AN - 7th September 2014: My life has been so hectic lately I even forgot to write. Sorry for not replying to all your messages as of late, I'm literally a zombie right now. Thesis...oh, thesis... So so sorry if this chapter looks raw; it's still unedited.

Do review please. Your words are the source of my motivation.

*~ Calcine ~*

Chapter 3

Starring: The Enforcers

Genre: Action-Adventure / Friendship

Rating: T

Time Setting: Prior to Tag Force 4

A Prequel to: Bond

Prompted by / Requested by: Sky3 Spearmaster / Hades378

Type: Multichapter

That morning what greeted Kiryu was the faint scent of something roasted, and the sound of something falling to the ground. Sleepily he rose from his bed, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Leaning by the window with a chicken meat in one hand was Crow, whose eyes were directed at the vacant lot beneath. "Smells delish," Kiryu mumbled as he walked to his friend's side.

"Yusei found a hunk of cheap meat at the Junk-Q," he said, referring to one of the famous underground markets around the Sector.

"What morning show are you enjoying?" Kiryu asked. He followed the finger Crow jerked downwards and found Satou and Jack practicing hand-to-hand combat below. Well. Not exactly a fair combat, to be noted. Satou, although quite tall, was no comparison to Jack's height and built. Not to mention that one had all the muscles developed from living a rough life for all his years. Circling each other, they looked more like a kid and an ogre.

"Those bruises're gonna be hurt by tomorrow," Kiryu said, cringing, when they launched themselves at each other.

Jack's fist missed Satou's face only by several inches, but when the guy attempted to use the opening for a counter attack with a punch of his own, it was easily blocked by the blond. In return Jack used Satou's strength against his own to grab the incoming fist, yanked him to the side, and connected his knee with Satou's back, sending him stumbling forward. Jack wasn't the type to let things wrap up on his own though. So instead of letting him recover for another round, he grabbed Satou's collar and attempted for another ruthless attack. It was by, perhaps, sheer luck that Satou could free himself by tackling Jack.

Too weak, Kiryu thought. The attack didn't even budge against Jack's tree-trunk-like legs. To top that, it was a second too slow too. Jack had seen that coming, and it only added to another counter punch from him.

Crow bit onto his breakfast and munched noisily. "I hwear he'z onhee uh-fuh foh hiz hoo-hin' hihz."

Kiryu needed not an interpreter; he'd known Crow for months after all. 'I swear he's only useful for his cooking skills,' was what he'd said. Kiryu almost agreed to that. "He's learning," he tried to reason.

"In a super-slow rate."

"At least he doesn't lose his breath at the smallest feats."

"Nu-uh. Still gets tired too easily. I guess I'll see what will happen if I dump all the chores to him. Y'know, he could use some training to upgrade his stamina and endurance."

Kiryu laughed. "Clever."

"Aren't I always?" Crow began licking his fingers that were covered with brown liquid that seemed like the source of the tempting scent that had roused Kiryu earlier. "Try the meat. He's managed to turn this and that into an incredible sauce. And don't gimme that 'cut the guy some slack' look. You're too lenient on him. Just go down and eat your breakfast before I wipe 'em clean."

Kiryu wanted to say that it had only been a month, but knew that arguing with Crow was the start of a never-ending bickering. "I will," was all he said then, before he simply left the spiky head to his own entertainment and went downstairs.

Awaiting him was a plate of the promised breakfast of cooked meat with sauce. Kiryu grabbed a fork and inspected the food. Perfectly cooked, the meat, and the dripping liquid that smelled of onions and ketchup and tomato was making his mouth water. He tasted it, relished in the exquisite taste, then frowned.

That guy hid too many things. Everyone in Satellite never bat an eyelash towards strangers with fake IDs. But this one was drawing his interest. In almost everything they had taught and shown him, he seemed to only know the basics of things if cooking was eliminated from the list. He got tired so easily by the simplest manual labour, unknowledgeable in almost everything about daily chores, yet persistent. Sure, he could duel, knew his way around some good tactics and duel disks too, but that was it. No other apparent skills that could be of any use were he to be left alone.

Kiryu had seriously thought that the guy wouldn't have lasted a week in Satellite, but he'd managed, miraculously. Was it luck, he wondered. Or sheer determination to survive? Hmm. Maybe both.

The radio that'd been playing caught his attention. The station was broadcasting news about a recent arrest of smugglers. That reminded him of his adversary, Tanaka Yasuhiko, the leading man of the Fiery Tigers. Ever since their loss a month ago, there had been no news about him and his gang. They had opted to stay low, apparently.

But until when?

Everything in Satellite was governed by rules of the wilderness. If one didn't hunt, he would be the prey. The Enforcers had been moving slow and steady, conquering one area after the other that they had almost governed half of the Satellite by now. But still. Tanaka Yasuhiko wasn't a person who would back down after losing once or twice. The Fiery Tigers were still in control over a few strategic areas and routes, and Kiryu also suspected that they had some smaller gangs under their clutches too.

He finished his breakfast then went to where Satou and Jack were sparring. Satou was laying on the ground, arms and legs sprawled, chest rising and falling from exhaustion. Jack didn't look slightly affected. "That was an improvement," Kiryu said as he walked to Satou's side. "No broken bones this time, right?" He helped the guy up.

"No," Satou said. There were bruises all over his body though.

Jack snorted. "You're still sloppy. Your footwork is lame. And not to mention..."

At the long after-sparring lecture Jack was launching into, Satou was smart enough by not responding with words. He was methodically checking his wounds, and was offering stiff nods at Jack's points. Kiryu kept his expression blank, though the beginnings of snickers were threatening to spill. Jack always took the task of taking care of others seriously. Too seriously. In his own bizarre way. At this very moment, they truly looked like a giant mother-bear and her lost son.

After Jack was done with his speech, Kiryu cleared his throat. "Well, I believe now you've improved a lot more after taking into heart our great tutor's advices."

Again with his stiff nod. Kiryu, ignoring Jack's glare, smiled and beckoned for them to follow him into the garage. He tossed a rag and a bottle of water to Satou, then grabbed a PDA which he had stolen from another gang's basecamp not too long ago. "Look," he said. He a series of encrypted message on the monitor to the two.

"What are these? Codes?" asked Jack.

"Yeah. Found it just a week ago when I was hacking into a private server, 've been working over it night 'n day, finally got the meaning just last night. Lost half of my sleeping hours."

"What's it about?" Satou asked. He'd emptied the content of the bottle in two big gulps.

"Addresses," Kiryu said. "It seems like our Tiger friends are still lurking about behind our backs. They have a few bases underground. Neat, huh."

Understanding dawned in Jack's eyes. "The pipelines."

"Exactly." Myriads of pipelines were sprawled underneath the island, some of them had been closed off, some had not but yielded greater danger of falling apart in the slightest tremor. Rumors said they were connected to the ones beneath the Neo Domino, but none had survived the maze to prove them true. "Great place for sewer rats. Apparently for wounded tigers too."

"Wait. You said you were hacking into a private server?" Satou asked. Kiryu almost grinned at this.

"The SS'. You see, they have branches everywhere, one of which is in the Satellite to monitor us night and day. Monitoring might be their job, but I assure you it's more of patrolling and ransacking. They're good-for-nothing guys who have too much time on their hands and think too highly of themselves."

"Or maybe just cursing their fate for being stationed here," added Jack with a snort.

Satou looked puzzled. "Which means that those people are on the SS' list?"

No, it meant far more than that, Kiryu suspected. But he could yet confirm his suspicion so he simply shrugged. "Could be. Could be more too."

Satou was frowning, a sign that he too was thinking towards the same direction Kiryu's mind did. But he said nothing, so Kiryu turned to Jack and said, "Got some free time after lunch?"

The tall man moved a hand to his hip. Jack would always be ready for some action. "What's the plan?"

"Storm into the cave, look for a nice catch, loot, burn, then flee."

Those purple orbs glinted. "Simple and to the point. I like it."

"True to our fashion." Kiryu turned to raise his eyebrows at Satou. "You coming?"

"Yeah."

Kiryu smiled inwardly when he knew he had baited the guy's curiosity when there was no moment of hesitation in his reply.

xx - 5D's - xx

Just an hour before the sun set, the three had gone underground, using one of the many entries to the tunnels that only a few would consider going through. The underground pipelines were not only infamous for their seemingly unending pathways that could lead a man blind, but also for the rotten stench and unmentionable fluids that flowed down there. Kiryu had to still himself for a good one minute to get used to the dimness and dizzying scent of decay. Jack had omitted a litany of curses upon smelling it, and Satou, Kiryu swore, had almost fainted on the spot. Even as minutes had passed by and their senses had beginning to befriend the sensations, Kiryu would still steal a glance every minute or two to make sure the guy was still behind him. He'd said nothing, but his face looked paler than a zombie.

The digital map that was their only guide towards finding one of the bases was telling them that a short ten minutes of walking was all that they needed. In the darkness that was only lit by a pair of flashlights they brought along with them, Kiryu could see the changes in environment: the foul stench somewhat decreasing, the narrow paths on both sides of the stream of black water a little bit cleaner-a sign that people had passed by the route quite frequently.

But it was strange. Even after they followed the dot on the map and took a detour around the area, there was none to be found. No secret lairs, no chambers whatsoever. Fifteen minutes of searching blindlessly had been a futile attempt.

Jack was beginning to complain. "Maybe the map's not accurate? Or did you hack into the wrong server?"

Kiryu was only half listening, his mind and attention diverted. "Maybe." He didn't stop walking and probing the wall beside him with his fingers, hoping that somehow it would lead them into a secret door or mechanism or something.

He heard a grunt of surprise/disgust from Satou. "What is it?" he asked, glancing behind.

"No. Just stumbled upon something," came the reply. His voice was strained.

Kiryu spared him some guesses of what it could be (ranging from a dead mice to things that were worse), and kept on walking. Poor guy. He really needed more time to adjust to life in Satellite. "Ignore it," he said, "and don't look if you want to keep your lunch in your stomach."

"Wait," Satou said.

"Found something fancier than a dead sewer rat?" Jack asked.

"I think so…"

Kiryu turned around and approached Satou, who was kneeling with his hands skimming the floor. His hands moved about, cleaning thick, sticky pool of black fluid… Satou's head snapped up, eyes widening. "I think there's something here."

Kiryu peered closer and helped to scrub at the floor with his boot. Indeed there was something. The material beneath his foot was not of cement but steel. He angled the flashlight in his hand as Jack's shadow loomed over them. "Is that a trap door?" the blond asked.

It did look like one. Made of rusty steel, with a latch as small as a palm of a child's hand. No wonder they'd missed it. "Great job," Kiryu grinned at Satou.

The guy scowled at his black-stained hands. "I'll wash with a bag of detergent after this."

Kiryu laughed. "We all will," he said as he opened the trap door, which was surprisingly light though it creaked dangerously. He stayed still and listened for any sounds or voices below. Nope. There was no one down there. Or at least he hoped so. He gripped the handlebars and got his feet on the stairs. "I'll get in first," he said to his companions. "Follow after me in five minutes. I'll notify you guys if there's any danger."

Jack nodded but Satou only stared. No wonder. He was not yet accustomed to their style of infiltration. "There's nothing I can't handle," he winked at Satou as he put his flashlight between his teeth.

The stairs didn't let him descend too far. Within seconds his feet had found solid ground. Kiryu looked around in the semi darkness. To his relief there was nobody down there but him. He was in a room about ten meters square, filled with stacks of boxes, machine parts, and several other things that looked like looted junks. There were two doors at opposing sides of the walls that he suspected would lead him to another tunnel and base. At a corner, there was an old desk with a computer on it. He walked to the desk and tried to activate the computer.

It was still working. The monitor flashed to life, and Kiryu quickly bypassed the security system.

He accessed the main folder, and in that several articles and more folders. Sector Security Database, The Ener-D System, and more folders about storehouses Kiryu knew were victims to the Fiery Tigers' greed. Kiryu narrowed his eyes at the symbol of Neo Domino's Sector Security. His wild guesses had been right then Those bastards really had some sort of connection to the SS. They might even be working hand to hand while pursuing different ends. The SS would simply want to keep the Satellite isolated, locked, and under surveillance, while the Tigers would benefit from the security of siding with the government as they played the underlings who did the dirty work.

Fitting, he thought with contempt. Puppeteers the governors were. And the puppets would truly go great lengths in ensuring "security."

He copied all the contents of the folders to the disk he'd brought. These would be all he needed for now. There were maps and details of the shipment of supplies, plans and databases of things he knew he would need if he wished to dive deep.

A document caught his eye. It was placed within a folder that contained information about the ships and cargos the Tigers had laid their hands upon. Intrigued, he opened the most recently updated one.

Names and personal information of the people aboard appeared on the monitor. The ship was remarkably small, only boarding forty seven people including its crews. It was supposed to dock in Neo Domino for one brief day before setting off to a region at the far north. He re-checked the date of its designated arrival, and realization struck him.

Satou. It must've been the ship he boarded.

True enough, as he scrolled down the list of names, he found the guy's name along with his photo and passport ID. Something was lacking. 'Osamu' was written there, but there was no family name.

On the ID number a link was attached. Stranger still. He clicked it, and it directed him to a new window.

A profile of 'Osamu Ryudou' was shown.

Kiryu's smile grew as he read. That jerk… All of his suspicions about the guy were proven true. Starting from his reluctance to use his real name, his cluelessness about almost everything to his city kid behavior… Hah. Kiryu could understand why the guy had such a hard time adjusting. From riches to rags story really did exist.

A startling sound of metal meeting metal rang. A voice echoed. Jack's. His tone was urgent. "Get down!" It was soon followed by two figures, Jack and Satou, who leapt down to the room as the trapdoor clanged shut above them.

"Let's go! We've been found!"

Kiryu hastily unplugged the disc and checked his PDA. "Take the door to the left!"

Jack kicked it open, and they bolted through, voices of their captors rising from above and behind them.

"Damn it, how did they catch up so fast?" Kiryu spat. The path before them was pitch black and they were only relying on their instinct since using their flashlights was not an option, lest they wanted to be tracked down easily. The good news was, there was a branching line not too far ahead of them.

"Beats me," Jack replied. "What matters now is running away and out of this goddamned place!"

Couldn't agree more. They sprinted.

Frantic footsteps were drawing closer behind them, and Kiryu soon realized that their chasers had the advantage of playing in their own playground. No matter which route they'd take at the forked road, it was almost certain that they were going to be trapped eventually. Kiryu cursed.

"Which way?" Jack asked when the path started to twist.

Kiryu had not the time to reply. Instead it was Satou who said: "To the right!"

They didn't have a second to waste standing still, and as they ran, Kiryu cast a look at him. Satou didn't see it; he was running to the nearest wall, and crouched to work with something Kiryu couldn't see. "What're you-" Kiryu meant to ask, but was sushed down by a splitting sound of rusted gear and metal.

When he peered closer he finally saw what he was working on: an old pump.

Satou pulled the handle. Once. It didn't budge. Twice, thrice. A clicking sound, and Satou paused. "Uh-oh," he said.

Kiryu grabbed his collar just in time before two ventilation windows at both sides of the wall opened and black liquid sprouted.

The trio managed to avoid the mud of...black oil?...and ran along the pathway. In the seconds that followed they heard slapping sound and panicked screams, a sign that the Tigers had stepped on the oil and crashed over each other.

x

They had laughed when they'd been on the escape. They had successfully fooled the Tigers, and by taking a different route to go home, they'd also avoided their vandals.

Crow and Yusei had been livid. Well, Crow had been. Yusei had only glared mutely.

Kiryu had apologized for not involving them in the plan, saying that it'd been a pure whim thought randomly. The two had accepted his reasoning when they'd been presented with the information about the connections the Tigers had with the SS. The data and maps in the drive would help in their next move too.

He'd also kept silent about Satou's identity. Maybe he would talk about it later when the guy was alone. Knowing him, he would only get uncomfortable and defensive when the matter was brought up.

Night had fallen, and they had each gone to rest. Kiryu's mind couldn't stop turning in directions though. Curling under an old blanket, Kiryu let his anger finally eat on him. He curled his hands into fists, his muscles tensing.

Kiryu Kyosuke hadn't revealed the biggest thing he'd found to his friends: The governors' plan to exploit Satellite.

Those bastards had not been interested in simply locking the area. It had been a plan all along, their confinement. They were literally lab rats, so to speak. Put to the test by being pushed to the limits only for the experimenters to pick out the best who stayed around the longest. Psychic duelists, underground traders...they were all the governors were trying to sort through in hoping of finding the absolute best.

Everything had been a game all along, with their lives at stake. Kiryu shut his eyes as laughter-hysteria-bubbled inside him. This was insane. So they meant nothing to the people of Neo Domino if they couldn't survive, huh?

If that was so, then he knew just one way out of this devilish circle: he simply had to win the game. That simple. He would show them that they could become unpredictable variables in their plan. He'd let the world know that the Enforcers could climb out of this hellhole.

And the first thing they needed to do was baring their fangs. They'd need to conquer the whole area.