deck.
As the duel continued on and on, Theodore finally managed to defeat the computer with his Phoenix Gearfried.
The screen turned to see a bright green light that said, "YOU WIN! OPPONENT'S LIFE POINTS DROPPED TO 0!"
He then heard something coming down. He took of his headset and then saw the platform coming down and he saw a juice box, little candy, some rubbery desert that looked like chocolate and rice.
He took the utensils and ate the food, but he had to learn that he had to win as fast as possible so he couldn't starve.
As he finished the meal the platform automatically went up. Theodore wished he could get on it, but it didn't look like it can hold him very well so he didn't bother.
He took the headset and duel disk. He noticed that the number went down to 99 999 998, so he thought he had to duel that many times, he could finally get out of this place.
He smiled with determination as he placed the headset and duel disk on him and dueled the robot.
The robot was tougher than the previous one and if he didn't make a single mistake in the duel he could've won, but that wasn't a bad thing, he could always try aga-
"AARRGH!" screamed Teddy at the top of his lungs as he was electrocuted and went smashed directly towards the wall at high speeds. He could feel his little bones breaking on impact.
He looked at the screen and saw it being bright red, "YOU LOSE! YOUR LIFE POINTS DROPPED TO 0!" He tried, okay!?
He heard the platform coming down and took off his headset and looked at it. His face dropped at what he saw.
Only a juice box.
He took it and sat on the hard floor and thought to himself, "So if I want to get out of this place, I have to win. Just win. Not having fun, only enjoying the victory. I...think I can handle this." he looked over and saw the numbers hadn't dropped and his face grimaced at the looks of it.
He needed to win every game.
Not some of them, all of them.
He drank his juice box to completion and placed it on the platform. The platform went up.
He took the headset and looked at the numbers on the wall with fire in his eyes. He will get out of this place.
No matter how long it takes him.
It was midnight and the young boy couldn't stop dueling, but that didn't mean he wasn't tired as bones. He could feel himself going to sleep every second, but he had to escape!
He looked at how many wins did he get and his face fell when he realized it only went down to 99 999 975. As much as he wanted to continue on with the duels, he knew with his stubborn head that he had to go to sleep, but it was easier said than done.
The floor was hard as rock and cold like ice. It was impossible to sleep on.
It was the first time he slept like that, with no one to comfort him in this horrible time.
He cried and cried, tears going down like a river as he could feel himself going to sleep.
Theodore wants to see his loved ones again. He has to.
Month 2
"YOU LOSE!"
"YOU LOSE!"
"YOU LOSE!"
"YOU LOSE!"
Those screens. Those screens that caused him nightmares by those words alone, everytime he loses a duel, he gets electrocuted and crashes on the wall, hurting himself every duel he was apart of.
He hated this.
He hated every single second of this.
He hated using duels as a way to survive and not have fun.
He hated dueling against a robot and not on his friends.
He hated dueling and getting hurt for making a SINGLE MISTAKE!
Theodore dropped to his knees, hungry for food, but couldn't feel determined anymore. All that determination that he had for 2 months was destroyed each and every second.
Those screens that caused him nightmares and the worst of all.
The monster that scared Theodore off his feet as it was the most common monster that he lost to, either by the effect or by battle.
It was the Level 8 Zombie Dark monster with no legs, but massive purple hands with claws for fingers and it looked like it was from hell itself. It was Despair From The Dark.
The image alone was enough to scare him off.
He dropped to his knees, tears in his eyes as he thought of giving up.
Teddy heard a voice and looked at the wall with the numbers of 99 451 375, "Hey." it was soft and sounded from a boy of his age, but 2 or 3 years older, "Hey."
"Who is this?" asked Theodore as the voice didn't give an answer, but it did give a demand.
"I can not give you the answers because it is a secret, but please get up." the voice said as calmly as possible.
"Why?" Theodore asked the voice as he gave out simple reasons why he should get up and fight along, not giving up.
"Because of 3 reasons. 1. If you give up now, there won't be a next time. 2. You can't win if you don't believe you can win and 3. Just because it is hard now, doesn't mean it will always be. 3, that's all you need. Just 3 simple reasons can get you through everything." the voice said, helping out Theodore, but before the boy could thank him, he droned out and the sounds of running to a different room could be heard.
He looked at the wall and then towards his duel disk and smiled at it.
He took the duel disk and headpiece and put them on him with a determined mind as he promised himself one thing.
He will get out of this place.
Month 4
Theodore was currently asleep as he was successfully able to duel and defeat the robot AIs on his duel disk and headset to the point it was reduced to 89 541 127 duels, which he could manage.
It was a slow process of duels, but that didn't mean that he couldn't give up, never.
He will see his friends again, he will see his parents again, no matter what will happen.
However that didn't mean he was safe from anything else, like nightmares about a certain monster and two certain words.
"YOU LOSE!" cackled Despair From The Dark as it saw the despair on Theodore's face and hope being destroyed by the second as his life points hit 0 again.
He screamed, harder than ever before, like he was being electrocuted to actual death and was slammed by the hands of the Level 8 Zombie monster with its massive hands, crushing almost every single bone in the young boy's body.
"You lost the duel again, and again, and again, and you still think that you could challenge me!? Do you know what I have done to you everytime you lost!?" roared Despair From The Dark as its fingers relaxed on the ground, making a small crater on the ground.
The young boy stood up, "That doesn't change a thing! I will duel you and get out of here!" Theodore said with fire in his eyes as the monster cackled in that thought.
"You REALLY think you can defeat me?! I could crush you right now if I wanted to!" Despair From The Dark said as it raised its hands on the head of the young boy.
"I won't give up. No matter how powerful my opponent! No matter how much I fall on my knees! I will never give up!" Theodore yelled with determination as he raised his duel disk.
The monster grinned sadistically, "If you think you can take me then go ahead!" yelled as both of them yelled the same words, "DUEL!"
The Duel lasted for a few turns as both duelists tried their best to defeat the other with Theodore even summoning his ace monster Phoenix Gearfried, but Despair From The Dark managed to summon itself and boosted his attack points to 6000, striking the Fire Warrior and slamming Theodore on the ground.
"YOU LOSE!" yelled Despair From The Dark as it raised its fist and closed it into a ball and went towards Theodore's head.
The attack landed on the young boy's head, more specifically his eyes.
The boy screamed, "AAAARRGGHH!" Theodore woke up with a heavy sleep as he took heavy breaths.
"Why? Why does it keep scaring me? Why does it haunt me?" Theodore looked at his hand that was shaking like crazy. He doesn't know why the monster kept scaring him, but just the thought was enough for him to get as far as possible and as quickly as possible.
The hand that he was looking at, but it wasn't as clear as it used to be as he could tell that his vision is becoming worse and worse by the day.
Maybe it was because of the constant electrical shocks from every loss? Possibly.
He looked at the wall and for some reason he could feel like an organism was looking at him with sorrow in its eyes, but that couldn't be possible.
Theodore dropped his head and laid on the hard cold floor and tried to go to sleep, thinking something else that wasn't it.
Month 6
Done.
He was almost done with everything.
He looked at the wall and it only showed 78 651 145, which means he wasn't even close and his body couldn't take it anymore.
He didn't have any energy as the food wasn't enough for dueling anymore, the electrical shocks are getting more and more unstable as possible, his body was tired from everytime he was slammed on the wall at full speed, he could feel the exhaustion that was overwhelming him to fall on the ground and he couldn't get any medical attention, and the worst of all, the nightmares about Despair From The Dark became worse and worse by the day.
He could hear a tiny, digital type of voice whispering in his ear, "Theodore, I know that this may look tough, but I believe in your capabilities to get over this situation." he looked around and around from the voice, it was similar to that of the voice he heard 4 months ago, but it was more digital, but it didn't sound any less human than the other.
He looked at his duel disk and headset. He wanted to give up, he really wanted to give up, but every fiber of his being told him to never give up, no matter the situation, no matter how difficult the opponent was, his willpower was telling him not to even think about giving up.
He looked at his duel disk and sighed, he didn't enjoy dueling anymore.
He didn't find any fun in it as he used it for survival.
Theodore sighed as he placed his headset and duel disk.
He played a quick duel with the robot AI as even with the robot monster summoning Saryuja Skull Dread and a powerful Blue-Eyes Chaos Max on the field, Theodore managed to overcome both those monsters with his monsters and an Equip Spell Megamorph.
As then he heard opening of doors of some kind.
Wait...wait a minute.
Does that mean...he is free?
He is finally free?
He dropped down to his knees with tears of joy in his eyes as he could hear people opening the doors.
"Dear God!"
"I know, right?!"
"This is horrible!"
"Who could do this to a child!?"
"I heard that there are more than just one child, but 6 children!"
"Wait, children?!"
"What monster would do this!?" yelled the police officers as they opened the door and then they saw him.
Him in an empty, cold room on his knees with only a duel disk and a headset on him.
The police officer kneeled down to the young boy and placed a hand on the young boy's shoulder, "Everything will be alright, young man."
Theodore looked at the police officer and frowned that it wasn't his dad, but still happy that someone found and rescued him, "Are you sure?"
The cop gave him a warm smile on his face, "Of course, young man. You and the rest are extremely brave and strong for someone your age." he said to the young boy as he showed his hand in a slow, but gentle way, "Take my hand, from now on, you will be safe."
Theodore looked at his hand and took it, but when he tried to stand up, he fell in the cop's hand, sleeping.
The cop shrugged his shoulders as he picked up the red-silver haired boy in his arm as the boy slept.
He could hear commotion while he was sleeping and for a second he saw the rest of the children that were as exhausted and tired, and were asleep. He saw a man in a blue suit with two shades of blue hair carrying a sleeping girl with brown hair with tears in his eyes, a boy with blue and purple hair carried by another police officer and the same can be said for 3 others as one had purple hair, silver hair and one that looked similar to his best friend.
He tried to stay awake, but he quickly fell asleep.
After all of the mayhem, torture that the young 6 year old boy had to endure, he was ended up in the hospital in the town he grew up in. He woke up and saw his grandparents on the chairs sleeping, waiting for him.
He looked at the table close to him, and while his vision wasn't as good as it was before, he saw a box of chocolates and a juicebox with a letter that had Kiku's handwriting that said, "I missed you so much, Teddy. I know that this isn't much and worth it after all this time of not seeing each other, but I hope this makes you happy. - Kiku Kamishirakawa."
He smiled at the letter and as he tried to get the drink, he coughed as loud as possible which he didn't attend to which woke up his grandparents.
They looked at the young boy with wide eyes, tears of joy went down their faces as they could finally see their grandchild after 6 months and that incident. "Teddy, is that you?" asked his grandmother as his grandfather approached him trying to touch him on the face like it was a dream.
"Is that really you?" asked his grandpa as Theodore gave him a weak smile as he tried his hardest to focus on his grandparents, but his eyesight was horrible compared to what it used to be.
"Ye-yes, it is me, granny, grandpa." he said as then his grandparents couldn't contain themselves anymore and hugged him.
"We missed you so much!"
"You have no idea how worried we were for you!" they said at the same time.
Over the course of a few weeks in the hospital, Theodore had to get a scan to see if anything was broken, which they were damaged, but not broken, so it wasn't that much of an issue, he had to go to an eye doctor to see how it affected his eyesight and he has to get contacts and glasses since he couldn't see anything very well that wasn't in front of him.
He also got to hang out with the other children in the hospital, but not for a long time as they needed to be in their beds to rest. Kiku came over every single day to talk about everything and helped him out with schoolwork, the same can be said for his grandparents as they came over every day to give him food that the doctor recommended them to give him.
Seigen wasn't there because he was in the hospital, but at a very low level, at the first floor, while he was at one of the top floors so they couldn't have been around each other for long or at all.
He also thought that the doctors and nurses were nice towards him and other patients. There was one question in his mind though?
Where were his parents?
Did they forget?
Or are they waiting for him to get home so they could surprise him?
Every day and second was him thinking about where his parents were. He wanted to see them since he loved his parents. They were the nicest and caring people he ever met, okay maybe not as nice and caring as Kiku, but they are a close 2nd.
He wanted to see them.
He really wanted to see them.
After a few days of being in a hospital, he was officially healthy enough so he could get out of the hospital and the day when that happened, he saw his grandparent's car which meant that they are him to pick him up.
"Are they going to show up? Like at all?" Theodore thought as his grandparents went out of the car to pick him up, and after a few minutes, he was in the car with his grandparents and they reached their house.
It was right next to a lighthouse with a beautiful ocean view and it was modeled like a traditional Japanese home. With sliding doors that weren't the front door, the wooden floor to which he took off his shoes when entering with small tables and pillows near the table. He entered his house and saw everything that was in his old house was in this house, which he liked, but was confused.
He looked at all of the Duel Monsters stuff and cringed at it as he remembered his time at that place and all of the suffering.
He saw the futon and laid on it for a few seconds, looking at the ceiling.
He turned his eyes to his bag close to his wardrobe that had all of the things needed for school.
He turned his eyes to everything else.
His room didn't look like he would stay there for a few days, it was almost like he will stay here when he would be living here.
Theodore shook his head, that can't be true. Yes he loved his grandparents, but he wanted to be with his parents.
He needed answers.
The red-silver haired boy opened the door and went to the hallway as he saw his grandparents having a conversation, both looking worried.
"Granny, grandpa. I have a question." asked Theodore.
"What is it dear?" his grandma asked him as she looked him in the eye.
"When is mom and dad coming back?" the 6 year old boy asked his grandparents as their eyes became sadder when he asked that question.
"Teddy, I...I have bad news to tell you." said his grandpa as Teddy looked at him, confused and scared.
"What are they?"
His grandpa took a deep breath.
"They are never going back." he said.
With those 5 words, Theodore's entire world was destroyed, his eyes widened and he could only gape at that.
"W-W-W-What?" he said, trying his best to try to think of a reason why they would do that.
"Tyson and Ichika have..." his grandma took a deep breath "Your parents have died in a car accident trying to find you."
Theodore's eyes widened when he heard that sentence. That can't be right!
That can't be!
It's all a joke!
A cruel, horrible, mean joke!
He didn't go through all of the hell with 5 more children so he could be told that the 2 people that loved and cared from him are dead.
That wasn't possible.
It can't be.
He dropped to his knees, tears going down on his face, harder than ever before, the people that he loved were gone out of his life forever and not even the last words he ever told them was something special.
He didn't even tell them that he loved them, but no! He said what he wanted for dinner!
As he was continuing to cry, his grandparents knelt down and hugged their grandson.
He will miss them.
He will truly miss them.
Authors Note:
Alright and done with the first chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter and sorry that there was no duel in this, I really wanted to do this without one since it wouldn't really fit.
Alright, I am going to explain to everyone why I am doing this story, well there is one reason and one reason only: I love Soulburner and Vrains. Both of them show almost everything that I like about a character and a show. The story, the journey, the characters, their personality is everything that I love about characters so I wanted to write this story.
The duels will be tough to write since even the writer of the duels said that this was the toughest one to write about the duels.
I wanted to make this as long as I could make it and it is around 7k and without a duel, that is impressive and I am happy with that result.
Seigen Futai is an OC that I created for this specific fanfic because I need a Kolter/Kusanagi for this season and I made the perfect one since Soulburner doesn't know 2 dollars worth of knowledge about computers and Kiku doesn't seem like one. His deck is Nephthys while Kiku's deck is Ice Barrier.
I have a question, which Topolgina monster should I replace for Zeroboros in the season finale? I do want a Salamangreat Tuner and Synchro monster, so I would like to take some suggestions.
That is about all and enjoy the show!