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Post by Johnson Conrad on Oct 23, 2009 12:12:19 GMT -5
Walking along the factory district, two weeks after his run in with Arcueid. Winning the Shadow Duel was rather unsavory. The duel reminded him of World War II in a way. The young woman was German, while he was an American. His life was chronicled by violence, and three prominent figures in his life of violence were Germany, Italy and Japan.
Funny how he was going to die in Japan, the same country that was one of his enemies, yet now the last of his family. Daichi Nagato allowed him to trust Japan as a whole, he was a good kid. It was sad to see his wife, daughter and son being slain. Than there was James, the grandson that was untouched by the bullets, and was raised by him. Right now, James had a great job, a lovely wife and a sweet and beautiful child.
Funny, a disease that ran in his family's blood for so many generations was finally going to take effect. A disease that would overtake those in their forties. He has lasted long before it took him, but it got him at a point of no return. But he refused to succumb to this disease, he would die in combat. The Shadow Duelists were his ticket to death, and he knew he was going to bite off much more than he could chew. Oh well, as long as the death was there, he was alright with that.
There are those who stay safe, and those that take risks. Usually the risk takers are morons. However, does that mean that the old man was just another moron? The thing about risk takers is that they recognize few of the many risks that they are about to take. But Johnson knows well what the risks of Shadow Dueling are, and that is why he is going for it. He sees this as the way to make his death wish come true.
The old man approaches a factory, an old factory he once went to in 1985. The day he and James had met Zuna Kasanaga, a beautiful Japanese woman. After some dating, they had fallen in love and got married. They even had a grandson, Shinji. Shinji was a great kid to him, he even went as far as giving him training he had gotten in the war. However, Shinji and Johnson would not see each other again. This was the saddest part about this, they would not be able to say goodbye in person. This caused the hardened veteran to shed a few tears of sorrow.
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Post by Zephyrus Dunavant on Oct 24, 2009 8:36:24 GMT -5
Industrial Illusions. As much as Zephyrus disliked the spotlight of dueling professionally, he did very much enjoy dueling. His mind just functioned better on that level, and he was happy to take his lumps from beating the challengers that somehow crossed his path. Just two year ago, Zephyrus was the highly touted graduate of Duel Academy, the great coup—the crown jewel—of Industrial Illusion’s sponsorship class. They had managed to outbid a dozen other multimillion dollar corporations to sponsor the dueling prodigy.
But that was ancient history.
The current Zephyrus had shrunk into anonymity before he became a household name. And of those few dueling purists who swore that they recognized him, Zephyrus usually played a very convincing game of denial. As he exited the massive sliding glass doors of Industrial Illusions corporation, he felt a great relief, as if he had finally closed that botched chapter in his life. He could enjoy the successes of his magnetic sister, Adelphie, as she carved through the dueling ranks with incredible vigor. Breathing deeply from the outside air, Zephyrus was able to turn and stride down the sidewalk with a faint smile and a spirited face.
The road through the industrial district was long and often difficult. Most people would have hailed a cab or shirked off to avoid the potentially unsavory areas in the city. But Zephyrus was far from most people. He walked down the street with surprising and intimidating confidence, as he knew he was not the typical passerby. He was armed to the teeth, had remarkable skills in self-defense, was about as gifted a duelist as there ever was, and had the power of the shadow realm should he ever need to use it. With a modest smirk, Zephyrus continued to traverse through the Old Industrial district, past the crumbling factories and old warehouses that had fallen into disrepair.
The Old Industrial district usually deterred any foot traffic, and it was generally rare to see anyone walking about. But as Zephyrus moved through the quarter, he came across one other figure that also lacked mechanical means of transportation. He paused briefly to glance at the man, but his legs never stopped churning as he strode past him. What a curious chap, choosing to spend his moments in this borough reminiscing on past days.
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Post by Johnson Conrad on Oct 24, 2009 10:18:53 GMT -5
Noticing the figure that walked past him, and he looked interesting. Could he know about Shadow Dueling, where a Shadow Duelist could be found and one of high caliber? He didn't want to survive to die of a disease, so he sighed. He said "Excuse me, I have questions for you." He looked like someone that would have come from that one school, Duel Academia.
He had heard about students at the scene of a crime. The one with the broken tablet, strange it sounded. That night, two artifacts were stolen from the museum. One of them being The Jaw of Anubis and the other being a solid gold brick. Both of them were Shadow Charms, and that would mean two more Shadow Duelists. However, this man may have answers to his quest.
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Post by Zephyrus Dunavant on Oct 24, 2009 19:12:08 GMT -5
“Questions for me?” Zephyrus paused and looked away curiously, but only slowed his walking instead of stopping altogether. His slowed movements, but keen attentiveness only seemed to invite the old man to walk alongside him in order to ask the questions. Intuitively, Zephyrus just had the sense that this person would somehow be the type to speak up and try to interrupt him. There was just something about him that drew the Shadow Duelist’s attention as someone who would try to meddle in his affairs. When he finally chose to spoke and talk to him, Zephyrus’s intuition once again proved to be correct.
Why he felt that he would have answers for him he didn’t know. Maybe he was a beggar that wanted some money from him, or maybe he was lost and needed some directions. There were a host of reasons for someone to approach and Zephyrus was not particularly interested in guessing at them ahead of time.
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Post by Johnson Conrad on Oct 24, 2009 19:44:14 GMT -5
The old man looked at the young man before him. "Well, you seem to be a staffer at Duel Academia. What would you know about the Shadow Duelists?" he asked. Hopefully he was correct in his assumption that the Academia Staff had information about Shadow Duelists. "Call me a selfish old coward, but I'm going to die in about six months. I have this disease, but its not at all how I want to die. I've lived a life of violence, a life of war. And now I've declared war on them."
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Post by Zephyrus Dunavant on Oct 24, 2009 19:50:55 GMT -5
“I seem to be a staffer at Duel Academy?” Zephyrus quirked an eyebrow. His clothing and appearance hardly distinguished himself as a Duel Academy staff, so why wondered how he would surmise that he was from the academy. It was entirely possible that he knew a lot more than he was letting on, and Zephyrus was not one that was easily played the fool. He released a wry smile as his story unfolded. Something just seemed so old-fashioned and noble, yet so inglorious at the same time. Why would he bother to declare a war on something as vague ‘shadow duelists’? Unless they were causing trouble, doing so would be nothing but a pointless exercise.
He was selfish. Selfish for using other individuals for his own entertainment. If he was so concerned about living out the last few months of his life, he should go travel, go skydive, go put a bullet in his brain. Instead, Zephyrus practically yawned at the thought, he wanted to go around and use shadow duelists as a scratching post. It was almost cute in that perverse, unusual way. After pausing a moment to pretend like he gave it some serious thought, he simply nodded, “Good luck with that.”
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Post by Johnson Conrad on Oct 24, 2009 20:34:48 GMT -5
"Allow me to explain myself, boy." he said with a saddened look. "A life of violence should end violently, and the Shadow Duelists use Duel Monsters as a form of combat. My aim is to die at their hands." This was his true aim, it was selfish, but to him fitting. This was no form of entertainment, just a final mission to him. "Do you have any information on finding some?" he asked. Joy was no longer for him, after losing his wife and daughter, and Daichi to those damned fools, he could barely feel joy. With James and Shinji enjoying life somehow, he was alone.
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Post by Zephyrus Dunavant on Oct 24, 2009 20:42:51 GMT -5
The old man unfortunately neglected to answer his question. Apparently he just ‘seemed’ like an academy staff member, against all logic other. Despite having left the Industrial Illusions building, despite being in the middle of the Old Industrial sector in Domino, despite not wearing anything to distinguish himself a Duel Academy staff member, he just ‘seemed’ like a staff member. He glanced away. The flash of annoyance only served to make it less likely that Zephyrus would reveal anything of importance.
What he got in exchange was an explanation, an explanation did little to change things. Zephyrus still felt his world view as pointlessly rigid and outdated. Just because he lived a life of violence does not mean that he has to perpetuate the cycle. How would that make him any different than the shadow duelists that used Duel Monsters as instruments of war? A moment of solemnity passed his face, but it did not last long. His usual slight charming grin returned, and he nodded in response to his explanation. If that was how he wanted to live his life, Zephyrus could do nothing to change it.
“I may have seen some,” he replied whimsically in between long strides of his legs, “but since they don’t mark themselves on their foreheads, I wouldn’t know who they are.”
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Post by Johnson Conrad on Oct 24, 2009 21:14:40 GMT -5
When he might have information, but 'they don't mark themselves,' he responded "Hardy-fucking-har!" I know they don't, what kind of a person with such feared power would?" Common sense would tell him that such power is elusive by nature. "Sorry, but any information is good information. May I please hear you out?" He was hell bent on finding them to be killed.
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Post by Zephyrus Dunavant on Oct 24, 2009 21:18:08 GMT -5
“I doubt I can be of much assistance,” he replied politely. Zephyrus was not the type of person to stick around while others harassed him with question after question. It was just one of those things that he figured he would terminate quickly. Besides, he did not keep a record of where the other shadow duelists were. In fact, he doubted that Johnson would be able to find them even if Zephyrus presented information on them. The only thing he could do was ask each individual person and hope he turns out to be a shadow duelist. Disease could take him before he made much progress there.
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Post by Johnson Conrad on Oct 25, 2009 18:39:50 GMT -5
"Still, I'd rather search for my death than do wither in an old home. Whatever information you can supply will be helpful." he said. He was clearly desperate to get any information on Shadow Duelists he can. "Oh, forgive me for answering late, but its just. . . . instinct." Answering the question about why he looks like a Duel Academia staffer. "And I saw your image in a newspaper, that Headmistress Force left and Gale took over."
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Post by Zephyrus Dunavant on Oct 25, 2009 18:56:03 GMT -5
Maybe senility made the old man forget how to use the English language. Zephyrus clearly recalled that the old veteran said that he ‘seemed’ like an academy staffer. Evidently, he must have skipped the identification process altogether just to claim that Zephyrus was a member of the academy staff. Fortunately, this also gave him a lot of wiggle room regarding the details. Had the old man actually thought everything through, it would have been a different story.
“I’m sorry,” he said curtly without breaking his stride, “I already told you that I could be of no assistance. I think you have the wrong guy.”
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Post by Johnson Conrad on Oct 25, 2009 19:08:43 GMT -5
"Right, than I've wasted enough time here. I'll head to the Duel Academia, maybe I can effectively search there." he said. He then started to walk away. He has a gun in his bag, and he could be a potential danger to the students. If he were really a staff member, than he might try to protect the island. Obviously this guy may prove to be a danger. He is dead set on his death wish, and may just go to extremes to achieve it.
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Post by Zephyrus Dunavant on Oct 25, 2009 20:21:38 GMT -5
As much as it may have been a concern that some raving old lunatic with a gun would show up on campus, the school was also the type that… somehow allowed students with katanas and sniper rifles to enter their midst. Besides, as old as he was, there was simply no way for him to go incognito, and the students and staff would immediately be alerted to his presence. Zephyrus had nothing to worry about, and settled for simply calling his bluff. Even if he were to go down ‘fighting’ on duel academy, there were probably a number of people at the school who could beat him.
“Good luck getting past security,” he shrugged as he called back, allowing the man to walk a good distance away before moving to leave himself.
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Post by Johnson Conrad on Oct 28, 2009 12:45:52 GMT -5
When the old man heard Zephy say 'good luck getting past security', he grinned. "I don't even need to do something to arouse them. There is always Professor Amy Morrison there to tell me what she knows." He had planned on talking to the good professor. However, the encounter with Zephy was random, so he couldn't quite handle himself this time. "Good day, boy." he said, heading towards the docks.
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