FA+
Shop
536
Views
Views
1
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Story / Fanart
Species Dog (Other)
Size 50 x 50
File Size 67.6 kB
Report this content
More from Cobalt_Raccoon
Clash in Duel World pt. 6∂ (The Real Rocky Balebone) Truth
Hey readers! Anthony Writer here with a new addition to the story.
Sorry it's been a while. I couldn't decide on which direction to go with this so I made two sets of Pt. 6 "The Real Rocky Balebone" in the forms of Truth (∂) and Lies (ß).
Also my classes are going well, but just like always they're taking up too much of my time.
You shouldn't be reading this story unless you've read this section first. (https://www.furaffinity.net/view/8657958/)
The Copyright information is there.
Clash in Duel World
Pt: 6∂ The Real Rocky Balebone: Truth
Marshal had been asleep for a long time. It was a pretty deep sleep as he hadn’t had much sleep the past few nights. Of course that was mostly my fault. I couldn’t help but stay up all night and drag the kitten down with me. But now he’s been asleep all night and was finally waking up. I couldn’t sleep myself. I had to make certain that I was the first person that he saw. Of course, Marshal felt this weight upon his chest as his eyes snapped open.
“Morning sunshine,” I barked. It took Marshal a moment to register where he was. He was in the hospital and on a bed with his canine roommate sitting on over of him. There was only one rational response to this for the twelve year old.
“AHH! Get off of me,” Marshal shot into the sitting position to push me off of him, but I jumped off the bed, “what the heck were you doing?”
“Watching you sleep,” I smiled, hiding Marshal’s surprise behind my back, “did you know that you purr when your ears are tickled?”
“You little weirdo,” Marshal snapped as he covered the ears on his bandaged head, “why would you…?”
Now Marshal had paused because I finally decided to show him what I had behind my back. I made certain that his favorite card was on the front, so that he’d know that it was his deck. Marshal stared at it in amazement.
“My Deck,” the kitten took his deck back and looked through it, “they’re all here.”
I just sat and grinned widely back at him. I wasn’t really sure why, but I somehow knew that we had just became friends for life. Or at least my younger mind thought that we did. Today, I know that we did. This was five years ago after all…
“But Doctor…,” Marshal paused as he couldn’t remember his doctor’s name, “I thought I lost them forever.”
“No way,” I said proudly, tapping the deck, “cards like these can never be gone forever.”
“Oh and why’s that?”
“Because they love their Duelist too much,” I grinned wide, “and it’s a really good deck too.”
“You peaked,” the feline snapped, holding his cards closer to his chest.
“Just a little,” I dug for my own deck, “here you can look through mine if you like.”
“No way,” Marshal pushed my cards back to me, “I never cheat.”
“But I was just trying to be fair,” I sniffled some tears, honestly I was ashamed of looking through it, but I had to make certain that it was his Deck. I still had six others that I needed to return to their proper owners too.
“Tell you what,” Marshal bit his lip as he thought out loud, “How about we duel? I win then I get to look through your deck.”
“And if I win…,” I asked looking up.
“Then you can have my pudding cups for a week.”
“Your on,” I leaped up to the foot of his bed and he pulled the tray in between us. I won of course, but I didn’t really care about the pudding. I made a new friend and for the first time, I didn’t have to pretend with him. I could be whoever I wanted to be and he wouldn’t be worried about the old me coming back… the old me…
He was finally behind me…
Today… in Duel World.
"So the transport system is based off Pokémon tech," Marshal asked. He was currently being wheeled through the underground passageways deep under Duel World by a nice looking nurse droid. He was feeling better, but Thunderbird insisted that he'd get a check up regardless.
"That's right. We've incorporated them into the entire park for emergencies and general transportation for our employees," Thunderbird explained on the way to the clinic, "It gives our employees no excuse for being late to their duties."
"So why didn't we just transport straight there," Rocky grumbled under his breath.
"Unfortunately the system still has some glitches," Thunderbird mentioned as he followed the nurse, "you don't want to use it too often at any given time."
Rocky could sense that the human was lying through his teeth, but he couldn't prove it. He also couldn't risk it when he didn't know where they all where, let alone how to get back to the surface.
"You seem to like technology yourself," Thunderbird pointed to Marshal's Holodisk watch, "that looks like it was hand made, Right?"
"Sure," Marshal smiled, raising the arm with the tech, "my family owns a scrap yard, so we get a ton of junk material to work with. This one is my 3rd model, but it's still needs a little fine tuning and I already have plans for version 4.0."
"Marshal," Rocky caught up closer to Marshal's bedside, "did you forget that this guy is the one who…?"
"You and I both know that I've had worse things done," Marshal paused as he looked up at Thunderbird, "besides, his deck says that he's trustworthy."
Rocky stopped as the floating mat made a sudden right turn into a clinic in this maze of hallways. Marshal didn't mean to, but that statement cut deep. It always hurt Rocky that Marshal trusted everyone more than he did the pup. Especially when Rocky was always so faithful and reliable. Lucky for Rocky, Thunderbird also remained outside with him. Otherwise the cat would have thought something was wrong. Rocky didn't want Marshal to worry even the slightest.
"So I take it that you two have known each other for a long time," Thunderbird asked.
"Shut up," Rocky pouted as he crossed his arms, "I know what you're doing, but it's not going to work."
"Okay then," Thunderbird took out his clipboard, "I won't bother with the insincere sweet talk. I always hate doing that. I expect you to do the same."
"I'm never fake with people."
"Is that so…," Thunderbird put the clipboard to his head, "then why do you keep lying?"
"I don't lie," Rocky started pressing his fingers together, "I just don't tell the whole truth, is all."
"How does "I wasn't dueling anyone last night" not the whole truth," Thunderbird pointed, "instead of being a whole lie."
"Because I didn't duel last night," Rocky turned growling loudly at the indian, "not by a long shot."
"You think that I'm scared of a little pup?"
"Rule number one," Rocky raised a finger, "Never underestimate what even the smallest are capable of."
"Is that the rule that you shouted to Marshal earlier," Thunderbird watched Rocky nod to himself, "I see why you're such a high level Duelist yourself."
"I thought you said that you didn't like the insincere sweet talk," Rocky's eyes thinned themselves out.
"That was just a statement of fact," Thunderbird stated matter-of-factly, "you are a 6-Star duelist after defeating Elemental Hero Prisma only a little over an hour ago."
"Flattery gets you no where."
"Especially when you're capable of so much higher," Thunderbird placed his clipboard next to the pup, "based on how quickly you came up with a method for that Mechanical Magician Deck to defeat my own. Even when you thought that the Deck sucked."
Rocky wasn't certain what Thunderbird was getting at. He gave the man a look to let Thunderbird know.
"I'm a 9-Star Duelist, pup. It takes at least a 7-Star to even get lucky with me," Thunderbird explained as he took his own seat near the Rottweiler, "Your friend was a 5-Star before his upgrade to six, but even he couldn't figure it out on his own. I'm certain you can do the math and see that something isn't adding up."
Rocky didn't bother looking up at Thunderbird. He knew how to lie without lying better than anyone, or at least prided himself in doing so. This fact didn't matter now. He had to make certain that Thunderbird would keep his word. He knew only one way to do that.
"Swear," Rocky stuck out his pinky at Thunderbird.
The action took Thunderbird off guard. He didn't understand what the pup wanted at first, even with those dog eyes being so determined. When Thunderbird recovered his composure he crossed his arms again, "Swear what?"
"If I tell you the whole truth," Rocky stretched his pinkie finger closer, "then you'll leave us alone. That includes your men, women, and whatever else you can send after us. Swear it."
"Fine," Thunderbird looped his pinkie around the young fur’s, "but if I even so much as think that you are lying then the deal is off."
"And if you break your word," Rocky tightened his grip, "you will pay for it."
"I understand," Thunderbird nodded, agreeing to the conditions of the deal.
"No, I don't think you do," Rocky quickly pulled down Thunderbird's finger. It felt like electricity zapped up his arm. Thunderbird took it as just a spasm from being jerked so suddenly, despite the young pup's eyes were glowing again.
"First of all," the pup crossed his arms, "how much did Marshal tell you about me?"
"What do you mean," Thunderbird watched as Rocky's eyes glared at him again, "What? You're the one that's supposed to tell the whole truth, not me."
"Marshal asked you not to tell me, didn't he," Rocky sighed to himself, "fine. But don't blame me if I waste your time."
"There is no other ‘you’ is there?"
"Figures that'd be the first thing you ask," Rocky ruffled his hair, he struggled to admit this, "Y-y-e-yes… I'm the one that beat up your men, defeated Monty, won against Prisma and used that diaper. All me!"
"What was that last one," Thunderbird asked, but quickly changed his mind, "Never mind. Please don't repeat that."
"There really is only one of me," Rocky nodded, "Please don't tell Marshal."
"Believe me, I won't," Thunderbird smirked for a moment before he asked, "What happened to Monty?"
"That's simple enough," Rocky's ears lowered, "He lost a Shadow Duel."
"Against you?"
"Yes…," Rocky raised an eyebrow as if Thunderbird was crazy to even ask.
"Why did you lie about Dueling last night?"
"I didn't lie."
"But you just sai-"
"I said that I didn't Duel anyone last night," Rocky tapped on the clipboard, "your data clearly says that the duel occurred between 12:36 to 12:49 AM. In other words…"
"It was morning," Thunderbird frowned, "you little smart aleck."
"I have to be," Rocky grinned with pride.
"So why did you challenge him in a Shadow Duel?"
"I didn't and that's not just me being a smart aleck," Rocky frowned again, shoving his hands in his pockets, "he challenged me and didn't bother telling me that it was a Shadow Duel, just like with his other victims."
"He confessed this to you?"
"Of course not, but it's not that hard to figure out," Rocky pulled out the dark pendant that he had shown to Prisma earlier, "especially when he was carrying this."
"What is that?"
"It's called a Shadow Pendant."
"Those are illegal," Thunderbird snapped, swiping the jewel from Rocky.
"You think I don't know that," Rocky snarled, but it didn't startle Thunderbird, "You have no idea what it's like to be in a Shadow Game."
Thunderbird laughed inwardly. The Hidden Duelist knew the dangers of using the powers of Darkness. He even cracked a smile at the pup, motioning back down the hallway where they had just dueled. Rocky quickly understood the silent signal, but that only made him more angry.
"You think what you and Marshal did back there was a Shadow Duel,” Rocky would have laughed, but it really wasn’t funny, “You have no idea what the Shadows are truly capable of."
"So what were you doing out so late past your bed time," Thunderbird teased with this question.
"Being bait," Rocky looked away from the bigger man.
"What?"
"I couldn't sleep knowing that there were people out there using those things to kidnap Duelists," Rocky's focus moved to the clinic's entrance.
"You did it to protect Marshal," Thunderbird watched the pup look back at him, "Why would you put yourself in danger for him?"
"The same reason that I choose to only be a 6-Star Duelist."
"Are you avoiding my question?"
"No, I'm just not sure how long I have to answer that question."
"Fine, you may abridge it if you want," Thunderbird crossed his arms and lowered his head to listen carefully, "but don't leave out any important facts."
"The most important fact is that Marshal saved my life. Well not my life life, but…," Rocky made a similar (if not more childish) pose as Thunderbird, trying to think of a way to say it, "he gave me a second chance in life and something worth living for…"
Thunderbird's eyes opened as he heard the pup dig in his actual Deck Box. He watched the pup carefully select four, then a fifth card that he put right back in the deck. Once Rocky held five cards again, he spread the cards out in his hands. They were old and worn down, but in relatively good condition thanks to the green card sleeves. Four of them were clearly part of a set. The last one was clearly not and was even in a blue card sleeve.
"I love these cards, because they remind me of my family."
Thunderbird looked at the set of cards.… Armor Breaker… Card Blocker…Spell Striker… Card Trooper… and Ameba?
"There were four of us in my litter," Rocky pointed out the cards, "Jack, Catherine, Chelsea and myself. I never put these cards in my deck until I… I… I…"
When I woke up, I was alone in the hospital. I wasn’t breathing right, but at least I was breathing. The doctor was notified almost immediately after the nurse found I was awake.
“Okay,” the doctor moved the light in my eyes, checking to see if there was any nerve damage, “no signs of a concussion or brain damage. How many fingers am I holding up?”
“…,” I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. It was this weight on my chest. I always figured that it had to be my heart that was crushing my lungs.
“Can you hear me?”
I nodded shakily. I tried to speak again, but I could only huff a breath.
“Can you speak?”
“I’m trying,” I lisped. I was very frightened, but my face wouldn’t show it.
“Do you know your name?”
I nodded again. It was hard, but getting easier to speak, “Rocky…”
“Do you know what happened?”
I shook my head.
“You’ve been out for a while. I’ll let your parents know that you’re awake.”
I nodded as the doctor left. Back when I was a kid, I mean like twelve years old, I wasn’t as “happy” as I am today. Fact is, I wasn’t an only child either. I had three younger siblings, two sisters and a brother. I had to be the big brother my entire life. Protect my family. That was the only thought that ever went through my mind. But how did I end up here? I had to remember.
My brother was being harassed by this thug. He… he forced my brother into a dangerous Duel. Not a Shadow Duel, but one just as bad. I jumped in to Duel in my brother’s place, but I nearly killed the guy in retaliation. My family has never seen me so blindly angry before. It frightened them to see my… inner demons. When I realized what I had done, I panicked. My heart raced. My limbs were shaking wildly. I couldn’t breath. I literally could not breath. I remember Catherine shouting something as everything went fuzzy. Before I knew it, I had blacked out from the lack of oxygen. Surely, that had to be some kind of bad dream right? I’d never let them see what I was really like.
My family was the next to enter. As usual mom dotted on me, but my siblings stayed as far away from me as possible. They were afraid for me… no, they were afaid of me. They were scared of me. No! My dream wasn’t a dream. It really happened! I couldn’t live with that. I wanted things to go back to the way things used to be. As luck would have it, my mother realize that I hadn’t said a word since she got here.
“Are you alright, sweety?”
That’s when the idea first came to me. Well, I wasn’t a crazy kid at the time, but I had come up with possibly the most crazy idea.
“Those kids keep starring at me,” I whined, pointing at my brothers and sister, “they’re making me feel weird.”
“Come on kids, Rocky’s not going to fall apart,” mom invited them over. They slowly came closer to me. I knew that they could never unsee the rage that I had that day. However, that didn’t mean that I couldn’t pretend that it didn’t happen.
“Hi, I’m Rocky,” I smiled lightly, “what’s your names?”
“Rocky, why did you ask that?” Mom paused when she heard me say that. My brother and younger sister didn’t know what was wrong. My other sister was not much older than them, but she realized the same thing my mother did.
“Cause I want to know their names,” I tilted my head, “did I ask it wrong, mommy?”
Honestly, I laughed at myself inside. I haven’t called her ‘mommy’ since I was eight.
“Rocky, this is Kat, your-,” Mom introduced the eldest of my little sisters, but I interrupted her.
“Hi Kat,” I laughed out loud, “I like your name. It sounds funny.”
“Doctor Owens,” Mom called before leaving the room.
“Mommy,” I pretended to wonder where she was going. My brother kept starring at me. My sister, Kat on the other hand…
“What do you mean my name’s funny?”
“Well, it is,” I pouted, my other siblings laughed a little bit.
“It is not.”
“It is too,” I pointed to my brother, “what’s your name?”
“Jack,” my brother laughed.
“See he’s got a normal name,” I smiled wider as I stuck out my tongue, “while your name’s like a kitty.”
“Hello again, Rocky,” the doctor returned at this moment with my mother staying at the door.
“Hi doc! Look, I can talk now,” I shouted at him, “I can count your fingers now if you want.”
And that I did. The good Doctor Owens did all the standard physical tests on me, before doing a CAT scan. I had to convince them in the end that I had amnesia due to the trauma of the experience. While my parent’s kept in contact with the doctors, they temporarily sent me and my siblings to the children’s ward. I finally got them comfortable enough to share their cards with me. I didn’t know where mine were, or so I pretended…
When they presented me with my own cards in an attempt to jog my memory, I pretended to think that they were giving me my first deck. I was so happy. They even offered to teach me how to play. Of course, they made a few mistakes, but I didn’t care. They were finally talking to me again.
“I know,” Kat got an idea, “how about we have a real duel?”
“But I…,” I tried to argue. She would know that I was lying by the way that I duel.
“It will be fun,” Kat teased me, “if you win then I’ll let you call me kitty for a whole week.”
The new me could not resist this opportunity. Heck, the old me wouldn’t either.
“Okay,” I gathered my cards back together and we went to a table nearby. We set up the mini hologram system and set the Lifepoint counter to 4,000.
“First, we start off with 4000 Lifepoints,” Kat needlessly explained, “shuffle each other’s decks and draw five cards.”
“Okay,” I said before doing all that, I liked my hand, I had all the cards I needed to really dominate anything Catherine would throw at me.
“Don’t forget to say ‘Let’s duel’,” Chelsea reminded us, “like they do on TV.”
“Alright, let’s duel!”
“Since you’re still learning,” Kat drew a card, “I get to go first. I play… Card Blocker in defense mode.” A small toy-like warrior with violet armor poofed onto the field looking all confident to win the fight. He took one look at me before shuttering and hiding behind his tiny round shield. (400 Atk/400 Def). Kat looked up to me to see my reaction to her favorite card appearing, I was holding back a little laugh at the warrior’s reaction to seeing me. “Then I’ll play two cards facedown and end my turn.” She placed two cards facedown behind her little card warrior.
“Okay. My turn,” I smiled taking a card from the top of the deck, “I pick this one in Attack mode.” I played a blond warrior with two large swords appeared in a shining light from the face of the card. He quickly kneeled down on one knee and crossed his blades. Marauding Captain was one of my favorite cards to play. A real classic card, I would almost play it on instinct.
“Next I get to summon another monster from my hand, I pick this one.” My next card was a feathery orange colored warrior who carries a sword in one hand, but a humungous shield covering her left arm. Command Knight leaped on to the field in attack mode. (1200/1900) My two warriors gained a power boost thanks to Command Knight’s ability, making both of their attack strength’s become 1600.
“Now I att…,” I paused. I couldn’t attack, not just because of Card Defender’s ability. The word was stuck in my throat, I really could not bring myself to attack. I got a wicked flashback to the duel I had with that thug. The look in his eyes…“Atta…I play one card face down… and end my turn.”
“Oh come on,” Kat drew her card angrily, “you never attack my Card Defender. I play…
Thunderbird stayed quiet. He could see that this memory (whatever it was) was genuinely upsetting the pup. He couldn't make Rocky remember if he didn't want to, but he could ask a different question.
"Until something happened that broke you all apart?"
The pup looked up at the man again. Tears welling up.
"I did my research. Your parents broke up and your mother took the other siblings with her, while you stayed with your father. Which is strange since you were the runt and in need of your mother more at that young of an age."
"Normally yes…, but I'm stronger than I look," Rocky sighed to himself, drying his eyes, "I am the runt of the litter, but I’m also the first born. I'm their big brother, so I had to be strong. I had to protect them. It was my responsibility, not theirs…"
Thunderbird noticed that the pup's claws were growing again. The pup took a deep breath and the claws slowly receded. Apparently, the change was caused by certain emotions. Maybe even memories. Thunderbird didn't think the pup would say what he did next.
"You saw that didn't you," Rocky asked as he put all but one card back in his case, "I know it's not the first time…"
"I won't ask about it…"
"You don't have to. I know what you're thinking. Lots of other people thought it too," Rocky looked at the remaining card, Ameba, "I'm not a demon and I didn't sell my soul to one either…"
"Why do I feel like there's a 'but' coming on?" ~ Thunderbird thought to himself.
"But I was possessed once," Rocky stretched out his right arm a bit, "Possession changes your body. It alters the way you are. Even after the Spirit is gone…
Rocky quickly flexed his arm. For an instant it's muscles grew to Thunderbird's size, before shrinking back down, "changes like this don't just go away… even after all of these years."
Thunderbird thought that he should change the subject, "And what's the significance of that card?"
"It reminds me of my second chance," Rocky shook the card lightly, "he's also a really nice Spirit."
"Spirit," Thunderbird thought out loud, "I remember you seemed confused about my Spirit Deck."
"When you said your Monsters were Spirits, I thought you meant something like this," Rocky bounced his card upside-down and out popped a small blue blob. Squishing and bubbling all the way, the blob grew bigger and bigger until it reached the pup's size, "but you can't see him, can you?"
"No, I can," Thunderbird admitted, "I'm just not easily surprised anymore."
"His name's Barry, because he's blue," Rocky laughed lightly, "I thought that I was the only one that could see him."
"Cute, but I have one last question that you need to answer," Thunderbird picked up his clipboard, "Where is Monty?"
"I can honestly say that I don't know," Rocky shrugged hopping up to his feet and letting the blob spirit rush back into his card.
"But you said that you-," Thunderbird tried to object, but the little runt ignored him. As Rocky walked past him Thunderbird quickly understood why Rocky was now ignoring Thunderbird. His time was up.
"Ready to go Marshal?"
"Rocky," Marshal huffed to himself, "Just answer Thunderbird's question."
"What," Rocky stopped in his tracks. Marshal was holding a badge similar to Thunderbird's. It took Rocky some time to realize what the badge actually was. It's true function was a communicator and Marshal had just heard everything.
Rocky turned back to Thunderbird, "how could you… why'd…"
"It was my idea Rocky," Marshal tried to place his hand on the pup's shoulder, but Rocky moved too quickly. He just took off. Even Thunderbird couldn't stop him in time, "Rocky come back!"
"He won't get far," Thunderbird pressed his communicator, "Initialize lock down, Intruder in the underground."
"Hold on, you invited us," Marshal questioned hearing the doors within the areas where Rocky was running off to slamming shut.
"It means that it will shut down any section where there's a person without one of these," Thunderbird tapped on his badge. He paused for a second, listening to the echoes of the doors slamming, "that's odd… it should have caught him by now."
Thunderbird stepped forward and marched towards the closed doors, "Vocal Override. HD-ID Thunderbird. Open door 317."
Even before door 317 opened Thunderbird knew something was wrong. Marshal, being shorter than Thunderbird could see what had happened first. When Thunderbird saw the gaping hole in the other door, he knew that the pup wasn’t bluffing.
See part 6ß here:http://www.furaffinity.net/view/10620782/
Sorry it's been a while. I couldn't decide on which direction to go with this so I made two sets of Pt. 6 "The Real Rocky Balebone" in the forms of Truth (∂) and Lies (ß).
Also my classes are going well, but just like always they're taking up too much of my time.
You shouldn't be reading this story unless you've read this section first. (https://www.furaffinity.net/view/8657958/)
The Copyright information is there.
Clash in Duel World
Pt: 6∂ The Real Rocky Balebone: Truth
Marshal had been asleep for a long time. It was a pretty deep sleep as he hadn’t had much sleep the past few nights. Of course that was mostly my fault. I couldn’t help but stay up all night and drag the kitten down with me. But now he’s been asleep all night and was finally waking up. I couldn’t sleep myself. I had to make certain that I was the first person that he saw. Of course, Marshal felt this weight upon his chest as his eyes snapped open.
“Morning sunshine,” I barked. It took Marshal a moment to register where he was. He was in the hospital and on a bed with his canine roommate sitting on over of him. There was only one rational response to this for the twelve year old.
“AHH! Get off of me,” Marshal shot into the sitting position to push me off of him, but I jumped off the bed, “what the heck were you doing?”
“Watching you sleep,” I smiled, hiding Marshal’s surprise behind my back, “did you know that you purr when your ears are tickled?”
“You little weirdo,” Marshal snapped as he covered the ears on his bandaged head, “why would you…?”
Now Marshal had paused because I finally decided to show him what I had behind my back. I made certain that his favorite card was on the front, so that he’d know that it was his deck. Marshal stared at it in amazement.
“My Deck,” the kitten took his deck back and looked through it, “they’re all here.”
I just sat and grinned widely back at him. I wasn’t really sure why, but I somehow knew that we had just became friends for life. Or at least my younger mind thought that we did. Today, I know that we did. This was five years ago after all…
“But Doctor…,” Marshal paused as he couldn’t remember his doctor’s name, “I thought I lost them forever.”
“No way,” I said proudly, tapping the deck, “cards like these can never be gone forever.”
“Oh and why’s that?”
“Because they love their Duelist too much,” I grinned wide, “and it’s a really good deck too.”
“You peaked,” the feline snapped, holding his cards closer to his chest.
“Just a little,” I dug for my own deck, “here you can look through mine if you like.”
“No way,” Marshal pushed my cards back to me, “I never cheat.”
“But I was just trying to be fair,” I sniffled some tears, honestly I was ashamed of looking through it, but I had to make certain that it was his Deck. I still had six others that I needed to return to their proper owners too.
“Tell you what,” Marshal bit his lip as he thought out loud, “How about we duel? I win then I get to look through your deck.”
“And if I win…,” I asked looking up.
“Then you can have my pudding cups for a week.”
“Your on,” I leaped up to the foot of his bed and he pulled the tray in between us. I won of course, but I didn’t really care about the pudding. I made a new friend and for the first time, I didn’t have to pretend with him. I could be whoever I wanted to be and he wouldn’t be worried about the old me coming back… the old me…
He was finally behind me…
Today… in Duel World.
"So the transport system is based off Pokémon tech," Marshal asked. He was currently being wheeled through the underground passageways deep under Duel World by a nice looking nurse droid. He was feeling better, but Thunderbird insisted that he'd get a check up regardless.
"That's right. We've incorporated them into the entire park for emergencies and general transportation for our employees," Thunderbird explained on the way to the clinic, "It gives our employees no excuse for being late to their duties."
"So why didn't we just transport straight there," Rocky grumbled under his breath.
"Unfortunately the system still has some glitches," Thunderbird mentioned as he followed the nurse, "you don't want to use it too often at any given time."
Rocky could sense that the human was lying through his teeth, but he couldn't prove it. He also couldn't risk it when he didn't know where they all where, let alone how to get back to the surface.
"You seem to like technology yourself," Thunderbird pointed to Marshal's Holodisk watch, "that looks like it was hand made, Right?"
"Sure," Marshal smiled, raising the arm with the tech, "my family owns a scrap yard, so we get a ton of junk material to work with. This one is my 3rd model, but it's still needs a little fine tuning and I already have plans for version 4.0."
"Marshal," Rocky caught up closer to Marshal's bedside, "did you forget that this guy is the one who…?"
"You and I both know that I've had worse things done," Marshal paused as he looked up at Thunderbird, "besides, his deck says that he's trustworthy."
Rocky stopped as the floating mat made a sudden right turn into a clinic in this maze of hallways. Marshal didn't mean to, but that statement cut deep. It always hurt Rocky that Marshal trusted everyone more than he did the pup. Especially when Rocky was always so faithful and reliable. Lucky for Rocky, Thunderbird also remained outside with him. Otherwise the cat would have thought something was wrong. Rocky didn't want Marshal to worry even the slightest.
"So I take it that you two have known each other for a long time," Thunderbird asked.
"Shut up," Rocky pouted as he crossed his arms, "I know what you're doing, but it's not going to work."
"Okay then," Thunderbird took out his clipboard, "I won't bother with the insincere sweet talk. I always hate doing that. I expect you to do the same."
"I'm never fake with people."
"Is that so…," Thunderbird put the clipboard to his head, "then why do you keep lying?"
"I don't lie," Rocky started pressing his fingers together, "I just don't tell the whole truth, is all."
"How does "I wasn't dueling anyone last night" not the whole truth," Thunderbird pointed, "instead of being a whole lie."
"Because I didn't duel last night," Rocky turned growling loudly at the indian, "not by a long shot."
"You think that I'm scared of a little pup?"
"Rule number one," Rocky raised a finger, "Never underestimate what even the smallest are capable of."
"Is that the rule that you shouted to Marshal earlier," Thunderbird watched Rocky nod to himself, "I see why you're such a high level Duelist yourself."
"I thought you said that you didn't like the insincere sweet talk," Rocky's eyes thinned themselves out.
"That was just a statement of fact," Thunderbird stated matter-of-factly, "you are a 6-Star duelist after defeating Elemental Hero Prisma only a little over an hour ago."
"Flattery gets you no where."
"Especially when you're capable of so much higher," Thunderbird placed his clipboard next to the pup, "based on how quickly you came up with a method for that Mechanical Magician Deck to defeat my own. Even when you thought that the Deck sucked."
Rocky wasn't certain what Thunderbird was getting at. He gave the man a look to let Thunderbird know.
"I'm a 9-Star Duelist, pup. It takes at least a 7-Star to even get lucky with me," Thunderbird explained as he took his own seat near the Rottweiler, "Your friend was a 5-Star before his upgrade to six, but even he couldn't figure it out on his own. I'm certain you can do the math and see that something isn't adding up."
Rocky didn't bother looking up at Thunderbird. He knew how to lie without lying better than anyone, or at least prided himself in doing so. This fact didn't matter now. He had to make certain that Thunderbird would keep his word. He knew only one way to do that.
"Swear," Rocky stuck out his pinky at Thunderbird.
The action took Thunderbird off guard. He didn't understand what the pup wanted at first, even with those dog eyes being so determined. When Thunderbird recovered his composure he crossed his arms again, "Swear what?"
"If I tell you the whole truth," Rocky stretched his pinkie finger closer, "then you'll leave us alone. That includes your men, women, and whatever else you can send after us. Swear it."
"Fine," Thunderbird looped his pinkie around the young fur’s, "but if I even so much as think that you are lying then the deal is off."
"And if you break your word," Rocky tightened his grip, "you will pay for it."
"I understand," Thunderbird nodded, agreeing to the conditions of the deal.
"No, I don't think you do," Rocky quickly pulled down Thunderbird's finger. It felt like electricity zapped up his arm. Thunderbird took it as just a spasm from being jerked so suddenly, despite the young pup's eyes were glowing again.
"First of all," the pup crossed his arms, "how much did Marshal tell you about me?"
"What do you mean," Thunderbird watched as Rocky's eyes glared at him again, "What? You're the one that's supposed to tell the whole truth, not me."
"Marshal asked you not to tell me, didn't he," Rocky sighed to himself, "fine. But don't blame me if I waste your time."
"There is no other ‘you’ is there?"
"Figures that'd be the first thing you ask," Rocky ruffled his hair, he struggled to admit this, "Y-y-e-yes… I'm the one that beat up your men, defeated Monty, won against Prisma and used that diaper. All me!"
"What was that last one," Thunderbird asked, but quickly changed his mind, "Never mind. Please don't repeat that."
"There really is only one of me," Rocky nodded, "Please don't tell Marshal."
"Believe me, I won't," Thunderbird smirked for a moment before he asked, "What happened to Monty?"
"That's simple enough," Rocky's ears lowered, "He lost a Shadow Duel."
"Against you?"
"Yes…," Rocky raised an eyebrow as if Thunderbird was crazy to even ask.
"Why did you lie about Dueling last night?"
"I didn't lie."
"But you just sai-"
"I said that I didn't Duel anyone last night," Rocky tapped on the clipboard, "your data clearly says that the duel occurred between 12:36 to 12:49 AM. In other words…"
"It was morning," Thunderbird frowned, "you little smart aleck."
"I have to be," Rocky grinned with pride.
"So why did you challenge him in a Shadow Duel?"
"I didn't and that's not just me being a smart aleck," Rocky frowned again, shoving his hands in his pockets, "he challenged me and didn't bother telling me that it was a Shadow Duel, just like with his other victims."
"He confessed this to you?"
"Of course not, but it's not that hard to figure out," Rocky pulled out the dark pendant that he had shown to Prisma earlier, "especially when he was carrying this."
"What is that?"
"It's called a Shadow Pendant."
"Those are illegal," Thunderbird snapped, swiping the jewel from Rocky.
"You think I don't know that," Rocky snarled, but it didn't startle Thunderbird, "You have no idea what it's like to be in a Shadow Game."
Thunderbird laughed inwardly. The Hidden Duelist knew the dangers of using the powers of Darkness. He even cracked a smile at the pup, motioning back down the hallway where they had just dueled. Rocky quickly understood the silent signal, but that only made him more angry.
"You think what you and Marshal did back there was a Shadow Duel,” Rocky would have laughed, but it really wasn’t funny, “You have no idea what the Shadows are truly capable of."
"So what were you doing out so late past your bed time," Thunderbird teased with this question.
"Being bait," Rocky looked away from the bigger man.
"What?"
"I couldn't sleep knowing that there were people out there using those things to kidnap Duelists," Rocky's focus moved to the clinic's entrance.
"You did it to protect Marshal," Thunderbird watched the pup look back at him, "Why would you put yourself in danger for him?"
"The same reason that I choose to only be a 6-Star Duelist."
"Are you avoiding my question?"
"No, I'm just not sure how long I have to answer that question."
"Fine, you may abridge it if you want," Thunderbird crossed his arms and lowered his head to listen carefully, "but don't leave out any important facts."
"The most important fact is that Marshal saved my life. Well not my life life, but…," Rocky made a similar (if not more childish) pose as Thunderbird, trying to think of a way to say it, "he gave me a second chance in life and something worth living for…"
Thunderbird's eyes opened as he heard the pup dig in his actual Deck Box. He watched the pup carefully select four, then a fifth card that he put right back in the deck. Once Rocky held five cards again, he spread the cards out in his hands. They were old and worn down, but in relatively good condition thanks to the green card sleeves. Four of them were clearly part of a set. The last one was clearly not and was even in a blue card sleeve.
"I love these cards, because they remind me of my family."
Thunderbird looked at the set of cards.… Armor Breaker… Card Blocker…Spell Striker… Card Trooper… and Ameba?
"There were four of us in my litter," Rocky pointed out the cards, "Jack, Catherine, Chelsea and myself. I never put these cards in my deck until I… I… I…"
When I woke up, I was alone in the hospital. I wasn’t breathing right, but at least I was breathing. The doctor was notified almost immediately after the nurse found I was awake.
“Okay,” the doctor moved the light in my eyes, checking to see if there was any nerve damage, “no signs of a concussion or brain damage. How many fingers am I holding up?”
“…,” I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. It was this weight on my chest. I always figured that it had to be my heart that was crushing my lungs.
“Can you hear me?”
I nodded shakily. I tried to speak again, but I could only huff a breath.
“Can you speak?”
“I’m trying,” I lisped. I was very frightened, but my face wouldn’t show it.
“Do you know your name?”
I nodded again. It was hard, but getting easier to speak, “Rocky…”
“Do you know what happened?”
I shook my head.
“You’ve been out for a while. I’ll let your parents know that you’re awake.”
I nodded as the doctor left. Back when I was a kid, I mean like twelve years old, I wasn’t as “happy” as I am today. Fact is, I wasn’t an only child either. I had three younger siblings, two sisters and a brother. I had to be the big brother my entire life. Protect my family. That was the only thought that ever went through my mind. But how did I end up here? I had to remember.
My brother was being harassed by this thug. He… he forced my brother into a dangerous Duel. Not a Shadow Duel, but one just as bad. I jumped in to Duel in my brother’s place, but I nearly killed the guy in retaliation. My family has never seen me so blindly angry before. It frightened them to see my… inner demons. When I realized what I had done, I panicked. My heart raced. My limbs were shaking wildly. I couldn’t breath. I literally could not breath. I remember Catherine shouting something as everything went fuzzy. Before I knew it, I had blacked out from the lack of oxygen. Surely, that had to be some kind of bad dream right? I’d never let them see what I was really like.
My family was the next to enter. As usual mom dotted on me, but my siblings stayed as far away from me as possible. They were afraid for me… no, they were afaid of me. They were scared of me. No! My dream wasn’t a dream. It really happened! I couldn’t live with that. I wanted things to go back to the way things used to be. As luck would have it, my mother realize that I hadn’t said a word since she got here.
“Are you alright, sweety?”
That’s when the idea first came to me. Well, I wasn’t a crazy kid at the time, but I had come up with possibly the most crazy idea.
“Those kids keep starring at me,” I whined, pointing at my brothers and sister, “they’re making me feel weird.”
“Come on kids, Rocky’s not going to fall apart,” mom invited them over. They slowly came closer to me. I knew that they could never unsee the rage that I had that day. However, that didn’t mean that I couldn’t pretend that it didn’t happen.
“Hi, I’m Rocky,” I smiled lightly, “what’s your names?”
“Rocky, why did you ask that?” Mom paused when she heard me say that. My brother and younger sister didn’t know what was wrong. My other sister was not much older than them, but she realized the same thing my mother did.
“Cause I want to know their names,” I tilted my head, “did I ask it wrong, mommy?”
Honestly, I laughed at myself inside. I haven’t called her ‘mommy’ since I was eight.
“Rocky, this is Kat, your-,” Mom introduced the eldest of my little sisters, but I interrupted her.
“Hi Kat,” I laughed out loud, “I like your name. It sounds funny.”
“Doctor Owens,” Mom called before leaving the room.
“Mommy,” I pretended to wonder where she was going. My brother kept starring at me. My sister, Kat on the other hand…
“What do you mean my name’s funny?”
“Well, it is,” I pouted, my other siblings laughed a little bit.
“It is not.”
“It is too,” I pointed to my brother, “what’s your name?”
“Jack,” my brother laughed.
“See he’s got a normal name,” I smiled wider as I stuck out my tongue, “while your name’s like a kitty.”
“Hello again, Rocky,” the doctor returned at this moment with my mother staying at the door.
“Hi doc! Look, I can talk now,” I shouted at him, “I can count your fingers now if you want.”
And that I did. The good Doctor Owens did all the standard physical tests on me, before doing a CAT scan. I had to convince them in the end that I had amnesia due to the trauma of the experience. While my parent’s kept in contact with the doctors, they temporarily sent me and my siblings to the children’s ward. I finally got them comfortable enough to share their cards with me. I didn’t know where mine were, or so I pretended…
When they presented me with my own cards in an attempt to jog my memory, I pretended to think that they were giving me my first deck. I was so happy. They even offered to teach me how to play. Of course, they made a few mistakes, but I didn’t care. They were finally talking to me again.
“I know,” Kat got an idea, “how about we have a real duel?”
“But I…,” I tried to argue. She would know that I was lying by the way that I duel.
“It will be fun,” Kat teased me, “if you win then I’ll let you call me kitty for a whole week.”
The new me could not resist this opportunity. Heck, the old me wouldn’t either.
“Okay,” I gathered my cards back together and we went to a table nearby. We set up the mini hologram system and set the Lifepoint counter to 4,000.
“First, we start off with 4000 Lifepoints,” Kat needlessly explained, “shuffle each other’s decks and draw five cards.”
“Okay,” I said before doing all that, I liked my hand, I had all the cards I needed to really dominate anything Catherine would throw at me.
“Don’t forget to say ‘Let’s duel’,” Chelsea reminded us, “like they do on TV.”
“Alright, let’s duel!”
“Since you’re still learning,” Kat drew a card, “I get to go first. I play… Card Blocker in defense mode.” A small toy-like warrior with violet armor poofed onto the field looking all confident to win the fight. He took one look at me before shuttering and hiding behind his tiny round shield. (400 Atk/400 Def). Kat looked up to me to see my reaction to her favorite card appearing, I was holding back a little laugh at the warrior’s reaction to seeing me. “Then I’ll play two cards facedown and end my turn.” She placed two cards facedown behind her little card warrior.
“Okay. My turn,” I smiled taking a card from the top of the deck, “I pick this one in Attack mode.” I played a blond warrior with two large swords appeared in a shining light from the face of the card. He quickly kneeled down on one knee and crossed his blades. Marauding Captain was one of my favorite cards to play. A real classic card, I would almost play it on instinct.
“Next I get to summon another monster from my hand, I pick this one.” My next card was a feathery orange colored warrior who carries a sword in one hand, but a humungous shield covering her left arm. Command Knight leaped on to the field in attack mode. (1200/1900) My two warriors gained a power boost thanks to Command Knight’s ability, making both of their attack strength’s become 1600.
“Now I att…,” I paused. I couldn’t attack, not just because of Card Defender’s ability. The word was stuck in my throat, I really could not bring myself to attack. I got a wicked flashback to the duel I had with that thug. The look in his eyes…“Atta…I play one card face down… and end my turn.”
“Oh come on,” Kat drew her card angrily, “you never attack my Card Defender. I play…
Thunderbird stayed quiet. He could see that this memory (whatever it was) was genuinely upsetting the pup. He couldn't make Rocky remember if he didn't want to, but he could ask a different question.
"Until something happened that broke you all apart?"
The pup looked up at the man again. Tears welling up.
"I did my research. Your parents broke up and your mother took the other siblings with her, while you stayed with your father. Which is strange since you were the runt and in need of your mother more at that young of an age."
"Normally yes…, but I'm stronger than I look," Rocky sighed to himself, drying his eyes, "I am the runt of the litter, but I’m also the first born. I'm their big brother, so I had to be strong. I had to protect them. It was my responsibility, not theirs…"
Thunderbird noticed that the pup's claws were growing again. The pup took a deep breath and the claws slowly receded. Apparently, the change was caused by certain emotions. Maybe even memories. Thunderbird didn't think the pup would say what he did next.
"You saw that didn't you," Rocky asked as he put all but one card back in his case, "I know it's not the first time…"
"I won't ask about it…"
"You don't have to. I know what you're thinking. Lots of other people thought it too," Rocky looked at the remaining card, Ameba, "I'm not a demon and I didn't sell my soul to one either…"
"Why do I feel like there's a 'but' coming on?" ~ Thunderbird thought to himself.
"But I was possessed once," Rocky stretched out his right arm a bit, "Possession changes your body. It alters the way you are. Even after the Spirit is gone…
Rocky quickly flexed his arm. For an instant it's muscles grew to Thunderbird's size, before shrinking back down, "changes like this don't just go away… even after all of these years."
Thunderbird thought that he should change the subject, "And what's the significance of that card?"
"It reminds me of my second chance," Rocky shook the card lightly, "he's also a really nice Spirit."
"Spirit," Thunderbird thought out loud, "I remember you seemed confused about my Spirit Deck."
"When you said your Monsters were Spirits, I thought you meant something like this," Rocky bounced his card upside-down and out popped a small blue blob. Squishing and bubbling all the way, the blob grew bigger and bigger until it reached the pup's size, "but you can't see him, can you?"
"No, I can," Thunderbird admitted, "I'm just not easily surprised anymore."
"His name's Barry, because he's blue," Rocky laughed lightly, "I thought that I was the only one that could see him."
"Cute, but I have one last question that you need to answer," Thunderbird picked up his clipboard, "Where is Monty?"
"I can honestly say that I don't know," Rocky shrugged hopping up to his feet and letting the blob spirit rush back into his card.
"But you said that you-," Thunderbird tried to object, but the little runt ignored him. As Rocky walked past him Thunderbird quickly understood why Rocky was now ignoring Thunderbird. His time was up.
"Ready to go Marshal?"
"Rocky," Marshal huffed to himself, "Just answer Thunderbird's question."
"What," Rocky stopped in his tracks. Marshal was holding a badge similar to Thunderbird's. It took Rocky some time to realize what the badge actually was. It's true function was a communicator and Marshal had just heard everything.
Rocky turned back to Thunderbird, "how could you… why'd…"
"It was my idea Rocky," Marshal tried to place his hand on the pup's shoulder, but Rocky moved too quickly. He just took off. Even Thunderbird couldn't stop him in time, "Rocky come back!"
"He won't get far," Thunderbird pressed his communicator, "Initialize lock down, Intruder in the underground."
"Hold on, you invited us," Marshal questioned hearing the doors within the areas where Rocky was running off to slamming shut.
"It means that it will shut down any section where there's a person without one of these," Thunderbird tapped on his badge. He paused for a second, listening to the echoes of the doors slamming, "that's odd… it should have caught him by now."
Thunderbird stepped forward and marched towards the closed doors, "Vocal Override. HD-ID Thunderbird. Open door 317."
Even before door 317 opened Thunderbird knew something was wrong. Marshal, being shorter than Thunderbird could see what had happened first. When Thunderbird saw the gaping hole in the other door, he knew that the pup wasn’t bluffing.
<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>
See part 6ß here:http://www.furaffinity.net/view/10620782/
Category Story / Fanart
Species Dog (Other)
Size 50 x 50px
File Size 67.6 kB
I always love telling this Rocky's backstory (no matter what version of him and which world I put him in). It might be because he was my first well rounded character with an actual psychological reason for why he acts the way he does.
Ehehe… Sorry… I think of my characters like they're my own kids, ya know?
No matter what. I still love them.
Ehehe… Sorry… I think of my characters like they're my own kids, ya know?
No matter what. I still love them.
Comments