Troubles In The Horizon

Joachim groggily opened his eyes. They hurt, same as his head. He had finished late yesterday, and it didn't help that he stayed thinking about the matters of his previous life for a good while the night before.

He reached for his pocket, taking out the card of his yellow companion. The artwork glowed for a bit before dimming down. Even without speaking to him, he was sure that Ra was offended that he was not used for a Duel; and not just any Duel, but the first one he had in this world.

"Don't worry. I will be sure to play you against those Academia soldiers." First, though, he would have to learn how to use a Duel Disk and obtain one too. Hopefully, he would get one from either Gloria or Grace, maybe from both.

There was also the matter with those rogues XYZ Duelists that he saw yesterday. 'I would have to go and meet them. If they require help to defeat those ugly cosplayers I should aid them too... Though, I will also have to kick them out of this dimension doesn't matter if I do it the good or bad way.'

Maybe their own dimension was suffering from the atrocities of war, and there were Academia soldiers still holding that place hostage, but staying here literally in the home of their enemy was not any better.

He didn't know if they thought they were doing something heroic. "I am creating distractions here and taking on as many of those bastards as I can to lessen the burden our city is withstanding." that sort of stuff. Whatever the case, it was foolish.

He was almost sure those members of the Resistance were aware that they couldn't do much on their own right from the get-go. However, they were mistaken in something. Different from their likely thinking, they were not a group of insects that would kill someone as long as they bit them enough times. No, they were just a moderately cold breeze that, while a bit annoying, was nothing to worry about.

Academia's numbers seemed to be endless, and they always attacked in groups. Even so, when something truly bothered the man called Akaba Leo, he would send the 'big guns' to deal with it, not his generic goons.

It might be true that Grace and Gloria, two of the most powerful duelists at the bald man's disposal were here, that was just a mere coincidence as they were only visiting. To sum everything up, they were unimportant and were only delaying their inevitable fates.

'That said, I don't discard the possibility of those two sisters going to solve the matters once and for all now that they are here.'

'Why are you so interested in saving them? They hold no value to what is to come.' The card in his hand returned to glow, this time with greater intensity than before. In the outside world, Ra always contacted him through his card every time he wanted to speak about something.

'Maybe so. It is what I should be doing nonetheless.' If the monsters' question sounded like an accusation, then Joachim's tone reflected very clearly that he wasn't even trying to defend himself.

'Should be doing? I was not wrong in my assessment it seems.' There was a certain pride in his voice, more than usual at least.

'The one where you said that if I were to be a Duel Monster, I would be Machine-Type?' It was a random conversation they had had previously. He didn't even remember how it came up, but apparently, he was labeled as such with no hesitation whatsoever.

'Exactly. You do things that are expected of you, not out of the goodness of your heart, but because you think that is how a human should behave.' Joachim showed no surprise at that. He already knew, more than anyone, how he was.

'Perhaps. You also said that you didn't know why I was chosen, yet I think it has to do with my way of being. For better or for worse, I won't crumble down when it comes to making the hardest choices, nor I will be a power-hungry individual. Simply because my ambitions and desires died long ago.' It was just a hypothesis—one that he knew wasn't entirely correct, yet that didn't mean it had no truths on it either.

'An interesting observation. However, the truth of it is still up to debate.' To no one's surprise, he was being cryptic about things. Joachim could swear beings like him had to be an officially recognized trope by this point.

'A debate I don't want to form part of right now.' He informed his companion while he removed his head from the pillow and proceed to sit on the bed.

'That is respectable. There is something you ought to comply with first, though.' Probably because Ra also did not want to touch the subject, he decided to switch to another topic.

'What is it?' He doubted Ra would ask for the impossible, so hearing him out wouldn't cost him anything.

'If you have to defend those weakling humans from those you call Grace and Gloria, you WILL use me.' It was more of an ultimatum than it was a request.

'You know, if I were to look at you right now, I bet you would look like my dog every time he wanted me to take him for a walk. Whatever, I don't see the reason why not. They already know my Blue-Eyes Deck anyway, so it's not like I can use it again. You will have to hide me with your mystic nonsense as to not be recognized by my appearance, however.' He didn't know if this was like Superman that just with a pair of glasses no one seemed to recognize him. It was better to be safe than sorry and ask for his partner's help in concealing him.

'For the good of our mission, I will ignore the first part. THIS time. As for your request, consider it done.' The card stopped glowing after that, and everything returned to tranquility.

Joachim sighed wrily as he knew that Ra wouldn't harm him even if he were to say that to him every day of the week. While he acted high and mighty, he probably felt a bit guilty deep, deep, deeeeeep down for bringing someone unrelated to this whole mess, even if it wasn't his fault as far as the youngster knew.

Shaking his head, he got up from his bed and headed out of his temporary room. It was still pretty early yet, but he was used to waking up and do some things at this hour.

When he arrived at the living room next to the kitchen, no one was there just as he thought. If Big Momma — he should ask for her real name — didn't like to get up early, he doubted her daughters did.

With nothing particularly important to do, Joachim went to make himself a coffee. A little exploration was in order today, so he had to be rather awake for that. Who knows, maybe he could knock out an unaware Academia soldier and steal his Duel Disk.

'Why do I feel like I am becoming a thug with each passing day...' A week ago that wouldn't have crossed his mind, but now it somewhat seemed like a plausible idea. He just hoped murder wasn't next on the list of his quote-unquote "brilliant plans".

His breakfast went by with him thinking about different approaches to what he was about to do. Eventually, he decided to just wing it and hope for the best. He wasn't some sort of trained soldier or the like. While he possessed common sense and knew what things he should avoid doing, inexperience would only end up messing with his planning if he had any.

The only thing he would have to worry about would be how to catch one soldier alone—something that would be quite difficult considering they always walked in a set of three.

When he was done, Joachim wrote a note saying he would be going for a walk and that he would be back before launch. He had already done this before, so it wouldn't come as a surprise, at least to the older woman, and she could always explain to them anyway.

The mornings were usually cold, so he put on a black hooded jacket that Big Momma had bought him. It would also help him conceal himself in case he needed it if only a bit. He had Ra's agreement to aid him with that, but being extra careful would not hurt.

As he exited the house, Joachim took notice of how few passersby littered the streets. It was a little over seven in the morning, so that could be justified. Unfortunately, a big part of those that WERE walking around were Academia soldiers.

'As usual, let's try to be as inconspicuous as possible.' With that in mind, the dark-skinned male put both hands in his pockets and began to walk without minding his surroundings on the outside.

He remembered the general direction of where the last fight he saw had taken place, so he knew the path he had to take. To avoid being too obvious in his endeavor, though, he decided to make a detour.

Despite the seemingly relaxed appearances of the generic goons, he knew they were very attentive to anything that could look remotely out of place. Joachim already had seen them stopping some people along the way to ask them for some information.

From what he could eavesdrop, the questions were along the lines of: "Have you seen any suspicious people recently?" or "Did you happen to notice someone with ragged clothes nearby?", etc.

The inquiries they did kind of stereotyped the residents of the XYZ Dimension, yet it was true that after the invasion the state of their attire was the least concerning thing. Survival was their top priority, anything else was irrelevant. If you took out their desire to get revenge, of course.

"Stop right there!" A sudden shout caught his attention, causing him to come to a halt. 'Of course.' He thought. Nothing was magically turning him invisible, so it was only a matter of time before he got questioned.

Turning in the direction of the voice, Joachim was met with a pair of two—a man and a woman. The former was wearing a yellow jacket, while the latter adorned a blue one. They weren't wearing the typical mask, leaving their faces in the open, and truth be told, they were unremarkable. It was just what you would expect from mob characters.

He didn't know why, but apparently, Ra could tell the level of the male Duelist. And having the aforementioned guy compared to his "grandiose self" was the utter shame of a lifetime. Joachim was also clueless about how he could feel what his card was feeling.

"Yes? What do you need?" Ignoring his companion, for now, the blonde-haired youth focused on the duo. He tried to keep his tone as neutral as possible to betray no emotions that he could be possibly be feeling right now.

"Sorry to interrupt your walk, but have you spotted anything outside the norm recently?" The one who spoke was the Obelisk Blue girl, probably because she had a high standing considering the color of her jacket.

"Apart from your military occupation? None that I can think of. Though, I have heard rumors about some 'delinquents' going around and causing problems." Both frowned in equal measure at the first part of his sentence, clearly disagreeing with him.

This time it was the male who took the reins of the conversation. "We are not occupying anything. What we do is only to protect our people."

"...Right..." Joachim looked at them a bit skeptically, and part of it was not an act. He was obviously playing the role of the guy dissatisfied and upset with this type of movement. Going with the most natural reaction in this scenario was the best he could think of. A bit risky, but effective nonetheless.

"Forget it. Discussing this is pointless." The woman interjected before things could escalate further. The male looked frustrated at Joachim's attitude, but not to the point of getting angry about it.

"What do you know of these delinquents?" She asked again, returning to what competed them. It was clear by her tone that she had done this too many times, and the stress was starting to pile up.

"Only hearsay. That they rebelled from your children's game school, taking something important with them and that's why you are chasing them down. Some other rumors say they failed to get into your little playhouse, and are now causing problems in retaliation. In other words, they are rejects. That is as far as I've heard. I am not interested in that sort of stuff." Despite bullshitting like never before, he kept a straight face. The desire to laugh was there, though.

"It's not a children game! And that is obviously not true! Aren't you a Duelist as well?! Then don't insult it like that!" Surprisingly, it was not the guy the one who shouted, but the girl instead. Even her companion seemed surprised at her outburst.

"I am not a so-called... 'Duelist'. I prefer to get a real job and not live off my parent's money, thank you very much." The only thing keeping him from laughing out loud was the tension that was palpable in the air. Joachim didn't know if it was the body he inhabited, but he was sure that if he was in his original one, he wouldn't have been able to keep the charade going.

"Ignore this guy, Tanya. He obviously doesn't know anything. We are better off looking somehwere else." Knowing that this could turn pretty ugly, her companion grabbed her shoulders, motioning for her to let the matter go.

Reluctantly, she did so. Not without forgetting to give the dark-skinned youth the stink eye, though.

As he watched them walk away, Joachim finally let a smirk show on his face, along with an almost inaudible sigh of relief. Tension slowly left his shoulders with it, as, even though he appeared to be relaxed, the truth was slightly different.

'God, that was intense.' In spite of the exchange being a short-lived one, the possibility of being found out had him a bit on edge. If they had asked for more personal questions like where was he from or stuff like that he wouldn't have known how to respond in the act. He'd have had to answer truthfully just to not delay his answer, and if they investigated a bit, they would have found his background was suspicious at the very least.

Shaking his head to get the conversation out of his head, Joachim resumed his walk. He couldn't wait for the moment where he could just Duel his problems away like everyone did. No convoluted plans, no more thinking about possible scenarios that could go wrong. Just plain "Duel me and let's get this over with."

As if the Academia students were communicating with each other or something, no one stopped him again to make questions, as if they already knew he, well, knew nothing.

Nearing the location in his memories, he could suddenly feel the shift in the atmosphere. It was like entering a nighbourhood known for its level of danger. Everything screamed 'Get away from here.'

It was also then when he felt a sudden hot sensation against the back of his neck. "Don't move Academia scum or things will get pretty ugly."

Another sigh escaped his lips. 'Here we go again...'