Reflected in Those Eyes

This article, Reflected in Those Eyes, is property of **the Dark Magician**. Do not modify or use any of its content without her express permission.

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> ---Ken was sitting in his usual spot, under some tall tree. Headphones plugged in, he was listening to some sort of music on his phone as he sat staring into space. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a lighter and a single cigarette. "No one's gonna see me." He muttered as he put the back end of it to his lips. Lighting the end, he inhaled the smoke and breathed it into the atmosphere. "This is for you dad." He muttered again. He sighed as he reached for his deck case, which was leaning against the base of the tall tree.
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> Casey was lucky enough to get out of class early, much to her delight. She hated sitting through lectures longer than she had to. Deciding that since Michael, Shane, and Zach were all still stuck in class, she would just hang around and wait, she made her way to the courtyard. Frowning, she noticed a younger student lounging underneath a tree, puffing on a cigarette. "Kid, put that thing out," she told him, quirking an eyebrow. "No need to be so fucking edgy, you're gonna ruin your lungs smoking at such a young age."
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> Ken didn't even bother responding. He pulled once again on his cigarette. After exhaling, he snuffed it and threw it over a bush. "Whadd'ya need? It's rare I have such pretty visitors at this time of day."
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> Well, she'd just been trying to help, but if he wanted to be a little shit... "You're kind of an annoying kid, aren't you? That's fine. I'm bored and feel like dueling, anyway, so get up. Unless you don't think you have a chance." Casey was being partially truthful, but really, she just wanted to test her skills against someone again. Michael and Shane had gotten too good...she didn't want to fall behind them. "I'll even let you go first," she added, reaching into her backpack and pulling out her Duel Disk, which she attached to her wrist.
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> Ken obeyed the girl and got up. "Settling arguments with a card game... That's pretty childish don't you think?" He yawned as he reached into his backpack for his Duel Disk.
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> Casey shrugged. "Nah, I find it fun. Besides, you may consider it just a card game, but it's how I intend to make a living, so." She drew her first five cards, eyeing him and waiting for him to begin his turn.
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> Ken did the same. *This hand is ok.* He thought as he looked over them. "I'm gonna Set one card." He said after another yawn. "And I'll set one card in my Spell and Trap zone. Your go." He muttered as he eyed the pink-haired girl.
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> "I'll throw down two facedowns of my own in my Spell and Trap zone, aaaand... I'll summon Photon Cerberus, in attack mode, and call it a turn."
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> Ken drew one card and frowned. "I'm gonna FLIP Summon my Set card, Red-Eyes Retro Dragon and attack Photon Cereberus." *She probably wanted me to do that...* He thought as he watched his dragon prepare to attack.
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> "I activate Photon Overload, so I'll negate that attack and Special Summon two of my Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragons in attack mode.
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> "Nah, youre not." Ken muttered. "I activate Dark Bribe, so draw a card and destroy Photon Overload." Ken sighed. *Dad used Galaxy-Eyes... I was never able to beat him.*
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> Casey lost 400 Life Points as Photon Cerberus was sent to the Graveyard, and she drew an extra card. "Alright, here's how this is going down. I'm gonna set two facedowns in my Spell/Trap zone. I'll summon Galaxy-Eyes Cloudragon and tribute it to Special Summon from my hand this Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon your Dark Bribe netted me. My dragon will attack Red-Eyes Retro Dragon."
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> Ken lost 1300 LP, leaving him with 6700. "Nice job..." He said, clapping sarcastically. "You done?"
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> "Yep, I'm calling it a turn." Casey folded her arms, waiting for his next move. So far, so fucking good. All she needed was a good next draw...
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> "K..." Ken sighed as he looked at the card he drew. *How the hell is this bitch reeling in her boss monsters with that size of a deck?* He looked at her deck size, it was at least his deck and a third more. *She must be running some sort of engine to make up for its size.* "I Set one monster and end my turn."
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> Casey eyed her next draw and smirked. "Well, as fun as this has been, it's over now. I play Photon Burst to Special Summon my other two Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragons, as well as my faithful Photon Leo. I'll equip Photon Burst to one of my Photon Dragons, and overlay the other two to Xyz Summon Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon. I'll detach one material from Prime Photon to kick its attack up to a nasty 5600, and theeeen... I believe Photon Leo will chomp down on that Set monster, leaving Prime Photon Dragon and Photon Dragon to wipe your Life Points."
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> Ken shrugged as his LP were taken. *I guess I could have done something last turn.* He said looking at his Return of the Dragon Lords card in his hand. *But shit... Doesn't matter.* Ken looked at Casey. "Ok, done?" He mumbled once again.
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> "Looks like it. That wasn't a challenge at all, no wonder you're still Slifer. You're considering what you could've done with that card in your hand, right? Tough. You gotta have the guts to pull the trigger sometimes, but it's evident you have no passion for dueling. You'll never win like that." Casey paused, raising an eyebrow at the kid. "You have potential, but you're gonna waste it with that lack of enthusiasm." She deactivated her Duel Disk, shoving it back into her backpack. Hm. Maybe the gap between herself and the others wasn't as big as she thought it might be...
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> Ken was aggravated now. "Not like I *wanted* to be here..." He sighed as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket. "Shit... You ruined my mood, I can't even smoke now." He tucked it back inside his pocket and sat back down.
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> The girl shrugged. "Good, you're gonna give yourself lung cancer anyway. Look, I don't know why you don't want to be here, you're welcome to explain, but in life we all have to do things we don't want to do. It sucks, yeah, but we've gotta make the best of it. You're here for a reason, you know. Maybe instead of being an edgelord and rebelling against it, you should reflect on why that might be. Embrace it."
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> Ken laughed. "You're so naive." As the boy laughed in a heartless way. A single tear ran down his cheek. "You said embrace it? Embrace the fact that I live in a broken family?" He got up and stared down Casey. "Embrace the fact that my father was murdered in front my eyes? Embrace the fact that I haven't seen my own mother since I was ten?" He clenched his fist against his side. "You don't know what the hell your talking about!"
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> "I feel for you. I truly do. You're not the only one who has endured pain, though. My dad died too when I was young, cancer. Ever since then, my mom hasn't been the same. She's so fucked up it's almost like she died at the same time. I've been taking care of my younger sister for years because of it, and that's why I duel. I'm obviously not bad, so I was able to win quite a bit of money over the years by dueling in tournaments. Of course, I don't get to actually keep the money I make because I have to help support them." Casey could sense the kid's anger, but it didn't faze her in the least. She was just as hot headed, after all.
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> "You can get pissed off at me all you like, but the reality is, I'm speaking from experience, myself. I think you're lonely as hell and don't know how to express it, so you rage and withdraw and engage in reckless self-destructive habits to take your mind off of that fact. We're not that different. You just have to find the people that make putting up with the world's bullshit worth it. For me, that's my little sister and my friends. You should join us sometime. They're good people, my friends."
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> Ken's eyes widened for a moment. *Find people...* He thought to himself as that man's face popped into his mind. He sighed as he looked at the girl. "K..." He replied.
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